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Consortium of MnPALS Libraries Annual Meeting 2006

Consortium of MnPALS Libraries

Annual Meeting Minutes

April 11, 2006

North Hennepin Community College

Executive Committee Chairperson, Michael Fox, welcomed the attendees & introduced guest speaker, Richard Madaus. Following his presentation, Technology Curves & Libraries, and a lunch break, the group reconvened for small group discussions and reporting. Richard’s slides can be found at http://www.pals.msus.edu/pals/minutes/annual0604madaus.pdf . Highlights of the small group discussions are attached below.

Written Reports included: User Council, MnLINK Update, Support & Training Services Report, Technical Services Report, Aleph Implementation, Executive Director’s Report, Deans/Directors/Coordinators Executive Committee list, Member list

Executive Committee Report. Michael Fox

At 2:30 Michael Fox again called the meeting to order. He reviewed the meetings and activities of the Executive Committee for the past year. He noted the new consortium name & mission statement. The agreement of the Fee structure was reviewed. Dan Mollner will be the in-coming chairperson of the Executive Committee beginning with the May meeting.

Executive Director’s Report. Linda Richter

Thank you to Michael Fox for the great job he has done as Executive Committee chair.
See PALS web page http://www.pals.msus.edu/aleph/opac/home.html for ongoing reports and minutes.
All libraries will be on Aleph by the end of April.
PALS top priority continues to be Operations & Support

Next, migration from PALS to Aleph
Conducting testing and retesting
Implementation of Interlibrary loan subsystem

The migration has been a successful project. It has taken longer than anticipated, but still a successful project. Data migrated well, training has been thorough. Ill is into production; this is the 5^th version of ILL
Focus will shift to new Aleph versions. From 15.5 >16>17. Preliminary work is begun, but not as far along as planned. There was a lack of control over ILL, but the PALS staff has worked with the vendor.
Beginning in May the resources will shift to version 17; testing is planned for August/September with install expected in December/January.
Version 18 has been announced, but is not yet available to libraries. PALS staff will begin working with v. 18 this summer.

Question from the floor about the option of going directly to version 18.

Richter: it may be an option, it is too early to promise moving to v. 18 in December. Some other options might be to do parts.
PALS server will shut down before February 2007 when the license expires. DepCon software will go away in the Fall.
Fees. Because of delays in the Aleph software, MnPALS is not yet paying software maintenance costs. Acceptance of the software and the one year warranty period will occur before payments begin.

Question from the floor regarding expected improvements in future versions.

Bell. Version 18: RSS feeds, authorities enhancement, Ill migrated to client software, XML, SFX, ISO standards—Ill, more integration, interoperability opening the Aleph catalog to google.

Aleph Implementation Update. Becky Bell

Questions from MSU, Joan Roca:

List of concerns raised by the MSU, Mankato Library: (from email, Roca: 4/12/2006)

1. The PALS work plan was mentioned but we could only find an old version (this may be an oversight or our own inability to find it). Maybe a URL link could be provided?

2. The change in the timeline of the migration to v. 17 now targets December. This was startling because the message from the PALS Office has consistently been that v. 17 would be implemented in August. As recently as February 6^th, at the joint PALS Admin/MITF meeting, PALS spoke often of the August 2006 switch to version 17 and gave no indication that this would not happen (see minutes posted to MnSCU/PALS and PALS-CAT e-lists).
Would it be possible to review a range of calendar options for migrating (in the summer, fall, and December break, ...) and propose to the Executive Commitee with details of pros/cons and other constraints or requirements?

3. There are many different tasks that libraries could do to assist and further the move to version 17, including training other libraries, WebMeetings, tutorials, etc. Staff training could be scheduled at any time and there are a number of librarians willing to go and provide training to other libraries. Will the PALS staff be counting on help from the libraries?

4. We would welcome more guidance on the need for data review prior to 17. We had access to this data last summer when we were all invited to come view our libraries’ data and get a preview. Is there a need to do that again?

5. The need for reports continues, whether they come from Aleph or using the ARC and has to be addressed since it will benefit all libraries.

6. At the Spring 05 Acq. user group MSU Mankato specifically requested that the interface to Collection Manager (from Blackwell, a vendor that already works with libraries using Aleph) be included in the work plan, but the minutes only mention EDI. What was requested was to include the loaders that will allow getting MARC records from book vendors as well as invoice EDI.

ADDENDUM ON THIS TOPIC: We know from a recent consultant’s report that our technical processes (selection-ordering-receiving-cataloging) could really be streamlined for a large percentage of the materials we acquire. Most of the books we order could be processed with minimal manual handling if we get shelf-ready MARC records from the vendor. Many book vendors (including Blackwell and Yankee) already have direct interfaces to Aleph that allows them to supply shelf-ready records for every item ordered. We believe all of the PALS libraries, small ones and big ones, could really benefit from this capability since the loaders already exist and are in use by many Aleph libraries.

Response from Richter & Bell:

They are very aware of the delays with version 17. PALS has moved ahead within their established priorities. They have tried to establish & published estimated dates and plans, but plans must be open to revision. Earlier implementation of 17 would require a two-week downtime in mid-Fall. The timeline reflects how long it will take to move through the versions. There are many difficulties with so many librarians gone over summer. PALS has discussed the issues with the Executive Committee. She understands the need for PALS to do better with communication. There are difficulties with projections. ILL was expected in November, even now it is still rushed.

Bell’s Report:

43 libraries migrated this year. PALS lost two staff members in August and that meant reassignment of duties. The downtime for the previous migration was able to be scheduled for the holiday break. ETA libraries are in the first day of the last training cycle. The system will be live on April 24^th. Additional ETA training for ILL will occur beginning the 2^nd week of May.
ARC. The plan was not able to be followed. A group will be called together to select reports.
PALS internal work plan has been reviewed by User Groups.

