German Resources Project
24 January 2003, Philadelphia, PA
German Resources
Project
* About the Project
* Project Goals
* How to Join the Project
*Staff and Advisory Board
* FAQ (under development)
WORKING GROUPS:
* Collection Development
* Document Delivery
* Digital Libraries
* Bibliographic Control
Participating Libraries
* Partners in Germany
Absent: Mary Jackson, Roger Brisson, Ewald Brahms, Reimer Eck, Lou Pitschmann, Dan Hazen
MINUTES
DECISION: June Minutes were approved.
WORKING GROUP REPORTS
Collection Development
DISCUSSION: Barbara Walden reported. A decision is needed about the Erfurt Project. The acquisition of this collection would have to be negotiated with the state of Thuringen. Harrassowitz has been consulted, but they felt that warehouse constraints made the collection too large to handle. It would be a large project to ask institutions to commit to taking parts of this. The issue has been around since 1999. This may be a project that we don't have the resources to undertake. Library of Congress would be a possibility, but they are concerned that the materials are too heavily pedagogical. Storage problems are an issue in US libraries. It may be a great idea whose time has past.
DECISION: We should thank those who worked on this and tell Frau Schmiedeknecht that we feel that we must relinquish any attempts to bring this collection to the US. Tom will write the letter. The motion was made and approved.
Digital Library
DISCUSSION: Michael Seadle reported. The DFG-NSF project appears to be on hold. There were supposed to be panels in January, but rumor is that they are not taking place. Some concern was raised about whether NSF is a barrier rather than a support. Northwestern and MSU both had proposals. Illinois had a proposal, but withdrew. Tom reported on a grant project for German Emblem books with local funding and funding for visits from the Alexander von Humbold foundation. The clearing house would be a good source for information on this. The Meeting of Frontiers project now includes a German component. Goettingen is contributing some funds, and DFG is contributing some as well.
Michael said that he should retire, since he has been coordinator of this group since the Goettingen meeting. He asked about having a German working group coordinator.
DECISION: The committee would be comfortable with having a German coordinator. A co-chair would be possible too. Michael will initiate a selection process within the DLWG.
Document Delivery
DISCUSSION: Lynn Wiley reported. The GBV Direct alternative invoice plan has failed. An agreement seemed to be set at the summer ALA, but it did not move forward. The ARL accounts have now also been closed (the GBV ones were closed last May). The ARL office sent back checks to all those with a positive balance and bills to any (few) that went over their initial deposit. The Phase II project also met with a major barrier. Our partner library failed to complete testing of the RLG software. Ultimately the committee decided that the effort needed to end. A letter will be sent to RLG thanking them for the software. SUBITO is still not ready to have deposit accounts or credit cards in ways that make sense for US clients, but the problems are solvable. Copyright licensing and agreements can also be a major problem. Loaning US material to Germany is being discussed. One of the problems is to have one place for the German libraries to go to find where North American material is held, never mind the order mechanism. The RAPID project may offer some help there. Lynn will discuss it with them.
DECISION: none needed.
Bibliographic Control
No report other than the vision statement. Roger will continue as coordinator. The Steering committee suggested that they should assume responsibility for further bibliographic enhancement projects.
FUTURE STRUCTURE AND VISION
Tom passed out the vision with revisions in red. The context should be meeting the requirements of scholars and students for access to resources. The document was examined page by page and some suggestions were made. Please email any other changes to Tom before 1 February. The committee discussed involving faculty in the GRP as well.
XIPOLIS AND BDtL
Xipolis
Jeff Garrett reported. Mary Jackson has done most of the administration. Xipolis has 26 GRP members and the project is paying for itself, since $200 goes to ARL with each purchase. The low level of use of the databases has, however, been disappointing, but the searches do not expire. It continues to be a good deal.
Bibliothek der deutschen Literatur.
The money has been placed into a restricted account for the GRP. The Steering committee may recommend to ARL how it should be spent. OCLC will sell the 15,000 records and post them with the institutional holdings symbol for under $2,000. The Stein collection would be another possible project, and Northwestern's catalogers would be happy to do it again.
MEMBERSHIP IN GRP FOR Non-ARL WG MEMBERS
DECISION: Affiliate memberships for individuals may be possible when advantageous to the project, but must be decided on a case by case basis.
MEETING IN GERMANY
DISCUSSION: Michael and Helene reported on plans for the GRP meeting 29 July and the Preconference on 30-31 July in Munich. A question was raised whether there is a cost to attend the Preconference. Michael thinks not. Helene passed out ideas for an agenda.
DECISION: Michael seconded Jeff's proposal that the GRP make $500 available to members traveling to the meeting, up to $7,500 (15 members). About $4000 would remain, which members could request for specific GRP-related purposes. An example might be an extra $100 for travel to visit contact partners. The committee approved.
NEW BUSINESS
DISCUSSION: A newsletter for disseminating information was discussed. Many read it mainly in paper. Would it be in German as well as English? A majority of committee prefers that the newsletter be in English and in paper (if costs can be managed). It would be good if someone could serve as our communications coordinator.
DECISION: No decision was reached.
