National Resource Sharing Policy Committee
Minutes of the First Meeting, 23 March 2000
Minutes of the first meeting of the National Resource Sharing Policy Committee (NRSPC), held from 2.30pm on 23 March 2000 at the National Library of Australia.
Attendees
Andrew Wells (NLA - Chair)
Susan Magnay (CASL/NRSWG)
Liz Curach (CAUL)
Sherrey Quinn
(ALIA)
Charu Sood (NLA/NRSWG)
Kristen Ritchie (NLA - Minutes)
1. Introductions
Mr Wells provided some background on the establishment of the National Resource Sharing Policy Committee in its new form. This was based on National Library discussions with Jennefer Nicholson from ALIA where the need for a committee to address policy issues related to inter library loan and document delivery was recognised.
2. Discussion of the terms of reference for the policy committee
Members discussed the draft terms of reference provided and agreed some additional wording was necessary to clarify the Committee's role, reporting process and relationship with the National Resource Sharing Working Group (NRSWG). It was agreed that the Policy Committee members would report directly to their constituent groups. Also that the Policy Committee should meet a minimum of twice a year (with most work being undertaken by email).
Action: NLA to revise Terms of Reference and circulate to the Policy Committee for approval.
3.How the group will relate to NRSWG work
Members agreed that the Policy Committee's relationship with the National Resource Sharing Working Group (NRSWG) was a two-way process which included a support and advocacy role. The Policy Committee would provide support, guidance and advice to the NRSWG. Drafts of NRSWG reports would be circulated to Policy Committee members for comment.
4. GST related issues
Members discussed a range of GST related issues. "Reciprocal" ILL arrangements were considered to be the most problematic area.
It was agreed that there was considerable confusion about the GST and its impact on ILL in the library community. Members noted that ALIA intended to provide advice to its members, but it was suggested there was a need to provide more widespread and neutral advice. It was agreed that it would be worthwhile for the NRSWG to issue some basic information about the GST to assist library staff - essentially, the known facts about the application of the GST to ILL and issues still unresolved. A draft should be circulated to the Policy Committee members for comment.
Action: NRSWG to draft a brief "fact sheet" about the GST.
5. 'In the Mail' report of delivery times
The report was noted, as was the additional work being undertaken by the NRSWG to address the report's general recommendations.
6. Standards
Ms Sood explained that this was a critical area for the NRSWG, although it had not been progressed as much as it had been intended for a range of reasons. It was noted that new standards as soon as possible was considered critical by library groups such as CAUL.
The planned approach of the NRSWG to draft and release a three part discussion paper for comment was strongly endorsed. It was agreed extensive consultation would be required. It was suggested that executive library groups, such as ALIA sections, Kinetica user groups etc, could be utilised to circulate and publicise the discussion paper. Also that open forums may be beneficial. Mr Wells offered to consider contributing to the funding of any meetings which need to be organised to expedite the development of standards.
7. NRSWG response to the Looking for Books report
Cliff Law from the Coordination Support Branch in the National Library provided some background information about the Looking for Books report. Ms Magnay outlined the main points of the NRSWG response to the results and recommendations of Looking for Books. The response was noted and its main points supported. The lack of user knowledge about ILL processes was considered a major issue that needed to be addressed.
8. NRSWG Benchmarking study
Ms Sood provided background on the decision to undertake an Australian version of the US Association of Research Libraries (ARL) study to measure the performance of ILL operations. Members noted that work would be done to "Australianise" the survey and to include an additional section to track ILL supplier turnaround time (not a part of the ARL study). There was support for including questions about commercial document supplier performance. Concern was expressed about the possible response from libraries outside the academic sector and the applicability of the survey results to this sector if they were not included in the study. The issue of selecting survey participants was referred to the NRSWG for further discussion.
The planned timetable of the survey was noted. Mr Wells suggested that, given that it will take some time for the survey and its results to be finalised, there may be benefit in undertaking some earlier work to address best practice issues. This was referred to the NRSWG for consideration as there was a possible link with their standards work.
Action: NRSWG to consider:
- selection of survey participants for benchmarking study;
- ways of addressing best practice issues.
Meeting closed 5pm.
