NETWORK OF ALABAMA ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

State Publications Task Force Pilot Project in 2006-2007

March 7, 2007

Draft Minutes by SOM 3/9/06

 

The State Publications Task Force pilot project volunteers met on 7 March 2007 in the Jones Conference Room of the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Chairman Diann Weatherly called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m. Attendees were: Lenis McBride, Alabama A&M University; Tracey Berezansky, Alabama Department of Archives and History; Al Craig and Tammy Lowery, Alabama Public Library Service; Rickey D. Best, John Gantt, Colleen Valente, Auburn University at Montgomery; Sue Medina, Network of Alabama Academic Libraries; Beth Ashmore and Carla Waddell, Samford University; Paul C. May, State Health Planning & Development Agency; Jess G.Echord, Troy University; Catherine H. Smith, Lister Hill Library, and Jeff Graveline, Mervyn H. Sterne Library, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Lisa Huddleston and Cecile Nabors, University of North Alabama; and Sheila Limerick, University of West Alabama. At the December meeting, participants had volunteered to identify issues and problems related to a select group of State e-publications. Each volunteer selected at least one online publication and agreed to: " access the websites for the publication(s) selected. Possible questions:

 

• was the website easy to navigate

 

• were publications easy to locate on the site and identify as publications

 

• did the site include an annual report

 

• were the publications downloadable (do not select databases for this project)

 

• what was the format of the publication(s) downloaded

 

• are formats consistent for all publications on the site. If not, what formats are used and are any of these likely to cause problems for downloading

 

• did the publication retain its format and was it usable after the download " use a draft record to catalog the electronic publication (but not enter it into a local OPAC or WorldCat. Possible questions:

 

• was the publication a bibliographic entity with the standard elements needed for a MARC record

 

• had a record for the publication been added to WorldCat (OCLC record number?)

 

• did the electronic publication continue a print publication

 

• what problems were encountered in completing a cataloging record for the electronic document " work with his or her colleagues to assess the library support needed and the project's impact on the library's workload.

 

Chairman Weatherly thanked everyone for their serious work on the Task Force charge demonstrated by the excellent reports posted on the Task Force wiki http://sprtf.pbwiki.com. For this meeting, she asked everyone to review their individual efforts to identify, harvest, and examine the cataloging records for the "test" of selected publications. Reports were heard from: Rickey Best, Colleen Valente, Jeff Graveline, Diann Weatherly for Beth Lathem (JSU); Beth Ashmore, Jess Echord, Kay Smith, Lenis McBride, Tracey Berezansky, and Carla Waddell. Anyone using a PowerPoint presentation was asked to add it to the wiki. State Publications Task Force Pilot Project in 2006-2007 March 7, 2007 Page 2

 

Most members found challenges were similar on many of the different agencies' websites: While not every test found every challenges, these were frequently identified: " poor presentation of publications on the agency websites making them hard to find and/or hard to read " very large file sizes that took a long time to appear on the computer screen " files that were so large that long-term storage would become a major problem " "publications" not structured as a publications that could be downloaded (multiple links to separate chapters of a single title or a mix of documents and spreadsheets) " many postings that were ephemera (such as newsletters, brochures) " lack of "bibliographic" identity " links to a summary but not the entire document " serial publications with individual urls for each issue " inconsistent titles " incomplete content (some publication parts updated but other parts not updated) " databases used instead of publications to provide information " poor quality or inappropriate orientation for scans of printed materials " publications posted in odd locations such as the "About" section " no publications directory to assist with navigation " publications that could be found with a provided url but not found by using the site's own search engine " inconsistent records in WorldCat for the print equivalent (some cataloged as serials, some as monographs)

 

There were cheers for the agency websites with good navigation and presentation features such as a publications directory on the main page, consistent titles and agency names on the publications, and files maximized for web presentation, All of the reports are posted on the wiki, and are not summarized here. Tracey said she had several pages of notes which she would use to draft a "procedural leaflet" for state agencies outlining best practices for placing publications on their web sites. She will share the draft with the group for review and comment and this draft will added to the minutes. Publications Selection Tracey reported that ADAH plans to ask agencies to send electronic publications to Archives when they are first published. Archives has added ContentDM (a digital file management system), which can provide public access to e-publications. It is unlikely that Archives will obtain all state e-publications this way. Also, it will be unlikely that Archives will have sufficient staffing levels to create catalog records for individual titles. She solicited suggestions to identify about 100 state publications considered essential for the academic community.

 

State Publications Task Force Pilot Project in 2006-2007 March 7, 2007 Page 2

 

The Task Force again discussed how a statewide project would select publications to retain. It was agreed that the Task Force would query the libraries' reference librarians for their suggestions of the most important publications. As part of the overall discussion, the group mentioned that many of the urls in the state agency records on OCLC were dead links. At the time NAAL cataloged these sites using CORC, state agencies used a variety of Internet service providers. The State has now consolidated the agencies behind Alabama.gov, but there are few referring links for the old sites. The NAAL members that contributed the records (or OCLC Enhance libraries) need to consider updating these records.

 

Alabama Electronic Publications Use for the Pilot Project "Test" (with person/library conducting the test)

 

Alabama Dept. of Corrections Annual Report http://www.doc.state.al.us/docs/AnnualRpts/2003AnnualReport.pdf http://www.doc.state.al.us/docs/AnnualRpts/2004AnnualReport.pdf http://www.doc.state.al.us/docs/AnnualRpts/2005AnnualReport.pdf Rickey Best, AUM

 

Annual Report of the Alabama Unified Judicial System http://www.alacourt.gov/Annual_Report.html Jeff, UAB

 

Alabama Vital Statistics http://ph.state.al.us/chs/Publications/AVS%202004%20BOOK.pdf Bethany, JSU

 

County Health Profiles http://ph.state.al.us/chs/Publications/COUNTY%20PROFILES%202004.pdf Carla, Samford

 

State of Alabama General Election Results http://www.sos.state.al.us/election/2000/2000.htm Beth, Samford

 

Alabama Department of Education Annual Report http://www.alsde.edu/html/annual_reports.asp?menu=none&footer=general Jess, Troy

 

State of Alabama Comprehensive Annual Financial Report http://www.comptroller.state.al.us/cafr.htm Tracey, ADAH

 

Alabama Dept. of Public Health Annual Report http://www.adph.org/publications/default.asp?id=527 Rickey, AUM

 

Alabama Accident Summary: Statewide Accidents http://www.dps.state.al.us/public/administrative/accidentsummary/ Kay, UAB

 

Crime in Alabama http://acjic.state.al.us/SAC/ Rickey, AUM

 

Alabama County Data Book (out of print, no electronic version?) Jeff, UAB

 

Alabama Public Libraries Statistics http://www.apls.state.al.us/webpages/services/Stats/StatisticsInfoPage.html Al and Tammy, APLS

 

Alabama Insurance Report http://www.aldoi.gov/About.aspx Lenis, A&M

 

Titles on the list but not tested

 

Alabama Agricultural Statistics Annual Bulletins http://www.aces.edu/department/nass/bulletin/annual.htm

 

Superintendent of Banks Annual Report http://www.banking.alabama.gov/pdfs/Annual%20Reports/Annual_Report_2005.pdf http://www.bank.state.al.us/pdfs/Annual%20Reports/State%20Banking%20Bd%2003.pdf http://www.bank.state.al.us/pdfs/Annual%20Reports/State%20Banking%20Bd%2004.pdf

 

Detailed Monthly Statistics Alabama Dept. of Human Resources http://www.dhr.state.al.us/page.asp?pageID=625