AGENDA |
KAC/2001/2/1 |
Kinetica Advisory Committee Meeting July 2001 |
KAC/2001/2/1 |
Draft minutes of the Tenth meeting of the Kinetica Advisory Committee held at the Grand Mercure Hotel, Broadbeach.
PRESENT
| Chairperson | Ms Helen Livingston Acting University Librarian, Deakin University |
| Members | Mr Dale Chatwin Director, ABS Library Network, Australian Bureau of Statistics |
| Ms Pam Gatenby Assistant Director-General, Collections Management, National Library of Australia |
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| Ms Kaye Hill Library and Information Service of Western Australia |
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| Ms Jan Maslen Associate Librarian (Information Resources), La Trobe University |
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| Ms Doreen Parker University Librarian, Victorian University of Technology |
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| Ms Sherrey Quinn Libraries Alive! Canberra |
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| Ms Patricia Scott Bibliographic Services Librarian, University of Adelaide |
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| Mr David Toll Deputy Director-General, National Library of Australia |
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| Mr Trevor Wakely Technical Services Librarian, National Meteorological Library |
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| Ms Meredith Wallace Manager, Information and Library Service, Parramatta City Library |
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| Observer | Ms Jan Fullerton
Director-General, National Library of Australia |
| Officers in Attendance | Ms Roxanne Missingham Assistant Director-General, Resource Sharing Division, National Library |
| Mr Rob Walls Director (Acting), Kinetica Database Services, National Library |
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| Ms Papiya Chakravarti Manager, Kinetica Client Services, National Library of Australia |
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| Minutes | Ms Margaret Kennedy Kinetica Branch, National Library of Australia |
The meeting opened at 9.30 am.
AGENDA ITEM 1 |
WELCOME, INTRODUCTION AND APOLOGIES |
The chairperson welcomed two new members, Doreen Parker and Patricia Scott.
It was noted that Meredith Wallace was attending her last meeting.
AGENDA ITEM 1 |
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING |
It was resolved:
KAC/2001/2/RES/1
That the minutes of the previous meeting on 29 March 2001 are a true and accurate record of the meeting.
AGENDA ITEM 3 |
ITEMS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES |
Dale Chatwin queried a statement on the increasing use of Kinetica Document Delivery Service and the use of vouchers. Trevor Wakely said that in Victoria the use of vouchers was second in preference to KDD payments, while credit cards, invoices etc were less preferred.
Dale Chatwin had not heard of any move back to vouchers. David Toll commented that vouchers did not meet contemporary accounting requirements. Out of Canberra, special libraries in the business sector found it much easier to handle KDD payments and vouchers.
Helen Livingston suggested that Kinetica push the use of KDD payments.
Tom Ruthven will be requested to produce a short paper for the next Committee meeting on the cost per item of the KDD system versus vouchers, cheques and invoices.
AGENDA ITEM 4 |
DIRECTOR GENERAL'S REMARKS |
Bryony De La Mottes retirement
The Director General commented on the recent retirement of Bryony De la Motte, after a long association with ABN and Kinetica, and requested that the Kinetica Advisory Committees thanks to Bryony be recorded in the minutes.
New National Library Council Chairman
Sir James Gobbo has been appointed as the new Chairman of the National Library Council. Jan Fullerton stressed that the Council had a vital role in the management of the National Library.
Future Options for Kinetica
A paper addressing future options for the Kinetica Service will be prepared for the December meeting of the National Library Council. Jan Fullerton stated that the National Library does not want to opt out of Kinetica, but needs to thoroughly consider issues and options. A considerable amount of the Librarys budget is expended on Kinetica, and the Library is accountable for this. The Library will shortly be undertaking the annual review of the balanced scorecard, the Librarys prime planning process, and in the process would be looking at budgets and initiatives.
Electronic Resources
Over the last few months the Library has been defining its electronic resources action plan. A paper has been produced outlining metadata guidelines for creators, aimed predominantly at the government sector. A major report has been prepared advocating the use of persistent identification of electronic resources. The proposed service, known as the Australian Digital Resource Identifier (ADRI), has been developed by the National Library in cooperation with Lloyd Sokvitne from the State Library of Tasmania. A small working group has been set up to start defining a syntax and schema for the service. Results will be presented to CASL, and if endorsed by CASL libraries, the National Library will investigate the possibility of a national naming service.
