KINETICA ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
27 & 29 August 2000
Agenda papers
Victoria Suite 2,
Hotel Sofitel
25 Collins
Street
Melbourne
Meeting commencing at 11 am on 27 August
KAC/2000/2/1
AGENDA
| 1. | Welcome and introduction, apologies | |
| 2. | Minutes of the previous meeting and business arising, if any | KAC/2000/5 |
| 3. | Director-Generals remarks | |
| 4. | Kinetica Financial Information (to be tabled) | KAC/2000/2/2 |
| 5. | Kinetica evaluation (embargoed) | KAC/2000/2/3 |
| 6. | Kinetica Status Report | |
| KAC/2000/2/4 | ||
|
||
| 7. | Kinetica Customer Survey (embargoed) | |
| 8. | Preparation for Kinetica
Annual Users Meeting 2000 (Steve OConnor to join for this part of the meeting) |
|
| 9. | Review of Kinetica Annual
Users Meeting 2000 (to be held 29 August 2 pm at Treasury Room, Mercure Hotel, 13 Spring Street) |
Kinetica Advisory Committee Meeting 14 February 2000 |
KAC/2000/5/ |
DRAFT MINUTES
Draft minutes of the Sixth meeting of the Kinetica Advisory Committee held at Deakin University, Toorak Campus on the 14th February 2000.
PRESENT
| Chairperson | Ms Helen Livingston Deputy University Librarian, Deakin University |
| Members | Ms Marian Bate Principal Librarian, University of New South Wales |
| Ms Kaye Hill Library and Information Service of Western Australia |
|
| Mr Philip Keane Head, Library and Educational Information Services, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide |
|
| Ms Jan Maslen Associate Librarian (Technical Services), La Trobe University |
|
| Ms Sherrey Quinn Libraries Alive! Canberra |
|
| Ms Meredith Wallace Manager, Information and Library Service, Parramatta City Library |
|
|
Mr Dale Chatwin |
|
|
Mr Trevor Wakely |
|
| Mr David Toll Deputy Director-General (Acting), National Library of Australia |
|
|
Ms Pam Gatenby |
|
| Observer | Ms Jan Fullerton Director General, National Library of Australia |
| Officers in Attendance | Mr Andrew Wells Assistant Director-General, Kinetica, NLA |
| Ms Bryony De La Motte Director, Kinetica Customer Service, NLA |
|
| Ms Julia Trainor Director, Kinetica Implementation, NLA |
|
| Minutes | Mr Tom Ruthven Kinetica Customer Service |
The meeting opened at 9:30 am.
AGENDA ITEM 1 |
WELCOME, INTRODUCTION AND APOLOGIES |
The Chairperson welcomed Mr Chatwin and Mr Wakely to their first meeting, and introduced them to the other members of the Committee. The Chairperson noted that Ms Bate would be arriving late due to disruption with airline services in Sydney.
AGENDA ITEM 2 |
ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSON AND DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON FOR 2000 |
Ms Livingston was elected unopposed as chairperson of the Committee for 2000, and Ms Bate was elected unopposed as the Deputy Chairperson for 2000.
AGENDA ITEM 3 |
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING |
It was resolved:
KAC/2000/RES/1
That the minutes of the meeting of 11th and 12th November 1999 are a true and accurate record of that meeting.
Two matters were raised from the minutes. Ms Trainor reported that the list of enhancements requested at the 1999 Annual Users Meeting has been distributed at Kinetica User meetings and is available on the National Library Web site. Mr Wells reported that quotations to conduct a customer satisfaction survey had closed on Friday 11 February. It is planned to survey customers in March with the final report due in May.
AGENDA ITEM 4 |
DIRECTOR-GENERAL'S REMARKS |
The Director-General noted that Mr Toll has been appointed as the Deputy Director-General of the National Library. She commented on the following matters:
- The National Librarys Directions Statements has been issued. It emphasises an outward-looking approach to National Library activities.
- Robyn Holmes from the Canberra School of Music has been appointed as the Music Specialist.
- Files which will fill gaps in the National Bibliographic Database (NBD) are being ranked for loading to the NBD.
- Cataloguing records for National Library material not on the NBD continues to be added, including the conversion of the last of the card catalogues, Pacific language materials and the music collection.
