NOBLE MINUTES

MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION MEETING

AT NOBLE

FEBRUARY 20, 2003

Present: Twenty-two libraries were represented at the meeting, attendance sheet attached.

 

1.  CALL TO ORDER - Deborah Abraham called the meeting to order at 10:10.

 

2.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES -  John Beauregard made a motion to accept the Minutes from the November 21st meeting, Tom Cesarz seconded the motion.  The vote was unanimous.

 

3.  TREASURER’S REPORT - Tom Scully reported expenditures are under budget and anticipates extra funds at end of fiscal year.  Tom Cesarz made a motion to accept the treasurer, Bonnie Strong seconded the motion.  Vote was unanimous.

 

4.  MANAGER'S REPORT - Ronald Gagnon.

 

PC Support –  Ron reported Executive Board approved maintaining the same costs for the PC Support Program for FY '04.  The annual fee will remain at $275 and the cost per PC is $90.  This includes on-site service and Norton Anti-Virus.  George is installing Remote Administrator software, which allows George to troubleshoot and provide service from a PC at NOBLE.

 

Library Loan Rules – This is an on-going issue where libraries are not honoring the loan rules of the owning library.  Ron contacted library directors of thirteen libraries that had excessive renewals of other library's materials.  NOBLE staff is continuing to monitor this and library directors will be notified as needed.  A hands-on circulation training is scheduled in May to cover this issue.

 

6-Month Certificate of Deposit – The CD was rolled over to a One Year CD at a rate of 2.5%.

 

E-Rate  - The forms were filed last month for next fiscal year.  The percentage rate we are expecting has increased to 51%-52%.  The e-rate reimbursements were filed for the first half of this fiscal year.  The Internet reimbursement was approved for last fiscal year as well as this year.  The amount is approximately $10,000 per year.

 

Meetings – Ron attended the Network Administrators Meeting.  Much of the discussion was on federal and state funding.  Ron also attended a Customer Advisory Board Meeting at Atrion. 

 

Training – NOBLE staff has been training new library staff members about NOBLE and it's services.

 

Elizabeth Thomsen.

 

Part-Time Cataloger – Elizabeth has interviews scheduled next week.

 

Collection Management – Health & Medicine reports were distributed to all libraries. A roundtable session was held and work on data issues with libraries is on going.  Some issues discussed at the roundtable:

-          An enhancement was added that allows reports to be customized for libraries. 

-          Giving libraries the option to receive a "Preview Shelf List" report a month in advance.  This will give libraries the chance to review any data issues before the reports are printed. 

-          A new report format was added to Reportster that has bar codes printed on it.  Libraries need the bar code font on the PC to print the report.  There is a preview copy on the Staff Information System. 

-          NOBLE staff is working on producing reports in a PDF file which can either be emailed or put on the Staff Information System for a library.

-          Looking at items libraries purchased the previous year and see how they circulated. 

Members of the Corporation Meeting                                                                                    Page 2

February 20, 2003

 

Training – Elizabeth reported on the different Create Lists Training that is on going.  Other sessions that were held are Acquisitions Roundtable, Imaging training and Imaging Roundtable.  Libraries attending Imaging training can come with some sample items or send some in advance for NOBLE staff to create some sample files in preparation for the training session.. 

 

Conferences – Elizabeth attended ALA Mid-Winter Conference.  There was an IUG Meeting prior to the Conference at which Elizabeth did a presentation on Create Lists.  Elizabeth attended Innovative product demonstrations at the conference.  She also attended the EBSCO Software Advisory Council Meeting.

 

Sharon Gilley asked if the performance evaluation circulation reports would be run automatically or on request.  Elizabeth stated she sent out some reports to get opinions and feedback from libraries to see how useful this will be.  She said it could be set up different ways if libraries find it useful.  There was some discussion.  Ron stated to receive grant funds it is required by the MA Board of Library Commissioners to get feedback from libraries on the monthly Collection Management reports.  There is a web form for this.  The NOBLE policy that governs this requires a Collection Management team and he will be staffing that team.  Elizabeth added she would like to work with the team on ways to bring in more qualitative data.