Doreen Parker asked if there will be any opportunity for consultation to ensure the participation of various sectors. Pam Gatenby responded that a consultation strategy was still to be worked out, and Jan Fullerton emphasised the complexity of the issue.
Jan Fullerton will be attending a forthcoming meeting between the National Library, State libraries and Screensound Australia. These organisations are moving towards a written Memorandum of Understanding to ensure continued preservation of and access to collections.
Copyright Agency Limited (CAL)
CAL and the National Library are discussing a collaborative project to undertake research on copyright.
Digitisation Project
The National Library has begun a project to digitise approximately 40,000 collection items, consisting of images, sheet music, manuscript collections and maps. Most of the material is unpublished material, and will form a critical mass of digitised material from the Librarys collections. Ten to twelve people are being recruited for the project.
Public Library Representation
David Toll reported that the State libraries and some public libraries are considering the feasibility of setting up a body to represent all public libraries in Australia, with the purpose of lobbying and attracting government funding.
Data Sets Consortium
The data sets consortium involving the National Library and state libraries is in its first year of operation, and is hoping to be able to obtain more datasets. It is attempting to achieve more involvement by public libraries.
Kinetica Consortia
The New South Wales Country Public Libraries Association is considering joining Kinetica as a consortium.
Jan Fullerton has suggested to the AVCC that they obtain a site licence for all university libraries. Doreen Parker suggested that a formal process should be put in place for following this up with CAUL. The two CAUL representatives on the Kinetica Advisory Committee, Helen Livingston and Doreen Parker, will discuss ways of following up with CAUL.
AGENDA ITEM 5 |
KINETICA FINANCIAL INFORMATION |
Roxanne Missingham tabled the Kinetica Operating Statement as at 30 June 2001. David Toll noted that the expenditure included services whose costs are not recovered through Kinetica, such as the Australian Libraries Gateway (ALG). The National Library will attempt to removed these expenses from future Kinetica Operating Statements.
It was noted that 90% of Kinetica revenue comes from database searching and site licences, 5% from Kinetica Document Delivery (KDD), and 5% from other activities.
Helen Livingston asked if searchers were in fact subsidising KDD users, as 180,000 annual requests generate only 5% of Kinetica revenue. Roxanne Missingham responded that KDD had the greatest growth potential, and potential users needed to be targeted and encouraged to use the service. David Toll explained that the cost in ABN and Kinetica for document delivery users had been low, in comparison with OCLC. The Library is attempting to sell Kinetica as a system that supports document delivery, and putting prices up considerably would provide a disincentive. In addition to revenue directly attributable to the creation of KDD requests, a component of Kinetica searching revenue is attributable to KDD users; Rob Walls said that approximately two searches can be attributed to each KDD request.
More detailed costings of individual Kinetica services will be provided when the Committee considers Kinetica charges at its next meeting.
Patricia Scott commented that the growth of batch loading of holdings would increase KDD requests. David Toll commented that batch loading needs to be identified as a Kinetica support cost, and that numbers and proportions of records loaded were needed. Roxanne Missingham undertook to circulate figures on the number of new records added to the National Bibliographic Database via batch loading as opposed to online.
There had been some difficulty in reporting KDD revenue, as payments were currently made into the National Librarys system. From the beginning of the 2002/2003 financial year, these payments would be separated out and put into a trust account.
AGENDA ITEM 6 |
KINETICA STATUS REPORT |
Roxanne Missingham spoke to this agenda item.
Australian Libraries Gateway Review
She outlined the success of the recent Australian Libraries Gateway review, with more than 90% of stakeholders and end users expressing satisfaction with the service. An internal review of the Australian Libraries Gateway is under way.
Cataloguing Client Usability Review
A usability review has been carried out on the Kinetica cataloguing client. A number of issues were highlighted, and the report has been forwarded to Elias. Kinetica staff are already actioning recommendations re documentation.
A report including a response from the National Library is included in the Kinetica Advisory Committee papers.
Amicus Software Upgrade
The upgrade of the Amicus software to version 3.3 took place several weeks ago, and several problems have arisen. A patch to be distributed in the next week or so will rectify most of these. The patch will not, however, fix the problem of false disconnection messages, which IBM-GSA is following up urgently with Elias.
