User Council Meeting - September 2007

 

DRAFT MINUTES

Members present: Ruth Anderson (MHS), Kathleen Ashe (SMSU), Orrin Ausen (BLC), Tammy Bobrowsky (Bemidji State), Bobby Bothmann (MSU), Diane Christensen (GAC), Todd Digby (MnSCU), Sonja Eilertson (PALS), Stephen Elfstrand (PALS), Sharon Evensen (VCR), Keith Ewing (SCSU), Sandra Fuhr (SMSU), Sheila Hatchell (MHS), Robin Horowitz (MSLL), Michael Kirby (DCTC), Janine Lortz (SJU), Pete McDonnell (MSU), Gretchen Pyle (SMU-TC)

Next Meeting: November 1, 2007, Rasmussen College-Brooklyn Park
Recorder: Robin Horowitz

1. 9:00 Introductions, sign-in sheet
   
   
2. Amend/Adopt Agenda
   There was a typo in item #7. The link to vendor guidelines should be moved from #7d to 7c. Agenda adopted with no other changes.
   
   
3. Approve minutes from April meeting
   Minutes approved unanimously.
   
   
4. 9:10 Consortium Issues
   1. Role of member libraries
      Discussion centered on the state of the consortium, issues of the unfinished governance structure, and problems with communication between the members of consortium and the PALS office. Bobby said that he has gotten many emails and calls about the recent unannounced change in the OPAC, as well as other issues about communication. Todd stressed that the PALS office is in a state of transition, and that now is a good time to look at consortial mechanisms; ideas mentioned: mechanism for signing off on changes that affect the consortium (ex: changes to the OPAC architecture), use of wikis instead of email.
      
      Sandra reported that that the governance structure document has stalled in the Executive Committee, but that it is on the current agenda, along with working on the strategic planning action items. Todd mentioned that the governance issue should coincide with strategic planning discussions and the PALS office plan. Bobby asked whether a new task force could look at creating bylaws for the organization. Keith suggested that the Executive Committee should help with coming up with a governance structure that works. Discussion then centered on the consortium moving away from its sole ILS focus, increasing member participation, and a continuing focus on training. Bobby noted that libraries with small staffs have been overwhelmed with the work of migration and upgrades; Todd emphasized the need to move back to a service orientation, rather than one of supporting the Aleph software.
      
      
   2. Role of PALS Office
      PALS office roles and responsibilities is mostly empty in the governance structure document. Kathleen wanted clarification of the roles of the System Director of Libraries vs. the Executive Director of MnPALS, as well as the status of the Aleph Implementation Manager position (formerly filled by Becky Bell). Todd clarified the roles: the Executive Director will be the one to go to for the vision and leadership of the consortium; the System Director of Libraries represents the MnSCU system. He also mentioned that the System Director position advocates for new funding opportunities for the consortium to MnSCU, and that he also sees his role as an advocate for the smaller MnPALS libraries. Keith stressed that member libraries need to delineate what they expect from the PALS office and the consortium.
      
      Stephen asked for input into the larger decisions about what new services to explore (ex:SFX and Open URL services), as well as how to pay for these services; there is a budget cushion that can tapped. Bobby thought that centralizing tasks in the PALS office might help here, and that it also brings up the issue of which takes priority, the ILS or new, optional services?
      
      
   3. Communication
      Bobby pointed out that the recent unannounced change by the PALS office to the availability column in the OPAC should have been announced, and the process for communicating these changes needs to improve; this leaves a bad image of the PALS office, and wastes time of the member libraries. Kathleen suggested that the academic calendar needs to be taken into account when making changes, especially over the summer, when some librarians are not in the office; the best time for making changes (for academic libraries) are during the breaks in January and June. Stephen said that he has talked with the PALS tech staff about the change, and has told them communication needs to be better. He will look into batching changes in January and June. Todd wondered if we could develop a monthly change calendar to highlight backroom and public updates/changes/patches.
      
