Council of Australian University Librarians
Executive Meeting 5/96 held at the Menzies Library, ANU
Thursday, 14 November 1996 from 2.30pm
DRAFT Minutes
422. Attendance & Apologies.
Alex Byrne (President)
Helen Hayes (Deputy President)
Ray Choate
Evelyn Woodberry
Apology: Gaynor Austen
In attendance: Diane Costello
Colin Steele (for item 428)
423. Minutes of the previous meeting 12 September 1996. The minutes were accepted.
424. Business arising from the previous meeting, not otherwise listed on the agenda.
a) 419. ARL Meeting 1/97. Duane Webster (Executive Director, ARL) had suggested that they invite one member of CAUL to be an observer and to maintain a liaison between the two groups. It was agreed that it was important to establish and maintain international relationships. Ray Choate and Helen Hayes both expressed interest in attending.
b) 408. Report on CAUDIT meeting. Ray Choate and Eve Woodberry prepared a paper for presentation at the CAUDIT meeting in August. A verbal report was presented at the last Executive meeting. The CAUDIT Executive Officer will be asked if the formal report of the meeting can be made available to CAUL. (Action: DC) Diane Costello advised that the presentation slides by Kathy Tiano (DEC) are to be made available to CAUL. (Action: DC)
c) 406 (b). Law Libraries. Ray Choate noted that the Law Deans had not yet nominated representatives for the joint working group. He will follow up with the Flinders Law Dean who is to be the next chair of CALD. (Action: RC)
d) 406 (d). CAUL Statistics. Diane Costello advised that the deadline for responses to the recommendations of the CAUL Statistics Focus Group was 22 November.
425. Minutes of CAUL meeting 23 October 1996. The minutes were noted. There were no additional corrections to the minutes.
426. Business arising from the CAUL meeting, not otherwise listed on the agenda.
243. IFLA. The possible contribution to the cost of ALIA’s membership of IFLA was discussed. Helen Hayes advised that ACLIS was intending to join IFLA, but was awaiting the outcomes of the ACLIS/ALIA/NLA review. It was agreed that more details would be obtained from ALIA. (Action: DC)
427. CAUL Executive operations/meetings/portfolios. Involvement of CAUL members between Council meetings. It was confirmed that CAUL members (including Deputies, Associates, etc) would be invited to participate in working groups established by the Executive. (Action: Executive) It was agreed that Eve Woodberry would continue her responsibility for copyright and intellectual property. Gaynor Austen had expressed interest in staff development and library performance issues. Gaynor is representing the Executive on the working group to pursue collaboration with the UK following the NSCF Round Table. It was agreed that if the National Preservation Office requested a CAUL representative to replace Neil Radford, Karl Schmude, who already represents ACLIS, be invited to represent both CAUL. (Action: DC)
428. National Scholarly Communications Forum. (Colin Steele attended the meeting for this item)
a) “Canberra Chapter” - International collaboration & ongoing communication. At a meeting immediately following the Round Table on 22 October, it was agreed to establish two 3-person groups to carry forward the proposed international collaboration between the UK and Australia. The Australian working group comprises Steve O’Connor (convenor), Neil McLean, Gaynor Austen (CAUL Executive) and Brian Denehy (CAUDIT). The group is being referred to as the Canberra Chapter of the Anglo-Australian Information Strategies Alliance. The Alliance has developed a timeline which includes a draft work program by Christmas, and a report to the CAUL Executive and JISC by early December. The Alliance plans to meet during CAUSE/CNI in the US in December, and during the CNI/Follett meeting in London in June 1997.
It was agreed that formal communication with the UK group be through a group comprising the CAUL President and Deputy President and Steve O’Connor (convenor of the working group). Alex Byrne will discuss the formal communication channels with Lynne Brindley and Steve O’Connor. (Action: AB) It was agreed that Diane Costello liaise regularly with Colin Steele regarding other UK developments. (Action: DC)
b) DEETYA Working Group on Research Library Infrastructure. Colin Steele advised that it had been suggested that the group be expanded to include academics.
429. AVCC Standing Committee on Information Resources. Alex Byrne advised that the membership of all AVCC Committees was reviewed annually, with members nominated only by their own Vice-Chancellors. CAUL members should be advised to make their interest in membership of any of the committees known to their own Vice-Chancellors.
a) NP(R)F Programs.
Diane Costello advised that the JEDDS software would eventually be distributed to CAUL members from the National Library’s server. Until the administrative procedures were fully in place, the software will be distributed from Griffith University.