Additional tasks should be sent to the PALS e-desk.

ELUNA conference coming up. Additional participation is possible with PALS registration #. Contact PALS office for more information.
LaSSSI: Large Scale Shared Systems Initiative; group of consortia on Aleph; discussions of various issues including batch jobs, indexing, similar problems, and a good place to share solutions & information needs. Meets 4x a year.

Comments from Mike Kathman: Workplan is not communicated and the consequences may not be understood. There are difficulties with Directors not being on the User Groups. Where does the data come out for the IPEDS? There should be a commitment to be on the latest version, to be in sync with the U of M.

Comment directed to Todd Digby. Consortium cannot make every decision based on the fact that some people don’t work in the summer.

Response from Digby: MnSCU needs to create resources to make staff available so that work can happen in the summer. Summer is primetime for upgrades and duty days are needed.

Question about ELUNA and whether papers are collected from the floor.

Yes, papers are collected and posted on ELUNA website. ELUNA provides networking opportunities and a forum for enhancement requests. The PALS Staff will be presenting a session on indexing.

Comment from ETA librarian: She expressed comfort and appreciation for the time to get ready to migrate. Even though there are still many unknowns, the migration has gone very well. They are looking forward to all being on the same system. She expressed great appreciation to the PALS staff.

Question from the floor: Could some of the options be discussed regarding the potential for going to version 18? What are the various considerations?

Richter: Discussion of options is possible.

Agreed to bring topic to User Council and Executive Committee meetings in May.

MnSCU Update Todd Digby, System Director for Libraries

· One year in position, one year’s cycle of activities. He reports to Gary Langer, PALS reports to him.

· The Interim Director’s position will be opened to a national search for a Director of PALS.

· Larry, from the PALS technical staff, has left for a new position; his replacement begins 4/12/06.

· Duties include representing PALS & libraries needs. Tries to fill the knowledge gap, get on committees: course management, IT, D2L, Minnesota Online Learning, interested in creating learning objects, gets names of librarians to Chancellor, gathers information on collection values for insurance, keeping up with the literature, visiting libraries, and advocating for campuses without librarians. Tries to inform the Chancellor’s office that “librarians know where the good stuff is.”

Comment from Kathman: a voice in the central office is very beneficial, good to have someone to speak for us.

User Council Report, Edward Swanson

· Regarding communication: all work and minutes are reported and available on the PALS website.

· Reports are also presented at User Council meetings.

MINITEX/MnLINK update Bill DeJohn & Joyce Hommel (written report)

· MINITEX criteria for participation has helped some campuses hire librarians. More work ahead with consolidated campuses.

· Cost-savings reports are coming

· Perceptions of Libraries video and slides are on MINITEX website

· 3 college construction projects are in both houses of the legislature

Closing Remarks by Michael Fox included the announcement of Michael Kathman’s retirement in June and thanking him for long, energetic participation in shared system projects.

Minutes submitted by

Sandra Fuhr

University Librarian

Southwest Minnesota State University

MnPALS Annual Meeting 2006 – Discussion Groups

Group #1

Most exciting-ways to deliver new technologies and services using mobile devices

Most intriguing-how to format electronic media and other technologies to make them available to other mobile gadgets

Most dismaying-limited resources and limited time to implement these services and technologies

Implication at consortium:

· More sharing of technologies and implementation by larger institutions to smaller institutions

· Define younger users needs

· More professional development opportunities that focus on new technologies

· Task force to look at new technologies

· Finding new ways to appeal to our users to begin their research process at the library/use library resources

Further ideas:

Place focus on users, not on the library
More resources to provide new services
Sharing of resources among consortia
Focus faculty on available resources and provide instruction on their use so that they become an outreach to students in promoting library use

Group #2

Ø Meet our students “where they are” - may be different (age, cultural, tech. savvy) for different institutions

Ø At what level are we talking about implementing

o Institution

o Groups of similar institutions

o MnSCU

o MnPALS Consortium (MINITEX, MnLINK?)

Ø How to brand/market library-supplied e-resources

Group #3

Ideas we found exciting, intriguing, dismaying:

· How to get past “good enough” answer

· Sheer complexity

· Using the verb “foraging” for information

· What to let go of

· Shifting job responsibilities

· Mobile reference services

· Redefining image of library

Implications for consortia:

· How do we learn from speakers and each other?

· Blog/wiki?

· Cooperative reference

Group #4

Ø L à time, money

Ø How much time goes into books proprietary web, and free web?

o ex: print serial budget vs. electronic

o ex: easy export of electronic collections (state documents) to save cataloging time

Ø Leveraging the assets, knowledge, of the consortium members vs. the central office

Ø We didn’t discuss the ILS only, but how we can integrate it into other services

Ø The ILS was assumed as a base

Group #5

Most exciting-potential to adapt quickly and the fact that collaboration is key to success

Most dismaying-how out of touch we feel

Consortium can consider:

audience-focused and just-in-time resources
shared application and resources clearing house
possibly more centralized purchasing of databases and services (cataloging)

Overall-no matter institution or mission, we need to keep users in mind

Group #6

a) When “just good enough” is okay-how do we get our libraries in the top 5 hits?

b) We’ve lost exclusivity to “access to information”-how do we emphasize appropriate selections and choice making?

c) Culture is hurry, rush-how do we repackage?

2. Consortium-have foundation now to explore new technology-RSS, podcasts, etc.

3. Affordability-collaborate for funding and new technology