November 30, 2011
1:30 – 3:00pm
Stauffer Library, Room 121

Present: C. Adamson (Stauffer), S. Andrychuk (Stauffer), S. Aziz (BFA), G. Bevan (Classics), A. Burfoot (Sociology), A. Chowdhury (History), J. Druery (Stauffer), E. Gibson (Stauffer), S. Greaves (Stauffer), G. Griffith (Stauffer), J. Gunn (Political Studies), F. P. Lock (English), D. McTavish (Art History), L. Murray (Cultural Studies), J. O'Neill (Art Conservation), J. Philipps (Library Collections), M. C. Vandenburg (Jordan Library), L. Walls (Jordan Library), T. Wang (Business)

1. Welcome, Introductions, and Adoption of Agenda
   • J. Druery welcomed everyone to the Fall Meeting. Introductions were made and the agenda approved.
2. Approval of the Minutes of November 30, 2010
   • The minutes were approved.
3. Business Arising

   1. Item 3b: J. Druery reported that there is now no limit on the number of monographs that faculty, graduate students and staff may borrow (it was previously set at 100).

   2. Item 4a: J. Druery reported that the assessment of the print only journal collection in Stauffer Library was not undertaken this past summer for a variety of reasons including organizational restructuring of the library and staff issues. The project will require considerable staff time and cancellation of any of the print only titles will require extensive consultation with faculty as these journals would be cancelled outright and would no longer be available at Queen's in any format.

   3. Item 4b: Monitoring of monograph purchasing by LC call number (J. Philipps, J. Druery)

      In fiscal 2010/11 the library ceased maintaining individual departmental budgets and introduced a single fund code for all Humanities/Social Sciences monograph purchases. The 2010/2011 monograph purchases by LC call number have been monitored and no anomalies were found (i.e. the dollar amount spent on different subject areas hasn’t varied between when we did have individual departmental fund codes and when we moved to a single fund code). The Library will continue to monitor monograph purchases to ensure that there is not inordinate spending on one subject over another. If the book is of interest, it’s ordered – regardless of the call number classification. Given the interdisciplinary nature of H/SS research, the move to a single fund code for all Humanities/Social Sciences monograph purchases has made a lot of sense and has also freed up technical services staff time to permit them to work on matters related to electronic materials.

      A question was raised concerning whether the Library has ever analyzed the breakdown between faculty requests and selections made by subject librarians. This has not been done, nor would it be practical to do so. New materials are added to the library collection in a variety of ways – from approval plans, selected by librarians, selected by faculty, through gifts, etc. All orders placed with our primary monograph vendor are tagged with the initials of a library staff member regardless of who initiated the order making it very difficult to track this information.

4. Acquisitions Budget Update (J. Philipps)

   J. Philipps reported that we have the same base budget that we had in 2007/2008. Over the last five years what has changed is the percentage of the budget devoted to electronic resources; in 2008, 57% of the overall library collections budget went towards electronic resources (databases, electronic journals, electronic books, etc.) and thus far in 2011, 65% of the overall library collections budget is going towards electronic resources. In the Humanities and Social Sciences, 55% of the acquisitions budget is now spent on electronic resources. We have a generous budget for print monographs, so departments should most certainly continue to send their subject liaison librarian any monograph titles that members of the department have requested.

   Our buying power is also directly related to the strength of the Canadian dollar. In the recent past, a strong Canadian dollar has meant that we could stretch our resources further and buy more expensive one-time only purchases at the end of the fiscal year. As the Canadian dollar loses ground against the U.S. dollar so too does our buying power.

   A question was raised about the Library’s policy on purchasing duplicate titles – if the Library owns the electronic version of a book (i.e. an e-book) would they also purchase a print copy if requested? The general policy is that the Library does not purchase more than one copy of a book (exceptions may be made for Course Reserves when there are a large number of students taking a specific course, a second copy might be warranted). Regarding e-books and their print counterparts, there are a variety of factors to consider, including: usage rights on the e-book (single concurrent users, multiple concurrent users), whether books can be printed/downloaded from an e-copy, does the publisher make the electronic copy and the print copy available at the same time. The Library now has an Electronic Books Specialist who is developing a strategy for e-books for Queen’s Library.

