NOBLE MINUTES

MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION MEETING

ABBOT PUBLIC LIBRARY, MARBLEHEAD

JUNE 19, 2003

Present:  Eighteen libraries were represented at the meeting, attendance sheet attached.

 

1.  CALL TO ORDER - Deborah Abraham called the meeting to order at 10:10.  She reported John Beauregard of Gordon College and Pat Cloherty of Salem Public are retiring.  Also, Tom Cesarz of Endicott College is leaving for a new position.   Tokens of our gratitude for their years of service as officers of NOBLE are being sent.  Lorraine Jackson is the new director at Salem Public, and Randy Gowman will be interim director at Gordon College.  Debbie also thanked Ron for his support and testifying on the bond bill hearing at the State House.  The Verizon grant was not accepted.  In her last meeting as NOBLE President, Deb thanked everyone for their support. 

 

2.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES -  Mary Rose Quinn made a motion to approve the Minutes from the May 15th meeting, Linda Hummel-Shea seconded the motion.  The vote was unanimous.

 

3.  TREASURER’S REPORT – Tom stated through the end of May the budget was 80% expended and a surplus is anticipated at end of the fiscal year.  Anne Tullson made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, Mary Rose Quinn seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.

 

4.  MANAGER’S REPORT – Ron Gagnon passed around the Member Directory for updating. 

Tech Expo – Approximately 100 attendees visited throughout the day.  NOBLE staff, Atrion, and Innovative held sessions in the meeting room.  There were on-going demonstrations in the training room and in the lobby.

Lynn Branches Close – Lynn closed all three branches last week.  NOBLE staff is working with Lynn staff on suppressing items and other issues.

Minuteman Library Network Visit – Technical staff from Minuteman met with Martha, Michele, and Ron to  discuss some of the technical aspects of operating an Innovative system to prepare for their move to Innovative in late June.

Annual Circulation Review Sessions – The sessions were completed on June 10th.  Ron passed around the agenda for those sessions.  Changes were reviewed as well as new issues that need to be discussed. One circ staff per library attended so they can review the information with their library staff.

E Rate – The funding commitment for public data lines was received. It was approved at the requested 52% discount rate. The discount rate for next year will be lower due to the Lynn branches closing.

NMRLS – Ron, Elizabeth, and Marilyn attended the Leadership Development Day at Merrimack College on June 4th.  Marshall Keyes was the speaker and facilitator. 

ALA – Ron, Elizabeth, and Marilyn will be attending the Annual Conference in Toronto.

 

Elizabeth Thomsen.

Web Catalog – This is the primary project she has been working on and it will be previewed later in the agenda. Only web catalog training sessions will be scheduled for the summer and will be in August. 

Summer Projects - She will be working on documentation and continue working with libraries on individual projects, such as acquisitions and imaging.

Training – The fall schedule should be posted the first week of August.  Elizabeth previewed some sessions that will be scheduled, including a session that will bring the circulation and tech services staff together, as well as a session that customizes your Millennium experience by using the login manager. 

 

Martha Driscoll.

Millennium – Martha reported staff has been working on the response time issue, which has been slow since Phase 2 was loaded on March 5th.  Michele has been working with Innovative and libraries to identify where the system is being slow.

Virtual Catalog – NOBLE began participating in the statewide Virtual Catalog system on June 1st.  Five training sessions for libraries were conducted by NOBLE for one person from each library.  There were a few minor issues, but overall the system is working well.

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June 19, 2003

 

Circulation Review Sessions – A topic that was discussed was “Clear the Hold Shelf”, which is a program that is designed to help manage the hold shelf.  It will do two things; 1) cancel holds that have reached their “not wanted after date”, and 2) looks at parameters to see if items are on the hold shelf too long.  The system expects the program to be run daily and will generate a report.  Because not all libraries run it on a regular basis there is a backlog in the system.  Originally NOBLE staff was going to run the program for the whole system on June 30th, but a systematic approach will be used instead, running it for individual libraries.  Libraries will be contacted.

 

5.  VOTE TO FILL UNCOMPLETED TERM OF VICE-PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT ELECT

Debbie explained since Tom Cesarz, the VP/President Elect, has resigned, his position needs to be filled for the remainder of June (as VP), becoming the new president on July 1st. The nominating committee recommended Mary Rose Quinn as VP/President Elect for June and taking the office of president on July 1st.  The Executive Board approved this recommendation.  No other nominations were stated.  The vote was unanimous, with no opposition.

