VIVA Steering Committee News

Colleagues --The VIVA Steering Committee met on Thursday, December 9, 2004. Here are a few of the highlights:

1. The Steering Committee approved the acquisition of the Institute of Physics current journals (to build on the archives we current own). The Committee approved the cost sharing proposition for this acquisition for 2005 and 2006. VIVA intends to fully support this acquisition in the year 2007. [Access will begin as soon as possible, perhaps as early as January 1, 2005.]

2. The Steering Committee approved the acquisition of EngnetBase and CRC Handbook of Chemistry subscription. [Access is estimated to begin in early spring semester.]

3. The Steering Committee approved the acquisition of Ariel 4.0 upgrades for all (public and private) members. Schools will be asked to confirm the number of upgrades they wish to receive. Schools requiring NEW software (not upgrades) need to let me know and these will be considered on an as needed basis.

4. The Steering Committee approved renewals for the following VIVA resources: a. ABC-CLIO b. Institute of Physics Journals ARCHIVES c. American Mathematical Society Journals d. American Mathematical Society - MathSiNet. e. Cambridge University Press Journals. f. HarpWeek Maintenance. g. AP IDEAL Archives on OCLC/ECO

5. The Steering Committee approved funding for a one day training session in the spring for selected VIVA products.

6. 3 additional ports will be added to OCLC FirstSearch as of February 1, 2005.

7. Pricing for the PsycArticles subscriptions was approved. [Invoices will be mailed shortly.]

8. The Steering Committee approved the search for a fulltime Associate Director for VIVA, a professional librarian (or equivalent) position with administrative faculty status.

The full minutes will be drafted, reviewed and posted very shortly --probably within 3 weeks. All VIVA Steering Committee minutes are linked from this web site: http://www.gmu.edu/library/fen/viva/mindex.html

Cheers,

Kathy