National Resource Sharing Working Group
Minutes of the Fifth Meeting, 6 April 2000
Attendees
Susan Magnay (Chair) (State Library of New South Wales)
Toby
Burrows (University of Western Australia)
Sue Grimes (Nepean Hospital
Library)
Joan Tucker (CAVAL)
Margaret Gauld (University of
Queensland)
Christine Cother (University of South Australia)
Dianne
Olleranshaw (Sutherland Shire Libraries & Information Service)
Cynthia
Love (CSIRO Information Technology Services)
Sharon Howells (University of
Newcastle)
Charu Sood (National Library of Australia)
Margarita
Moreno (part of the meeting)
Erica Ryan (part of the meeting)
Kristen
Ritchie (Minutes)
Apologies
Donna Runner (Deakin University - Geelong)
1. Minutes of last meeting
Minutes accepted as an accurate record of the meeting.
2. Apologies
Apologies were received from Donna Runner.
3. Business arising
'Looking for Books' comments
Susan Magnay reported that the Working Group's comments on the 'Looking for Books' report had been presented to the Australian Libraries Collections Task Force at its last meeting. The feedback received to date was that the paper had been well received and that Liz Curach had been asked to follow up the issue of extending and standardising loan periods. She would contact the Working Group if any action was required.
'In the Mail'
Kristen Ritchie reported that no further work had yet been undertaken on the action arising from the recommendations of the 'In the Mail' report.
4. ILRS Directory
Erica Ryan provided an update on progress with the ILRS redevelopment project. Margarito Mareno explained that the ILRS project was part of a larger directories project being undertaken by National Library. She also indicated that the ILRS Directory was being developed so as to be consistent with the PRIDE project and the X500 scheme. Comments were requested from Working Group members, particularly about tools and resources that could be listed in conjunction with the ILRS Directory.
Action: NRSWG Members to provide comments to Trish Woods, Erica Ryan or Margarita Morena.
5. National Resource Sharing Policy Committee (NRSPC) meeting
Susan Magnay reported on the first meeting of the Policy Committee in its current form, noting the membership and terms of reference. It was noted that the Policy Committee would, in part, act in an advisory capacity to the Working Group, as well as supporting and advocating its work. Susan reported that a discussion of GST issues at the Policy Committee meeting resulted in a request that the Working Group release a brief statement on ILL related GST issues. An initial draft had been circulated to Policy Committee members. It was agreed it would concurrently be circulated to Working Group members for comment. The issue of GST on reciprocal ILL arrangements was identified particularly as an area where advice was unclear, contradictory or misleadingly authoritative.
Action: Susan Magnay, NRSWG members.
6. Benchmarking Study
Members endorsed the National Library to undertake an ILL Benchmarking Study based on the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) survey on its behalf.
There was considerable discussion about the types of libraries which should be invited to participate in the Study. There was general acknowledgment that it was desirable to expand the survey beyond academic and State/National libraries to also include special and public libraries as a significant amount of inter library loan traffic takes place within these libraries. However, it was recognised that as the survey was designed for larger research libraries parts of the survey were not suited to smaller libraries. It was also thought that the survey would require a considerable amount of time to complete which was likely to be excessive for many smaller libraries with a small number of ILL staff.
It was agreed that because of these difficulties this Study should replicate the ARL survey and be undertaken with academic and State/National libraries. Work would be done to develop a modified survey instrument for use with other library sectors (perhaps measuring supply turnaround times and practices). The Survey Sub-Committee was asked to discuss options for surveying other sectors. The Consultation Sub-Committee was asked to develop a communications strategy for informing library groups and sectors about the Benchmarking Study.
Action: Survey Sub-Committee / Consultation Sub-Committee
It was agreed that it would be beneficial to enlarge the size of the Survey Sub-Committee to include additional members (as was done with the Standards Sub-Committee). Christine Cother offered to become a member of the Survey Sub-Committee. Members were asked to suggest to Charu Sood suitable external people who could be co-opted to the group.
Action: NRSWG members
7. Standards Sub-Committee Report
Charu Sood provided an update on the work of the Standards Sub-Committee. She reported that the Sub-Committee would meet in Sydney on the 19th May and would present a draft discussion paper and standards at the next face-to-face NRSWG meeting.
Action: Standards Sub-Committee
The Consultation Sub-Committee was asked to develop a communications strategy for seeking comments on the draft standards for presentation at the next face-to-face NRSWG meeting.
Action: Consultation Sub-Committee
8. Expert Advisory Group on Access to Electronic Resources report
Toby Burrows provided a brief report on the work of the Expert Advisory Group on Access to Electronic Resources of which he is a member. He noted the report he had previously circulated to members and asked that members provide him with comments on the suggested generic holdings statements for electronic resources before 14 April.
Action: NRSWG members
9. Face to Face Meeting
The face-to-face meeting was rescheduled to be held on the 29 - 30 June in Sydney. The next teleconference was confirmed for 2pm on the 11 May.
10. Any other business
Charu Sood raised the issue of undertaking some best practice activities prior to the completion of the Benchmarking Study. It was agreed this would be further discussed at the June meeting.
Meeting closed at 3.30pm