 

Martha Driscoll.

 

Release 2002 – Phase 2 will be loaded on March 4th.  It is scheduled for early in the morning so there will be no down time for libraries.  Workstations need a new version of Java.  Information was previously sent out and is on the Staff Information System.  There will be a new Millennium Editor for editing patron records.  Michele Morgan put a tutorial on the Staff Information System. 

 

Spam Issue – A program called SPAM Assassin was loaded on the mail server.  It tests incoming e-mail to see if it is spam.  Currently it is being tested on a few accounts, but it will be set up for the whole system.  Martha explained the importantance of keeping e-mail accounts current and she has set up an automated message to let people know if their e-mail boxes are getting too large. 

 

Gates Foundation – George attended training in Seattle for the Gates Grant computers.  He learned valuable security information regarding setting up PC's in a public setting.  He'll be returning to Seattle in March for more training.

 

5.  COVER IMAGES IN THE CATALOG - Deborah Abraham explained the two views libraries had regarding this issue.  One was requesting additional funds after the budget has been established, and some libraries felt for a small cost it showed NOBLE was moving forward with their services.  The decision was made to roll the cover images project into the catalog redesign.  NOBLE's expenditures are under budget for this fiscal year so NOBLE would pay the cost this year.  The cost is $3,800/year and would be part of the budget process for FY 2005.  Executive Board voted to move forward with the catalog redesign. 

 

6.  EBSCO – Ron has begun discussions with EBSCO for the contract renewal, which expires December 31, 2003.  The initial proposal was a 6% increase that Ron is negotiating.  Since the contract term is calendar year the increase would be 3% for 2nd half of FY '04 and 3% for the first half of FY '05.  The final proposal will come to Membership for a vote.  The other issue is that public libraries go out to bid through the City of Salem and will need the costs for that bid process. 

 

7.  VIRTUAL CATALOG – Ron explained the issue our Membership had with the Statewide Catalog software archiving transactions forever.  This was in violation of NOBLE's Confidentiality Policy.  NOBLE’s implementation plans and training were postponed.  Subsequently this issue has been resolved.  Epixtech wrote a script that regularly deletes transactions and will not be archived.  Training will begin in May with the second half of the May Members Meeting being the Manager's Overview. 

 

Members of the Corporation Meeting                                                                                    Page 3

February 20, 2003

 

8.  STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDING –

 

State Funds – MBLC is seeking a Library Bond Bill from the legislature to fund library projects that were cut in the state budget. The bond is for $3.3 million a year over a three-year period.  This will restore approximately $68,000 in telecommunications funds for NOBLE.

 

Federal Funds – The LSTA bill is proceeding.  It has 102 sponsors in the House and 24 in the Senate.  The LSTA funds go to the MBLC for library funding.

 

The Legislative Breakfast is February 28th.

 

9.  WORKING GROUPS –

 

Electronic Resources Working Group – Elizabeth stated a survey was sent to Members on the value of having web sites cataloged. Deadline is next week.  Also work is continuing on the web catalog redesign.

 

Data Quality and Holds Committee have not met.

 

10.  DISCUSSION OF LOCAL BUDGETS –

 

- Ron and Debbie Abraham are working on two grants for NOBLE.  One is a Cisco Grant and the other is a Verizon Grant.

 

- Libraries discussed how the state budget cuts are affecting their budgets and municipality or institution. Directors shared ways they are cutting back on their budget.  Several of the libraries present are expected not to meet their municipal appropriation requirement.  The discussion continued. 

 

11.  ADJOURNMENT.   

 

Marjorie Hill-Devine made a motion to adjourn, and Dennis Kelley seconded the motion.  The meeting adjourned at 12:10. 

 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

 

 

Mary Rose Quinn

Pro tem Secretary