Attendance: Deborah Abraham, Tom Cesarz, Ron Gagnon, Marjorie Hill-Devine, Sue Koronowski,. Camilla Glynn, Doug Rendell, Tom Scully, Linda Shea, Elizabeth Thomson
Deborah Abraham called the meeting to order at 2:05 P. M.
The Treasurer’s Report was presented by Tom Scully. Expenditures are on target. Tom Cesarz moved to accept the report, Camilla Glynn seconded the motion and it was voted unanimously. Tom Scully asked if the upcoming availability of email notification for overdues and holds could translate into cost savings. A general discussion of email overdue or due date reminders ensued. Email notification is expected to be available in December. Elizabeth commented that many libraries will want/need to re-examine their procedures. Noble will work with individual libraries to implement this new service.
Ron Gagnon presented his Report which is attached.
Tom Cesarz asked about the Serials Bookings module. NOBLE has it scheduled for the beginning of the year. It is easier to implement than Acquisitions because Acquisitions is closely related to the circulation system.
Marjorie Hill-Devine asked for a clarification regarding the retrocon grant for the Winthrop Public Library. Ron will check on this.
Ron reported that Marshall Keys would be interested in facilitating our Planning Session, but his schedule is filling in. The Board decided to schedule the session for Jan. Wed. 16th in the morning. The January meeting will be skipped – which means we must have the December meeting. Linda suggested contracting for 3 hours rather than 2. Mr. Keyes will be provided with our previous plan and discuss our ideas for a framework for the session at the next Executive Board Meeting.
Tom Scully presented the Recommendations of the Database Quality Working Group. (See attached Recommendations). Elizabeth Thomson commented on the need to make progress in cleaning up a huge backlog and to set up regular maintenance of the database. Linda asked how information on items will be retained or connected to the patron record. The system will remove the item from “checked out” but retain the information about the item for billing purposes. Libraries will then be able to decide whether to write off such items or determine that items must be paid for to be cleared. This has a great benefit for catalogers that will not have to wade through so many missing titles and collection assessment which will be based on what libraries actually own. When patron records are purged those with billed items will be retained for the time being. Eventually, the retention of these records will need to be the subject of a decision.
Libraries are encouraged to check on items with a “missing” status on a regular basis. There is a very good form for Create Lists – a Reportster – which will be useful for this purpose.
We also need to be consistent about using MBLOCK rather than other methods of indicating a bad address or phone number – AND unblocking when information is corrected!
The President called for a vote on this committee report and it was unanimously approved.
Executive Board Page 2
November 5, 2001
The Flexible Spending Account will likely have leftover unspent funds. Ron Gagnon presented the legal alternatives for these funds. It can been divided up among current year participants, applied to next year’s plan or revert to the organization. Linda moved that this year, the funds should be distributed to the participants in the plan in 2001. (There is presently only one participant.) Tom Scully seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.
Camilla Glynn presented the results of the Electronic Resources Working Group’s recent survey on Net Library items appearance in the catalog. (See attached) It showed that members are quite divided in opinion. She noted that Middlesex and Merrimack College subscriptions are different than those provided by the State. The main problem appears to be when E books crowd out local holdings within a library’s scope. It seems that there would be fewer concerns about this if the items came up when the entire collection is searched. After discussion the following recommendation was considered.
“NOBLE will add records for electronic books licensed under NOBLE,
NMRLS , and state contracts to the NOBLE database, not scoped to any
individual library.”
The committee recommendation was to put to a vote and it was accepted unanimously.
The Brochure Committee is making good progress as Marjorie Hill-Devine reported.
The Holds Committee has not met but NOBLE staff is proceeding with work on information placed in volume fields. There is continued concern about multivolume sets and videos and multivolume video sets. The committee will reconvene once Elizabeth lets us know that their work is complete.
Deborah announced that the following people have agreed to serve on the Wireless Committee; Mary Rose Quinn, Diane Young, Jeff Klapes and Martha Driscoll. She has also asked two people representing academic libraries but has not yet heard back from them. Many questions were asked about the capability of wireless which could be a good beginning for a Q&A sheet, along with a possible demonstration, handout samples, and material on security concerns.
Sue Koronowski moved to adjourn and the meeting ended at 4:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Deborah Abraham for the Secretary