USMAI Workplan:

• GOOGLE indexing is now up-to-date on the USMAI pages. We have moved the search box to the top of the page.
• Version 18 resources have been added to include Ex Libris Release Notes, ITD Milestones and ITD Powerpopint presentation.
• Links have been added to the Online Resources Category: ITD Status Reports, USMAI Committees and Groups
• New Titles Catalog links added to the work done by McGill University
• statuses and descriptions are being update continually

USMAI Webpages:

• Laura Arnohold continues to make improvements in USMAI web pages. The USMAI Meeting schedule is now linked from the CLD main page. It will be linked to other pages as development continues. All past meeting minutes have been converted from Word documents to web pages.

Research Port/Find It:

• Set up SFX to take advantage of ability to report SFX KB update requests through CRM.
• Worked with programmer Holley St. Germain and E-Collections Task on new troubleshooting database for campuses to report problems and send in updates to SFX and Research Port.
• Corrected SFX linking for ProQuest Dissertations.

User Interface Improvements:

• Planning for authorities usability.

Electronic Resource Management (Verde):

• Planning with ExLibris on Verde migration to v.2 for MDL, UM Law, and UMBC's instances.
• Preparation of data on consortial subscriptions to localize KB resources in consortial instance of MDL.
• Updated Verde timeline and presented status report to CLD

Electronic Resource Subscriptions:

• Worked with campuses and vendors on January consortial renewals

Aleph:

• Daily email courtesy notices for UMBC are now production. Daily email courtesy notices for SU and HS are in test.
• Hold Available notices are now being emailed from McKeldin Library at CP. These notices will be emailed from other locations at CP after the initial pilot at McKeldin.
• Patron Loader Automation. UMUC is currently delivering daily files. The overnight processes to load the daily files are in place and running. Loader reports are being delivered in Task Manager and are being reviewed by UMUC circulation staff. UMUC circulation staff are also monitoring patron records for any isues that may occur. Once all procedures currently in place in TEST have been reviewed and allowed to run for a test period the process will be implemented in LIVE.
• Vendor switching - worked with BC, CP, TU and SU on detailed specs on Swets data retention in Aleph
• Acquisitions Serials training - Acquisitions training was conducted on 11/25 for USMAI new staff with 20 participants, Serials training to be scheduled soon.

EDI Ordering:

• EDI ordering with BBS CM - Yalan Qi worked with TU on setting up export profile, and loader specs; Aleph tables/vendor records setup was completed.

Infrastructure:

• Due to age and response time issue we planned to replace the live ResearhPort server this fiscal year. Other services on this one server are sfx, ezproxy PDS and Shibboleth. In addition Ex Libris announced that the next version of Metalib (the software behind ResearchPort) will require more server resources. In early October we placed an order for a new server with much more CPU horsepower. A short time after that we had serious issues with response time in ResearchPort, due to increased usage response time slowed to a crawl at best. We immediately implemented a temporary solution: we brought down the ResearchPort, etc. test server and moved its 2 CPUs to the live server. Response time is better, although not as good as it should be. In addition we asked SUN to expedite delivery of the new server. Of course this left our test server without any CPUs at a time that Ex Libris needs the test version of Verde. So Hans Breitenlohner came up with the solution of running the test server as virtual machine the test Aleph server. This is a temporary measure, not all services are available, but Ex Libris was able to continue working with a slight delay. If you would like to understand the details of how Hans accomplished this, he would be happy to explain.

Personnel:

• Search Committee for the Systems Librarian's position continued their work. The job ad was approved and advertised for the second time. The new deadline is 11/15 and Committee meeting for reviewing applications is set on Monday, 11/27
• Search Committee for the USMAI Developer (to replace Fahnbulleh Zarzar) has been formed. The job will be posted soon.

Meetings:

• Jamie Bush and Heidi Hanson attended the LITA Forum in Nashville TN, Oct 27-29th. Highlights included the pre-conference session "Developing Best Project Management Practices for IT Projects".
• Jean Phillips attending a LaSSSi meeting with Ex Libris in Boston October 30 and 31st. Ex Libris has made a proposal for a shared systems model which they would ultimately like to have all of the LaSSSi members move into. For us this means a move to a multi-adm environment. Ex Libris and LaSSSi members had extensive discussions about this proposal, its strengths and weaknesses. The overall assessment of the LaSSSi participants felt that Ex Libris was moving in the right direction. More details notes will be posted to the website in the next week.

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