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Documents Users Group
![[GPO logo]](../../images/deposicn.gif)
September 24, 1999
University of Texas at San Antonio John Peace Library
Attendance: Dorothy Blow, Pat Broome, Jackie Crinion, Camille Fiorillo, Amory Irby, Myrna Langford, Victor Lopez, Tina Petimezas, Wilson Plunkett, Claudia Shaw, Ruby Wehmeyer, Steve Wise, and Kathy Amen. Special guest: Donna Hogan, UTSA's Head of Electronic Information and Reference.
There was a fair amount of news to catch up on, since we haven't seen each other since May:
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UTSA, our hosts, finished their reference/documents area shifting and renovation.
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SAPL got a visit from some Patent and Trademark Office folks who are very keen (as the British say) to have SAPL become a depository; since one of the sticking points had been the cost of the required backfiles, PTO's current plans to put a complete set of backfiles on DVD, for much less cost, may clear the way for this to happen. Wilson feels SAPL has an excellent chance of becoming a depository soon.
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In the area of upper library management, SAPL has extended the search for a director, since too many promising candidates have withdrawn themselves from consideration; and St. Mary's Law Library's director will be leaving at the end of this academic year. A J.D. is required for that position.
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Trinity will be getting their Endeavor/Voyager web-based catalog soon, perhaps as soon as October; a committee is currently trying to come up with a good name for it.
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Tina, Wilson and Kathy helped GPO out this summer by visiting some of the hotels being considered for the 2002 Spring Depository Library Council meeting, and reporting on the meeting room facilities, distance from the River, etc. It turns out, however, that only one of the hotels bid on the meeting, so it will be at the Four Points (formerly Tropicana) on the north edge of downtown--very close to SAPL, however!
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This may not be new news, but TLU is a "wireless" campus; students can use laptops out under the trees, if they want, to access the internet via the campus wireless network; Martha Rinn and other TLU folks have been called upon to speak about this futuristic-sounding system from all over.
A good bit of time was spent discussing, and bemoaning, the problem of printing in libraries, a problem concerning, but not limited to, documents reference. Trinity had a close call with a non-university patron needing to access a massive HUD manual. Although the patron was apparently satisfied with downloading, the library is now looking more closely at printing policies and feels that some written rules may be required. A quick survey of those attending revealed:
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UTSA doesn't charge for printing, as all students pay a computer/library use fee; non-university users can take advantage of the printing, however. Mitigating profligate over-printing somewhat is the fact that the printers are networked rather than being available one-on-one with the computers.
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Trinity, St. Mary's Academic and St. Mary's Law do not charge for printing; St. Mary's officials (not in the libraries) are working on putting a pay-for-printing scheme in place. Steve reported on a unique situation with Westlaw, which, as a vendor, limits the number of pages each student password may print in a semester, presumably to discourage non-neccesary printing.
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Palo Alto charges 10 cents per page (honor system)
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SAC charges 10 cents per page for all printing.
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TLU charges 5 cents per page for all printing.
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SAPL not only charges for printing, but also keeps close tabs on time spent at the computers, a necessary evil since their usage is so heavy.
There was some interest in the DocTech-L discussion list, devoted to technical problems in documents processing. Their home page is: http://www.usu.edu/~library/About/doctech.html, where you can find more information, including subscription instructions.
Wilson has spent a good bit of time with the Northern Light search engine that was heavily discussed on GovDoc-L a few months ago. The full-featured service is fee-based, but the NL folks are offering free access to public libraries (but not all depositories, as I understand it.-KA). His report is, basically, not to worry about it if you cannot get access to this search engine, as it seems not to offer anything particularly special in comparison to some of the other search engines.
Our next meeting will be at the Marcive headquarters on October 29 at 9:30 a.m. Wilson will be getting maps/directions from Jim Noel at Marcive. Jim will give us a tour of the facilities and a chance to ask about any Marcive products. Wilson says that non-documents folks from our libraries can come, but if a large number of guests want to come, let him know. They are planning on about 20 attendees altogether.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Amen, Secretary/Treasurer
