NOBLE Executive Board meeting

March 8, 2006

@ NOBLE

 

Call to Order: Sue Koronowski called the meeting to order at 2:20 p.m.

 

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

 

Approval of Minutes: A Motion to approve Minutes of February 8, 2006 Executive Board meeting was forwarded by Barbara LaChance, seconded by Mary Rose Quinn, and unanimously approved.

 
Treasurer’s Report: Mary Rose Quinn distributed the Treasurer’s Report for Executive Board approval.  Linda Hummel Shea forwarded a Motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report.  Motion was seconded by Barbara LaChance and unanimously approved.

 

Executive Director’s Report

 

v      Ron addressed recent Internet and power issues affecting NOBLE libraries.  In the past month NOBLE implemented two changes that should help resolve these issues.  First NOBLE purchased a small UPS that should provide roughly three hours of backup power for our Internet connection in the event of a power outage.  Secondly, Atrion installed a software patch to restore two-way full duplex traffic flow that had been degraded to one-way (half duplex) as a result of the power outage.

 
v      Ron and Elizabeth met with presidents of two federated search contenders last week at NOBLE.  Sebastian Hammer of Index Data discussed a product that was not feasible due to cost and customization concerns.  Todd Miller of Web Feat described the Web Feat product used by BPL.  Ron is following up on other references, as the concerns expressed by the BPL – mainly statistical definitions - may not be crucial to NOBLE.  Ron was encouraged by this discussion.

 

v      Elizabeth and Christine visited Reading to assist them in developing a digitization project.  NOBLE is also working with Winthrop on their museum project.

 

v      Atrion provided Ron with a generic wireless implementation quote, that was presented to seven interested libraries.  Ten public libraries have implemented wireless, and another four will likely implement it soon.

 

v      Ron attended a security presentation in Boxborough on February 23.  The session, sponsored by Cisco, focused on forthcoming network security solutions.  Ron included strengthening network security in the Technology Plan as the target of a future grant project.

 

v      Ron, Marilyn Graves and Anna Kjoss attended a meeting at NMRLS last week to discuss ILL.  The result was a fine-tuning of the materials that would or would not be borrowed through NMRLS-contracted centers.  NOBLE will host an ILL Center meeting at NOBLE on April 26.

 

v      NOBLE hosted two managers from LION (Libraries Online) of Connecticut on Monday.  The LION consortium recently switched from Dynix to Innovative.

 

v      Elizabeth will host a breakout session: Playing Tag: Cataloging by the Crowd, at NETSL at College of the Holy Cross on April 6.  The overall theme is: “Exploring the ‘Open’ Universe: A Librarian’s Guide”.

v      Working Groups ERDWG and RSWG recently met, as did the public and academic circulation roundtables.  Reference roundtable will be held tomorrow.

 

v      Elizabeth and Ron attended the Legislative Breakfast in Chelmsford last week.

 

v      NOBLE recently ordered 3 new PCs based on the formula NOBLE recommends for libraries -  20% replacement/yr.

 

v      The specs for the latest Windows version –Vista- were recently released.  NOBLE will keep track of any necessary or recommended PC configuration changes for libraries.  Once Vista is on the market, Windows 2000 will no longer be supported.

 

Staff Issues:  Elizabeth Thomsen requests leave to teach in China again this summer.  The vacation policy allows only two weeks carryover of vacation time.  Elizabeth needs to carry over four weeks.  Elizabeth also requests permission to take nine consecutive weeks instead of the four allowed by policy.  Linda Hummel-Shea forwarded a Motion to allow Elizabeth to carryover four weeks from 2005 to 2006, and to take nine consecutive weeks this summer.  The Motion was seconded by Elisabeth Tully and unanimously approved.  Elizabeth will be away from July 3 to September 5.

 

Ron briefly discussed staff health insurance and recommended a change to Tufts Value Plan.  Tufts recently raised rates for its Premium Plan, the only plan offered by NOBLE.  HMO Blue Value rates are slightly lower.  Ron distributed a chart illustrating the difference in coverage among several plans. Ron discussed the plans with staff members, who were in favor of staying with Tufts, but opting for the Value Plan.  Dennis Kelley forwarded a Motion to authorize a switch to the Tufts Value Plan.  Motion was seconded by Barbara LaChance and unanimously approved.

 

Confidentiality Policy:  Ron identified three major issues for discussion with regard to the proposed confidentiality policy.  They are as follows:

 

ü       Libraries need to recognize that this is NOBLE policy as opposed to individual library policy.

ü       The Executive Board removed the exception for occasions when public safety is at stake.  However, we need to clarify attorney notification policy and procedure. 

ü       It is OK to ban he use of NOBLE customer information for p.r. purposes, however state law allows for such use.  If the Executive Board chooses to adopt this standard, it would be a higher standard than set by state law.

 

The Board discussed the presentation of “warrant” vs. “subpoena” and the fact that a warrant calls for immediate delivery of information or material without delay.  A subpoena on the other hand, is a request for information or material by a specified date.  The Board also discussed several topics related to confidentiality including e-mail and street address information, and the use of information beyond hold and overdue materials.  Ron will craft sentences that allow for some local decision making options.

 

After a brief discussion, Linda Hummel-Shea forwarded a Motion to approve the NOBLE Confidentiality Policy with minor changes that Ron will make to the document.  The Motion was seconded by Dennis Kelley and unanimously approved.

 

Privacy Policy:  Ron distributed copies of the Web version and the print version of the Privacy Policy drafts for review.  The Web version is a statement of policy to be used in conjunction with the NOBLE Website.  The print version can be handed out at circulation desks of those libraries without a separate privacy policy.

 

After a brief discussion about revisions, Linda Hummel-Shea forwarded a Motion to approve the NOBLE Privacy Policy with minor changes that Ron will make to the document.  The Motion was seconded by Dennis Kelley and unanimously approved.

 

 

 

Digital Repositories and Service: Ron explained that digital repositories and services should be part of the range of services NOBLE offers.  Currently some images are in the catalog and others are on local websites.  Ron noted the cost of storage and servers and that NOBLE is participating in the Statewide digital initiative – Digital Commonwealth.  Elizabeth was nominated to serve on the Digital Commonwealth Executive Board.  There were additional comments regarding the costs associated with digitization including servers, storage and software, followed by a discussion of the software necessary for the project.  ExLibris, Content DM and Greenstone – an open source product – were mentioned.  Ron suggested that there are grant opportunities available to fund some of the project.  NOBLE will host a digital meeting on March 29th.  A meeting to discuss Digital Commonwealth will be held in Worcester the following day.

 

 

Adjournment- 5:00 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted:

 

 

 

Martha Holden, Secretary