USMAI Council of Library Directors
Executive Committee
Agenda for Thursday, May 15, 2008
UMBC Tech Center Campus, 2nd Floor IVN Room
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon

Attending: Celia Rabinowitz, Deborah Nolan, Alice Bahr, David Gillespie, Carlen Ruschoff; Guest: Larry Wilt

Rabinowitz called the meeting to order. Adjustments were made to the order of the agenda. The March meeting minutes were accepted.

TOPIC: ITD Update
Leader: Ruschoff

• Wrubel reports that MetaLib 4.1 installed in test. ITD in the process of setting up the new features, most of which are interface functionality. UITG will be providing guidance as needed.
• "Report a problem with Research Port " link now at the bottom of all pages and we've begun receiving problem reports that way. We had heard from people that they were having difficulty figuring out how to reach someone while they're in Research Port, and they don't always think to follow the link out to their library's web page. The Report a Problem link brings up a form and also passes us information on the user's browser and page where the problem occurred.
• ITD is reviewing a problem reporting tool that will replace the Rx system. Drop down boxes and templates for commonly reported problems will be created as part of the new tool. A schedule for migrating the ALEPH problem reporting has not yet been determined. Although the system is easy to use, a testing and training phase with USMAI Libraries may be advisable.
• Qi reports that progress with loaders is being made, thanks to the assistance of Kokiyelov. Two bib loaders authorized by the CPC have been completed, one is test. Qi is also working on EDI loaders for UM Law, etc.
• Hanson and Breitenlohner have begun work to create a separate Shady Grove base to address one of the short term recommendations in the Shady Grove Study Group report.
• The ITD Systems Administration Team is reviewing the server room and developing an equipment refresh cycle plan. They are in the process of creating a time-line and projected costs.
• Shannon, Breitenlohner and Ruschoff met with an audit specialists from College Park OIT to learn more about what to expect in an audit and how to prepare for the upcoming audit. We were informed that the audit is likely to slip from summer to fall, which will give us more time to prepare.
• The College Park Budget Office and the Acquisitions Department will be working up a new mechanism for providing status reports on e--content purchases. Individual accounts have been created in ALEPH for each school so that payments may be more easily broken down by campuses and reported through routine reports on a regular basis. Each vendor is being asked to send invoices that separate the billing by campus to make it easier to debit each campus account.
• CPC is circulating the SFX loader specifications for review. Ruschoff expressed concern about the level of effort that will be needed to create this loader in ITD. There are commercial products on the market that could be purchased to achieve the same or similar results and could be put into place faster. As with any decision, there are trade-offs no matter which direction is pursued. Action: Rabinowitz and Ruschoff will work with the chairs of ERIC and CPC to determine next steps. The desired outcome is to make as many of the e-resources findable in the catalog as possible. The CLD Exec will be briefed on the outcome and comments invited.

TOPIC: Campus Contact Meeting Report

The agenda included the following topics:

• Spam protection for mailing lists, presented by Jennifer Shannon, Systems Administration Manager, ITD.
• Report from the CLD Chair on the CLD Retreat and the discussion of the three study group reports, (Web Presence, Shady Grove, Serials Records), discovery tools development, and information literacy.
  • Questions regarding whether USMAI would enter into agreements with vendors other than OCLC to develop other discovery tools were raised. The campus contacts were told that ITD is working with OCLC on WorldCat Local only because they approached us. In order to proceed with an implementation of WorldCat Local, OCLC must be able to develop single sign on and support PPH. If and when these facilities are developed, USMAI will look more closely at the product.
  • Another person asked if there is interest in sharing information literacy tools and teaching practices. Rabinowitz affirmed that libraries should confer about issues that are of common interest outside of the IT realm. The problem the consortium has confronted is finding leadership for these initiatives. Rabinowitz encouraged the campus contacts to take leadership responsibilities.
  • In answer to a question regarding new task groups, Rabinowitz indicated the consortium may not be able to support more than the current number. She went on to say that CLD Exec will be looking at the existing task group charges and formalizing them. She would like to see each one put into place a liaison program similar to the one that CPC has created.
    