Helen Livingston asked about the British Library version of the software. Roxanne Missingham replied that the British Library are using consultants to write modifications to improve functionality and response times. Roxanne will be in contact with the British Library in September, and will follow up with them. Dale Chatwin asked if the British Library consultants transferred intellectual property rights for their modifications to Elias. Roxanne replied that it would be beneficial for the National Library to have access to these enhancements, but the two products were probably following separate development paths, and we needed to ensure that the British Library modifications were brought into Amicus products.
KDD Software Upgrade
A new version of the Fretwell Downing VDX document delivery software has recently been implemented, and interoperability of this software with other document delivery systems using the ISO ILL protocol will be tested.
Doreen Parker requested clarification of the relationship between KDD and LIDDAS. A representative of Kinetica has attended all LIDDAS meetings. Jan Fullerton noted that LIDDAS needed strong project management to complete its development work. She asked whom the National Library could talk to about this. Doreen suggested that either John Mularvey or Madeline Macpherson would be appropriate contacts, and offered to follow up with Madeline Macpherson.
LIDDAS
Roxanne Missingham stated that both KDD and LIDDAS are important tools for resource sharing in Australia. It is important that both are ISO compliant, so that users can use the product that best meets their needs. The National Librarys role is to provide ISO compliant interfaces to facilitate this. The ILRS directory has been developed as an X500 directory of libraries, but not solely for LIDDAS.
KineticaWeb
A new version of the KineticaWeb software has been received. It provides both a simple and a Common Command Language (CCL) interface, and is currently undergoing testing.
Te Puna
Access to the National Library of New Zealands database, Te Puna, will be implemented soon.
Web Input Interface
The Web Input interface has been developed, and is about to undergo pilot testing. Dale Chatwin pointed out that a pilot site should be included to test access from behind firewalls. Sherrey Quinn requested that a special library using KDD but not the Kinetica cataloguing client be included in the pilot testing.
Batch*Link
There are now 34 Batch*Link customers. A question re the proportion of records added via Batch*Link was taken on notice.
Sydney Metropolitan Public Libraries Site License
The site license agreement for the Sydney Metropolitan Public Libraries Association was signed in June, and David Toll stated that this needed to be promoted at the Kinetica Users Group Meeting.
Subject Headings Review panel
There is a full report of the Subject Headings Review Panel included in the Kinetica Advisory Committee papers.
CJK Service
The service has experienced steady growth. Membership is now 23, with the addition of the Japan Foundation Library.
Kinetica evaluation
The annual survey of Kinetica users and stakeholders was held in June. The survey revealed an improvement in the level of satisfaction recorded by both groups, with 86% of users and 93% of stakeholders being satisfied or very satisfied with the service.
Help Desk
There was also a high level of satisfaction with the help desk. The help desk has seen a growth in the amount of assistance requested via Email. Email is preferred, as it gives help desk staff an opportunity to provide a more considered and detailed response than is possible over the phone. Helen Livingston asked what volume of emails were received. Papiya Chakravarti responded that there were approximately 3,500 per annum. These queries and responses often formed the basis of FAQs etc, but the process of tracking help desk inquiries was manual.
Dale Chatwin asked if there was any logging system in place for phone calls and email. David Toll suggested that Kinetica staff consider use of software such as that used by the IT Client Support help desk.
Kinetica Membership Cancellations
Meredith Wallace asked about the cancellation of Kinetica memberships. Papiya Chakravarti explained that these were mainly small special libraries, which had closed.
AGENDA ITEM 7 |
KINETICA CHARGING POLICY END USERS |
Roxanne Missingham introduced this agenda item. A significant increase in the number of searchers would have financial implications for Kinetica, in that costs for additional servers and IT facilities management would need to be met, and ways of handling this extra expenditure need to be explored. Roxanne stressed that we need to consider the issue before increasing usage reaches that critical point.
At present most university libraries and the state libraries offer end user access. In some institutions, the end user password is also used by reference staff. One institution had its end user password on the Web, until requested to remove it.
Helen Livingston asked if there was any information on Kinetica regarding use patterns, and whether end users may use the system at times when there are not many other users. Roxanne Missingham undertook to bring statistics of end user access at the National Library, State libraries and university libraries to the next meeting of the Kinetica Advisory Committee. Since end user access was actually happening, it was important to collect and analyse existing data.
David Toll stated that, because site licences are based on the previous years usage, when end user access is separated out, Kinetica revenue may decrease. The proposed capping of costs needs to be balanced, as costs cannot be borne by existing customers. Helen Livingston stated that universities were afraid that if they offered end user access their bills may increase.
