User Council Meeting - September 2005

1. Location of future User Council meetings: Discussion regarding face-to-face and/or conference call option; suggestions of a later date in September for next year's first meeting.

   Motion (Becky Schwartzkopf): to change the November meeting place to Hennepin Technical College-Eden Prairie and also provide 'conference call' ability for the February meeting. Motion carried.
   
   

2. Report from Executive Committee (Michael Fox):
   1. Libraries who previously requested by motion to move to ALEPH ILL have removed their request.
   2. Executive Committee will send a representative to the User Council meeting.
      
      
3. PALS Update:
   1. removal of SSNs is completed and they are no longer being loaded;
   2. Proxy Server move to new software by 12/31/05 is in process, room for more libraries to move, message and information to follow from PALS staff;
   3. Pilot Project for Support survey and statistics indicating little use so far, Michelle Throldahl, PALS, is tracking email requests; it would be helpful if libraries that receive phone contacts during the pilot project report them to Michele via e-mail;
   4. NAAUG enhancements and discussion of 'our' enhancement requests will take place at User group sessions, Oct. 24/25. Discussion should include input and coordination with MnLINK and Todd Digby. Discussion to include or contact other consortia groups with outcome for enhancement collaboration is still being pursued. Voting process will be conducted Oct.1 - Nov. 15, 2005, with consideration to Version 19 and implementation by January 2007. NAAUG membership structure and by-laws are changing; more information to follow.
      
      
4. ALEPH update (Becky Bell):
   1. ILL - goal is that all software programming be complete by September 30. Training, in groups, to begin in October. Groups have not been defined. Two individuals from each library will be allowed to attend ILL training sessions. A complete written report from Becky to follow.
   2. Version movement - on average it has taken other libraries 6-9 months to move from version to version. Delays are inevitable for Eta group if we try to move them directly to version 17.
   3. ARC testing 'in house' and at 10 sites is progressing; more information to come in an email report regarding testing & types of reports that can be generated.
   4. Migration update - a calendar was distributed to council members.
   5. Maintenance Agreement discussion has been ongoing since May with legal counsel. ExLibris has not responded to the 'draft' proposal.
      
      
   • A special recognition, from the User Council, was expressed to the PALS staff for their dedicated work on the ILL issue.
     
     
5. Fall 2005 User Group meetings:
   1. Location will be at Hennepin Technical College-Eden Prairie
   2. Schedule has been sent and is available on the PALS Homepage
   3. General sessions will include an agenda, but no packets will be available. Reports and documents for the User Group meeting will be on PALS Homepage. Participants should print and read documents prior to the meeting and bring printed copies to the meetings.
   4. Agenda items common to all groups include a call for break-out sessions and NAAUG enhancements. There will be an evaluation form, including a question about a 2-day format for Spring meeting.
      
      
6. Future User Group meetings - Spring 2006 and Fall 2006
   1. Basic agreement from the User Council is to standardize dates as last week of October and 2nd week of April, as the holidays in the calendar will allow.
      
      
7. Task Forces:
   1. Discussion ensued regarding the charge, membership, terms, reporting, etc. of each Task Force. There is need for more structure, perhaps flow charts, answers to what happen to recommendations, and how recommendations are completed and prioritized and implemented. Sunset date for a task forces will be decided by its parent group. Most concern was expressed regarding the 'Access Task Force'. There is a need for membership balance and to redefine the 'charge' of the task force. The chair of the Access Task Force is vacant. Discussion of these issues was deferred to the Reference User Group as an agenda item.
      • Motion: to rewrite the charge for the Access Task Force and forward to Edward Swanson prior to the User Group meeting, Oct. 24/25. Motion carried. Adam Marsnik was assigned, in collaboration with others, to rewrite charge. *Note: The revision was sent to Jan Carey, recorder, as follows:
        • MnPALS Access Task Force Charge - revised 09/12/2005 (draft)
          
          The Task Force will evaluate the OPAC interface and recommend changes to improve the end-user operability of the interface. Primary focus on the layout, design, ease of use, intuitiveness, and user-friendliness of the interface is tantamount. The Task Force will design an interface which is most compatible to the largest population of users. The interface should be clear, intuitive, and easy to use without training. The Task Force will forward recommendations to the PALS Office with a timeline for implementation. Member libraries will be informed of the approved changes before implementation.
          
