Executive Board Minutes

November 22-23, 1991

University of California, San Diego

La Jolla, CA

Present:

James Cheng, Teruko Kyuma Chin, Joy Kim, Karl Lo, Eugene Wu (Chair), and Andrew Wang (Guest)

November 22, 1991

The chair convened the inaugural Executive Board meeting at 10:30 a.m., and welcomed those present. Cheng Heng-hsiung, Member-At-Large, was unable to attend and sent his regrets. Karl Lo was thanked for his hospitality in hosting this meeting.

I. Changes in the Bylaws

There was a minor change to Section D, Article 2 of the Bylaws. The second paragraph was amended to read: Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Member-at-Large officers: ... (letters in italic added).

There was also a discussion about the term Treasurer/Membership officer (Section D, Article 1). Since there is no membership fee to be collected, is there a need for a "Treasurer"? Should it be called simply Membership Officer ? James Cheng pointed out that, in the future, the group may expand to require a treasurer and therefore it would be better to leave it as is. This argument was accepted and no change was made.

II. Duties of the Officers

The Chair appointed Joy Kim as Recorder, Teruko Kyuma Chin as Treasurer/Membership Officer, and James Cheng as Chairman of the Program Committee.

III. Reports from OCLC

Andrew Wang reported on recent CJK developments at OCLC.

A. Chinese National Bibliography of the Republican Era, 1911-1949

This project was originally funded by grants from the Henry Luce Foundation ($240,000) and the National Endowment for the Humanities ($125,000 outright grant and $419,595 matching funds). However, due to the delayed arrival of the Chinese librarians participating in the project, NEH withdrew both the outright grant and the matching funds. OCLC has re-applied for the grants, and is waiting for a decision from NEH. At present, the project is supported only by the Luce Foundation grant. The six librarians from the National Library of China (NLC) arrived at OCLC on September 26, 1991, and intensive training began on September 30, 1991. By Mid-November, 1991, approximately 600 records of the project had been added to the OCLC database, averaging about two hours of input time per record. At this rate, only some 15,000 records are expected to be converted with the current funding. In view of this, the Board asked OCLC to prioritize the input of the materials according to the needs of the libraries in the United States. Wang said he will negotiate this point with the NLC.
The Board reviewed some sample records of the project, and made the following observations:
1. The records have full, standard cataloging data, including LC call number and LC subject headings which are added by OCLC's professional staff. However, they have the encoding level K ("Less-than-full cataloging input by OCLC participating library"). According to Mr. Wang, the reason for this coding is because the records are based on the worksheets provided by NLC, and not on the publications themselves.
2. Vernacular characters are added even to the optional note fields, regardless of their degree of usefulness. The Executive Board recommended that, in light of the slow progress, OCLC should exercise judgment and be selective in providing characters in note fields.
3. All records in this project bear the project symbol BNJ in the 040 field, with no further indication of the name of the actual holding library. Since this bibliography represents collections in the National Library of China, Shanghai Library, and Chongqing Library, some Board members thought such an indication would be most desirable. Andrew Wang responded that this may not be technically feasible.

B. Chinese MARC and Japan MARC Tapes

1. Chinese MARC (National Central Library, Taiwan) Tapes
In 1990, OCLC sent 30 sample NCL records to OCLC CJK users and sought their advice on loading them, as they are, into the OCLC database. Responses were divided, and OCLC did not receive a clear recommendation. Most users indicated a desire to see the quality of the NCL records improved. However, this seems unlikely due to NCL's limited resources and its other domestic priorities. In light of this, Andrew Wang wanted to know if the Users Group would adopt an official position on this matter. The Board thought that the imperfections of the records notwithstanding, the records, as they stand, could still be useful in that libraries can enhance them for their own use. However, the Board agreed to refer the question to the Program Committee for a recommendation.
2. Japan MARC Tapes
In 1987, a Japanese intern at OCLC developed a software program to convert Japan MARC records into the USMARC format. At LC's request, OCLC transferred this software to the Library of Congress in 1988 as LC decided to take the responsibility of converting Japan MARC records into the USMARC format for distribution in the United States. During the ALA annual conference in July, 1991, Ms. Susan M. Tarr, Chief, Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, informed Andrew Wang that LC had resolved all technical problems of the conversion, but issues of payment with Kinokuniya, distributor of the Japan MARC tapes, were yet to be resolved. According to information provided to Andrew Wang a few days before the Board meeting by Ms. Tarr, LC hopes to have all the issues resolved soon, and may begin the distribution of Japan MARC records in April, 1992.

