Collection Development Working Group Meeting
26 June 2004
Orlando, FL

Minutes of the meeting

Attendance: Helene Baumann (Duke), Nancy Boerner (Indiana), Marlene Daum (Goethe Institute New York), Sam Dunlap (UC San Diego), Jeff Garrett (Northwestern), Tom Kilton (Illinois; substitute chair & recorder), Kati Radics (UCLA), Joleen Westerdach (Washington University).

1. The minutes of the meeting held at ALA Midwinter in San Diego
were approved: http://www.crl.edu/grn/gnarp/CDWG_10jan04.asp

2. Report from the Steering Committee (made by GNARP Chair, Jeff Garrett)

3. Digitale Bibliothek Deutscher Klassiker / DKV (ProQuest)

Stephen Hall and Mary Sauer-Games (Chadwyck Healey) came to provide background on the offer of collaboration with GNARP to promote the Digitale Bibliothek deutscher Klassiker, DKV for short. They reported on the costs of producing products, such as the DKV, noting the huge remunerations that Chadwyck Healey has to make to publishers, such as Suhrkamp and S. Fischer whose works are included in this product. They also admitted that there are some quality control issues, such as the current inadequate searchability and confusing table of contents, but they pointed out that efforts are underway to correct all deficiencies as well as to supply additional literary works to the product. The DKV is scheduled to be complete in November, 2004. Jeff Garrett, who has been arranging our GNARP consortial purchase with Chadwyck Healey as well as with the Center for Research Libraries, noted that CRL will serve as an advocate for the DKV, publicizing its availability through the GNARP for both GNARP member libraries and libraries outside the GNARP. CRL has said it will distribute the solicitation letter that Jeff has already distributed to the CDWG in draft form. The current aim is to get at least 10 libraries to commit to the DBDK for a price of $20K by July 31 in order to keep the Chadwyck Healey consortial pricing offer alive, and to reach at total of 20 institutions by December 31, 2004, which would reduce the per-institution cost to $17,500. In addition, after a total amount of $650K is received by C.H., all additional subscription revenues will automatically revert back to GNARP coffers. (C.H. has said that they needed $900k from the North American market to cover their investment. The $650K figure results from subtracting what they have already realized in sales from that sum.) As of this date only eight institutions have signed on for the DKV purchase: Harvard, Cornell, Virginia, Illinois, Rutgers, Northwestern, NYU, and Duke.

4. DigiZeitschriften.

This “German JSTOR” supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is being offered exclusively to GNARP member libraries via Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Elmar Mittler (Director, University of Göttingen Library) who is offering the product with charges based on an FTE model, with an average of 1,500 Euros annual subscription. The reaction in e-mail exchanges among GNARP members over the past month has been negative, most persons feeling that even 1,000 Euros would be high considering 1) the low use of German language journals by North American library users; and 2) the small number of journals currently included in the product; and 3) the fact that it provides access only: if the subscription is not kept current, participants have no “equity” in the DigiZeitschriften journals. Currently around 20 journals are included in such fields as economics, geology, history, law, library science, philology, and sociology. It was the sense of the CDWG that further efforts should be made to persuade Professor Dr. Mittler to alter the pricing scheme so as to make DigiZeitschriften more affordable to GNARP member libraries.

5. Bibliothek der deutschen Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft.

Jeff Garrett reported that as of this date 35 GNARP member institutions have access to the online version from Klostermann, though the contract between CRL and Klostermann has not yet been finalized and signed. A contract draft (in English) has been returned and has been reviewed by the CRL attorney. This slightly amended version is now under review by Klostermann. We hope we will have an agreement very soon.

6. Bibliothek der deutschen Literatur (K.G. Saur microfiche set).

Jeff Garrett reported that in addition to the eight project participants, so far only one institution, the University of Colorado, has purchased the bibliographically enhanced records for the member $750 price. All proceeds from the sale of these records will be split 50% between the Deutsche Bibliothek and the GNARP.

7. Xipolis.

TANTO, the vendor for Xipolis, may be losing its license for this important suite of databases. Jeff will keep the group posted on future developments concerning our access to Xipolis.

8. The Opfermann Collection.

Tom Kilton reported that the Opfermann Collection at the National Library of New Zealand is still being offered by this library to any takers. The collection comprises a wide variety of subject areas and formats, among them economics, sociology, geology, Germanistik, history, law, and philosophy. There are ca. 35-50,000 monographs, partial runs of newspapers, assorted ephemera, radio scripts,, materials on the German Wiederaufbau, and cinema. Although the National Library would prefer to find a taker of the collection en bloc, there now appears to be some willingness to offer discreet portions of the collection to takers. A description of the Opfermann Collection with a title listing can be viewed on the CDWG page at: http://grp.lib.msu.edu/Opfermann/opfermannlist.htm.

Respectfully submitted, Tom Kilton