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Acquisitions/Serials User Group: Fall 2006

Monday, October 23, 2006
1:00 - 3:45

MINUTES

Present: Becky Schwartzkopf (MSU, Mankato), Diane Richards (MSU, Mankato), Keith Ewing (St. Cloud), Todd Martinson (St. Johns/St. Bens), Tammy Bobrowsky (Bemidji), Thulani Jwacu (MCTC), Michelle Ehlert (Metro State), Brad Snelling (St. Scholastica), Jean Kramer (MSU, Moorhead), Mary Teske (Dakota County), Linda Swanson (Concordia), Clare Hauck (MSU, Moorhead), Kathy Forsberg (Bethany), Diane Christensen (Gustavus), Anna Haase (MHS), Marcia Johnson (Minnesota West), Karolyn MacAskill (Hill Lib.), Kate Sartoris (Hill Lib.), Pierre Ford (MSU, Mankato), Linda Richter (PALS), Sage Holben (Metro State), Deb Domek (PALS), Luda Lindahl (PALS), Sandy Hoffbeck (Southwest), Peggy Anderson (Southwest), Jan Starks (MSU, Mankato), Mary Beatty (MSU, Mankato), Victoria Peters (MSU, Mankato), Dee Nolan (PALS), Kay Streng (Minneapolis College of Art & Design), Sarah Sanford (Gustavus)

  1. Opening Remarks
    Becky Schwartzkopf, Serials Convener, chaired the meeting.

  2. Recorder
    Diane Richards, Acquisitions Convener, volunteered to do minutes.

  3. Additions / Changes to Agenda
    Item 15 moved up on Agenda so that Jean Kramer (MSU, Moorhead) and Linda Swanson (Concordia) could attend a meeting of the Reports Task Force.

  4. Approve Spring Minutes - April 20, 2006
    Minutes approved as distributed

  5. PALS Report - Dee Nolan
    Dee reported that the PALS office is working on implementing v. 17. Basic training has been completed. Advanced training will occur in Nov. Question & answer web meetings are scheduled for Dec. Dee said that the changes in v. 17 for Acquisitions were more in appearance than substance. However, there are many changes in serials. She urged everyone to look at v. 17 and let PALS know if they notice problems or anything strange. Send any comments to the PALS e-desk with a subject line that begins "V. 17 (subsystem)", i. e. "V. 17 (Acquisitions)"

  6. Review of the PALS Work Plan - Dee Nolan
    Becky Schwartzkopf (MSU, Mankato) stated that some items on the Work Plan contained a note indicating a question about how many users would be interested in a particular enhancement. She wanted to know why some items had this note and others didn't. Linda Richter (PALS) said that it was helpful for PALS to know this info, as an enhancement that impacted more people would probably have a higher priority. Subsequent discussion of the items of particular concern (#79 and #194) revealed that they had either been completed or would be resolved in v. 17. In fact, Dee indicated that many of the things currently on the Work Plan would be resolved with v. 17. The group decided to wait until v. 17 was implemented before adding to the Work Plan list. PALS will be working on testing EDI with the 3 current vendors and testing Collection Manager on version 17. PALS may ask libraries to assist with the testing. Interest in the YBP product GOBI was expressed. The group will look at the Work Plan at the Spring User Group meeting.

  7. Review of the Task Force & Working Group document
    Becky Schwartzkopf (MSU, Mankato) asked for any comments & concerns on the draft document. The question was raised of whether either Acquisitions or Serials have any task forces. There are none at this time. Sandy Hoffbeck (Southwest) suggested that the type of library and the size of library be considered in task force representation. Becky noted that it can be difficult to get folks to volunteer and that most often a task force was made up of people willing to volunteer. The wording eventually agreed upon was "Every effort will be made to ensure representation by size and type of library." Becky also noted that in the case of e-mail polling silence, or non-response, implies consent.

