NOBLE Executive Board meeting

February 8, 2006

@ NOBLE

 

Call to Order: Sue Koronowski called the meeting to order at 2:15 p.m.

 

In Attendance: Dennis Kelley, Deb Abraham, Linda Hummel-Shea, Sue Koronowski, Elisabeth Tully, Barbara LaChance, Martha Holden , Representing NOBLE- Executive Director Ron Gagnon, Elizabeth Thomsen, Martha Driscoll

 

Renewal of Bank CD: NOBLE’s certificate of deposit in the amount of  $547,961 expires today.  Ron recommends renewing the certificate at 4.5% for a term of twelve months.  He also recommended transferring the accrued interest of $14,687.25 into the capital fund account.  Motion to renew the existing certificate of deposit for twelve months at a rate of 4.5% and transfer interest to capital fund  account, was forwarded by Dennis Kelley, seconded by Deb Abraham, and unanimously approved.

 

Innovative Servers Invoice: NOBLE received invoice for two Innovative servers.  Ron recommended transferring $20,292 from capital funds to operating funds to cover the cost of these to cover NOBLE’s portion of the obligation.  Barbara LaChance forwarded a Motion to transfer $20,292 from capital to operating funds to pay for NOBLE’s obligation for the servers.  Deb Abraham seconded the Motion, that was unanimously approved.

 

Approval of Minutes: A Motion to approve Minutes of January 11, 2006 Executive Board meeting was forwarded by Doug Rendell, seconded by Barbara LaChance, and unanimously approved.

 

Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer’s Report was distributed for Executive Board approval.  Ron pointed out a note at the end of the report indicating that the “Equipment – Other” Line is over budget because of the unanticipated but necessary purchase of a router to improve Internet service.  The router recommended by Atrion and approved by UMASS, cost $5,156.  Motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report was forwarded by Deb Abraham, seconded by Barbara LaChance and unanimously approved.

 

Executive Director’s Report

 

v      Ron reported that the Holds Meeting hosted by NOBLE on February 2 generated good discussion, particularly with respect to holds that have been in the system for long periods, and have no hope of fulfillment.  NOBLE offered rationale for how this happens and how libraries can best resolve the issue.

 
v      NOBLE’s new training equipment installation is scheduled to take place tomorrow.  Adtech will be in to install a new ceiling-mounted projector and sound system in the conference room, and will mount the existing projector on the ceiling of the training room and provide a new screen in the training room as well.

 

v      Ron reported that NOBLE migrated to the new Innovative server on January 12.  The training system server was installed on January 18.  As soon as we resolve some issues with Innovative Release 2005, we will implement the Release on our main server.  The training server will be upgraded to Release 2005 in the meantime.

 

v      Ron reported that there were two problems subsequent to the ISP changeover to UMASS on January 11.  Verizon subsequently replaced a controller box.  No problems have been reported since the replacement.

 

v      Martha Driscoll recently completed the 2002 long-overdue purge.  The 2003 long-overdue report is automatically updated daily and is available for libraries for their review.

 

v      Ron reported the E-rate Form 470 was filed in December, clearing the way for us to file Form 471 shortly.  We will continue with our current vendors as we have not received offers of better pricing.

 

v      Ron attended the Digital Commonwealth meeting in Weston on January 30.  BPL will offer digital storage to other institutions for a fee, and will link to other digital collections within the Commonwealth.  Elizabeth Thomsen will serve on the Digital Commonwealth Executive Board effective March 30.

 

v      Elizabeth attended ALA Midwinter last month.  Her focus was on federated searching, Innovative, and EBSCO.  NOBLE continues its exploration of the most appropriate federated search vendor for the network.  NOBLE is currently interested in Serial Solutions’ Central Search product.

 

v      Ron and Elizabeth continue to participate in the Library Leadership Massachusetts initiative.  This initiative encourages and supports new and current library leaders in MA through networking and professional programs.

 

v      NMRLS will host a Delivery Committee Meeting tomorrow.  Statistics show that there is some improvement in delivery since last August/September, but problems with delays and library dissatisfaction persist.

 

v      Elizabeth and Ron attended MLA’s Ways and Means Day at the State House last Week.   MLA recently hired a legislative liaison who was present at the event.  NOBLE is now a partner member of MLA.

 

v      Noble continues to assist member libraries who are interested in implementing wireless, and is working with Atrion on developing a pricing model for libraries who are interested.

 

v      Ron, Elizabeth and Martha met with new Endicott Director Brian Courtemanche for a “Welcome to NOBLE” session, and will meet with new Middlesex staff later this month.

 

v      Ron reported that most full-time staff will attend portions of PLA in Boston in March.  Elizabeth and Ron are also planning to attend the Innovative Consortium Partners meeting this fall in CA, and ALA this summer in New Orleans.

 

v      Ron attended the Network Administrators meeting at Minuteman on January 26.  At that meeting he took advantage of the opportunity to discuss the current state of consortia and III with four III executive directors.

 

v      Paula and Ron are working on NOBLE archives – shredding some old records and reorganizing those NOBLE will retain.

 

 

Draft Confidentiality Policy and Privacy Policy: Executive Board members conducted a lengthy discussion of Draft NOBLE Confidentiality Policy, and the Draft Privacy Policy, which is the customer side of the Confidentiality Policy.  The Executive Board recognized that website issues may be different from borrowing issues.  After lengthy discussion of draft policies including discussions of public vs academic obligations, and practical implementation procedures for front-line staff, the Executive Board decided to bring the discussion to general membership for broader input.

 

Adjournment- 5:00 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted:

 

 

 

Martha Holden, Secretary