430. AARNet. Alex Byrne reported on a discussion with George McLaughlin (AVCC AARNet Manager), who expressed concern at the implication that AARNet bandwidth was not sufficient for current university requirements. It was agreed that Alex Byrne discuss further with George McLaughlin, and prepare a position paper. (Action: AB) It was agreed that Alex Byrne consider how best CAUL can take advantage of the telecommunications free market after July 1997. (Action: AB)
431. CAUL Consortium Purchasing (non-electronic materials). The advantages of groups of CAUL libraries combining to obtain better value from library equipment and materials suppliers was discussed. It was suggested that regional arrangements may be easier to manage than national arrangements. It was suggested that such deals should be managed by those with experience in negotiations, such as university purchasing officers. It was agreed that Helen Hayes would prepare an issues paper, which would also include past examples of group purchasing, prior to seeking further information from CAUL members. (Action: HH)
432. Distributed National Collection.
a) Electronic DNC Focus Group Outcomes. The summary report by Neil McLean was distributed to CAUL with the October Council meeting papers. Ray Choate will provide a copy of an issues paper he prepared for the meeting on agriculture, but which is applicable to any discipline gateway. (Action: RC)
b) Agriculture. Helen Hayes reported that an action plan had been drafted, ready for amendment and approval.
c) Chemistry. Diane Costello advised that Cliff Law (National Library) had reported the meeting on 13 November a success. The steering group is to be expanded. The participation of a senior CAUL member (Marian Bate) was important to ensure that progress was made quickly. A number of working groups had been established to carry forward agreed activities. The National Library will continue to maintain group documentation on its web site.
433. ARC Strategic Review of the Humanities. The CAUL submission was circulated to CAUL members at the October Council meeting. The Executive thanked Ray Choate and Colin Steele for preparing the submission. The issue of academics as consumers, as well as producers, of copyrighted materials was discussed. It was agreed that strengthening copyright laws would have a negative impact on access to research and teaching materials for academics, not just for students and libraries, and that this should be highlighted more in the press. It was agreed that Eve Woodberry would draft an information sheet on copyright, with pithy arguments and statistics, able to be used by CAUL members within their institutions, in university newspapers, and in the general press. (Action: EW) It was agreed to target the higher education press as well as general news columnists, e.g. Peter Craven.
434. Higher Education Review. No information was yet available on the composition of the review committee or the terms of reference. It was noted that Alex Byrne and Diane Costello were meeting staff of the Higher Education Division on 15 November. Given the Minister’s various statements supporting collaborative activity, it was agreed that Alex Byrne will write to the Minister, following up on the points raised in the recent letter by John Shipp. He will emphasize the necessity for collaboration on essential infrastructure. (Action: AB) It was noted that Colin Steele’s article in Campus Review covered this point well. (Campus Review, v.6 no.43 6-12 November 1996)
435. ALIA/ACLIS Review. The revised terms of reference will be discussed at ALIA General Council Meeting 21-22 November. CAUL will be invited to comment.
436. Relationships with other organisations (eg AVCC, DEETYA, NLA, CAUDIT, PVC(IS), Deans' Committees, CASL, ALIA, ACLIS, RMAA,ASLA,ASA,....) CAUL should develop relationships with all relevant industry bodies. There is very little contact with the various committees of Deans, but it was agreed that contact should be made to suggest that (local) CAUL members be invited to discuss areas of mutual interest. CAUL “What’s New” is circulated to all CASL members, and CASL minutes are made available to CAUL members. It was agreed that it would be important to make contact with the Australian Information Industries Association. The Australian Society of Authors could be invited to discuss areas of common interest in copyright, and Educational Lending Rights. It was noted that the Attorney-General was planning a roundtable of interested parties to discuss negotiable issues regarding copyright. Helen Hayes will discuss representation with Helen Daniels. (Action: HH)
437. National Asian Information Centre. It was agreed to write to both the National Library of Australia and the Australian National University to suggest that CAUL members would be interesting in contributing to the centre, if it were truly a national service. (Action: AB)
438. Theses - National electronic publication and listing. CAUL has agreed that the Executive establish a working group to investigate improved access to Australian Higher Degree Theses. It was agreed that Helen Hayes would convene the group, and that Marian Bate be invited to participate. It was agreed to call for nominations for an additional member. (Action: DC)
439. National reciprocal academic/research PG borrowing scheme. Ray Choate will be discussing with Alan Bundy and Bill Cations within the next week.
440. Copyright/IP issues.
a) AVCC Committee on Copyright and Intellectual Property. It was noted that calls for nominations for AVCC committees had closed, and that it is possible that Eve Woodberry will not be selected. It is unusual to include two from any institution, and Bond University’s Vice-Chancellor chairs the committee. Alex Byrne has written to the AVCC with a strong recommendation the Eve Woodberry be retained.
