Minutes

November 28, 2012 | Topsham Public Library

The meeting was called to order and Shelly Davis welcomed attendees. The minutes of the May 30, 2012 meeting were accepted.

Old Business

Memorandum of Participation. Steve Norman fielded questions – there were none. Members should sign a copy of the Memorandum and return to Cyndi by mid January.

New Business

Library Anywhere. James Jackson Sanborn announced approval of a subscription to this product (produced by Library Thing) for all of Minerva. It provides a mobile interface. The decision to subscribe was made by the executive committee upon James’s recommendation. The cost is $7,800 with renewal at $2,800. First year funds will come out of our strategic reserves. It will provide OPAC mobility. The go live date should be fairly soon.

Exploratory needs committee. The Maine InfoNet board created this committee to explore options for management systems that would work in the short-term for all libraries in the MaineCat world. Members include James, Alisia Revitt, Shelly Davis, Sarah Campbell, Jamie Ritter and Clem Guthro. The committee works from the following assumptions: the goal of state-wide resource sharing for most of the libraries in the state must be accommodated; and functionality for libraries currently in the system should be retained or expanded (maintain services with adverse impact to the tight integration we currently enjoy – with the caveat that current systems may need to be reconfigured – we may not look just the same….)

The committee has reached a few interim conclusions:

In the near term (2-3 years) Worldshare is not ready to handle the depth and breadth of our needs. It doesn’t handle electronic resources and third party tools. It is still a possibility in the future.

Evergreen and its fulfillment system were built to be consortial. The fulfillment system ties together multiple Evergreen and Koha systems. However, it is still not in Beta testing and probably not up to the level of what we currently have.

Right now our best option for near-term growth is to maintain relations with Innovative Interfaces –III- and look into moving to Sierra. The new code is not transformative, but conversations with III personnel indicate that the company is moving in a new direction. Their old CEO, Jerry Cline, is stepping back from his hands-on approach. The new CEO is interested in working with libraries and is listening. There is some evidence that this is true…

Their software is evolutionary. At present, the system is very locked down and separate modules cost $25,000 – $30,000 each. (The explanation is that this is due to legacy coding.) Sierra, however, has modern architecture in which everything communicates through APIs – an object oriented approach which is more flexible. For example, they are developing eBook modules (with Overdrive, for one). These will be integrated with core functionality. There are signals that the company is working in a different way. The committee thinks that we should talk with Innovative. The next step will be a meeting with III higher-ups at ALA.

What we want in a vendor/system:

A flexible system

A scalable system to meet the needs of the larger systems and also the smaller ones.

A good working relationship with the vendor

Creativity – what can the vendor offer us that will better meet our needs

A desire to work with a multi-type system that includes smaller libraries

Interesting structures and pricing

We have a few years to decide as Millennium is not going away. If CBB migrates, it does not force our hand.

Reports

Minerva executive committee (Shelly): Bangor Theological Seminary is closing at both its locations and will be leaving Minerva. The committee’s short-term goals include completing a MOU with Library Anywhere and finalizing a budget. Meetings are open and all are welcome to attend.

Maine InfoNet (James): Projects include:

Developing a new Maine InfoNet website. They are working with Brainstorm, a Maine company. They hope to be able to open up some areas of the site for posting information.

Redesign of the MaineCat OPAC

Work with III to upgrade the Minerva OPAC (keyword results may look a little different). After this they will do a major overhaul similar to MaineCat.

Added three new libraries to SOLAR, two more in December and more in January.

Now that they have more experience in adding libraries and data, they will let Minerva add at least one library in the next year.

Maine InfoNet Download Library. Invoices will go out before December 31. Fees vary by size of patron base. The collection contains 9,729 total items, 7,273 unique titles. They try to maintain no more than five holds per copy. There were 20,000 checkouts by August and we will probably see a jump in January.

Maine InfoNet report (Judy):

Reflected that in the 12-13 years of Maine InfoNet – how far we have come. There is a charge from the Maine Library Commission to consider what makes sense for bringing in the smaller libraries. Our voice will be heard. Members are encouraged to communicate with Judy any concerns or suggestions.

Minerva Technical (Alisia):

Reported that Minerva has been blessedly quiet. Statistics:

3,686,000 checkouts

445,000 intra-Minerva checkout

51,000 walk-in borrowing transactions

With MaineCat (26,000 borrowed , 18,000 lent)

Finance and budget (Nikki):

Gail Roy is the new treasurer. Minerva income is $228,000, expenditures $23,372.42. We have strategic reserves of $162,018.04 for a total of $366,645.62. The strategic reserve will be important for any migration.

Circulation Standards Committee (Cyndi):

Revisited the 2009 collections policy. It now says that libraries have one year to bill for non-returned items. They are working with the cataloging standards committee on the issue of circulating TV series. There was some discussion around the one-year cut-off date – some felt it was too long. Circulation meetings are on DVD and can be requested.

Cataloging Standards Committee:

Report was submitted in writing. E-readers will be cataloged in a new way. The catalog will be cleaned up and there will be written instructions on how to proceed.

Other – None

Adjourned at 11:50 am

In attendance:

James Jackson Sanborn, Maine InfoNet; Nancy Crowell, Scarborough Public; Cynthia Young, EMCC; Steve Norman, Belfast; Debbie Lozito, Edythe Dyer; Judith Frost, CMCC; Karen Valley, Walker Memorial; Nikki Maounis, Camden Public; Martha Ott, Kaplan University; Alisia Revitt, Maine InfoNet; Chris Boynton, MSL Outreach; Jennifer Lewis, Augusta schools; Jake Paris, Lewiston Public; Cindy Schilling, Wells Public; Susan Preece, Topsham Public; Cyndi Burne, Topsham Public; Jeanne Madder, Falmouth Memorial; and Shelly Davis, St. Joseph’s College.