E-Resources Working Group Meeting: March 12, 2012

Conference Call

Attending: John Blosser, Chris Bulock, Mary Burkee (CARLI),  Cindy Clennon  (CARLI), Denise Green, Mary Konkel, Monica Moore, Sandy Wenner, CM! Winters-Palacio

Announcements

No new announcements

Vendor Proposals

Market Research online: The group discussed the latest proposal from Market Research Online. Other than Northwestern, which subscribes to this product but not through their library, no other CARLI library currently subscribes to this product. After discussion, the group decided to say no to this proposal at this time.

Updates

Spring 2012 Selection System: We are currently on target to open the selection system in mid-April. Pricing requests are out to all our vendors. We are waiting on title lists from EBSCO and Proquest and should receive these by the end of this week. Gale has provided us with 17 title lists, down from 27 last year. Once all of this information has been received, Cindy may try to compile and send out a list to CARLI members before the selection system opens, if time permits.

In addition to the discussion of the upcoming selection system, Cindy gave a brief update on the current procurement environment.  Library materials, which include CARLI subscriptions and purchases, are now exempt from the current procurement code.  Cindy is waiting on confirmation in writing from purchasing on this issue.

CARLI consortial ebook/PDA project: Cindy also provided the group with an update on the CARLI consortial ebook project. A preliminary plan was recently submitted to the CARLI Board, which gave the OK to work with vendors at this time. CARLI is working on an RFI (not an RFP) for vendors so that we can move forward with the project. Although the project is still in an exploratory phase, there is concern that, if we do not forward with it, our consortial resource sharing will be impacted by individual libraries which are purchasing ebooks that cannot be shared.

Discussion of Credo Literati: As our contract with Credo Reference has to be renewed this coming year, the group discussed the possibility of offering Credo subject collections in addition to the current option available to CARLI members, which allows them to pick and choose individual Credo Reference titles. Most group members expressed a preference for the “pick and choose” model, since it allows for greater control in content selection. The possibility of offering Credo Literati, a new platform for access Credo Reference content, was also discussed. Due to the nature of this resource, it may not be offered at this time; however, it was not ruled out as future possibility.

Training Event

It has been nearly a year since our last major training event, which included a series of webinars on licensing. Cindy mentioned that the University of Illinois is moving to a new, unified communication system which will make these types of events transcribable, but it will not be fully implemented and available for our purposes until the fall of 2012. Interim events could include podcasts, in-person events, etc.
Cindy also shared evaluation data from the last series of licensing webinars, and talked about the following ideas from CARLI members as possibilities for our next training event:

• have an online post session for workflow practices
• pro/con of multiyear licensing
• usage statistics
• contract changes
• information on SERU (Shared E-Resources Understanding)
• copyright/licensing
• ebook licensing issues
• vendor viewpoint on licensing
• best practices for e-resource management/collection development strategies

Cindy will send out this list of ideas after the meeting, and all ERWG group members will review the feasibility of implementing these ideas so that we can discuss them at next month’s meeting on April 9.