NOBLE

MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION MEETING

AT NOBLE

DECEMBER 20, 2001

 

Present: Twenty-one libraries were represented at the meeting, attendance sheet attached.

 

1. CALL TO ORDER /WELCOME - Deborah Abraham.  Deborah called the meeting to order at 10:05. 

 

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES.  The Minutes from the October 18th and November 15th meetings were approved without discussion.  Tom Cesarz made a motion, Camilla Glynn seconded the motion.  The vote was unanimous.

 

3. TREASURER’S REPORT – Thomas Scully.  Tom reported that as of the end of November the budget is 34% expended.  There was no further discussion.  Bonnie Strong made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, Linda Shea seconded the motion.  The vote was unanimous.

 

4. MANAGER’S REPORT – Ronald Gagnon.  Ron reported that the Lynn branches are scheduled to go on line January 1st.  We received the second half of last fiscal year’s e-rate subsidy from Verizon.  This was for $13,300 for data and voice lines.  Ron filed Form 470 for next fiscal year’s e-rate funding.  He is getting maintenance pricing from Dimension Data and from Atrion, which is a competitive company based out of Rhode Island.  Ron has been talking to Verizon in regard to Internet access.  They have submitted a bid that matches UMass pricing.  Four of the networks have Genuity and are very pleased with the service.  Ron felt that switching over to Genuity would provide better service for the same cost.  The contract will be signed soon and service will change over July 1st. 

 

NOBLE staff  has been getting ready for acquisitions training, as well as going over the annual Innovative User’s Group enhancements that are submitted by customers.  NOBLE entered Innovative’s “BE INNOVATIVE” contest.  Our submission was our collection management reports using Reportster.  Ron stated that Elizabeth would be attending the Mid-Winter ALA Conference in January. 

 

Elizabeth Thomsen - Elizabeth reported that staff has been working on follow up issues from training and roundtable sessions held in the fall.  She is also working on planning for the Image Linking Grant and working with libraries on the Retrocon projects.  Elizabeth also reported that Lynn and Reading public libraries will have their web sites hosted by NOBLE.  On November 28th and 29th Elizabeth attended the Bidder’s Bowl for the selection of statewide electronic resources databases.  There were 10-12 vendors representing many products.  She found it to be informative on the varying degrees of what vendors had to offer.

 

Elizabeth also reported that EBSCO and Innovative are working on a project to see if the Innovative’s “Harvester” program can automatically look for new MARC records in EBSCO and update it nightly.  It is almost ready to test on the training system.  Also we are going to beta test the next release of Milcat, the Millennium Cataloging client from Innovative. 

 

Elizabeth reported the fall training is complete, except for some Create Lists training that were cancelled and will be rescheduled.  She is working on a list of training sessions for January – June and will announce the schedule within the next couple of weeks. 

 

Martha Driscoll – Martha reported that e-mail notices starting going to patrons on December 3rd.  She stated it is working out well with not too many bounced e-mail addresses.  Martha also stated Minutes for both Executive Board and Member’s meetings have been indexed on the Staff Information System.  She reported that the recent Internet problems were due to UMass having trouble with their equipment, and also Danvers and Salem public had some recent problems with Verizon outages. 

 

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The Public Web Browser is in use at several libraries and is going well.  Some training sessions will be scheduled for it.

 

5. HOLDS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS VOTE – Thomas Cesarz. This vote was carried over from November’s meeting due to there not being a quorum.  Tom Cesarz read the recommendations as follows:

1) Member libraries often utilize “display status” in order to exclude items from paging lists.  We

                  recommend that the maximum time period for an item to be “on display” is three months.

 

2)   The standard way to request multiple copies of a title for a reading group is to send an email

                  message requesting copies of the title.  While this is quick, it circumvents the holds process. 

                  We recommend that requests for reading group titles utilize the holds process by placing

                  multiple holds for any title that is needed.

 

Bonnie Strong made a motion to accept the recommendations as stated, Linda Shea seconded the motion.  The vote was unanimous.  There was no further discussion.

 

6. DATABASE QUALITY WORKING GROUP – Thomas Scully.  Tom Scully reported that this recommendation has to do with long overdue or missing items that are in the catalog.  Camilla Glynn brought up an issue with recommendation number 4, specifically the part that states “all libraries be required to change to “missing” status within one day those items that……”. She explained that she had a meeting with the Public Services team and there was a concern that the circulation department would have a problem complying with marking items “missing” within the one day recommendation.  She asked if the one day could be changed to another period of time.  There was some discussion as to what would be a reasonable amount of time and ways libraries can take a pro-active way in accomplishing this by running reports and create lists.  Items found missing during the interlibrary loan process are marked “missing” within one day, but the problem is getting items marked “missing” at the circulation desk.  Tom Cesarz made a motion to amend the recommendation to read: “that those items that are requested on the daily paging list that can not be found be marked “missing” within one day, and circulation problems are dealt with on an individual library basis”.  This motion failed and was not seconded.  There was further discussion.  Camilla Glynn made a motion to amend the first sentence in Item 4 as follows:

 

“In accordance with the Network Transfer Policy, we recommend that all libraries be required to   

  change items on the NOBLE Page List to “missing”status within one day, and other items

  marked as they are determined “missing”. 

 

Tom Cesarz seconded the motion.  The vote was unanimous.  Tom Cesarz made motion to accept the entire recommendation as amended, Camilla Glynn seconded the motion.  The vote was unanimous. The policy as revised and approved is attached.     

