1. CALL TO ORDER/WELCOME: Deborah Abraham called the meeting to order at 10:10 AM. She announced that she was looking for videos on area libraries for a meeting in Boston of IFLA. If you library has a video, please contact Debbie. There were no other announcements.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the March 22, 2001 meeting were voted. Bonnie Strong moved the Minutes; Thomas Cesarz seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.

3. TREASURER'S REPORT: Tom Scully. Tom reported that we are still within our comfortable spending range. The travel budget will probably be over spent as central site staff have been attending a number of III meetings. Lorraine Jackson made a motion to approve the treasurer's report; Camilla Glynn seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.

4. MANAGERS REPORT: Ron Gagnon. New e-rate regulations will mean that NOBLE will give up approximately $10,000 in e-rate funds. We need to plan on that even though ALA is still fighting the new regulations. Ron has also been having some problems with the e-rate office over form 471. NOBLE received $26,700 from Verizon.

Ron met with Greg Pronevitz to start the process for the new ILL contracts. NMRLS will be using the NOBLE meeting room less as NMRLS is developing a training room at their site.

As part of the ILL contract, NOBLE held an annual ILL meeting on April 5, 2001. The meeting was hosted by Marilyn Graves. Attendance exceeded expectations.

Elizabeth Thomsen: Elizabeth attended III training in California. She has found III meetings to be very useful and informative. She has also been impressed with III commitment to development.

NOBLE has hosted several round table discussion. The Readers Advisory meeting was a great success and highlighted the many ways librarians are serving their patrons.

The multilingual group highlighted a smaller group of libraries and also indicated the need for instruction on searching for foreign language material.

May 15, 2001 will be a roundtable discussion on library web sites.

The EBSCO meetings provide hands on training, search tricks, and also provide an opportunity for collection development.

Martha Driscoll. Martha indicated that the PC Support Workshop will be coming up. She also stated that NMRLS will be taking over the maintenance of the state databases.

She continues to work on the new Web server.

4. WORKING GROUPS: The Electronic Database Working Group has been discussing the pros and cons of Web sites in the catalog. The Brochure Working Group has decided to locate another vendor. The Extra Mile firm did not meet the needs of NOBLE. This will slow down the process a bit but we will move forward with another vendor for the brochure. The New Members Working Group has created a list of potential members but only two or three are real possibilities.

5. PATRON PLACED HOLDS: The Executive Board voted to begin direct patron holds placed via the WEB catalog on July 1, 2001. There are still some design issues to resolve as far as the catalog is concerned. Library Staff can check out the training system for further information. NMRLS has been notified of the possible increase in delivery as of July 1, 2001.

On a motion by Bonnie Strong which was seconded by Thomas Scully, the Members of the Corporation voted to begin Patron-Placed Holds on July 1, 2001. Passed without opposition.

6. VIRTUAL CATALOG: The Virtual Catalog is a project being managed by the Boston Library Consortium. The goal is to link all libraries in the state. Elizabeth passed a sample of the how the Virtual Catalog looks for the Metro Boston Library Network.

MVLC is also using the Virtual Catalog for staff.

NOBLE central site is currently exploring the issue of 3rd party software and its effects.

7. INNOVATIVE CONSORTIUM PARTNERS MEETING RECAP: Ron and Elizabeth attended a III meeting outside of Chicago. Twelve networks were represented to talk on the use of the systems by large consortia. Among the issues discussed were communication, having the system more automated, and customizing screens. Both Ron and Elizabeth feel that our relationship with III has improved now that they view NOBLE as a vendor and not as a Library.

8. SERIALS MODULE UPDATE: A survey is being sent out to see what libraries are planning to do. When this information is gathered NOBLE will establish the necessary training sessions.

The status of the acquisition module was questioned. Ron indicated that this system was not fully developed.

The meeting adjourned at 12:00 PM

Respectfully submitted,

Douglas W. Rendell, secretary pro tem

For Mary Rose Quinn