It was noted that usage by end users will be influenced by the means of access, and how easy the interface is to search. There was some discussion on the difficulty of using Kinetica Web; however, it was pointed out that the majority of end users accessed Kinetica via Z39.50 (from their local catalogues).
Jan Fullerton felt that the proposal was premature, and David Toll stated that there was a need to look at the overall economics of the service, and to be able to base it on more information than was currently at hand. A more detailed proposal will be brought back to the next Kinetica Advisory Committee meeting.
AGENDA ITEM 8 |
KINETICA PROGRESS REPORT REVIEW |
Roxanne Missingham tabled the report for discussion by the Kinetica Advisory Committee.
David Toll explained that the Library had decided not to undertake a detailed economic study of the Kinetica service, due to the expected high cost of such a study in such a specialised area.
The economic impact of Kinetica can be assessed in terms of its level of support and use in the Australian library community, given the very low level of total expenditure by libraries on the service. The efficiencies realised by use of the NBD is another measure of the economic impact of the service. Holdings have shown a steady increase, and availability of and satisfaction with the service are indicators of its effectiveness.
Australia is unique in having a centralised National Bibliographic Database. The virtual model of an NBD has not happened to any significant degree elsewhere, but this model needs to be monitored over time. Sherrey Quinn commented that the cooperative nature of Kinetica is not apparent in the paper, and it needs to be stated that for this reason Australia has an advantage over these other models.
Alternative sources of funding of the service are being sought, with attempts to gain more financial support from government. The National Library is moving away from the notion of full cost recovery, and will support maintenance activities for the NBD. Kay Hill asked how the Library manages funding for Kinetica. David Toll responded that this is part of the Librarys budgeting process, with expected revenues and expenses identified, including depreciation etc.
The recent introduction of consortia licensing is a strategy that is already showing positive results.
Doreen Parker stressed that Kinetica needs to look at links to local library management systems as part of its investigation of alternative models. End users want to see holdings, and whether items are on the shelf. Organisations such as CAVAL continue to grow to meet this need. Helen Livingston responded that historically the NBD has not carried item information.
Sherrey Quinn asked what source of statistics on special libraries was used for the review. Roxanne responded that a list is kept, and is reviewed once a year. Another question was asked about criteria for definition of key special libraries. Roxanne Missingham and Papiya Chakravarti would investigate this.
Searching statistics for ABN and Kinetica cannot be compared, as they were counted differently on both systems.
Trevor Wakely requested that statistics for growth of bibliographic records be brought to the next Committee meeting.
AGENDA ITEM 9 |
KINETICA STRATEGIC REVIEW |
The Kinetica contract with IBM GSA terminates at the end of 2003, and the National Library has begun a review to identify the most efficient and effective way to provide resource sharing services beyond this date. A decision needs to be made before the end of this year so that the Australian Library Community can be prepared. Jan Fullerton will take a paper to the December meeting of the National Library Council, and prior consultation with the Kinetica Advisory Committee is required.
David Toll outlined Library activities which have implications for the NBD, specifically the National Metadata Repository Proof of Concept, and stressed the need to examine all options in context.
Roxanne Missingham referred to the investigations being carried out by the British Library into the establishment of a virtual union catalogue. The National Library may derive some benefit from this work.
Several questions and comments were made about the Z39.50 Union Catalogue Profile (UCP). In order for the UCP to be effective it would need to be implemented in both the Kinetica Amicus software and the software of library systems used by Kinetica users. Roxanne Missingham will be discussing the vendor commitment with Elias in September, but the development required by vendors is considerable, and it is not apparent that this is a high priority for system developers at present.
Helen Livingston expressed some concern that some libraries may not wish to be, or may not be able to be Z39.50 targets in a virtual union catalogue set-up.
Jan Fullerton explained that the main issue at hand is whether the National Library should renew its contract with IBM GSA. David Toll outlined a range of other options, including:
David further stated that we cannot base our planning on assumptions (such as the likelihood that IBM GSA will want to renew its contract with the National Library)
Jan Fullerton requested the Kinetica Advisory Committee to make a recommendation as to the preferred option for continued delivery of services.
Doreen Parker suggested that the committee also take a longer term look at newer technologies. In the current situation, where alternative technological options are not yet available, and stability for Kinetica users is desirable, the Library should pursue the continuation of the current service.
