RSIG MINUTES 6/23/99

PRESENT: Susan Bell, Zora Breeding, Sue Davis, Sylvia Martin, Mary Ellen Wilson

FISCAL YEAR END: Mary Ellen reported that OS staff were almost finished with orders on hand except for a few for the 8300 fund. Money will be expended on schedule. She noted that the use of GOBI was very helpful. It was used mainly for Choice card orders and BIP printouts. The rollover to next year's funds is planned for the first or second weeks of July.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Sylvia remarked that announcements of 2 major merges/takeovers among vendors were recently received. Blackwell Periodicals and Swets will merge with headquarters to be established in the Netherlands. YBP has been sold to Baker & Taylor. All companies stress that the transition should not be noticeable to current customers.

EDUCATION PROJECT: Sylvia reported that a memo from Mary Beth Blalock stated that $40,000 of a $50,000 grant to the Curriculum Lab will be spent for materials. Orders will be prioritized as to importance and sent to OS as soon as they are available. Cataloging of this material is recognized as the most difficult aspect of the project. Mary Beth is willing to accept provisional records in order to get material on the shelves by fall. Mary Beth states: "The commitment that I have made to the committee is that we will do our best to get these materials ready for users this fall, but that it is not realistic to think we can have all items available." Susan will be the cataloger. She will try, to the best of her ability, to keep up with priority items as will the rest of RS staff with any involvement in this project.

PROMPTCAT UPDATE: There was much discussion as to how to proceed with shelf-ready material once we are notified that our profile is in place. It was suggested that Mary Ellen, Zora, and Sue be on hand to help with receipt of the first couple of shipments in the Central and Science Libraries. ACTION: Mary Ellen, Zora, and Sue, along with Sylvia, will meet on July 6 to formulate a plan of action.

MARC TOC: BNA's method for record enhancement with TOCs seems to be the best approach. A question was raised as to whether records enhanced by MARCIVE would be negated by BNA TOC enhancement. ACTION: Sylvia will work with BNA on arranging for TOC enhancement, and will also check to see if the MARCIVE and BNA services are compatible.

NEXT MEETING: Wed., July 14, 2:00, Baker