MnPALS User Council: November 13, 2008

Minutes

Members Present: Bobby Bothmann (Chair), Robin Horowitz, Perry Madden, Adam Marsnik, Julie Rustad, Orrin Ausen, Stephen Elfstrand, Heather Biedermann, Todd Digby, Mary Ann Greenwald, Pete McDonnell, Ruth Anderson, Michael Kirby, Angela Wortham, Pam Sukalski, Keith Ewing, Susan Dueis, Sharon Evensen, Tammy Bobrowsky

Absent: Julie Rustad, Gretchen Pyle

1.     Welcome and introductions

2.     Additions/Approval of agenda

No additions. Agenda approved.

3.     Approve minutes of 18 Sept. meeting: Approved.

4.     Director’s update (Elfstrand)

Stephen went over the slides he presented at the User Group general session and gave an update. Bobby asked a question about auto-creation of holdings and items records, and asked for a fixed routine to set up serial record holdings. The PALS office has test data ready to convert to v.19 Course Reserves; they need to test if it’s working the way it should. LDAP authentication currently does not check for blocks to patron’s record. Different libraries might have different policies regarding patrons with blocks on their record using databases remotely. An item will be posted on the Forums Proxy Services board.

Stephen reported on Al’s recent fixes to MnPALS Plus (Discovery Tool):

• Add deletion of records to daily update
• Create mouse over for subject links
• Similar items - if library selected, limit to library
• Arrange date facets in date order
• Series links - fix so number isn't included
• VUFind has modified word stemming to not stem authors and publishers
• Update advanced search page
• Fix Advanced search page to handle library selection
• Link to Classic MnPALS keyed on library selection
• Link to Ask a Librarian keyed on library selection (Contact PALS office if you want different link)
• Ability to select a specific library in multi-library ADMs (Contact PALS office if you want different link)

The North Dakota Library Association meeting (Stephen was going to talk about Plus) was postponed due to snow. Stephen said that the Library Leadership Council did a good job of convincing the MnSCU finance people to increase funding of PALS. Job advertisements for the two open positions will be posted in the next couple of months.

5.     MnSCU update (Digby)

Todd mentioned that the Library Leadership Council and librarians talking to campus Presidents was helpful in gaining the support of MnSCU finance people. The budget news was somewhat positive; still asking for increases to cover inflationary costs, and nothing was mentioned by Finance about percentage cuts to the budget.

6.     Aleph 19 upgrade [discussion/recommendation based on Steve’s general session report]

Positive comments for moving to version 19; timing of the upgrade is the main issue. After some discussion about impacts on workflows of various upgrade timelines, a motion was made to recommend to the PALS office: Expedite the upgrade to version 19, pending a 30-day review by consortium members. Motion passed. There was additional discussion about whether the upgrade would likely be earlier in the Spring (February) or later, though probably not as late as the summer. There will probably be minimal down-time, likely over a weekend, similar to the upgrade to v.18.

7.     User Group meeting review

a. Evaluations—general reactions

Evaluations were very positive; there was a 60-70 response rate. 10 minute breaks need to be scheduled in next time. A suggestion for shorter general session, and possibly bringing in a keynote speaker for the 2nd day. There was not enough time to get everything done in the ILL meeting; the Inventory breakout went over time, too. Follow up discussions can be done on the Forums. Spring work days will have a big impact on topics in future User Group meetings.

b. Break-outs

Evaluations were very positive; people got a lot out of the breakouts.

c. User Groups business meetings

Representatives from the User Groups gave their reports of business done and recommendations made at their meetings.

d. Outcomes of UG meetings requiring PALS work

e. Dates of 2009 UG meeting [Regional Ex Libris User Group is 29-30 Oct. 2009]

Idea of piggybacking on Regional Ex Libris User Group meeting. Some discussion about having a full day of MnPALS User Group meetings on Wednesday, Oct. 28th; joint meeting and possible breakouts sessions at the Regional Ex Libris meeting on Thursday, and then possibly post conference sessions on Friday; people might want to shop while they are in the Twin Cities. The Regional Ex Libris meeting is usually held at the Northland Inn in Brooklyn Park. The meeting is usually free as well (lunch is on your own).

We have to make User Groups work for a variety of library types and sizes. A motion was made to recommend to the PALS office that User Groups be held in conjunction with the Regional Ex Libris User Group meeting; alternate dates would be the sometime from November 29th to October 2nd, with a Twin Cities location. Motion passed.

8.     Scheduling of workdays

Acq/Serials and Cataloging are doing a joint work day, April 23 and April 24th. Reference work day is being planned for Friday, April 3. Circ and ILL are looking at doing a one-day, back-to-back work day; no date has been set yet. Systems is planning to do a work day, no date has been set yet.

Discussion of calendar feature in Forums; Bobby said it would be nice to have this feature, to allow groups to schedule events such as work days. Mary Ann said it would help with scheduling the development server with Tech Staff. Perry said that it could be turned on, and the calendar on the PALS web site could be taken down. PALS will send out an announcement to notify people about the switch to the Forums calendar. If you have posted a topic on the Forums of wider importance to libraries, it is helpful to send a “heads-up”’ email to the MnPALS Discuss list, that points people to the Forums posting.

9.     Representation for technical and consolidated college libraries

A motion was made to request that the Executive Committee change the governance structure document to allow an at-large position to the User Council from a consolidated or technical college. This would support a diversity of library perspectives, and give libraries with smaller staffs (which have a more difficult time getting away for meetings) a voice on the User Council. It has been hard to find representatives from smaller libraries in the past, and will still probably be challenging in the future. Motion passed.

10.     Report to the Executive Committee

Michael Kirby reports the recommendations from the User Council meeting.

11.     Adjourn

Agenda

1. Welcome and introductions
2. Additions/Approval of agenda
3. Approve minutes of 18 Sept. meeting (http://www.mnpals.org/sections/uc20080918.html)
4. Director’s update (Elfstrand)
5. MnSCU update (Digby)
6. Aleph 19 upgrade [discussion/recommendation based on Steve’s general session report]
7. User Group meeting review
   1. Evaluations—general reactions
   2. Break-outs
   3. User Groups business meetings
   4. Outcomes of UG meetings requiring PALS work
   5. Dates of 2009 UG meeting [Regional Ex Libris User Group is 29-30 Oct. 2009]
8. Scheduling of workdays
9. Representation for technical and consolidated college libraries
10. Report to the Executive Committee
11. Adjourn

Web Meeting Details

• Adobe Connect URL: https://breeze5.metnet.edu/ucec111308/
• Conference number: 507-389-1014 (Please dial in at least 5 minutes prior to the meeting-start time.)