C. OCLC CJK Plus

Mr. Wang explained the basic features of the second generation of OCLC CJK, tentatively called CJK Plus. The implementation for the PC based CJK Plus is targeted for July 1, 1992, and the move of OCLC CJK to Prism is targeted for 1993. The current CJK350 will be supported for one year after the release of CJK Plus. Mr. Wang had no price information for CJK Plus, but estimated that each PC might cost $3,000, and the annual license fee (for the use of OCLC CJK Plus software) might also be $3,000 per package. However, users need not purchase the PC from OCLC; they can buy it from any other vendors. He also indicated that, in order to offset the development cost, there could be a one-time surcharge of perhaps $5,000 per package for new CJK users. The Executive Board strongly opposed this idea. They believed that the hefty surcharge will discourage potential users from joining OCLC. It recommended that OCLC spread the development costs to the entire CJK membership. While the anticipated high cost of each workstation may restrict subscribers to a limited number, a lower or no entry fee for the CJK option would attract many new participants and thereby broaden the CJK user base. This would in turn stimulate the coming of a multi-script OPAC system, from which everyone will benefit. This question led to an examination of the current CJK membership.

D. New OCLC CJK Users

Mr. Wang handed out a list of the OCLC CJK350 users (total of 35 institutions using 59 workstations). He reported that the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the Library of Congress (for CONSER) are new CJK Plus users. Because of the imminent introduction of CJK Plus, OCLC is no longer selling CJK350 workstations.
The morning session ended at 12:30 p.m., and Karl Lo hosted lunch at the UCSD Faculty Club. The afternoon session resumed at 2:00 p.m.

IV. Organizational and Communications Matters

1. A.Role of the Executive Board
   

There was a discussion about the role and responsibilities of the Executive Board and the kinds of activities in which the Users Group as a whole can profitably engage. It was agreed that the Executive Board will provide leadership for the entire OCLC CJK350 Users Group by establishing policies and direction for the group's activities. The Program Committee, under the guidance of the Executive Board and with the support of OCLC, will organize and carry out the group's programs.

B. The Program Committee

Chair James Cheng suggested that the committee function in the same way as did the RLG East Asian Program Committee and that it consist of all the Heads of the institutional members of the Users Group. Among the questions raised were: will it be too large a committee to function efficiently? Can a smaller and rotating membership serve the purpose and still achieve fair representation? Should junior librarians and non-managers also have the opportunity to serve? After discussion, the Board agreed to give the Committee Chairman an opportunity to implement his ideas, so his proposal was accepted. By Mid-January, 1992, Cheng will draft a letter inviting all the Heads of the member institutions to serve on the committee.

C. Relationship with the OCLC CJK350 Updates Group

The OCLC CJK350 Users Group will work closely with the OCLC CJK350 Updates Group. The latter, organized directly by OCLC, will be concerned mainly with technical matters, while the former will concentrate on policy questions and program oriented activities.

D. Working Relationship with External Organizations

The question was how the Users Group will maintain working relationships with external organizations which share common interests with the Users Group. It was agreed that the Group will not actively seek external relationships independently of OCLC. However, when the Group's opinions are solicited by any external organization, it will respond and act as an active advocate for its member libraries so as to advance the common interests and purposes of the Group. James Cheng suggested sending the minutes of the Executive Board meeting to the successor body to the former RLG East Asian Program Committee as a gesture of good will and of our willingness to cooperate with RLG. After discussion, the Board decided that, rather than sending the minutes, the Chair will write a letter to Karen Smith-Yoshimura to officially inform her of the establishment of the OCLC CJK350 Users Group and to express our readiness to work with RLG.