      Discussion then moved to outstanding issues that may never be resolved by ExLibris. The group consensus was that the focus should be on upgrading to version 18, prioritizing of the most needed changes and fixes, and relegating outstanding problem tickets to the back burner.
      
      
   4. Consolidation of electronic lists (MnSCU/PALS and Aleph-migration)
      The group recommended that the PALS office should close the Aleph-Migration listserv immediately, and should migrate all subscribers to the MnSCU-PALS list (or, conversely, rename the Aleph-migration list to a more general one, and close the MnSCU-PALS list). The group also recommended closing all of the subsystem lists and adhering to a system of abbreviations (ex: SYS for systems, CAT for cataloging) in the subject line to denote which area the message pertains to. It was noted that many people use email filtering, and that this system would be very useful. The group recommended creating a new electronic list devoted to maintenance and system alerts.
      
      
   5. Process for planning and implementing change
      
      
5. 9:45 Governance Structure (6B of Spring User Council Agenda)
   http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Consortium_Gov_Structure_Mar07Dr.html
   
   Action deferred until the User Council receives input from Executive Committee.
   1. Continue with current system or revise
   2. Priorities and needs of members vis a vis PALS Office
   3. Develop process for accountability of members and PALS Office?
      
      
6. 10:05 Current Information
   1. PALS Centralization survey results
      Though there were some problems with the survey (some may not have gotten the survey from their directors, explanations of questions were not detailed enough, some were confusing), two items were likely candidates for centralization in the PALS office:
      • Assist all members with maintenance of XSL particularly changes in XSL required as a consequence of migration to a new version, but not preclude local opportunities to change/update content between migrations.
      • Assist all members, most especially with table changes (xxx50, xxx30, wherever) required for migration to a new version, with table management, but not preclude local management between migrations.
        
        
      Performing another survey regarding serials prediction patterns, flipping subject headings, and future PALS services was also discussed. Server templates used for serial prediction patterns need to be removed from the server and placed on PALS website so staff can download appropriate templates. Currently server templates are listed before local templates in the catalog client. This removal of server templates and how to access server templates from the website must be announced to the list in advance. PALS will get the word out to the consortium that templates for serial prediction patterns are available for download from the PALS web site for use as local templates.
      
      Kathleen made a motion to recommend to the PALS office that customization and upgrading of XSL forms, and assisting with table changes during version upgrades (as described above) should be priorities for centralization of tasks to the PALS office. Motion passed.
      
      
   2. MN Dept. of Admin. Management and Analysis Division report
      A consultant was hired to review advise the PALS office regarding meeting the diverse needs of libraries, restructuring the office organization, integrating new skill sets, considering fewer ADMs, and looking towards the consortium’s future. Stephen said the complete report will be ready in a few weeks; Todd said that it will be disseminated to the consortium at a later date.
      
      
7. 10:20 User Group Follow-up
   1. Guidelines for the Import of Non OCLC MARC Records (Cat Spring Agenda topic 2b)
      (approved/adopted at spring meeting, forwarded to Exec--status?)
      
      Forwarded to the Executive Committee as a point of information.
      
      
   2. Status of business office/Aleph circulation link request (UC April Agenda item 9) http://www.mnpals.org/sections/MnPALS_TF_MARC_Records_Mar07.html
      
      Sonja said that Support Incidents have been sent to Ex Libris about problems with credits and PCash 9 and 10, and Al Rykhus is working on it when he gets information from ExLibris and as time allows; he is having trouble finding someone in ISRS to work with to create a workaround.
      
      
   3. Vendor Guidelines (Acq/Ser Spring Agenda Topic 7) (approve/adopt) http://www.mnpals.org/sections/Support_Acq_Vendor_Guidelines.html
      Vendor Guidelines were referred to the Executive Committee; Sandra will communicate the outcome to the User Council.
   4. Status of wiki for user groups (Cat Spring Agenda Topic 9/UC April Agenda item 9)
      Wikis have been set up on the MnPALS site (http://wiki.mnpals.org) for Conveners to coordinate their agendas for Fall User Groups. FuseTalk message boards are no longer being supported. PALS intends to move over documents from the old boards to the wiki.
      