    
• Report from ITD on current activities including: workplan activities, Rx problem resolution, patron privacy initiative, version 17 and 18 new features, EDI development, and plans for the year-end close-out.
  • The sentiment of some members of the campus contacts was that the creation of campus priority lists was important to both the campuses and the collaborative process within the consortium. Rabinowitz responded that much of the priority setting has been shifted to the Task Groups. She added that we need to realize that we have shifted from implementation mode to maintenance. In this environment, we need to be able to be very deliberate about development priorities.
  • In the Campus Contact's discussion on the Patron Privacy Initiative, there was a very strong interest in revising the time-line to allow SSN's to continue to be included in the bursar fine reports for two campuses. Ruschoff pointed out to the CLD Exec that since the time-line for the audit visit has slipped, she is more comfortable in making these adjustments. She agreed to collaborate on the removal of the SSN from the Bursar reports with the two campuses prior to the visit of the auditors. The campus contacts also indicated an interest in better understanding the FERPA directives was also expressed. Stan Jakubik, from the USM Office joined the CLD Exec meeting to explain the FERPA requirements by which USMAI must abide. He stated emphatically that maintaining the SSN the patron files is a violation for which we will be cited. USMAI must comply. In the follow-up discussion on this topic by CLD Exec emphasized the importance of fines as a revenue stream on some campuses and that others on each campus need to understand the libraries' situation. It was decided that the next steps are to get the Bursar's Office on some campuses to provide alternative methods for sending bills to state collection without library supplied SSNs, since the SSN will not be in library patron files. The Exec agreed that alternative workflows for fine collections may need to be developed.
    
    

Action: Rabinowitz and Ruschoff will draft a document to the CLD Directors outlining the status of the patron privacy issue and the decisions that must be made.

Action: a draft statement of the issue making clear the the potential loss of revenues resulting from USMAI removal of SSNs from patron records, and the range of possible solutions will be taken to the to USM CIO and CFO meetings

Rabinowitz reported that the room set-up was not ideal for the campus contact meeting and the agenda did not provide enough time for discussion. In the future, efforts will be made to ensure that there is a better set-up and to provide prework, including progress reports, so that the environment that is more conducive to discussion and the time is devoted to discussion of issues rather than dispensing information.

TOPIC : Shady Grove: Library Instruction Clarification

Based on recent e-mail exchanges with the Directors, Rabinowitz reported that there does not seem to be agreement on where the responsibility lies for bibliographic instruction. After some discussion, the Exec agreed that Librarians at SG should have primary responsibility for bibliographic instruction. The Exec also recognized that instruction for various programs may be very different and in some cases, the librarians at the degree granting institutions may find it more straight forward to conduct the training themselves. Action: The Exec Committee Chair will convey to USG and the USG working group that the primary responsibility for library instruction rests with the librarians at Shady Grove. However, the librarians at degree granting campuses have a stake to ensure that instruction needs at Shady Grove are met. Therefore, the CLD encourages collaboration between degree granting institution and Shady Grove. And, librarians at each degree granting campus may provide instruction at Shady Grove.

TOPIC: Comings and Goings

Thanks and appreciation to Betty Day for her dedication. Wish her all the best and lots of fun with her grandson

TOPIC: New Business

June meeting will be at College Park, in the Special Events Room.

Celia announced that the July Exec meeting will be at UMBC in Library 353G. [note: both the Tech Center IVN room and 353G are available; was your intention to not do an IVN meeting, Celia?]

Announcements:

St. Mary's: SM reported that they have received the report of their external review team which includes a number of important and useful recommendations covering all aspects of Library and Media Center operations.

College Park: David Lankes, Associate professor at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies will be speaking at CP on June 18, from 3-4 in the Special Events Room, on Innovative reference service. All USMAI library staff are invited to attend.

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