   Action: J. Druery will bring the issue of purchasing print copies of books we own electronically to the Library’s Electronic Resources Working Group and the Electronic Books Specialist for discussion on developing a clearer policy on this issue.

   Discussion ensued about the current limitations of many of the library’s ebook packages (particularly those on the eBrary platform), including printing and downloading problems. J. Druery reported that the Library is aware of the issues around the new downloading option on the eBrary platform and is working with the vendor on this issue. J. Druery also stated that the library now has a Mobile Applications specialist who is working on making our resources accessible to mobile devices, where license agreements and technology allows.

   A question was raised about the possibility of extending the loan period on Stauffer DVDs for faculty from 3 days to 7 days. This would allow more time for review of DVDs for possible use in class.

   Action: J. Druery will talk to S. Musgrave, Division Head for Collections Management Services, about increasing the loan period to 7 days.

5. Monograph Acquisitions Approval Plans (J. Philipps, J. Druery)

   As part of the Library’s budget reduction and restructuring plan, Queen’s University Library has chosen YBP as the primary vendor for supplying English-language monographs (both print and electronic). Having one primary vendor will simplify acquisitions procedures. This means that all libraries at Queen’s will order their monographs through the same vendor. We have been using YBP for the humanities/social sciences since 2008 so this does not mean much of a change. Materials in languages other than English will continue to be ordered from different vendors.

   Our approval plans with YBP provide us with both shelf-ready books and electronic slips from which we can choose relevant materials. The plan is largely based on LC call number ranges and other non-subject parameters that determine which materials come as books and which ones generate an electronic slip. We order directly from the slips or consult with departmental faculty representatives if we are unsure. We make our collections decisions from an overall humanities/social sciences perspective as many materials are interdisciplinary and may be used in several subject areas.

   We are constantly monitoring and tweaking the approval plans. The software that YBP provides is quite sophisticated and allows the library to produce reports in various ways so that we can monitor the effectiveness of the approval plan and ensure that we are using our resources in the most effective manner. We meet with YBP representatives at least once per year where we go over the approval plan and make changes when necessary.

   Materials are also ordered from reading reviews, emails/catalogues distributed by publishers, suggestions from students, faculty and staff.

   A question was asked about why we do not have some publications published by major university presses. This could be for several reasons – they do not fit the LC profile of our plans, we once owned them but they are missing and the record has been suppressed from QCAT, they simply fell through the cracks. Again it was emphasized that if there is a monograph that we do not have that we should have, inform the liaison librarian for your department and we will order it.

6. The Library and the Queen’s University Quality Assurance Standards (QUQAPS)

   J. Druery provided an overview of how the library is preparing for the new Cyclical Program Reviews (CPRs) and the incorporation of the QUQAPS including the kinds of information relevant to library resources and services that will be collected. As part of the Library’s overall restructuring plan, a Teaching and Learning Working Group (TLWG) has been established, the purpose of which is to facilitate the ongoing strategic role of the Library in teaching and learning at Queen’s University.

   In the past, the Library reports submitted for OCGS appraisals and IARs centred around collections, the new CPRs focus on both services (what we do to contribute to student learning and the corresponding assessment of our impact on student learning) and collections. The library report will consist of a summary of the impact of our work for a particular discipline and a five page appendix with further details about collections and services.

7. Other Business

   A question was asked about Library priorities for fundraising. J. Philipps reported that M. Whitehead, University Librarian, has been meeting with Advancement to raise the profile of the library. It was suggested that perhaps M. Whitehead might attend the Spring 2012 LACHSS Meeting to provide an update on fundraising and the Library.

   Action: J. Druery will talk to M. Whitehead about the Spring 2012 LACHSS Meeting.

   J. Druery reported that the 6th Annual Undergraduate Research Conference will take place in the Queen’s Learning Commons, Stauffer Library, March 8-9, 2012. The website (iatq.ca) will be updated shortly. J. Druery asked faculty to encourage their students to submit an abstract to present their research either in presentation or poster format.

   J. Druery reported that she will be going on academic leave from January 1 – December 31, 2012. Nathalie Soini will be the Acting Head, Learning Research Services, Stauffer Library and Sylvia Andrychuk, working closely with J. Philipps will coordinate collections.

Meeting adjourned: 2:50 pm

Next Meeting: Spring 2012