PACSLAV Meeting Minutes, December, 2004
PACSLAV Meeting
December 4, 2004
Boston, MA
Present: Karen Rondestvedt, (Chair); Michael Brewer, Mischa Buczkowski,
Beth Feinberg (Recorder)
The meeting began at 10:30 a.m.
Minutes from the 2003 meeting were approved.
Reports:
UC Berkeley: Allan Urbanic was not able to attend the conference. Below
follows a submitted report.
Collections: The Slavic Collections budget has been flat for several years
and a number of serials have been cancelled to retain the purchasing power
for monographs. Most serial cuts have been in the area of current
newspapers on microfilm, relying on subscriptions from Stanford, UCLA and
other PACSLAV members for coverage. UCB acquired the Russian National
Bibliography on-line edition with backfiles from East View as well as the
full backfile and current subscription for the on-line version of Voprosy
istorii. AnnMarie Mitchell was instrumental in acquiring the St. Hyacinth
Collection of Polish cultural materials from the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. The collection numbers roughly 10,000 volumes. Exchange
programs remain strong and greatly augment the purchasing side of the
Slavic collection budget. The number of retained duplicates from the
PACSLAV duplicate exchange has significantly decreased for reasons that
might need to be explored further. The Institute for Slavic, East European
and Eurasian Studies continues to contribute funds for purchasing materials
through its Title VI grant.
Staffing: The Library lost the services of two invaluable employees this
year due to retirements. AnnMarie Mitchell, the Polish selector, and Elena
Balashova, the Curatorial assistant for Slavic collection both left the
Library on September 1st. Their work has been absorbed, though not
altogether covered, by the Slavic librarian. The Library has approved
recruitment for a full-time Slavic cataloger and a job posting should be
issued soon. Funding from the Library and from the Institute for Slavic,
East European, and Eurasian Studies for student assistance will help to
relieve some of this burden.
Faculty: Several recruitments for faculty are underway which will increase
the current number of people working in the Slavic Studies area. These
include History, Economics, and Political Science. Guest faculty have been
filling in for the Czech/Slovak position in the Dept. of Slavic Languages
and Literatures.
Oregon: Not much has changed at Oregon, but enrollment has increased in the
Slavic department. There was a 10% monograph budget cut, and a second round
of serials cuts. He may have to cancel serials in the future. Oregon will
probably subscribe to Voprosy istorii online.
Arizona: Arizona has purchased Voprosy istorii online, and the RNB. There
have been significant cuts in serials and acquisitions budgets. Michael has
been able to engage the faculty in library activities, and the master’s
program will stay. Innovative Interfaces (III) has issues in returning records with specific
diacritics; Michael has given III his input and encourages others to do so.
Arizona uses Serials Solutions to input e-titles in their online catalog.
Stanford: This year’s budget is better than the last; there was a 5%
increase, and no serials or monographs cuts. Stanford has purchased the
Eastview Universal database, RNB, Voprosy istorii online, and is interested
in CEEOL. Stanford uses TDnet for their e-resources management. Newspapers
are the most popular online resource; the humanities and social sciences
database is the most popular database.
UCLA: Leon Ferder retired in June 2004, after over 30 years of service.
Beth Feinberg was reassigned in July 2004, and now has a split position for
both collection development and cataloging. UCLA has purchased RNB, and is
interested in Voprosy istorii online and the CEEOL. This year’s collection
budget is better than in previous years; there was a 6% increase this year.
UCLA has developed an in-house e-resources management database that is
integrated into the online catalog.
Major microfilm list: Michael Brewer offered to change and/or correct the
microfilm list.
Duplicate exchange:
Stanford is interested in materials from the 1960-90s, especially science
and popular science. Stanford accepts university level textbooks, Arizona
also has an interest in them. Oregon wants materials on Russia and the
Balkans, but not Albania or Romania.
Michael Brewer suggested that the group add institutional profiles onto our
exchange routing slip; this way we will not have to remember the various
collecting areas across institutions. The group agreed this was an
excellent idea.
Leadership:
Karen Rondestvedt would like another member to chair the group; the group
agreed it should probably be someone from a larger institution.
Website:
Michael Brewer offered to help maintain the PACSLAV website, or design a
new one altogether.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:15 p.m.