PAM 2005 Publisher Liaison Meeting

Frances Knudsen, current head of PAM's publisher liaison committee, was unable to attend the Toronto conference, and thus, with her consent, I conducted an informal discussion. The following persons were in attendance: Pete Banzholer (Goddard Space Flight Center), Judie Triplehorn (Geophysical Institute), Flora Grabowska (Vassar College), Carol Hoover (Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Library), Maria Latyszewskuj (Environment Canada Library), Daureen Nesdill (University of Utah), Missy Murphy University of Mississippi), Debbie Kegel (University of California, San Diego) and Karen Andrews (University of California, Davis).

Most of the conversation focused on three key areas:

1. PAM Liaison Concerns
   Several PAM members expressed concern that the publisher liaison's web site is not current. Please try and help Frances update the information.

   Another unclear issue was how the Formal-PAM appointed liaisons were selected. At present, there is no written evidence in the PAM manual as to how or who designates an individual for the liaison positions. Frances informed me that she is currently working on getting this matter addressed.

2. License Agreements Online
   Deborah Kegel asked about the feasibility of providing a list of web sites that post their license agreements.

3. The Punch List
   A substantial portion of our discussion centered around 'The Punch List: Best Practices for Electronic Resources'. This document, written and endorsed by members of the Engineering Libraries Disivions (ELD) of the American Society for Engineering Educations (ASEE), covers the top priority issues in electronic resources, as well as current best practices. A task force will periodically review the state of electronic publishing as it pertains to engineering education, although they welcome conversation between all groups of librarians and content providers. For further information, please look at http://eld.lib.ucdavis.edu/punchlist/PunchlistRevision2005.pdf.

4. OTHER
   As a result of our meeting, one of the attendees drew my attention to an article on the COUNTER project, which has been addressing the issue of of statistics reporting.

   And finally, during one of my surfing sprees, I recently came across this web site. Obviously, there remains a lot more to ponder:

   Reshaping Scholarly Communication
   A website from the University of California that addresses the challenges and opportunities presented by the current crisis in scholarly communication. Includes a section on "how stakeholders are making a difference."

Page last updated: July 5, 2005