NOBLE EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

Minutes of March 12, 2003

In Attendance: Anne Tullson, Deborah Abraham, Tom Cesarz, Tom Scully, Ron Gagnon, Martha Driscoll, Elizabeth Thomsen, Linda Hummel-Shea, Marjorie Hill-Devine, Mary Rose Quinn, Doug Rendell, Kimberly Lynn.

Call to Order: Deborah Abraham called the meeting to order at 2:05pm.

Minutes: Tom Cesarz moved to approve the minutes of the January 8th and February 13th meetings. Tom Scully seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.

Treasurer's Report: Kimberly Lynn moved to approve the Treasurer's Report. Anne Tullson seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Director's Report:

¨ NOBLE is meeting with representatives from Phillips Andover regarding possible membership.

¨ Release 2002 Phase two was loaded. Issues, including slowness, are being addressed.

¨ A part-time cataloger, Kelli Bacon, was hired. Carolyn Wakefield, from the Saugus Public Library, is working temporarily as a cataloger.

¨ PC Support Specialist George Lally is in Seattle for additional Gates Foundation training.

¨ The "Value of NOBLE" information has been updated and sent to directors.

¨ NOBLE's brochure and logo were entered in the MLA PR Awards contest.

¨ The NOBLE web site is in the process of being redesigned and updated.

¨ Elizabeth Thomsen is working with the Electronic Resources Working Group on the Web catalog redesign.

¨ The patron login screen has been changed and no longer requires the patron name.

¨ The House approved LSTA reauthorization (still waiting on Senate).

¨ There is still no news on the state budget.

¨ E-Rate Form 471s have been acknowledged (but not yet approved) by SLD.

¨ Elizabeth and Ron attended the Legislative Breakfast in Methuen.

EBSCO Contract Renewal:

The EBSCO contract is due to expire 12/31/03. The increase in cost will be 1.5% for the next fiscal year because of the 1/1/04 implementation, then 3% and 3% increases in the subsequent years. The Board noted that the increases are very reasonable.

Linda Hummel-Shea recommended accepting EBSCO's proposal to commit NOBLE through FY2006. Deborah Abraham was concerned that the members might not want to continue with EBSCO during these difficult economic times since the state provides the Gale product. However, there are no assurances that the MBLC will be able to continue to provide Gale. Linda Hummel-Shea stated that she felt EBSCO is a better product than Gale. EBSCO is much more customer service oriented. Elizabeth Thomsen is on their advisory board. Tom Cesarz seconded the recommendation. All were in favor.

FY04 Funding Trends

Ron Gagnon pointed out some issues regarding FY04 funding. Discussion ensued. Tom Scully suggested that any unused money in NOBLE's budget this fiscal year should be held in order to help cover any anticipated or unanticipated funding problems next year.

Foundation Grants:

Verizon - Deborah Abraham presented the $50,000 Verizon grant proposal she is working on for NOBLE that would assist NOBLE in reaching out to the growing number of residents who speak languages other then English. The grant would enable the Network to coordinate the acquisition and cataloging of books and audio/visual materials in other languages. A multilingual brochure and web page would also be developed to promote NOBLE services to the target population. For more information see the project detail in the February packet.

Cisco- Ron Gagnon presented the Cisco grant proposal that addresses the issues of NOBLE's aging telecommunications infrastructure. The proposal would replace the 10 megabit Bay Networks routers with high speed Cisco routers to allow the establishment of VLANs to improve internal security and throughput. Approximately $7,000 worth of equipment is needed per site. For more information see the project detail in the February packet.

Tom Scully moved to support going forward with both the Verizon and the Cisco grant proposals. Marjorie Hill-Devine seconded the motion. All approved. The Board thanked Deborah and Ron for their work.

Reciprocity of "Special" Cards and Non-Fine Libraries:

There are two types of cards, system wide and those issued by individual libraries. Ron Gagnon reported on problems that can occur when libraries give out "special" cards. NOBLE needs to have a list of all libraries special cards (i.e. homebound, teacher, trustee, etc). More discussion needs to occur. The Holds Committee will have to examine the issue as well.

Working Group Updates:

Mary Rose Quinn reported that the Electronic Resources Working Group is working on the web catalog redesign. They have also recommended to stop the pilot project cataloging web sites. Tom Cesarz moved to recommend this to the membership. Linda Hummel-Shea seconded the recommendation. All approved.

The Database Quality Working Group meets April 14th.

The meeting adjourned at 4:20pm.

Respectfully submitted by,

Kimberly S. Lynn

Secretary