 

6.  ELECTION TO FILL OTHER VACATED OFFICE

Since Mary Rose Quinn last month had been elected to be VP/President Elect beginning on July 1, her now-vacant position needed to be filled.  The nominating committee met with Executive Board and recommended Sue Koronowski as VP/President Elect effective July 1st. Sue accepted the nomination.  The vote was unanimous.

 

7.  APPROVAL OF NEW MEMBER: PHILLIPS ANDOVER

Phillips Andover has requested to join NOBLE.  Executive Board recommended approval of the membership.  Sharon Gilley made a motion to accept Executive Board’s recommendation of approving the new membership of Phillips Andover; Mary Rose Quinn seconded the motion.  The vote was unanimous.  Dennis Kelley asked why they choose NOBLE and not the Merrimack Valley network.  Ron explained Phillips already has a standalone SIRSI system and faced a significant investment into a new system.  Merrimack Valley does not offer acquisitions and serials functionality, which Phillips currently uses on their system.  MVLC only has public libraries, while Phillips has a commonality with NOBLE’s college members.  Their membership will be begin January 1st and Phillips will pay half a year fee in FY2004 with six staff users, as well as the standard initial fee of $25,000.  Ron explained that a strike against Verizon is very likely in early August, therefore, we will try to schedule the installation of the data lines prior to then and have equipment installed.

 

8.  MA BOARD OF LIBRARY COMMISSIONERS’ LEGISLATIVE AGENDA – Rob Maier.

Rob thanked Ron for his testimony at the hearing on the bond bill.  Also he thanked Elizabeth and Martha for all their work and support, as well as Mary Rose Quinn and Tom Scully.  He appreciated everyone’s support in maintaining the MBLC as an independent entity. 

Rob discussed that the Board’s legislative agenda is to pass a supplemental budget with the state.  Rob explained what the House and Senate discussions have been for FY 2004 budget.  The line item for Resource Sharing was reduced from $2.4 million in FY 2001 to $341,000 in FY 2003.  The Board has decided that amount will be used for network support in FY 2004.  If the supplemental budget is approved the funds will be used for network support and regional delivery. Discussions have begun with regional and network administrators, as well Board of Library Commissioners about legislative priorities. 

 

9.  AUTOMATED AND IMPROVED ONLINE PURCHASE ALERTS – Martha Driscoll

Martha did an overhead presentation of “Purchase Alerts” which is a tool that can be used to assist libraries in deciding if additional copies need to be purchased of popular materials. Due to our consortia structure it has been difficult getting this to work on the Innovative system.  The data file needed to designate the pick up point for the item on hold needed to be defined for a library’s hold list.  This has been accomplished.  A library can choose the number of copies on hold as to when the library is alerted. 

The report will be run daily and is sorted by format. The report can be customized for each library.  This information is on the Staff Information System.

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June 19, 2003

 

 

10)  PREVIEW OF NEW WEB CATALOG – Elizabeth Thomsen

Elizabeth reviewed the design issues the Electronic Resources Working Group have been studying:

cascading style sheets, more direct access, implementing new keyword search engine, cover images, and easy access to contact a library while in the catalog.  She did an overhead demonstration of the new design of the catalog.  Areas she demonstrated were the new main screen, as well as how search results are displayed and different search screen options.  Tom Scully asked if “Masscat” holdings can be listed as an option in “Other Libraries” tab. Elizabeth explained it could and it will have to be decided what libraries and networks will be listed on that tab.  Another new feature is a search can be saved and a link created for it on a library’s web site.  The Web Catalog Improvements Meeting is scheduled for August 5th with the changeover taking place on August 8th.  There will be some down time in the morning during the changeover.

 

OTHER BUSINESS –

-  Mary Rose Quinn thanked Debbie Abraham for serving as NOBLE president for the past two years and presented her with a gift.

-  Lorraine Jackson stated the bid opening was yesterday and NOBLE was awarded the contract for Automated Library Network Services.  She handed out copies of the Salem Bid to public library directors.

-  Carol Gray announced the Sawyer Free Library is sponsoring a production by the Newton Country Players.  She handed out flyers.

-  Anne Tullson announced the North Shore Community College library has moved into their new building in Danvers. 

 

11.  ADJOURNMENT.  Dennis Kelley made a motion to adjourn, Carol Gray seconded the motion.  The meeting adjourned at 11:55.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Lorraine Jackson

Secretary Pro Tem