NCC Digital Resources Committee (DRC) Open Discussion Meeting
New York Public Library
March 28, 2003
The meeting was convened at 4:45 PM by Ellen Hammond (DRC Chair) after the NCC Open Meeting.
Hammond introduced the DRC members to the participants and explained that DRC's goals are (1) to educate Japanese Studies librarians about contracting/licensing issues, (2) to work with librarians and library organizations in Japan to effect change, and (3) to approach vendors as necessary to effect changes desired by our community. DRC has created a web site for information sharing and dissemination and Rob Britt is the web master. Hammond and Bazzell will make a presentation at the Japan Special Libraries Annual Meeting in June and some of the DRC members will also exchange information with their Japanese counterparts the same month.
Hammond reported on the dialogue between DRC and the Nikkei representatives regarding the Nikkei Telecom 21. Hammond met the Nikkei representatives during the Junior Japanese Librarians Professional Seminar in Boston in August 2002. She informed the Nikkei on the institutional electronic resources environment in North America, which helped Nikkei to later conduct a survey. DRC members also held a discussion with Nikkei's representatives on March 26 at Nikkei's New York Office. Since Nikkei Telecom 21 is targeted to business users, its standard licensing terms that require a user ID and password, a fee charging scheme and restrictive licensing conditions are not compatible with the needs of academic institutions. However, Nikkei expressed a willingness to learn more about the academic situation. Although no progress resulted from this meeting, Nikkei still has a package for academic institutions under consideration. For example, Nikkei agrees that a user ID and password could be scripted for campus computers to allow wider access on campus. However, DRC members were left with the impression that Nikkei representatives are still struggling to understand the academic environment as it relates to their product. Therefore, we have little choice but to collectively educate Japanese vendors. DRC will keep everyone informed via the discussion list and DRC web site.
Hammond then asked for individual experiences regarding Japanese electronic resources. The followings are summaries of each case:
Asahi Shinbun CD-ROMs reported by Participant A
Due to unacceptable licensing terms, no institutions in North America currently subscribe to Asahi's online product, Asahi DNA. Recently, Asahi produced full-text newspaper CD-ROMs for prewar and early Showa periods. Participant A researched this product for possible purchase. Again, Asahi's intended customers are Japanese universities and Asahi was reluctant to accommodate universities outside Japan. Participant A's impression was that Asahi seemed to be concerned with potential lawsuits and especially skittish after recent lawsuit filed by a Japanese individual. However, Asahi may entertain requests in the future since Yomiuri began marketing similar CDs to overseas institutions. As for the Asahi product, Participant A finds the CDs very useful. The indexes and search capabilities are well developed and full-text images are clear.
The University of Washington reported that UW East-Asian Library recently installed a sample Asahi CD to see how smoothly it would operate. With the Kinokuniya's help, it was installed onto the Library's hard drive and it appears to work with no problem. The sample CD is available via Mr. Mitake of Kinokuniya. (Recorder's note: Bazzell confirmed this with Mr. Mitake later. Mr. Mitake said that a sample CD can be borrowed providing it is returned to Kinokuniya.)
Participant B followed up later regarding the Asahi Shinbun Showa zenki as follows: Asahi Shinbun Showa zenki CD-ROMs should be "stand alone." The contract says that if an institution wants to network it, the Asahi should be contacted and an institution needs to pay for network license. Right now Participant B's institution is not thinking, "networked multiple use" for this product because users would be very small, therefore, "multiple use" is not expected.
There is another issue related to the product. It is suggested internally that this title should be loaded on main library server due to the huge volume of disks, however, access is only one at time that would be "stand alone." This is under discussion.
Yomiuri Shinbun CD-ROMs reported by Participant B
Participant B reported that UW loaded multiple numbers of the Yomiuri Shinbun full-text CDs onto the Library's hard drive. It seems to work much better once the CDs are loaded onto the hard drive. Yomiuri was very willing to accommodate the needs of UW. Mr. Mitake of Kinokuniya helped develop an English language contract to include UW's suggested terms such as copyright and article 17. The language in the UW contract with Yomiuri might be used as a sample. (Recorder's note: Bazzell confirmed this with Mr. Mitake later. He is willing to share the contract language with others.)
Yomiuri Shinbun Taisho, Showa zenki CD-ROMs will be tested for networked loaded in the main library server soon. UW received permission from the Yomiuri for testing. After making sure it works, the Yomiuri will be contacted and network license fee will be paid. The Yomiuri said "one time payment", rather than annual payment. Participant B has cleared the license issue with Yomiuri and the license office at UW Libraries for this product."
Yomiuri CDs are also installed on the Columbia University Starr Library hard-drive and this seems to work very well.
Consortium purchases of expensive CD-ROMs reported by Participant C
Washington University at St. Louis is a member of the Great Library Alliance (GLA) consortium. When they met last June, seven university libraries (WU, Kansas, Missouri, Texas -Austin, Illinois-Champaign, & Iowa) agreed to cooperatively seek funds to purchase expensive Japanese CDs. They approached the CD producer in Japan and created a license agreement that allows document delivery between consortium members. Therefore, if the funds are awarded, WU will purchase the CDs, the others will purchase the index, and upon request, WU will be able to supply full-texts of the articles.
Participant C mentioned that she reviewed the licensing provisions posted on Yale's Liblicense web site (
http://www.library.yale.edu/
~llicense/index.shtml) and created a simple contract. The Japanese CD producer accepted the language. Bestor asked if she could share the contract and Participant C replied that she would once the funding application was approved.
Hammond reported to the participants that DRC will be creating a model license for Japanese vendors and it would appear on the DRC web site.
JapanKnowledge online reported by Participant D
Participant D contacted NetAdvance Inc. (a part of the Shokakukan) for licensing of Japan Knowledge. Although they do not have a licensing contract for overseas institutions yet, they are very willing to learn and make accommodations for future overseas use. Participant D finds this product very useful for undergraduate students. Participant E also finds it very useful. The frequency of updates and coverage were inquired by an audience. Participant E replied that it is updated frequently. Participant D will maintain a dialogue with the JapanKnowledge representatives and keeps us informed on her progress.
The followings are summaries of discussions from the floor:
Magazineplus vs NDL Zassaku
A question was asked whether some organizations would cancel the Magazineplus subscription because NDL now offers the free Zassaku online database. The majority of institutions will keep their Magazineplus subscription. Some of the reasons are: that Magazineplus offers a popular magazine index and it has better interface and search capabilities.
It is uncertain whether Nichigai will provide the pre-1975 data through Magazineplus. The data is very expensive and even if they offer it, the price will most likely increase. Some institutions share the cost, such as Yenching and the Reischauer Institute and UW East Asia Library and the Law School.
Kris Troost reminded everybody that she is sharing ISSN information with those who wish to link their Magazineplus holding information to her institutional holding information. Nichigai can now create holding links for individual institutions.
There were some discussions about the Oya Soichi Bunko Online database. It only covers the period from 1988. However, many find it very useful and flexible. Kazuko Sakaguchi mentioned that she made a title comparison between Oya Soichi Bunko and the Nichigai's Journal Index and found that many titles overlapped. Hammond said she felt that the subject indexing and search capabilities make it a valuable complement to other online indexes.
People felt this opportunity to exchange information is very helpful and hope this forum will be an ongoing activity. Hammond mentioned that DRC's web site will serve a similar function and it will be announced via Eastlib.
The meeting adjourned at 5:45 PM.
Reported by Tokiko Y. Bazzell