 

7. COMING ATTRACTIONS: ACQUISITIONS AND MATERIALS BOOKING IN MILLENNIUM –

 

Elizabeth reported on Materials Booking.  Elizabeth explained it is part of the Millennium System and currently is working with one library on implementing it.  Materials Booking traditionally is used for booking A/V equipment, but it can be used for any situation in which a library wants to allow someone to reserve something for a particular time, such as, meeting rooms, museum passes, course reserve items, etc.  Materials Booking is controlled by loan rules. 

 

Elizabeth also reported on Acquisitions.  NOBLE staff has been reading through the documentation in preparation for their Acquisitions training in January.  Ron did a survey to see how libraries were ordering now and what systems they are using.  Elizabeth explained how traditional automated acquisitions systems work and ways libraries order from other systems.  The idea is try to avoid having libraries work on two


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different systems.  Elizabeth also explained for the Innovative system to know about an order, a title record has to exist in it for that order to be attached to.  Acquisitions will be installed on the training system first and will be a while before it is implemented.  Serials and Acquisitions are one of Innovative’s earliest products, but is new to Millennium.

 

8. STRATEGIC PLAN MEETING OF JANUARY 16TH – Deborah Abraham.  Deborah reported there would be a Strategic Plan Meeting on January 16th facilitated by Marshall Keys.  The meeting is to come up with a new long-range strategic plan for NOBLE.  All directors or designee are invited to come, as well as twenty-five other people from various departments in NOBLE libraries that were invited by Executive Board.  Mr. Keys has been provided with background information and he will provide NOBLE with a report.  The Members Meeting scheduled for January 17th has been cancelled. 

 

9. HARMONIOUS LOAN RULES DISCUSSION – Ron Gagnon.   Ron explained that during recent meetings with the Brochure Committee the subject was brought up about the different circulation rules and loan periods that NOBLE libraries have.  The way the III system works is it respects the rules of the owning library.  Ron explained that this creates customer service issues for patrons who are checking out books at one library, but the items are from various owning libraries with different loan periods.  Also it is more difficult for staff at the circulation desk.  Ron passed around a hand out that listed NOBLE libraries with their loan periods and fine rates.  Martha reviewed the hand out.  Ron stated this was discussed at Executive Board, as well as with some libraries with the 28-day loan period.  Those libraries would consider changing their period to the 21-day loan period.  There was some discussion as to what loan period’s libraries use and what the III system would or wouldn’t allow us to do.  Currently the system will not allow libraries to change another libraries due dates that is different from their loan period.  As a group it was felt that libraries would prefer to use the lending library’s loan rules and not the owning library’s loan rule.

 

10. OTHER BUSINESS.

 

Marjorie Hill-Devine reported the new brochure is coming along and had a sample of the logo the Executive Board decided on.  A sample of the brochure and the logo was passed around.  The basis design and format has been accepted, revisions are being made to the text and some pictures. 

 

12. ADJOURNMENT.

 

The meeting adjourned at 11:55.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Mary Rose Quinn

Secretary 

       


Database Quality Working Group Recommendations
Approved as policy at the December, 2001, Meeting of the Members
 
 
1.  Recommend that long overdue items be suppressed from display on the
Web catalog after one year overdue, suppression to take place monthly.  
Automated processes will be in place to automatically unsuppress any items
that are checked in after suppression.
 
 
2.  Recommend that an ongoing process for dealing with long overdue items
in the database be implemented, as follows: 
 
a.  By February 1 of each year a review file will be created for all
remaining overdue items due in the calendar year two years earlier
(i.e. in February, 2002, the file will contain all overdues from 1999).
 
b.  NOBLE staff will notify libraries of the new file and direct libraries
to documentation on the Staff Information System for suggestions on
dealing with these items.
 
c.  By October 31 each year a printout will be generated on a recompiled
version of the file in item (a.) above for each library to review.
 
d.  On December 31 all the items remaining in the overdue file will
undergo batch checkin and then be deleted.  In this manner, all the
overdue information will remain on the borrower's record but the items
will no longer be in the database.
 
e.  In January of each year a purge of bibliographic records without items
will be conducted.
 
f.  The process will begin with February 1, 2002.
 
 
3.  In order to catch up on the intervening years of overdues currently in
the system, 1992 through 1998, the Database Quality Working Group
recommends two condensed rounds of Recommendation #2 be conducted after
approval.  A file of overdues for 1992-1996 will compiled and libraries
will be notified and provided a printout.  Sixty days after posting, the
items in that file will undergo batch checkin and be deleted, and
bibliographic records without items will be purged.  Subsequently a file
of overdues covering 1997-1998 will be generated, libraries will be
provided a printout and sixty days later the file will undergo batch
checkin and bibliographic records without items will be purged.
 
 
4.  In accordance with the Network Transfer Policy, we recommend that all
libraries be required to change items on the NOBLE Page List to "missing" status within one day, and other items marked as they are determined “missing”.  We further
recommend that each library be provided a report of items with "missing"
status after 90 days, and that all "missing" items be purged after one
year of "missing" status.
 
 
5.  To maintain and facilitate the use of the shared patron database, we
recommend that any library receiving returned mail without a new address
must update the MBLOCK indicator in that borrower's record to flag library
staff to obtain a new, verified mailing address before any additional
items are borrowed or renewed.  Any library learning of a verified new
address must update the information in the borrower record.  Verification
can include a person with positive identification or recent successfully
delivered mail clearly linking the borrower with a new address.  
Libraries discovering an inaccurate telephone number should flag the
borrower record with the telephone field in MBLOCK to obtain a
correct telephone number in a subsequent visit.  Libraries correcting
needed information should reset the MBLOCK field to avoid further
stops.