  8. Discussion of the Steering Committee Purpose
    No one felt that there was a need for a steering committee for the Acquisitions or Serials subgroup. It was agreed that in the event a decision was required between user group meetings the group would be polled via email. Victoria Peters (MSU, Mankato) suggested that only institutions using a particular subsystem be polled about questions regarding that subsystem. It was also reaffirmed that there is only one vote per institution.

  9. Update on Collection Manager implementation (MSU, Mankato)
    Victoria Peters (MSU, Mankato) reported that considerable progress has been made in the interface between Collection Manager and Aleph. The download process now works in lute and needs only to be transferred to harp. Procedures will need to be worked out once the functionality is there. The only problem is that there is no way to automatically check the ILS for items already held. Deb Domek from PALS said there is a match routine in v.17 that may work for deduping. After v.17 is implemented, other libraries will be able to start using the Collection Manager. It was suggested that a webinar on it may be helpful.

  10. Preview reports for Acquisitions and Serials (Southwest)
    Jean Kramer (MSU, Moorhead) reported that eventually there will be website where report requests can be listed. The entire process is very preliminary at this point. Dee noted that v. 17 will most likely have additional reports included. Sandy Hoffbeck (Southwest) stated that there are reports in the current version that can be difficult to locate. It was suggested that a webinar on reports available be conducted after v. 17 is in use.

  11. Vendor cancelled and Library cancelled items (Gustavus)
    Diane Christensen (Gustavus) brought up the problem that vendor and library cancelled items do not disappear, but appear to remain in the system forever. She wondered what others were doing about this. Someone said that she left the record in the system but changed the status so that it was suppressed and did not appear in the OPAC. Dee said that in. v 18 there would be a way to suppress these records automatically from the Order Index. Iowa State has written a program that cleans up the Acquisitions subsystem so that it doesn't fill up.

  12. Vendor file growth/ control (Southwest)
    Sandy Hoffbeck (Southwest) brought up the issue that there appear to be lengthy lists of vendors that are the same. Also there is little consistency with coding or abbreviations. She wondered if these lists should be allowed to grow indefinitely. It was agreed to set up a task force to look at the problem and make recommendations. Task force members are Dee Nolan (PALS), Tammy Bobrowsky (Bemidji), Sandy Hoffbeck (Southwest), Marcia Johnson (Minnesota West), Anna Haase (MHS), Karolyn McAskill (Hill Lib.) Sandy Hoffbeck will chair.

  13. Work arounds for Serials claims - any suggestions? (Southwest)
    Sandy Hoffbeck (Southwest) asked if anyone had developed a work around for the Serials claim list. Presently, she pulls it into spreadsheet and cleans it up manually. Is it possible to pull it into claim checker? Though the system does not continue to claim after an item arrives, a claims report still lists all past claims. Dee thought that v. 17 would fix part of the problem with the serial claims, such as the sort order of the report and items showing up on the report that are not serials. Sandy asked the group to let everyone know about work arounds.

  14. Work Flow Changes - have any libraries made personnel changes (Southwest)
    Sandy Hoffbeck (Southwest) asked if the greater connection between Acq & Serials subsystems is changing the workflow to the point that staffing changes are required. Victoria Peters reported that MSU, Mankato has an additional half time tech and an additional GA. Karolyn MacAskill (Hill Lib.) said that their staffing has stayed about same with some shifting of duties. Thulani Jwacu (MCTC) reported some shifting of duties but no new positions.

  15. Paper Journal Growth - are libraries removing paper? Replacing with what format? (Southwest)
    Sandy Hoffbeck (Southwest) asked how libraries are handling paper journals. There is both a space issue and the fact that students have no interest in paper. Becky Schwartzkopf (MSU, Mankato) reported that MSU, Mankato has sent many volumes to the MLAC plus they also have on campus off site storage area. MSU, Mankato is also exchanging print subscriptions for electronic whenever that's feasible. Marcia Johnson (Minnesota West) stated that they now keep paper for only three years instead of five, which was done previously. Keith Ewing (St. Cloud) noted that continued access to materials if a subscription is dropped is a high priority for them.

