Approved 07/12/17
Minerva Executive Board
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Maine State Library Studio
Present: Kevin Davis, Nancy Crowell, James Rathbun, Cyndi Burne, James Jackson Sanborn, Steve Norman, Liz Soares
From remote sites: Alisia Revitt, Lynn Uhlman, Megan McNichol, Judy Frost, Shelly Davis and Amber Tatnall.
- The meeting began at 10:06 a.m.
- Minutes of the March 8, 2017 were reviewed and accepted.
Old Business
We discussed concerns that have been raised about minutes being not being posted in a timely manner. Kevin explained that the issue had been resolved and suggested a workflow to streamline the process.
New Business
- Board Communication / Minutes
Regarding the above, the secretary, Liz Soares, will complete the minutes within a week and submit them as a draft. Nancy thinks it may be written as procedure already. Kevin will then submit them to Maine Infonet on a ticket, and they will post them on the website. They will be labeled “draft.” We will vote on them at our next meeting and then the finalized minutes will be posted. - Text Message Renewal issue
This issue was talked about in detail at the last circulation roundtable meeting. James Rathbun (Director of Baxter Memorial Library and chair of the Circulation Committee) said the 30 people at the circulation meeting agreed to this change, and when he put it out to the membership, the four people who responded were also in favor.- We voted unanimously to edit the text and remove the renewal option.
- The revised message will say: “Your Minerva Courtesy Alert: Your Minerva item is due soon. Please return this item or visit your account to renew:
minerva.maine.edu/patroninfo
Nancy thanked James Rathbun for his hard work and “nuanced negotiations.” Kevin will follow up notifying membership once the change is implemented.
Reports
- Maine InfoNet:
James Jackson Sanborn waiting for complete set of documents from III for our next contract with the additions and improvements. It will then go to the Maine InfoNet board for approval. Our MOU says we will consult with Minerva, but what does this look like? Nancy asked: timing, protocol? Maybe James could present the proposal formally at next meeting after the documents are received.James said he may need signatures on the contract before the July meeting. He wants to get MaineCat off its aging physical server, which can’t update to the latest operating system. He wants to do this as soon as possible.
Nancy suggested a message of intent, and James agreed. It would be a “motion of support.”
Judy Frost (Maine Infonet representative) asked if James had firm sense yet of the cost? There will be a one-time cost, $6,600, to move from the server at the University of Maine to Amazon Web Services. Then, there would be $16,980 for optional services that James feel we will want.
Encore provides a modern OPAC interface, which sits above the current OPAC. There is a link to the “classic” screen, which some users may prefer. The Decision Center provides a new view of statistics and better collection analysis. My Library is an app that patrons can download. Mobile Worklists can be downloaded to a phone or iPad so library staff can have an interface to take into the stacks to scan barcodes, etc.
The costs will be covered by the Minerva reserve fund, so there will be no added costs for individual members.
Steve thanked James for the work he did to bring these changes to Minerva, and we agreed that we are excited about the upcoming improvements.
- Maine InfoNet Representative:
Judy had made a report at the Spring Users Council Meeting on May 5th, and didn’t have anything new to report. - Minerva Technical:
Lynn and Alisia had nothing to report since the Spring Users Council meeting. - Finance:
Amber had nothing new to report since the Spring Users Council meeting. - Membership Committee
Steve: The committee will meet via Google Hangouts on May 25th. They will send out an invitation for applicants on MeLibs in late July. The submissions will be due by Sept. 15th. Decisions will be made by early November, and the new libraries can go live by late February/March. Yarmouth and Maine Maritime have expressed interest. - Collection Development Committee:
Cyndi needs a complete list of who’s in Minerva right now. She wants to reach out to those directors who have not yet responded to the survey. Amber will send her the list.
Judy found the survey skewed toward public libraries. Some of the questions make no sense for academic libraries. There needs to be a survey aimed at the special and academic libraries.
Cyndi said 28 people completed the survey and she had printouts with her to share with the board. She said she knew the survey was difficult in places, but that it was difficult for public librarians as well. She said she would not craft a new survey. Kevin said the mission of the committee was to address issues found primarily with our public libraries.
Responding to a question from Judy, Cyndi said she saw the survey as information gathering that will provide an overall picture of what Minerva is. She thought it was interesting to read the responses; most were very honest, Cyndi said. The results will help in the development of a best practices manual and even cataloging. “I’m not judging…I don’t like rental collections, but if people are doing it then we need to deal with it.”
Cyndi will send the surveys to individual libraries, which haven’t yet responded. May 31st is the deadline for submitting the surveys. - Circulation Standards:
No news since Spring Users Council meeting. - Cataloging Standards
The committee asked if the Executive Board would pay for lunch for the Cataloging Training Session on June 8 at St. Joseph’s College.
“ As part of the all-day event the committee would like to provide lunch for participants. We are asking the Executive Board to pay for lunch. The college is willing to provide lunch at about $8.00 per person for wraps, salads, chips, cookies, and drinks. I plan on have people register for this by Wednesday, May 31, 2017. This way we will have a good attendance number and how much lunch will cost. If every library in Minerva sends a cataloger the cost would roughly be $520.00,” chair Katherine Morgan wrote in a communication to the board.
Shelly said that the college’s food service will do the catering and they will generate an invoice. This will be sent to Amber who will send it on to James Jackson Sanborn.
We approved covering the cost of the catering.
Calais has not fulfilled its cataloging meeting obligation. Access to the cataloging module has been turned off there since Jan. Lynn has not been able to communicate with them.
Nancy and Kevin were concerned about the number of items that appeared on the list of TV series that had not been cataloged as full sets. Lynn and Alisia something in the volume field that is not indicating complete set, or it might have something to do with the volume field.
Other:
Kevin announced that a sub-consortium is forming in southern Maine. This will include South Portland, Scarborough, Baxter and Thomas Memorial. They are creating a Memorandumof Understanding. This move will allow patrons of each library to borrow books from the otherlibraries on-site (rather than through ILL). They have set a target of beginning July 1 if possible.There is a lot of excitement amongst patrons and staff about this opportunity. Alisia pointed outthat ILL statistics may have to be looked at differently because when patrons walk in it istechnically an ILL. South Portland has been continuing what they did for TML when the latterwas undergoing renovation. Kevin said a number of but TML residents have actually signed upafter “having a taste” because there are some benefits to having the home library card.
Steve wanted to thank Cyndi for taking on the survey. He said discontent has beenbubbling for 10-12 years, as long as we’ve had open lending. It’s an emotionally-charged issue.Anyone who even attempts to gather information is going to be in the line of fire, Steve said.This issue is taking precedence over innovations and it shouldn’t. The committee is the first stepto bringing innovation to our consortium.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.
The next meeting will be on July 12th, 2017, from 10 a.m. to noon.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth A. Soares
Secretary