      
   5. Alternate meeting location for HTC due to chemical smell-status.
      November User Council meeting moved to Rasmussen College, Brooklyn Park.
      
      

• 10:30 Break
  
  

8. 10:45 Aleph ILS
   1. What are the current plans for the next version to be implemented?
      Version 18/Integrated ILL/ARC2 Draft Project Plan was handed out. Discussion centered on how many architecture changes are involved in the version 18 upgrade. Sonja noted that the ILL integration into the GUI is the major change, and that the Booking module training has not occurred because of staff time. Keith would like to see Booking implemented with version 18. Bobby noted that the larger libraries would like to know soon the upgrade timeline, in order to do testing now. Stephen said that the office plans to install version 18 on the new server so that testing can be done by libraries; the new server should help with memory issues for the current v17 software. Also, he noted that there are not many table changes, which should make the upgrade easier.
      
      Discussion also centered around asking the office to let go of version 17 problems, and to focus on centralizing tasks and the version 18 timeline.
      
      Robin motioned to recommend to the Executive Committee that the PALS Draft Project Plan be approved, with the target date of upgrading to version 18 sometime in January. Motion passed.
      
      Keith made a motion to recommend to Exec that Booking be investigated as soon after the version 18 upgrade as possible. Motion passed.
      
      Kathleen noted that we can still gather information on what to hold off doing on PALS Aleph workplan. Keith wondered if ARC was included in the upgrade. ARC will be deferred until version 18 is running; it is a separate install that will run against version 18 data.
      
      
   2. Should the single Aleph installation be changed to multiple installations to accommodate needs/desires for libraries desiring more centralization and PALS Office support and those desiring more independence and customization?
      
      Discussion tabled until later date.
      
      
   3. Should there be a group created to explore other potential systems, open source systems for example, to replace Aleph and give the consortium more control over development?
      
      Discussion tabled until later date.
      
      
9. 11:20 Fall 2007 User Group meetings http://www.mnpals.org/sections/ug2007fall_main.html
   Convener conference calls to plan for User Groups will be taking place.
   1. Set for October 11 and 12 at Minnesota State University, Mankato
      
      
   2. Report from User Group Conveners
      No reports given.
      
      
   3. General session on Day 2 topic: Governance structure and priorities/needs of members discussion?
      Ideas for possible General session presentations: MnPALS Strategic Plan (the future of MnPALS), beyond the ILS, future of electronic information systems in general. Stephen could present something targeted to future of the ILS/MnPALS. Stephen related that since the buyout, Ex Libris is talking about a product that will replace Aleph and Voyager in 2-4 years. He mentioned open-source systems, and vended modules with some open-source systems as possible alternatives to Aleph.
      
      
10. 11:30 Reports
    1. PALS Executive Director’s search (Steve Elfstrand)
       Stephen outlined his background and experience, as well as some short-term goals for the Executive Director position. He also mentioned that a Vice President of Ex Libris North America will be coming to the office next week to talk about the license agreement.
       
       Stephen then demonstrated an open-source (Primo-like) catalog add-on that Al has been working on. He wondered how open-source services could be developed and funded through the PALS office; there are low front-end costs, an RFP would not be needed, but there staffing costs to be considered. Todd mentioned that he is asking MnSCU for $40K to look at open source systems, and $25K to revamp Libproxy software (which is no longer being supported)
       
       
    2. Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Update (Todd Digby)
       None given.
       
       
    3. MnPALS/Aleph update (?)
       None given.
       
       
11. 11:50 User Council report to the Executive Committee
    Michael Kirby will take the above recommendations to the Executive Committee.
    
    Keith welcomed Stephen to the User Council, and offered the help of the User Council during his transition into the PALS office.
    
    
12. 12:00 Other/Adjourn
    Meeting adjourned at 12:05 p.m.
    
    

Recorders for upcoming meetings:

• R. Horowitz - Nov.
• S. Hatchell - Feb.
• M. Kirby - May

AGENDA