- The National Library is considering the results of a recent survey that showed that few organisations are taking responsibility for preserving electronic publications.
- A plan is being developed to increase the digitisation of material held by the National Library, focussing on complementing digitisation activities in other Australian libraries.
- The Library did not identify a suitable tenderer for the Digital Services Project (DSP) and is pursuing a strategy of smaller tenders for components of the DSP.
- The Library did not experience any Year 2000 problems with its computer systems.
AGENDA ITEM 5 |
Report of KAC members on meetings with National Library Council |
Ms Livingston reported that she and Ms Bate had attended part of the National Librarys Council meeting on 1 December. Mr Peter McGauran, the Federal Minister for the Arts and the Centenary of Federation, was present during the discussion. She noted that in light of some adverse comments, Council members appeared suspicious of Kinetica. Both she and Ms Bate had spoken candidly about the usefulness and value of Kinetica in their libraries and its place in supporting Australian libraries.
The Director-General thanked Ms Livingston and Ms Bate for their
attendance at the Council meeting. She noted that Ms Bate and Ms Livingston had
met with Mr Robert Barnes recently to discuss Kinetica. Ms Livingston commented
that much of the discussion had centred on changes within universities and
misunderstandings about the purpose of the National Bibliographic Database.
AGENDA ITEM 6 |
Kinetica Financial Information |
Mr Wells noted that income was about $1 million below the pro-rata target to the end of December, adding that the deficit is expected to decrease for the January to June period with a forecast income of $5.5 million to $5.7 million for the full financial year. Employee expenses have been contained, with a reduction of 5 staff since July. Supply expenses were greater than expected as they were affected by the continuation of ABN for document delivery activity due to delays in implementing Kinetica Document Delivery.
AGENDA ITEM 7 |
Kinetica Status Report |
Membership
Ms De La Motte reported 18 new members had joined the service. Follow up was occurring with approximately 140, mainly small, users that had not returned a User Agreement. Mr Wells added that use of Ilanet was being monitored both to move low volume users of Kinetica to Ilanet and querying why high volume users of Ilanet were not using Kinetica direct. On a question from Ms Wallace, Mr Wells stated that the agreement with Ilanet does not allow Ilanet to carry high-volume Kinetica users. Ms Wallace noted that joint marketing efforts with Ilanet would be useful, particularly in the areas of Kinetica Document Delivery where consideration should be given to lowering entry barriers. She also noted that a consortia approach might come from both the Metropolitan and Country Public Library Associations of NSW.
Usage reports
The data in these reports will be complete after implementation of Version 3.2 of the server software that will log holdings added through KineticaWeb.
Kinetica Client Version 3.2
Ms Trainor reported that pre-production tests the previous weekend had identified some problems that may delay implementation by a week. It was agreed to announce the delay at the "Day with the National Library". Ms Trainor also reported that formal input is made to ELiAS on product development. The input includes the recommendations of the Reference and End User Services Expert Advisory Group. Most of the National Library requirements for LibriVision will be met in the next two releases. Mr Wells noted that Kinetica is a major client for ELiAS and has a major influence on development. He added that regular discussions on development are held with the British Library where there is a similar direction for development of LibriVision. The British Library's initial implementation will be with a separate version of the AMICUS system known as version 4.
Marketing
Ms De La Motte reported that the primary marketing focus had been the "Day with the National Library" and trade stands at the VALA and CONSAL conferences. She noted that targeting Australian university campuses in South Asia through such opportunities as the CONSAL conference could increase revenue for little outlay.
Overcoming access problems was discussed. A workshop is planned for late March with Kinetica, Federal Libraries Information Network (FLIN) members and the Defence Signals Directorate to make participants more aware of the benefits of access and technical solutions. This may assist other libraries that have firewall issues. Ongoing benchmarking of response times will occur with a sample of users. It may highlight configurations that provide faster access. Regular discussions are held with IBM GSA to continually improve response time. Suggestions for improving workflows are being addressed by general advice, workplace visits to particular sites and tips and hints being posted to Kinetica-L. It was noted that Christine Cother had developed an advanced course in KDD which had been well attended and which could be replicated elsewhere.