It was resolved:
KAC2001/2/RES2
That the Kinetica Advisory Committee recommends the National Library of Australia continue the Kinetica service on the basis of a centralised National Bibliographic Database using the current Amicus system in the medium term.
AGENDA ITEM 10 |
KINETICA CUSTOMER REASEARCH |
The reports of the Focus Group research, and Satisfaction Surveys of stakeholders and customers of the Kinetica service were tabled and discussed.
One rural focus group was held in Wagga. Focus groups were also held in Sydney and Melbourne. These consisted of academic and special libraries. The consultant covered a number of issues, including the importance of Kinetica in holding Australian libraries together, and ways of making the service more effective. Participants had a lot to say. They did not require any prompting, and made many valuable comments, such as those covering the features of an "enhanced NBD", which are detailed on Page 25 of the report.
Some Focus Group participants registered concern that they were almost suggesting a return to the development of a World1.
Helen Livingston stated that the ideas outlined in the report should be taken on board in planning, and be reflected in the next business plan.
Many of the suggestions were seen to be actions that the NLA should undertake, and were not specifically related to Kinetica. Jan Fullerton agreed, and said that Kinetica meetings were always a forum for comments about the National Library as a whole, and that the National Librarys objectives were broader than those of Kinetica. Helen Livingston stated that in Britain the lack of a NBD resulted in no national forum for discussion of issues, and that in Australia, we had many mechanisms for other forms of cooperation and involvement.
Helen Livingston thanked the consultant for the comprehensiveness of the report.
Roxanne Missingham highlighted one issue to come out of the report, i.e. the confusion over what types of material are represented in the NBD, and where other services such as RAAM, PictureAustralia fit into the picture. Roxanne stated that these services are simply reuse of NBD records for specialist purposes. It was concluded that we need clearer statements about Kinetica and electronic resources and these specialist services.
One other issue to arise from the report is the perception that there has been a decrease in contribution to the NBD. This is refuted by statistics of holdings added to the NBD, however, the perception does not appear to be changing. This misperception needs to be tackled at the Users meeting, and the results of the user survey should also be communicated to users.
Another perception is that use of Kinetica is "expensive", and that it is too difficult for libraries to add holdings. The Web Input form may go some way to address these issues. David Toll responded that the only benchmark we have is OCLC, where people actually pay to contribute data, and pay to remove data. Patricia Scott pointed out that holdings contribution to OCLC is free, although there is a charge for batch holdings contributions. There is also a rebate for original cataloguing. Searching OCLC is expensive.
Work undertaken by consultants for the British Library in making the cataloguing client more usable may have some impact. Roxanne Missingham stated that the availability of batch loading has had a significant impact.
Patricia Scott responded that many Batch*Link customers would prefer to contribute in real-time, as this maximised the currency of contributions and the potential for sharing data for cooperative cataloguing.
Pam Gatenby stated that the report should be covered in the Users meeting, and suggested highlighting the last sentence of the report :
"It is unusual in research of this kind for participants to exhibit such an interest and commitment to what happens next ."
AGENDA ITEM 11 |
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES |
Report of Survey by Expert Advisory Group on Access to Electronic Resources
The Committee expressed its thanks to the EAGER. The recommendations were noted, and the National Library will report at future KAC meetings on how they are improving NBD coverage of electronic resources.
It was resolved:
KAC/2001/2/RES3
To encourage the National Library to promote the advantages of reporting holdings for electronic resources to the NBD, even when access restrictions apply to the material.
KAC/2001/2/RES4
That the Kinetica Advisory Committee endorse the promotion of the guidelines for holdings statements, developed by the Expert Advisory Group on Access to Electronic resources, as the preferred method for reporting holdings to the NBD.
KAC/2001/2/RES5
That the Kinetica Advisory Committee strongly encourage the National Library to develop and promote guidelines that will support the reporting of bibliographic records and holdings for electronic resources to the NBD.
NLA Electronic Information Resources Strategies and Action Plan 2001-2002
David Toll introduced this agenda item.
The action plan provides an overview of what the National Library is doing with respect to electronic resources, including looking at ways in which the Library can move forward with an electronic NBD, and providing support for the sharing of electronic resources. The NBD should be a one-stop shop for electronic and non-electronic resources. Many sites list their electronic resources on their websites, instead of in the catalogue or on the NBD. Holdings for all material should be reported to the NBD to maximise resource sharing. NBD records can be re-used for other purposes (eg the Australian Literature Gateway), and we can cooperate with other bodies to improve services (eg RAAM, subject gateways, PictureAustralia).
