LIBRARY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
November 2, 1999

Present: JY, JB, JW, LJ and TC

Jennifer gave a brief update on the renovation project. Currently we are waiting for the master plan to arrive from Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott. Jennifer then mentioned Laura Fuderer had recently returned from a book trip to England paid for by the College of Arts and Letters, where she made several contacts among booksellers. Jennifer also announced that three candidate interviews were being scheduled for the AD position in the Information and Access Services Division and that three interviews were being scheduled in December for candidates for the AD position in the Collections and Technical Services Division.

A revised library organization chart was distributed. Some additions were suggested such as adding a list of the ad hoc committees and a list of the DCCs. An expanded final chart will be added to the Director's Web Page. Also, a Y2K report from the library to the audit department was distributed; this document will be discussed in the November divisional meetings with comments being brought back to a December LEC meeting (either on the 7th or the 14th).

Discussion next focused on the initiation of a digital library project. Based on past work with the Renaissance editions of Dante it was decided to investigate the cost of a project to scan the full text of all the Renaissance editions of the Divine Comedy. Lou briefly explained a plan to link a searchable edition of the text to the scanned images of the pages along with links to databases of bibliographic descriptions and iconographic descriptions.

Jo explained explained she was initiating preliminary talks concerning the formation of committees that would focus on the distribution of services in Hesburgh Library in light of the library renovation and changing user expectations. Specific questions to be addressed concern: the expertise of the different service areas, the definition and growing role of document delivery, the location of and evolving responsibilities for services such as reserves, ILL, and current periodicals, the extent of 24 hour access, and the maintenance of some type of staff presence near the front of the library. Concurrently Jo is engaging in discussions on the future role of reference in the age of the information explosion, focusing on the most effective use of reference expertise, the value of reference expertise within the library and the role of subject librarians in reference.

Jim explained the ALEPH Working Group has been listing priorities. The first priority was to mount version 12.2 in the MALC institutions by the end of the year as the older version was not Y2K compliant. The second priority was to work on patron related problems in the circulation module with the third priority being to keep the ALEPH system running on a regular basis without downtime. The fourth priority is to work on the serials module. Serials needs further development, which needs to be done in conjunction with Iowa and therefore will certainly take some time, possibly a year or more. Laura Sill will be leading in this area. As we will not mount version 12.3 until the summer of 2000, any serial fixes in that release will not be available until that time. Meanwhile we must plan to use work arounds to solve immediate problems.

Lou mentioned that Sonja would be leaving the library at the end of this week but requested that she be allowed to retain her library borrowing privileges and access to the ALEPH GUI through the spring semester so she could work on a project concerning 19th century bindings in the library collection. Lou also mentioned a meeting was planned with the relevant book selectors to discuss some supplemental funding for foreign language literature collections.

Theresa then discussed the library budget. A pie chart was distributed showing the Notre Dame budget for 1997-1998 as compared to the average ARL library. We were close to the average in the areas of serials, electronic materials and other expenditures, however the chart showed Notre Dame spent more on books and less on staffing than the average ARL library. Notre Dame spend 16.1% of their budget on monographs while the average ARL library spent only 10.5% on monographs, at the same time Notre Dame spent 41.2% on salaries while the average ARL library spent 47.4% on salaries.

Discussion then focused on expenditures and the increase in the restricted and unrestricted encumbrances over the past five years. During that period unrestricted expenditures have increased from $7,887,048 in 1994-95 to $12,149,250 in 1998-99 while restricted expenditures have fluctuated from $1,875,591 in 1994-95 to $1,901,523 in 1998-99, with some years higher due to a restricted NEH award for preservation microfilming. The discussion then turned to methods for monitoring expenditures over the fiscal year without having the need for several individuals to keep independent records. Divisional discretionary funds were also discussed and it was decided a committee would be formed to look at facilitating the use and accounting of these funds.

Finally Jennifer brought up the question of the privacy of personnel files, specifically files of individuals applying for open positions and files made available for CAP review. It was decided to keep the drawers locked and limiting access to the front office administrative assistants who would then retrieve requested files for relevant search or CAP committee members.

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