User Groups
Ms De La Motte reported that it is intended to visit every State and Territory User Group meeting at least once a year and increase contact with other groups such as ALIA Special Libraries Section and OPALS Group meetings. It was noted that not attending every User Group meeting would encourage users to discuss issues and share information, although there should be an open offer for National Library staff to attend if requested. Mr Wells added that as discussed previously by the Committee, senior National Library staff would visit the top 20 users each year.
It was resolved:
KAC/2000/RES/2
The National Library attend User Group meetings in each State and Territory at least once a year, with an open offer to attend more often at the User Groups request.
Kinetica Document Delivery
Mr Wells reported that the next version with a new web interface is being tested, and the National Library is working with the National Library of New Zealand to develop a joint list of development priorities based on feedback from users.
An announcement will be made later in February about the National Library ceasing the acceptance of ALIA vouchers on 1 June. Discussions had occurred with ALIA about this change.
A change will be made to the KDD Payments Service following the implementation of the GST. Each month a cheque will be sent to users for items supplied and an invoice for items requested. This follows advice from the Australian Taxation Office.
The Committee discussed options to charge LIDDAS and TePuna users, including an annual fee for requests that go through Kinetica.
Business relationships
Ms De La Motte reported on the British Librarys "inside web" offer to Kinetica Users, noting that a possible development is making "inside web" a z39.50 target and linking it to KDD. Mr Wells added that it is planned to approach other document delivery services about linking to KDD.
Mr Toll reported on discussions with OCLC about an arrangement similar to that with RLIN which may occur in the next 12 to 18 months. The datasets being considered are First Search including Worldcat and full text journals. The National Librarys preference is for a pay-as-you-go service from OCLC or a national site licence, rather than subscriptions. The meeting noted that access to electronic record sets through cataloguing records on the NBD should be treated as a priority to enhance access for Australian libraries which have site licences to the full text items.
Mr Wells added that options are being considered to recover OCLCs charge of US$0.50 per record from Kinetica users who add holdings to OCLC and have the National Library transfer the record and holding to the NBD.
Mr Toll noted that the National Library is contributing MARC and Dublin Core metadata to the CORC project for material in PANDORA. OCLC see CORC as a major platform for the future. Discussion followed on possible developments including an Australian metadata repository, use of metadata other than Dublin Core, and exchange of metadata at a network to network level.
ISBN Agency
Concerns regarding the data quality of ISBN records have been raised with Thorpe. Files are being loaded regularly.
Batch*Link
Ms Trainor opened discussion noting that although the service is operational and being publicised more, some larger libraries had not started contributing, resulting in a one-year gap in holdings and cataloguing records. Potential users may have underestimated the time and expense involved in developing an export facility for their local system.
The Committee discussed ways to overcome barriers to contributing by batch, noting that the barriers are technical rather than financial. Suggested strategies included the National Library visiting larger libraries, Committee members lobbying non-contributors directly and through peak bodies, and working with the Academies and the Australian Libraries Collection Task Force to promote the usefulness of a national database of location information for end-users.
AGENDA ITEM 8 |
Kinetica Business Plan 2000-2005 |
Mr Wells introduced the paper noting that the plan is substantially shorter and more explicit than the November draft. It covers the potential role of metadata, and includes an emphasis on marketing KDD to small and medium libraries and the development of alliances with resellers, networks, utilities and consortia.
The Committee noted the reduction in staff costs over time in line with a decline in revenue, and that new activities such as managing the Australian Libraries Gateway and ImageSearch may result in no reduction in actual staff. Mr Toll noted that the reduction in revenue reflects in part the move to batch loading of data. Mr Wells added that the revenue does not include potential revenue from access to other data sources and any response to marketing such as increased use of document delivery by existing customers or new members.
AGENDA ITEM 9 |
Charges and Budget 2000/2001 |
Mr Toll introduced this item. He stated that although price changes for ABN and Kinetica usually occurred on 1 July and were recommended in the paper, it was not planned to do so this year partly because of the introduction of the GST at this time. A review of charges could occur in October when data for a full 12 months use of all services will be available. Both the National Librarys Council and the Corporate Management Group are not averse to changing prices on 1 January 2001. Site licences renegotiation would commence in March to cover the six months from July to December 2000.
