NOBLE Executive Board Meeting

February 7, 2007

@ NOBLE

 

In Attendance:, , Linda Hummel-Shea, Elisabeth Tully,  Doug Rendell,  Karen Pangallo, Mary Rose Quinn and  Martha Holden , NOBLE- Executive Director Ron Gagnon 

 

I.           Call to Order: Vice-President Linda Hummel Shea called the meeting to order at 2:25 p.m.

 

II.         Approval of Minutes: A Motion to approve Minutes of the January 10, 2007 Executive Board meeting was forwarded by Karen Pangallo, seconded by Elisabeth Tully, and unanimously approved.

 

III.       Treasurer’s Report: Mary Rose Quinn distributed the Treasurer’s Report.  NOBLE’s operating budget is in good shape year-to-date.  Overall 50% of operating funds have been expended seven months through the fiscal year, with no anticipated problems.

 

IV.       Executive Director’s Report:

 

Danversbank Grant   NOBLE received the first installment of the Danversbank grant to purchase the new digital library server.  Server has not yet been ordered but as soon as NOBLE receives appropriate quote from Dell, Ron will go ahead and place the order.

 

On March 6, NOBLE will host a meeting to discuss options for grant funding for the digital library project.  At that time libraries should be prepared to describe their collections that they would like to include in the project.

 

ALA Midwinter: Ron and Elizabeth Thomsen attended ALA Midwinter in Seattle.  There they met with representatives from Serials Solutions, TDnet, EBSCO and Overdrive.  Ron and Elizabeth set up a meeting with OCLC NetLibrary to discuss two models they offer for downloadable audiobooks.  Ron was encouraged by a product offered based on the Overdrive model.  This spring NOBLE will facilitate a meeting for members that will compare current options available, and explore opportunities for group purchase.

 

Ron Gagnon and CW-MARS Executive Director Joan Kuklinski met with III representatives to discuss consortium issues.  No issues were resolved at this meeting.

 

Automated Sorting:  A contingent of representatives from Massachusetts toured two automated sorting sites in the Seattle area, at the Seattle Public Library and the King County sort site.  Regions are currently seeking funding to establish automated sorting sites, but details regarding locations, number of sites and other logistical issues still need to be worked out, likely with the help of a consultant.  NOBLE libraries will in the next few months need to consider affixing barcode labels in a standard fashion to the outside of library materials so that eventual automated sorting will be facilitated.  Details will follow.  Executive Board members expressed the hope that this goal will be accomplished cooperatively statewide.

 

Virtual Catalog:  Ron attended the URSA users group meeting in Seattle.  URSA is the software that operates the statewide virtual catalog.  Sirsi/Dynix hade planned a rewrite of the software by Summer 2007 with conversions to be completed by the end of the calendar year.  At ALA, Sirsi/Dynix announced that they are indefinitely delaying the release of the new version.  As soon as the release is announced, Ron will announce the  NOBLE timetable and transition issues.

 

EBSCO:  Ron has recently begun contract renewal discussion with representatives from EBSCO.  Next Tuesday Jeff Klapes will discuss with ERDWG, EBSCO and federated search issues.  Ron hopes to use ERDWG as a focus group to gather input to be used in proposal negotiations with EBSCO.  Ron would like the focus group to help determine the most appropriate product content for NOBLE users.  Linda Hummel-Shea requested that the group keep redundancy issues in mind so that we can get more unique titles in the product.  All who are interested are invited to participate in the discussion next Tuesday.

 

Credit Cards:  As Chase has discontinued individual business accounts, NOBLE’s credit card has been discontinued.  NOBLE would have to apply again for a new card as there is no rollover option.  Ron spoke with Bob Guimond about alternatives.  Bob recommended against a debit card because NOBLE would lose a layer of internal review and it would cause more posting for NOBLE office staff.  The only viable alternative for the present is personal reimbursement, although Paula Acquaviva is exploring options with American Express and other vendors.

 

New Copier:  Ron is working out problems with the ordering of the new office copier.  Paperwork reflected mistakes in pricing that Ron hopes to resolve shortly.  The machine has not arrived yet.  Price should be $4,200, which is less than the budgeted amount, and will include a two-year maintenance agreement.  The copier will be networked with staff PCs, and has stapling, 2-sided copying and scanning features.

 

E-rate.  Ron filed Form 471 last week.  Form 471 confirms voice and data pricing and contracts.  NOBLE is eligible for a 47% discount rather than the 48% we had anticipated.  The reduction in discount is due to a change in Beverly’s discount category.

 

V.         Consideration of Appointment of Asst. Treasurer:  Ron discussed the advisability of appointing an Assistant Treasurer who would serve on the NOBLE Executive Board and would be authorized to perform the duties of Treasurer if the Treasurer is unavailable for any reason.  The Assistant Treasurer position description was approved by the NOBLE Board on July 20, 2005, although the position was not filled.   Mary Rose Quinn forwarded a Motion to Appoint Doug Rendell Assistant Treasurer.  The Motion was seconded by Elisabeth Tully and unanimously approved.

 

VI.       Resource Sharing Policy Revision:  The Resource Sharing Working Group met last Monday to discuss “claims returned” items.  The group issued following recommendation :

 

Only the library that owns the item can change its status to “claims returned”.  Libraries who are informed by customers than another library’s item was returned should follow the procedure outlined on the Staff Information System for “claims returned” items.

 

Ron distributed the policy and the related procedures.  Mary Rose Quinn forwarded a Motion to Approve the Resource Sharing Policy Revision regarding “Claims Returned”.  Doug Rendell seconded the Motion that passed unanimously.

 

VII.      NMRLS Delivery Committee Update:  The Committee met last Tuesday to discuss delivery issues.  Route 4    that includes (among other towns) Gloucester, Salem, Peabody and Danvers appears to be the most problematic route.  Ron agreed that improvements to NOBLE’s Resource Sharing practices are adversely affected by slow delivery.  There is some discussion of splitting Route 4 into two separate routes for improved delivery. 

 

VIII.    June Meeting Change:  Because of the ALA Meeting in D.C. in June, the schedule of meetings will be  moved forward.  The Executive Board will meet at NOBLE on Wednesday June 6 at 2:00 p.m.  The Members meeting will be held on Thursday June 14 at Marblehead at 10:00 a.m.  Hopefully the change from the June 21 members meeting will allow those who plan to attend ALA more time for travel or the opportunity to attend pre-conference meetings.

 

IX.       Strategic Planning:  The Executive Board agreed that because several members were not present at this meeting and the Board would like to discuss strategic planning as a stand-alone meeting topic, the strategic planning discussion scheduled for today would be better postponed for a later date.  It was agreed that the Executive Board will meet at 1:00 on March 14, prior to the regularly scheduled Executive Board meeting to discuss strategic planning.  Individual Executive Board members discussed topics to be considered in the subsequent strategic planning meeting.  Elizabeth Tully noted that NOBLE will have to consider whether the Millennium product will continue to evolve to meet NOBLE libraries’ changing needs.  Doug Rendell suggested that the discussion involve consideration of NOBLE core services and the need to balance core services with appropriate staffing levels.  Martha Holden brought up the need for a discussion of 3rd party vendors and authentication issues with regard to the integrity of the NOBLE database.

 

X.         Adjournment.

 

 

       Respectfully submitted:

 

 

 

       Martha Holden, Secretary