  16. Use of logical bases for Serials (MSU, Mankato)
    Jan Starks (MSU, Mankato) stated that there is a problem with creating brief bibs for serials because brief bibs will only go to cataloging as monographs. She distributed a document detailing a work around for this problem that she has developed.

  17. Other
    Becky Schwartzkopf (MSU, Mankato) reminded everyone that new conveners will be chosen at the Spring user group meeting. She encouraged folks to volunteer. She also said that there will need to be a discussion about combining the Acquisitions and Serials groups, or keeping them separate.





AGENDA
  1. 1:00 Opening Remarks -

  2. Recorder
    Please identify yourself when speaking at the meeting to ease the recorder's job.
    As the recorder you may ask someone to repeat their comment or verify your notes.

  3. Additions / Changes to Agenda

  4. Approve Spring Minutes - April 20, 2006

  5. 1:15 PALS Report - Dee Nolan

  6. 1:30 Review of the PALS Work Plan - Dee Nolan

  7. 1:45 Review of the Task Force & Working Group document

  8. 1:55 Discussion of the Steering Committee Purpose

  9. 2:10 Update on Collection Manager implementation (MSU, Mankato)

  10. 2:20 Vendor cancelled and Library cancelled items (Gustavus)

  11. 2:30 Vendor file growth/ control (Southwest)

  12. 2:40 Work arounds for Serials claims - any suggestions? (Southwest)

  13. 3:00 Work Flow Changes - have any libraries made personnel changes (Southwest)

  14. 3:10 Paper Journal Growth - are libraries removing paper? Replacing with what format? (Southwest)

  15. 3:25 Preview reports for Acquisitions and Serials (Southwest)

  16. 3:35 Use of logical bases for Serials (MSU, Mankato)

Discussion Notes for Agenda Items:
  1. Action: Review Work Plan before the meeting. Any suggestions for additions and changes can be discussed and proposed.

  2. This agenda item is from the User Council. Action: Review document. The convener will take any comments and suggestions back to the User Council.

  3. This agenda item is from the User Council. It is part of the MnPALS governance structure that all subgroups will have a steering committee. It has recently become apparent that many groups do not have one. This has raised the question of whether steering committees are really necessary and, if they are necessary, what is their purpose. Also, should all subgroups be compelled to name a steering committee? Action: Discuss topic. Convener will take any comments and suggestions back to the User Council.

  4. From Diane Christiansen: Here at Gustavus we are working with the Cataloging department on the Unlinked to Holdings report that they received from PALS. A number of the things that come up on the report are items that we changed to VC (vendor cancelled) or LC (library cancelled). So I have a couple of questions regarding the VC and LC items.
    • Do they ever drop from the catalog?
    • Or do they have to be manually deleted?
    • How are other libraries handling this process?
    • Should we be automatically deleting the VC and LC items? If so, what is the point of having that option? They are not suppressed from the catalog and show up as acquisition ordered.

    NOTE from Dee: VC and LC orders and their items do not drop from the system. If you have an order with a bib record that has a status of acq-ordered, and an item that has an item process status of on-order, and you cancel the order (either VC or LC), the item automatically gets an item process status of cancelled by the system. The bib record retains the acq-ordered status. The bib would continue to display in your WEB OPAC if you have acq-ordered bib records displaying there. The item would display a status of cancelled in the WEB OPAC. If libraries do not want the bib record to display in the WEB OPAC, it would be best to change the status of the bib record from acq-ordered to acq-cancelled. Action: Discuss topic and how other libraries are handling this.

  5. At the spring, 2006, Acq/Serial User Group meeting the vendor file was discussed. Following is the piece from the minutes about this topic. "How to update the vendor file was discussed. Should new records be changed when you have a different address for the same vendor? The federal and state ID numbers were migrated from PALS to contact 2 and 3. We should continue to put this information in these fields. Many years ago we had a task force that looked at how to change vendor information in our shared environment. PALS will locate this report for us to update."

    The past Vendor Guidelines can be found at     http://www.mnpals.org/pals/docs/ser/serappa.pdf

  6. Action: Discuss various reports and how they are being used.

 
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