Social Science Selection Team Meeting

September 16, 2002

Attending: Pam Baxter (scribe pro tempore), Phil Dankert (Chair), Constance Finlay, Janie Harris, Sarah How, Anna Korhonen, Don Schnedeker, Julie Stiles.

1. Ross Atkinson joined us for the first half of the meeting to discuss the current status of Elsevier proposals and issues to communicate to faculty. He distributed a document on the Elsevier options under discussion and their projected financial implications. This issue has taken on urgency, given the timing, status of NERL negotiations, and the fact that LMT will meet to deliberate the topic next week.

   There are basically three options for the Elsevier subscription on the table:
   (a) The NERL "Complete" package, which affords cross-access among NERL participants and generally continues what we have had for the past three years. The price of this option is significant, and we can cancel few or no titles for the duration of the three-year contract.
   (b) The NERL "E-Choice" package, which entails canceling all paper and receiving electronic only, although we can purchase paper copies at a deep discount; this would not include cross-access to the subscriptions of other NERL members and also prohibits any cancellations.
   (c) We could go it alone without NERL, in which case we would be able to cancel, but the prices of the individual subscriptions would greatly increase. Don asked about buying access to individual articles. Ross replied that Elsevier's current by-the-drink price is $30 per article and, if we purchase access to the same article for two users at two different times, we pay $30 each.

   The team generally agreed that Elsevier titles have a limited impact on their holdings and budgets, although this varies among disciplines. This is really up to the science team, because its members are the ones who have the most to invest in any decision.

   Ross went over some talking points on challenges of scholarly communication that might be helpful during meetings with faculty. This was supplemented by observations of those who had already spoken with faculty groups or individuals. Front and center is that budget considerations will not permit a business as usual approach to acquisitions. This will be apparent across the disciplines, and not solely due to the fact that costs are increasing faster than allocations. For example, contrast the implication of commercialization of science publishing with the problems of humanities disciplines, where content distributors are having problems getting materials published. The library is looking for partners among its constituents who will consider viable alternatives for scholarly communication. Ross also asked selectors to discuss the new Borrow Direct service with their constituents.

   Phil had previously routed an e-mail regarding availability of Sage publications. It appeared to the assembled that Sage is taking a lesson from Elsevier, although the social sciences have more of a stake in what Sage is doing. Janie's reading of the Sage mailing was that electronic coverage would continue through serial vendors, that the subject bundling was bewildering, and that continued monitoring is advisable.

2. Reports from the field:
   
   • Constance said that Hotel's subscription to www.reports.mintel.com should be added to e-Reference soon. She noted that the first time you log on, it's necessary to click on Logon from the main page.
   • JGSM is discontinuing access to Bridge because Bridge, now Reuters and Moneyline, has discontinued its university access program. Don said that staff continue to investigate alternative products to meet student needs for what Bridge offered.
   • Janie mentioned the changes in the Lexis/Nexis quick search interface and that some institutions were now using the guided search screen as their default. Might Cornell consider this approach? She also mentioned that full text Tribune publications are due to be removed from L/N and possibly ProQuest, and that other content providers are moving their products among vendors. Don observed that July to October seems to be a particularly active period for interface changes among vendors, a practice that's highly disruptive for academic settings. There followed a general discussion about how decisions to handle e-Reference interface changes, content withdrawal from aggregators, and so forth, are communicated and addressed in the DRC/IRPC structure.
   • Julie has ordered 500 volumes of the serial set in microfiche to complete Cornell's holdings. This reflects material not included in normal depository distribution, including lots of private bills.
   • Sarah is working with Cornell's Institute for European Studies as it prepares its proposal for National Resource Center funding for 2003-06. For the first time, Cornell is collaborating with Syracuse University, hoping to strengthen the proposal by broadening its (U.S.) regional base for outreach programs. If successful, this proposal will provide funding to CUL for major acquisitions and travel support for European studies bibliographers. The institute views those resources as fundamental to success of both the European area studies program and future grant proposals.
   • Phil announced new ILR approval plans with Libreria Garcia Cambeiro and Iberbook to strengthen holdings from Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and Portugal.

The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 21.

Minutes submitted by Phil Dankert.

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