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*{Darwin College Library Committee}

Minutes of the meeting held  on	Tue 30 October 2001  at 6pm
\\ 


 Present:
 David MacKay  (djcm1) [Fellow Librarian],         \\ 
 Joanna Shearer (jms85) [Student Librarian],       \\  
 Hannah Thompson (ht206),			\\
 Karen Tybjerg (kt206),				\\
 Andrew Bell (agb38),				\\
 Susie West (scw29),				\\
 Espen Koht (ehk20) [Computer Officer],            \\  
 Katy Lancaster  [DCSA representative],      \\
 Elisabeth Leedham-Green (el17).



o Minutes of the meeting held on  Tuesday 26 June 2001 were confirmed.

o Committee membership.  Katy Lancaster agreed to circulate an
 email seeking student recruits to the committee. The DCSA Welfare
 officer will be asked to join the committee when elected.

o The book check and relabelling of books started in August. All
 books in the main collection have been labelled inside the front
 cover and on the back cover with new labels featuring barcodes that
 are unique to each book. This system will allow computerization of
 the processes of book checkout and recall in the near future.  The
 Finley collection remains to be labelled.  Several hundred books not
 present in the catalogue have emerged from this thorough book check.
 The relabelling process is described on this webpage:
 http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/darlib/barcodes.html.  Our current
 estimate of the total number of missing books is 1668, relative to
 the online catalogue, which was created in 1994.

o Book purchases.
 No requests for books have yet been received from the student
 body this year, despite interest shown during college tours.
 The announcement for `whatsup', soliciting book suggestions
 by email or web interface, will be repeated. [08.11.01: A large number of
 recommendations came after the whatsup announcement.]

o Noticeboards.
 Little abuse of the noticeboards has occured recently.
 A spot is provided for DCSA announcements.

o Mobile phones and other library crimes.  The use of mobile
 phones in the study centre is common, in spite of abundant prominent
 and unambiguous signs forbidding their use.  The committee confirmed
 that the use of mobile phones is forbidden and asked the computer
 officer and student librarian to continue to send out a firm message
 to infringers of this rule.

 Consumption of food had also been observed in the study centre.

 The committee was at a loss how one could  convey any more clearly to
 college members that these  practices  are not permitted.


o The mechanism for a tamper-proof `returns' book bin has been
	loaned by Newnham college.  Sadly, the bin is too larger to
	fit under the borrowing desk. The idea of constructing a
	pill-box for the bin was rejected; the committee preferred to
	explore the option of buying a smaller bin to go under the
	returns desk (at an estimated cost of £ 300) and
	modifying the desk. The student librarian was asked to find
	the precise cost of a custom-designed book bin.

 The idea of installing a trolley or shelves for `books for reshelving'
 was discussed, in light of the numerous small piles of books left
 by users. Concern was expressed that  this might further increase
 the work of reshelving without greatly reducing  the leaving of
 books. It was thus agreed to institute a policy, like that in
 the University library,  where reservation slips are supplied,
 and any books without reservation slips may be reshelved.

o  Vesalius.
	Elisabeth Leedham-Green supplied the names of two
 advisors at the University Library who can give guidance on
 best practice in looking after our valuable books.
 Karen Tybjerg is currently responsible for turning the pages
 of the books occasionally.

 [The following guidance on care of these books has been provided
 by E L-G: \\
 Turn the pages regularly. \\
 Temperature: should be at a fixed point between 13 and 16 degrees
C (with a tolerance of 1 degree C on either side). \\
 Relative humidity should be at fixed point between 45\% and 60\% 
(with a tolerance of 5\% on either side).] 

o Annual report.
 DJCM will write the annual report, featuring the new labels
 and the sterling work of Joanna and Espen.


o  Other business.
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o  A decision on whether a credit card can be provided for library
	purchases is still awaited.

o	The  library's acquisition policy was discussed. It was
	reaffirmed that the collection centres on books of general
 interest and books related to Darwin and evolution. The acquisition of
 valuable books is not one of our aims, as we have nowhere to keep them,
 apart from the Vesalius cabinet.

o Shelf labels. Large label holders had been acquired but
 judged too intrusive into the architecture of the building. A catalogue
 of alternate systems was inspected, and it was agreed to request
 samples in several styles.

{itemize}

o Date of next meetings: 
Tue 29 Jan 2002 6pm, Tue 25 June 2002, 6pm.


 DJCM  \\
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