The Library is interested in feedback on collaboration with Government and other relevant organisations in relation to collecting and managing Australian electronic resources.
Helen Livingston stated that Australian theses and material for the print disabled fit in here, and there is a need to identify actions to deal with these types of material.
LC Action Plan from Bicentennial Conference on Bibliographic Control for the New Millennium
The Kinetica Advisory Committee noted the paper.
Roxanne Missingham noted that we should be in harmony with the Library of Congress, and should be feeding in recommendations and ideas. However, it is difficult to know how we can influence LC.
Pam Gatenby defined three areas, which we have flagged with LC as being of interest to us:
AGENDA ITEM 11 |
KINETICA CATALOGUING CLIENT USABILITY STUDY |
The Kinetica Cataloguing Client Usability Study was carried out by IBM-GSA User Centred Design Team. Recommendations arising from the study have been forwarded to Elias; however, no feedback has been received as yet.
Rob Walls reported that the study gave objective rankings on how the usability issues were regarded by users. This confirmed the priorities that Kinetica have been pushing with Elias. In response to previous communications, Elias has responded that a number of requested improvements would be delivered with Amicus Release 3.4.
The study also highlighted a number of deficiencies in Kinetica documentation; all of these will be addressed in the next month or so.
Roxanne Missingham has reported to state user groups on the usability review, and will mention it at the users meeting tomorrow.
AGENDA ITEM 13 |
TABLE OF CONTENTS DATA (TOC) |
Margaret Kennedy introduced this agenda item.
Pam Gatenby asked if there were subject areas where TOC data would be used more than other areas. Roxanne Missingham responded that it was clear from the User group meetings that people did not want "slices". The difficulty of identifying such subject areas for TOC data would not be cost effective.
Doreen Parker questioned the assumption that TOC was of most use to larger libraries. She also suggested that keen users may contribute to the cost of obtaining the data, and that users should be approached to see if they would pay for it. Jan Maslen agreed that it was difficult to know who actually wants to use it.
There was some discussion on the value and usability of TOC data. It was noted in the Australian Library Collections Task Force "Looking for books" report that the presence of TOC provided users with a way of knowing more about items before they borrowed them, and that TOC data was more searchable in library catalogues than via Internet search engines. However, search results in library catalogues lacked indicators of relevance such as relevance ranking, which could be irritating for some users.
Patricia Scott stated that some summaries in bibliographic records are very useful; however, summaries often provided with TOC records are not very useful. She asked if Blackwell provide two prices for the records: one for TOC only, and the other for TOC and summaries.
Jan Maslen suggested that there needs to be further exploration of the issue to identify how TOC is used in libraries, and how important its inclusion is considered.
Pam Gatenby spoke about the National Library trial to add TOC data to Federal Government publications. Dale Chatwin noted that the Australian Bureau of Statistics routinely added TOC to its records.
Doreen Parker undertook to carry out a survey via CAUL to identify what use is made of TOC, what institutions contribute TOC data, how libraries acquire or create TOC data.
Meredith Wallace suggested that the survey should not be of all Kinetica customers. It was noted that the inclusion of TOC data was outside core business for many libraries. It was of use for some libraries, and of very little interest for some others.
CAUL and FLIN will survey users to obtain information on TOC use, and the TOC issue will be further discussed at the next Kinetica Advisory Committee meeting.
AGENDA ITEM 14 |
EAG ON SUBJECT HEADINGS |
The group has been reactivated since the last Committee meeting. It has developed a forward work plan, and will be reporting to the Kinetica Annual Users Meeting.
AGENDA ITEM 15 |
NBD-QUALITY ISSUES |
Authority Issues
Margaret Kennedy introduced this agenda item. The Committee noted that it was a very valuable and detailed report.
Jan Fullerton proposed the formation of an Expert Advisory Group to investigate the delivery and use of Kinetica authority records. The Group would report within a twelve-month time frame, and participation would be invited at the Users meeting.
Patricia Scott asked whether users could obtain authority records via Z39.50. This access has been available since March this year, but has not been documented or promoted. She also asked about access to the LC authority files. Rob Walls responded that these could be accessed via Kinetica Web, and saved in the same way as Kinetica authority records, and the file had been promoted widely through Kinetica_l.