Following a report by Eve Woodberry on the status of the digital copying / electronic reserve issue before the Copyright Tribunal, it was agreed that Alex Byrne would discuss with Lynne Brindley ( Joint Information Systems Committee and London School of Economics) the potential for collaboration in direct negotiations with publishers. (Action: AB)
b) Meeting with the Australian Publishers Association. Eve Woodberry has circulated a report by Warwick Cathro (National Library of Australia) on the meeting with a number of library representatives to discuss copyright issues.
c) World Intellectual Property Organisation. It was agreed that Jamie Wodetzki (Minter Ellison) would be supported up to $2,000 to represent the Australian library community at the forthcoming meeting in Geneva, 2-20 December. He will be asked to provide a report, plus copies of important papers. It was believed that Sam Ricketson (Monash University) and Libby Baulch (Australian Copyright Council) were attending, (as is Chris Creswell, Attorney-General’s Dept, on behalf of the Australian government.)
441. Mechanisms to foster potential university librarians. It was agreed that Lynn Hard’s issues paper would be circulated to Deputies/Associates as well as CAUL members for comment when it was available. (Action: DC)
442. Performance indicators development and statistical revision/representation. It was noted that these were underway. Margaret Robertson (QUT) will revise the document delivery indicator. Responses to the recommendations of the Statistics Focus Group are due 22 November.
443. Protocols for benchmarking interaction. Guidelines produced by Benchmarking Australia have been circulated to CAUL. It was agreed that the main issues were the initial contact with the senior officer prior to any interaction, and the agreement of all parties prior to any publication of related information. It was agreed that Anne Wilson (Northern Territory University) would incorporate these into a draft CAUL protocol. (Action: AB)
444. Universities Network Australia (UNA). It was agreed that Colin Steele be invited to monitor the progress of UNA. The copyright issue was of particular interest. (Action: DC)
445. CAUL Strategic Plan. The most recent revision was circulated to the Executive. It was agreed that comments would be sent to Diane Costello for incorporation. (Action: Exec, DC)
446. CAUL Meeting 1/97. It was suggested that the CAUL meeting not be held in conjunction with the CAUSE Conference. The latter was scheduled for 3 full days, and a CAUL meeting following would be both too draining, and would take too much time away from the office. It was proposed that the CAUL meeting be held in Melbourne on Friday 21 March 1997. It was agreed that CAUL members be invited to nominate topics for an associated half-day seminar. (Action: DC)
Geoff Payne has invited CAUL to visit the CARM Centre. The John Scott Meeting House is the most likely venue should La Trobe be the CAUL host. A round trip to the CARM Centre would take approximately an hour.
447. CAUSE Conference 1997. This is scheduled for April 13-16 1997 in Melbourne.
448. CAUL Meeting 2/97. It was suggested that the meeting be held at a regional university. It was recommended that Wollongong University be invited to host the meeting on 22 September 1997.
449. CAUL 70th Anniversary 1998. The first meeting of CAUL’s predecessor was held in Melbourne in August 1928. It is one of the oldest library associations, and it was suggested that it be celebrated in a formal way. Some suggestions for celebration include:
a) Commissioning a memoir of CAUL by someone like Neil Radford.
b) Suggesting a history project to one of Don Schauder's research students.
c) A dinner of current and surviving past members.
d) A symposium.
e) A festschrift with contributions by, for example, Margaret Cameron, Neil Radford, Arthur Ellis, etc.
f) Invite CAUL members to submit suggestions. (Action: DC)
450. CAUL Finances. A finance report was circulated with the agenda. It was agreed that Diane Costello, in consultation with Alex Byrne, draft a budget for 1997. (Action: DC)
The Executive agreed that the membership subscription be kept at $4,000 for 1997. The Executive agreed that Colin Steele be invited to remain as a signatory on the CAUL bank account. Alex Byrne and the Executive Officer are also signatories. (Action: DC)
Diane Costello advised that some CAUL consortium subscriptions required a single invoice to be paid by CAUL, which then invoiced the subscribing libraries for reimbursement. Some institutions were very slow to pay, which had the potential to seriously reduce CAUL’s cash reserves. It was agreed that, for Lexis-Nexis bills which were paid monthly, institutions would be invoiced a month in advance, with adjustments required by currency fluctuations to be made in succeeding invoices. (Action: DC) It was agreed that an administrative charge be levied, and waived if payment was received by the due date. The calculation of the administrative charge is yet to be determined. (Action: DC)