          The Task Force will also identify indexing changes required to implement their proposals. Proposed indexing changes shall be referred to the appropriate MnPALS entity (i.e. Indexing Task Force) for review and implementation. Interface enhancements specific to fewer and/or specialized libraries can be addressed after the basic and advanced OPAC interfaces have been implemented and the migration to Aleph is completed.
          
          
8. Todd Digby, MnSCU System Director of Libraries:
   1. Todd introduced himself to council members and stated his expectations, goals and responsibilities. Todd's direct superior is Gary Langer. Todd views his relationship to PALS staff as oversight and not as a micro-manager. He will champion library issues and work to build relationships. Todd invited libraries (MnSCU and non-MnSCU) to contact him at any time with concerns or ideas.
      
      Open discussion followed with the following concerns and questions addressed by council members.
      • A need to identify consortium, PALS, ALEPH issues and balance the issues for all MnSCU college libraries.
      • Review long-term funding issues of PALS by MnSCU Leadership Finance committee along-side the PALS Study Group.
      • Libraries expressed concern about declining number of PALS staff. Todd responded that the staff will not be further reduced.
      • Request Todd release agenda and committee membership of MnSCU Finance committee. This will allow college librarians to contact member leaders and educate them on library issues prior to Leadership meetings. Todd will get names, meeting dates and agendas to council members.
      • A need for a discussion of using 'bench marks' or librarian/student ratios when developing library allocations.
      • Recognize special library services/resources needed for graduate programs.
      • A need to review how libraries meet the diverse curriculum needs of face-to-face students, online, distance and other users. MnSCU promotes a misleading concept that any library can serve a diverse curriculum and student body.
      • A need to understand consortium issues not be clouded by immediate requests or special interest requests.
      • Examine the MnSCU System Director of Libraries' role and responsibilities to non-MnSCU libraries and to work on mechanisms to achieve balance from a premise that PALS has proven success.
      • A certainty that 'normalization' of PALS staff be attained, while reviewing consortium structure vs. MnSCU system objectives.
        
        
9. Consortium discussion:
   1. Mission statement and goals were approved by Executive Committee and distributed to User Council members
   2. Concerns not addressed by the mission statement will be reviewed by group formed by EC to meet with Todd Digby.
   3. Name of the consortium User Council was discussed. Should 'User' Council be named 'Member' Council. Discussion to be continued at next User Council meeting and User Group meetings.
   4. Next steps:
      Complete the ALEPH Migration!!!
      
      

1. 9:00 Introductions, sign-in sheet
   
   
2. Amend/Adopt Agenda
   
   
3. Approve minutes from May meeting
   
   
4. Location of future meetings
   
   
5. Report from Executive Committee (Michael Fox)
   1. Representatives to the User Council
      
      
6. 9:10 PALS Update (Dee Nolan)
   1. Removal of SSNs - update
   2. Proxy Server update - move to new software by December 31, 2005
   3. Pilot Project for Support
   4. NAAUG enhancements
      
      
7. 9:20 Aleph Update (Becky Bell)
   1. ILL
   2. Version 17 - report on motion
   3. ARC
   4. Migration update
   5. Maintenance agreement
      
      
8. 9:40 Fall 2005 User Group meetings
   1. Location and schedule
   2. General session
   3. Agenda items common to all groups
      
      
9. 10:05 Future User Group meetings - Spring, 2006 and Fall, 2006
   1. Can we standardize dates? i.e. last week of October and 3rd week of April?
      
      
10. 10:15 Task Forces - charge, membership and terms, reporting, sunset
    
    

• 10:45 Break
  
  

11. 11:00 Todd Digby, System Director of Libraries for MnSCU
    
    
12. 11:20 Consortium discussion
    1. Mission Statement and Goals
    2. Concerns not addressed by the mission statement - group formed by EC to meet with Todd Digby
    3. Work of combined group on March 31/Priorities/Action plan
    4. Improvements in communications
    5. Name of the consortium
       
       
13. 11:55 User Council report to the Executive Committee
    1. User Group meetings
    2. Improvements in communications
    3. Other
       
       
14. 12:00 Other/Adjourn
    
    

• User Council meetings:
  • November 10, Jan Carey, secretary
  • February 2, Ruth Zietlow, secretary
  • May 4, Angela Wortham, secretary
    
    
• Annual Meeting:
  • March 30
    
    
• User Group meetings:
  • October 24 and 25
  • Week of April 18