E. Communications and Public Relations

Various formats will be employed to insure effective communication within and outside the Group. Minutes of all meetings (Executive Board meetings, Program Committee meetings, and the annual general membership meetings) will be distributed to the entire membership. Rather than publishing a newsletter, newsworthy items will be submitted to the CEAL bulletin for publication. Oral reports also will be made at the Group's general meetings. The Board members asked Andrew Wang to consider publishing cataloging statistics broken down by institution on a monthly basis. Mr. Wang thought that monthly statistics would be difficult, but agreed to provide quarterly statistics.

F. Annual Meeting Logistics

The meeting logistics at the 1992 CEAL annual conference were tentatively set as outlined below. Andrew Wang graciously agreed to reserve rooms for all the following meetings: - Tuesday evening, March 31, 1992.
Executive Board Working Dinner (to be hosted by OCLC)
- Wednesday, April 1, 1992.
A.M. Program Committee meeting
P.M. Joint Meeting of the Users Group and the Updates Group (Reports by the Executive Board, Program Committee, and
Andrew Wang.)

V. Question of Standards

In light of RLG's active involvement in standardization issues, such as the Unicode development, Andrew Wang was asked about OCLC's activity in this regard. Mr. Wang said that there is a fine division of responsibilities within the corporate organization of OCLC, and standardization is not one of his domains. However, his staff work closely and communicate any problems with the Library of Congress. Mr. Wang has been following the Unicode development closely, although personally he has some reservations about the project.

There was a discussion on how actively the Users Group should involve itself with issues of standards. It was felt that, in principle, the Group should be concerned with standardization. However, in view of other more pressing problems it has to deal with presently, perhaps it should not be the foremost priority at this point. The Executive Board decided to deal with standardization issues as they arise.

VI. Database Expansion

1. A.Strategies
   

The Executive Board expressed appreciation for Mr. Wang's fine work in expanding the OCLC database through the loading of non-OCLC tapes, as exemplified by the RLIN CJK tape exchange program. This exchange has proven to be the single most important development in OCLC's CJK database expansion. The Board praised Mr. Wang's efforts and asked him to "keep up the good work."
The following additional means of database expansion were identified for further investigation by the Program Committee (except for the last two items which are to be studied by Andrew Wang).
- Organized, systematic approach to cooperative cataloging
- Shared analytical cataloging of large sets
- Collective grant proposals for cooperative retrospective conversion
- OCLC acquiring foreign data in addition to RLIN CJK and LC records, such as bibliographic records created by book jobbers (e.g. Shenlien of Shanghai and Kinokuniya of Tokyo) as well as records created by libraries in East Asia. Andrew Wang will look into this possibility.
- OCLC serving as the clearing house for all these programs

B. Program Priorities

Among the above topics, the Executive Board agreed that retrospective conversion is the top priority, and that the Users group should actively seek funding sources, with OCLC's support. Possible funding sources suggested included Title IIC and NEH. The Chair asked Karl Lo to do some preliminary investigation of this matter, and to report his findings to the Executive Board (March 31, 1992) and the Users Group's general membership meeting (April 1, 1992), in Washington, D.C.
The Board agreed that cooperative cataloging, preservation, and collection development are lower priorities at present. The Board will closely monitor the programs of the National Planning for Academic Japanese Libraries , developed during the conference on National Planning for Academic Japanese Libraries , Stanford University, November 7-9, 1991. The Users Group may adopt a similar approach for its cooperative programs.

C. Retrospective Conversion

In relation to retrospective conversion, Andrew Wang reported that OCLC has been involved in the following projects: St. John's University--all records completed, approximately 7,200 titles.
University of Washington--All H and DS classes completed, approximately 15,000 records.
UCLA--All Chinese materials completed, approximately 25,000 records. The grand total will be about 65,000 records when the Japanese and Korean titles are converted.

The day's sessions ended at 5:00 p.m. Andrew Wang hosted dinner.

