ASLI SLA Meeting Minutes
Washington Convention and Trade Show Center, Room 209
Seattle, WA,  June 10, 1997
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Wednesday, JUNE 10, 1997

Departmental scheme for up to 100 workstations will be $30.00 per journal (except Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology and Weather and Forecasting which will be $20).

Small Institution scheme for 100-500 workstations will be $90 per journal (except Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology and Weather and Forecasting which will be less).

Large Institution scheme for over 500 workstations will be $150 per journal (except Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology and Weather and Forecasting which will be $100 each). (So at the large institution level, if you receive all 7 of the AMS periodical publications and want to receive the electronic versions as well, it will be an additional $950 per year.)

It is costing the AMS over $194,000 to produce the electronic archive, there for they need to generate over $200,000 to profit. They are hoping for many large institution level subscriptions.

The Bulletin of the AMS will be available for no cost and no subscription via the Web. However, it will not be in SGML format.

You will be able to search all AMS publications included in the archive to the abstract level for no cost via the AMS Web site.

Subscriptions will be written so that years paid for by an institution/subscriber will be “owned” by the subscriber and access will not disappear if the subscription is terminated. If the AMS can no longer “support” a server/archive, they will supply the purchased issues in an alternative format.

If you subscribe with the 1998 charter subscription, access to 1997 will be received gratis. (This “2 for 1 special” will be advertised with the initial launch of the service).

AMS is considering links to abstracts in MGA but does not plan to have this option available anytime soon.

Questions regarding the AMS online publications:
Q: If a library links to the online AMS publications from its catalog, will the remote logins affect the number of workstations in its profile?
A: No, the profiles are based on “good faith guesses” by the institutions on the actual number of workstations that will be used for the subscriptions.
Q: Are there plans to load the backfiles?
A: Not at this point as it is prohibitively expensive. JSTOR was suggested as an alternative to AMS loading the material themselves

Earth Interactions update:
Individual subscriptions are working. No institutional subscriptions are available yet due to continued negotiations with AGU over “ownership” issues of canceled subscriptions.
An announcement will be made over the ASLI listserv when institutional subscriptions are available.

International Issues:
Some international members, specifically the Australian BOM and others with multiple copy subscriptions, have experienced problems with the proper number of issues arriving. This problem surfaced when AMS began using a new publisher (Allen Press, KS). Institutions can contact Beth Jaraber, at the amspubs@ametsoc.org if you have experienced this or any problem with your subscriptions. Possible distribution problems will also be looked into. The members present expressed interest in the AMS producing their covers with the SICI barcodes for journals printed on the cover, in order to speed check-in of material.

Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts update:
MGA is now being almost entirely produced by Inforonics a databases production company in Massachusetts. AMS still holds copyright to the database and is the publisher on record. (Inforonics does all the coding, pricing, delivery etc., with AMS approval.) There was discussion regarding how Inforonics monitors the literature and what it includes in the database. MGA includes a maximum of 9000 entries per year, and is required to include all the AMS publications, and the JGR: Oceans and Atmospheres sections. Previously, additional entries were located via contacts at the Woods Hole and DC area libraries. However,it is not known if these contacts are still being used.

Since AMS has turned over production of MGA to Inforonics, AMS must be careful how requests or negotiations are initiated. (Whether or not MGA profits or losses is up to Inforonics). AMS has requested the ability to download records but has not gotten any response from Inforonics. With the consensus of those at the meeting indicating that downloadable records are highly desired, AMS will approach Inforonics once again, perhaps with a bit more leverage.

Dr. Seitter asked that we, the primary users of MGA, notify the AMS with any concerns with quality and coverage we find in the MGA database. Since MGA is only allowed 9,000 items per year and approximately 1/3 of that is “required materials” a lot of material that used to be considered core to MGA database is now falling out of the scope of its coverage. This is especially evident in international and conference publication coverage.

Questions regarding MGA:
Q: Can the database provide the ability to “not” out conference proceeding abstracts which have the long listings of papers given? Or can the database allow the user to break the entries down and search them by field?
A: This will be explored.
Q: How many subscribers are there to the MGA database?
A: There are currently only 259 subscribers to the MGA database, so pricing and alternative outlets are difficult to pursue because the database is so specialized. (We all agreed however, that the CD and Web access is much better than the days in which Dialog was the sole access point to MGA).
Q: How does Inforonics monitor or fill in missing issues in MGA, or do they?
A: Inforonics does not fill in holes (and some holes do exist). If they did fill in the holes, then the articles indexed later count against the 9000 for the year in which they are added. (ouch). A question was raised on whether or not Inforonics could clean this up, and if they do could they amortize the clean-up entries over several years in order to prevent a big hit for one year.

Data issues:
The question was posed as to the group on whether or not ASLI wanted to coordinate or somehow index data for use in a reference setting. M. Latyszewskyj indicated that Environment Canada has a large amount of uncataloged international data. She also indicated that they have a large amount in their catalog, but that their catalog is behind a firewall and publicly accessible. However, maybe it should be noted, that the Environment Canada Library, Downsview still offers free reference service, except for questions on Canadian Weather and Climate Data. For information on past weather conditions, climate data, specialized weather forecasts for mariners, etc. you have to use 900 numbers for which there is a $1/95 per minute, two minutes minimum charge.

J. Curry indicated that the NCDC will be going to a cost recovery service for all its web-based data by the end of 1997.

J. Curry suggested that the Global Change Master Directory might be a good place to start for reference queries for meteorological data. He also indicated that the GCMD will accept suggestions for additions to its listings. (GCMD URL: http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov)

ASLI issues:
Those gathered felt that affiliation with the AMS would be most beneficial. AMS will agree to host meetings for ASLI at their annual conference (providing meeting service and some food service). Those present felt a model similar to the Geoscience Information Society, which meets as an associated society of the Geological Society of America, presented the best option. (GIS URL: http://library.berkeley.edu/GIS/)

ASLI, depending on a majority vote of yes from the listserv, will meet with a limited program at the AMS meeting January 11-16, 1997 in Phoenix, Arizona. ASLI needs to decide yes or no to meet with AMS in Phoenix by the July 1, 1997. And, if ASLI decides to meet in Phoenix, we need to send preliminary program information to Dr. Seitter by the end of August, 1997.

If ASLI wants to pursue a program for Phoenix, make suggestions via the listserv. P. Brueggeman suggested starting with the basics, by asking speakers from organizations or institutions which could discuss what a new atmospheric sciences librarian would need to know. Additional ideas included speakers from the NCDC, NOAA, Data producers and international and national organizations.

It was also suggested that in Phoenix ASLI consider establishing bylaws, minimal dues, look into finding a gift to get the organization financially established, explore travel options for members, maintaining its international focus and consider establishing a newsletter or publication outlet.