NOBLE Executive Board Meeting

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Minutes

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Sue Koronowski at 2:30 pm.

Attending: Sue Koronowski, Mary Rose Quinn, Douglas Rendell, Deborah Abraham, Elisabeth Tully, Dennis Kelley, Ronald Gagnon, Martha Driscoll.

Minutes: Minutes of the April Meeting were reviewed. On a motion made by Elisabeth Tully and seconded by Mary-Rose Quinn, the minutes were approved unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer’s report was distributed by Mary Rose Quinn and reviewed by the Executive Board. The report was accepted without being subjected to a vote.

Executive Director’s Report:

The Senate Ways and Means Committee has recommended a 41% increase for Telecomm and Resource Sharing funding over current levels. They have also recommended a higher budget for state aid to public libraries.

Following a series of four demo sessions, EnvisionWare has been selected to provide a group purchase solution for the booking and control of public access PC’s in participating NOBLE libraries. Participation is optional, but NOBLE staff will support those libraries electing to participate.

NOBLE was the only responding bidder to the cooperative bid for public libraries conducted by Salem Public Library.

Elizabeth and Ron will both attend IUG in Denver this week. Elizabeth is concluding her term on the IUG steering committee with this conference. She will also be attending ALA in New Orleans.

The NOBLE members meeting and lunch will be at Marblehead on June 22. Rob Maier will attend.

The FY2007 E-rate requests have been approved as requested.

Because of increasing costs at Nelinet, Ron is investigating the possibility of contracting directly with OCLC.

The group PC purchase will proceed with specifications revised in anticipation of new capability of the Vista operating system. The new PCs are slightly more than $1,000, including monitor, and have 160 mb storage.

NOBLE Executive Board Meeting

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Minutes

Confidentiality Procedures and Contract:

Ron distributed the “Legal Request Procedure” document indicating the minor revisions suggested by NOBLE attorney Rod Hoffman. An extended discussion considered issues involving the coordination of the legal request procedures in place in individual libraries with the NOBLE procedure. The group considered the question “What information is available, to whom, and for how long, at the library level, at NOBLE”. Ron distributed the Patron API sample, which indicates the information that is provided to vendors for database authentication.

On a motion made by Deborah Abraham and seconded by Mary-Rose Quinn, the procedure was approved unanimously.

A separate discussion was held considering Rod Hoffman’s recommendations for contractual language with vendors. On a motion made by Deborah Abraham and seconded by Mary-Rose Quinn, the language was approved unanimously.

Federated Searching Ratification and Update: The group considered the minutes of the ERDWG meeting. Having voted previously to approve the grant funding, and indicating via e-mail unanimous acceptance of Serials Solutions as vendor within the grant funding, no vote was needed. Ron outlined the expected implementation calendar. Ron will investigate with Serials Solutions the implications for license renewal for NOBLE libraries who are existing Serials Solutions customers. NOBLE will also work on a promotion handout, which is partially funded by grant.

Authentication: The group considered alternatives for authentication. Because of various problems with library card identification, NOBLE will move toward patron identification using the API files. Accessing the patron files will provide databases based on community of residence, rather than barcode prefix/issuing library for public library users. System verification will also allow academic libraries to disallow expired cards, only serving current students, faculty and staff, and alumni if they wish. Alternatives for maintaining accurate files of current patrons were discussed. NOBLE will purge accounts of users who have been “inactive” (have not had a circulation transaction) for five years.

PC Support Cost. Ron is recommending that support cost remain unchanged for next year. This is possible because of a 20% increase in covered PCs, and more protective software which reduces the need for maintenance. Ron is planning for an additional tech person to back up George. On a motion made by Deborah Abraham and seconded by Mary-Rose Quinn, the recommendation that PC support costs remain unchanged was approved unanimously.

Nominating Committee Update: Sue Koronowski reported that Linda Hummel-Shea will be president next year. In Linda’s absence, the committee report on additional nominees was not given.

NOBLE Executive Board Meeting

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Minutes

Dennis Kelley moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:30. The motion was seconded by Elisabeth Tully and unanimously approved.

Respectfully submitted,

Elisabeth Tully,

Secretary Pro-tem