AGENDA ITEM 16 |
MARKETING/COMMUNICATION PLAN 2001/02 |
Roxanne Missingham spoke to her paper. She commented that the Draft Marketing/Communication Plan has as its major emphasis communication, now that the implementation period is past.
Helen Livingston described the goals of the plan as passive. Kinetica should be seen as being an essential component of the information infrastructure of the nation, and Jan Fullerton saw the need for a strong statement to this effect. Pam Gatenby stated that we need to examine how we are communicating, and put thought into future strategies, eliminating what is not effective. David Toll commented that some people do not seem to know what services are available to them, and customers need to know this.
Doreen Parker commented that we should be refocusing on advertising Kinetica. The new Kinetica brochure was described as being fine on the outside, but full of library related acronyms, very restrained, and not suited to end users. It was suggested that we need a range of brochures, including those aimed at CEOs. Initiatives should be spelled out up front, and include a punch-line indicative of the Kinetica vision.
Jan Fullerton stated that we need a vision to sell to the Commonwealth Government, and we need to be able to translate this into something that relates to the average user.
Kinetica will take on board the comments of the Committee.
The Committee will discuss a revised Communication/Marketing Plan at its next meeting, and would discuss the Kinetica Vision.
AGENDA ITEM 17 |
PREPARATION FOR THE KINETICA ANNIUAL USERS MEETING |
The Chairperson of the Kinetica Annual Users Meeting, Cheryl Brickell, joined the Committee for this agenda item.
The Committee reviewed the agenda for the Users meeting, and made some suggested changes.
Facilitators and recorders were assigned to groups for the parallel sessions. The topics assigned were:
The date for the next Kinetica Annual Users Meeting was agreed as August 8-9, 2002.
It was agreed that the venue for the next two years be decided, as this made forward planning easier. Next years Annual Users Meeting would be held in Sydney, and in 2003 the meeting would be held in Adelaide, to coincide with the opening of the refurbished State Library of South Australia.
The meeting adjourned at 4.20 pm, to reconvene on Friday 27 July at 1.30 pm.
The meeting reconvened at 1.30 pm on Friday 27 July 2001
AGENDA ITEM 18 |
REVIEW OF KINETICA ANNUAL USERS MEETING |
Cheryl Brickell joined the Committee for this agenda item.
She provided feedback on the meeting, including the comment that the first session of three hours was too long. Cheryl offered to email other comments to Roxanne Missingham and Papiya Chakravarti.
The Committee thanked Cheryl Brickell for being a very effective chairperson for the 2001 Kinetica Annual Users Meeting.
Parallel Sessions
There was some discussion on the placement of the parallel sessions, and it was agreed that in future they would be placed on the second morning, after all National Library presentations had taken place. Many of the issues brought up in the parallel sessions were answered in later sessions. It was also agreed that publicising questions for the parallel sessions on the first day of the meeting may give people more time to give a considered response in the parallel sessions.
Some groups were overtaken by vocal people or vested interests, and the first question which asked users to consider the value of Kinetica went down "like a lead balloon". Some delegates were annoyed that this question continued to be asked, others seemed nervous and voiced concern about plans to close down Kinetica.
Jan Fullerton expressed satisfaction with a very good result. She stated that she thought it appropriate for Kinetica users to periodically consider the value of the NBD. The National Library works in a framework of accountability, and the Australian Library Community should take responsibility for decision making on these issues. Ms Fullerton also stated that keeping the big issues up front had helped the parallel groups focus more on the big picture rather than on small issues.
Sherrey Quinn responded that some users had been reassured by knowing the percentage of the National Librarys budget which goes into the Kinetica service, and expressed that it was good to know that the National Library had such a degree of commitment to the service.
Communication
Communication was a recurring theme in the parallel sessions. People are still unclear about what happens to communications sent to the National Library. Roxanne Missingham responded that all communications receive a response.
Many people seemed to be unaware of information on the Kinetica website, and this needs to be publicised further.
Some people expressed a view that postings to Kinetica_l were being censored. This was refuted by Roxanne Missingham. She suggested that an editorial comment be used to clarify misleading postings, but that the postings be put on the list in their totality.
General Comments
Helen Livingston commented that delegates had obviously not read the information they had for the Users meeting. They were unaware of boundaries between Kinetica and the National Library, and the activities each was engaged in. The Committee discussed ideas for getting around this problem, in order to lead to more instructive and informative actions.