Mr Toll also noted that recovery of the full cost of RLIN searches would commence from 1 July. The meeting discussed options to include RLIN searches in site licences. Suggestions included placing a cap on the number of RLIN searches in a site licence before charging per search of RLIN occurred.
In response to a question, Mr Wells noted that there are 21 users of the ANCJK Service who will meet in June at the Asian Librarians meeting and in August in conjunction with the Kinetica Annual Users Meeting. Charges for ANCJK will be reviewed at the same time as other revenues.
It was noted that:
- changes to transaction based charges will be delayed in order to allow consideration of a full years use of Kinetica, and that no increase in transaction charges will occur before 31 December 2000,
- An increase in the RLIN search charge is likely from 1 July 2000 to recover costs,
- Site licences to begin on 1 July will be negotiated with a possible cap on the number of Document Delivery requests and RLIN searches included in a site licence.
- The OCLC record processing charge will be passed on to users for records exported from WorldCat into the NBD.
It was resolved:
KAC/2000/RES/3
A paper be brought to the next Kinetica Advisory Committee meeting in August outlining charging proposals to commence on 1 January 2001 for Kinetica and ANCJK, including business price modelling on the impacts of the proposals.
AGENDA ITEM 10 |
Kinetica evaluation |
Mr Wells noted that the decreased contribution of holdings reflects the decrease in acquisitions by users and some gaps whilst waiting for libraries to begin batch loading; and the good response to the implementation of the link from a NUC on KineticaWeb to the librarys entry on the Australian Libraries Gateway. The Chair noted that the performance measures have been agreed by the National Librarys Council.
AGENDA ITEM 11 |
A day with the National Library of Australia: VALA Ancillary day |
The Director-General expressed her gratification that over 200 people will be attending this meeting that will further develop open communication in a new way between the National Library and the Australian library community.
AGENDA ITEM 12 |
Kinetica elections |
Ms De La Motte sought Committee members advice on a nominee to chair the Annual Users Meeting, noting that no nominations had been received. Steve O'Connor, Executive Director of CAVAL was suggested. During the meeting the Chairperson invited Mr O'Connor to undertake the role, and he accepted.
AGENDA ITEM 13 |
Kinetica Annual Users Meeting 2000 KAC/2000/1/8 |
Ms De La Motte introduced the paper, seeking comment on the proposed format and content of the AUM. Feedback from the previous AUM on parallel sessions suggested each group should discuss the same forward-looking issues, with people in each group representing a range of interests. Groups split by interest tend to focus on specific small problems rather than strategic matters. The parallel sessions are planned to be held on the first day. On the second day, each group would report back on a different segment of the issues that were discussed. Representatives from the Expert Advisory Groups would also report to the AUM, and State and Territory User Groups would be asked to raise issues and provide papers on topics.
Suggestions included having morning tea or lunch with the executives of the State and Territory User Groups or meeting with the Chairs the day before; asking User Groups to express interest in speaking at the AUM or contributing to a panel discussion; and asking User Groups for their top three strategic topics. One possible topic is the advantages and disadvantages of contributing via Batch*Link.
AGENDA ITEM 14 |
ELiAS visit |
The Director-General introduced and welcomed three visitors to the meeting: Richard Robeyns, the President of ELiAS, Aoife Lawton, ELiAS programmer, and Alberic Regent, Systems Librarian at the Catholic University of Leuven. They spoke about the developments planned for AMICUS and LibriVision during the coming year.
AGENDA ITEM 15 |
Digital Services Project report KAC/2000/1/9 |
An appendix to the report was tabled. The Committee noted the report.
The next meeting was set for Sunday 27th and Tuesday 29th August in Melbourne, either side of the AUM, with the following meeting scheduled for Wednesday 6th December in Canberra.
Action items
Present a paper to the next Kinetica Advisory Committee meeting in August outlining charging proposals to commence on 1 January 2001 for Kinetica and ANCJK.
The following agenda papers were embargoed
- Kinetica Financial Information
- Kinetica Status Report: Business relationships
- Kinetica Business Plan 2000-2005
- Charges and Budget 2000/2001
- Kinetica evaluation
The meeting closed at 5:10 pm.