NOVEMBER 23, 1991

The meeting resumed at 9:30 a.m.

VII. Document Delivery

Various methods for document delivery were explored. While RLG's Ariel is a notable development, it requires a special software package and expensive hardware. With wider availability of FAX machines and constant technological improvements for better resolution and method of transmission, FAX might become a viable alternative to Ariel in the near future. The Board agreed that document delivery is one of the areas of concern to the Group, and decided to closely monitor future developments. Eugene Wu asked members to send him information on each member institution's local document delivery systems and practices.

VIII. Technology Transfer

A. CJK OPAC

Karl Lo shared his experience as host of the only site in the U.S. to test the CJK INNOPAC, the first OPAC to display CJK characters. Currently the system only displays the characters, but will eventually support editing and downloading from OCLC's new CJK workstation. The hardware requirements for this system are a generic PC with a medium resolution monitor, and a set of cards ($2,000), developed by Join Co. in Taiwan, to store East Asian Character Code (EACC) and all character patterns. The software, developed by Innovative Interfaces, is available only to the users of INNOPAC. Andrew Wang was asked if OCLC will develop a public display screen in the CJK Plus, which could serve as an OPAC. He responded that OCLC's EPIC service is a public service oriented system, and has romanized CJK records. Stating that many institutions will be willing to share in the start-up and R&D cost of adding CJK vernacular data to EPIC, the Board asked Andrew Wang to explore this prospect and to prepare a statement on its feasibility and estimated cost of implementation.

B. OCLC CJK Technology for Non-OCLC Applications

Karl Lo presented a schematic illustration on how an OCLC CJK workstation may be used as a CJK OPAC terminal. Mr. Wang was then asked if OCLC CJK workstations can be purchased for non-OCLC purposes, i.e., to be used as an OPAC terminal or a stand-alone CJK computer. Mr. Wang said it is possible and that he would entertain proposals in this regard. Members encouraged OCLC to promote the CJK workstation for broader applications than an OCLC CJK terminal. OCLC was also asked to play an aggressive, proactive leadership role in CJK technological developments, rather than continuing its past practice of being reactive.

IX. Change of the Group's Name Proposed

Eugene Wu reported that a question regarding the name of the Group was raised at the Group's inaugural meeting in New Orleans. The question concerned the appropriateness of using "CJK350," which is the name of a hardware product and thus is subject to change, in the name of the organization. In order to maintain permanency in designation, he suggested OCLC East Asian Libraries Users Group as a substitute. This proposal was unanimously adopted by the Board. The new name will be incorporated in the Bylaws revision, to be voted on by the general membership at the 1992 annual meeting.

X. Strategies for Mainstreaming East Asian Issues

Andrew Wang urged the Executive Board members to be actively involved in the governance of OCLC. One way is to run for the OCLC Users Council which consists of 60 elected librarians who directly participate in the governance of OCLC. The Users Council has always lacked representation of East Asian libraries.

The Board resolved that, for better visibility of the Group's existence and concerns, Eugene Wu, representing the Executive Board, write a letter to K. Wayne Smith, President of OCLC, to express the Group's readiness to work with OCLC on matters of mutual concern.

XI. Next Executive Board Meeting

The frequency of the Executive Board meeting was discussed. The Board agreed that, during the first couple of years, when the Group will need to settle many organizational and policy issues, the Executive Board will meet once in addition to the annual meetings in conjunction with the AAS and CEAL meetings. Those Board members attending ALA meetings may also get together for informal discussions.

The schedule for the Executive Board meeting after the March 1992 annual meeting was tentatively set for September, 1992. Andrew Wang suggested that this meeting be held at OCLC in Dublin, Ohio. This proposal was unanimously adopted. The Board members thought that, among other advantages to holding the meeting at the OCLC Headquarters, they would have an opportunity to communicate CJK concerns face to face with appropriate OCLC officers, including the President.

The meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m. Karl Lo was once again thanked for hosting the meeting.

(Recorded and respectfully submitted by Joy Kim)