It was stated that the user group was about resource sharing, and should not be completely taken up by National Library issues. More national discussions are needed on National Library issues. David Toll stated that some people would be neither impacted nor interested if Kinetica were used as a forum for such issues. Jan Fullerton mentioned the intention to hold a presentation on digital developments and National Library services for half a day, in conjunction with the Public Libraries Conference in Melbourne. Ms Fullerton said that she had written to CAUL re cooperation with the National Library on strategic issues, including electronic archiving. CAUL needs to take on archiving issues. Helen Livingston and Doreen Parker will follow this up with CAUL.
The Committee reviewed the resolutions and actions arising from the meeting.
Roxanne Missingham undertook to bring a timetable of key milestones and Kinetica issues to the next Committee meeting, including what we do, how we resource it, and to communicate through the action plan what we aim to achieve.
Electronic resources
The issue of electronic resources and datasets was further discussed. Roxanne Missingham undertook to further develop guidelines for cataloguing electronic resources, including maintenance issues. Roxanne also stated that we need to keep in mind changes to AACR2 and changes to be brought about by the LC Conference on Bibliographic Control in the New Millennium.
David Toll asked if there was a list of datasets available to be acquired. The Committee resolved that these should be acquired as soon as possible.
It was resolved:
KAC/2001/2/RES6
That the National Library proceed to acquire the other datasets identified by the Expert Advisory Group on Access to Electronic Resources.
There was further discussion on loading and maintenance of these datasets.
It was resolved:
KAC/2001/2/RES7
That the National Library investigate services to support the maintenance of datasets for electronic resources.
Helen Livingston proposed that CAUL survey its members to identify the electronic resources that they hold, and to develop priorities for the acquisition of more datasets.
Non-Electronic Resources
Kinetica is pursuing potential sources of data, including small libraries, even if the resources are not available for inter-library loan. We need to be able to communicate this to small libraries.
Document Delivery
A lot of work is going on in this area, as is instanced by the benchmarking report. It would be good to have a closer working relationship with the National Resource Sharing Working Group.
Kinetica Vision
There was considerable discussion on the need for Kinetica to redefine its vision. Jan Maslen stated that it was good both to do this, and to be seen to be doing it. This will be further discussed at the next meeting.
In looking at the vision and redefining the service, we need to keep in mind data, participation and membership issues relating to small and remote users. Outside the state user groups there is perceived to be a lack of knowledge and misperceptions of Kinetica and its services. It was suggested that best practice examples be targeted to these groups.
Cataloguing Issues
The Kinetica Users Group Meeting has become a de facto forum for cataloguing issues. This is not really applicable to Kinetica, but there is no longer any alternative forum.
Jan Fullerton said that the Australian Committee on Cataloguing ACOC has been overtaken by the need to report to the JSC, and a number of ACOC members worked on ACOC issues in their own time, and are totally focussed on AACR revisions. There was a perception that ACOC activities are not being communicated widely to Australian Libraries. It is no longer possible for ACOC to provide a forum for cataloguing issues.
Helen Livingston expressed the view that it is in Kineticas interest to provide such a forum, as it influences the quality of records added to the NBD. Roxanne Missingham undertook to develop some basic cataloguing guidelines. It was suggested that the forthcoming Cataloguing Conference take on board the provision of a forum for cataloguing issues.
The Committee expressed it thanks to Ann Huthwaite for her untiring work on the Joint Steering Committee.
Export of Records in Other Formats
Patricia Scott asked if there was any place for Kinetica to offer export of records in other formats. This is already possible records in HTML or ASCII can be exported from Kinetica Web.
Duplicate Records
Kinetica is investigating various sources of duplicate records on the NBD. One problem is caused by the inadequacy of the matching and merging program used for loading records. Considerable comment was voiced on the problem at the Users meeting. Rob Walls will bring a paper on NBD quality issues, including duplicate records, to the next meeting of the Committee.
AGENDA ITEM 19 |
CONCLUSION |
Retiring Members
The Committee moved a vote of thanks to Marion Bate and Philip Keane, who have retired from the Committee, and to Meredith Wallace, who is about to retire.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Kinetica Advisory Committee will be held at the National Meteorological Library in Melbourne on 16 November.
The following agenda papers were embargoed:
The meeting closed at 2.40 pm