COSELL's Web Development for Academics Roundtable
SEAALL Annual Meeting
Thursday, April 11 2002
4:30 - 5:15 p.m.

Summary of Meeting

We would like to begin by apologizing for any confusion. Apparently there was a change in room location that probably caused several interested librarians to miss the discussion. There were 5 librarians present. The discussion began with participant introductions. The discussion was full of interesting subjects that promise further debate in the future.

A lengthy discussion was held on the potentials of having a Virtual Reference Desk. Although law librarians have considered the possibility of establishing this services, this is still in the onsideration stage. Everyone agrees that there are potential benefits for its implementation. Issues such as hours of operation, funding and staffing were also discussed.

Along those lines, a new Reference software tool, Virtual Personalities, was also discussed. Created by Virtual Personalities, Inc., this new software is a cutting edge application powered by artificial intelligence. It is being tested for library used by this company. This topic deserves further study and consideration in the future.

The group discussed some of the problems that librarians encounter when cataloging electronic resources, in particular electronic journal management. Several software solutions were mentioned such as TDNet, ENCompass and IndexMaster. Issues such as pricing and utility were discussed.

Finally, it was mentioned the introduction of what appears to be a very useful database for webmasters. Safari Tech Books and Proquest have introduced an online database that includes such titles as Java, Perl, XML, Cold Fusion, JavaScript, Adobe titles and HTML among others.

Reported by Roy Balleste ballester@nsu.law.nova.edu

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