NOBLE EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

Minutes of February 13, 2003

In Attendance: Tom Scully, Doug Rendell, Martha Driscoll, Mary-Rose Quinn, Tom Cesarz, Ron Gagnon, Anne Tullson, Mary Todd, Marjorie Hill-Devine, Elizabeth Thomsen.

Call to Order: Tom Cesarz called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.

Minutes: Minutes were not available for approval.

Treasurer’s Report: Doug Rendell moved to accept the Treasurer's Report. Tom Cesarz seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Director’s Report:

• 13 libraries have been notified that staff are renewing other libraries’ materials beyond the system-set limit.
• The 6-month certificate has been renewed for 1-year at 2.5%.
• E-rate forms for FY04 have been submitted.
• E-rate reimbursement forms for the first half of the current fiscal year and for Internet last year have been filed.
• NOBLE will be interviewing candidates for the part-time cataloger position.
• Millennium 2002 Phase 2 will be loaded on March 4. An updated version of Java is needed and is available for download on the Staff Information System.
• Collection Assessment reports will be sent out on a monthly basis.
• George Lally attended the Gates Foundation training in Seattle last month. He will be attending another round of training in Seattle next month. NOBLE will pay travel and expenses.
• Elizabeth attended ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia.
• Ron attended the Network Administrators meeting in Natick last week. Much discussion of need for support for Library Bond Bill, House 1199, to restore cut funds, and for Federal LSTA reauthorization.
• Ron attended the Atrion Customer Advisory Board meeting in Warwick last month.
• Ron and Elizabeth attended the Ways and Means Day at the State House on February 12.
• Ron and Martha met with the North Shore staff to plan the library’s move in May.
• Ron and staff met with new North Shore and Bunker Hill staff for an introduction to NOBLE.
• Ron and Elizabeth met with Mary Ann Niles and Laura Horgan at Middlesex to discuss OCLC alternatives.
• Elizabeth conducted an imaging roundtable meeting last week.
• Elizabeth facilitated two acquisitions roundtables and held specialized Create Lists training for acquisitions and data cleanup.

Mary-Rose will be getting a list of those Representatives who have not signed onto House bill 1199, the Library Bond Bill. She will share the list so libraries can contact them.

PC Support Pricing for FY04:

Ron recommended level-funding the PC Support Program for FY04. The switch from Intel LanDesk to Remote Administrator and Symantec Antivirus software reduced the annual re-licensing fee.

Tom Cesarz moved that the PC Support Program be level-funded for FY04. Doug Rendell seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Cover Images in Catalog:

Last month at Member’s Meeting Dennis Kelley suggested that NOBLE fund the cost of getting the cover images project going this fiscal year. Due to the vacant part-time cataloger position and the savings from the Verizon line item, NOBLE could fund this project. A survey sent out indicated that 16 libraries were in

Executive Board Meeting Minutes Page 2

February 13, 2003

favor of adding cover images to the catalog while 7 libraries were not in favor. It was suggested that the addition of the cover images would dovetail with the catalog redesign that the Electronic Resources Working Group is doing.

Tom Cesarz moved that NOBLE fund the initial startup costs of adding cover images to the catalog for the current fiscal year. Mary-Rose Quinn seconded the motion. Motion passed.

State Virtual Catalog Update:

The Boston Library Consortium has made progress on the issue of patron information in the transaction files by voting to discontinue the archiving of patron information. Dynix has agreed to install a script that will purge this information.

EBSCO Contract Update

Ron reported that NOBLE’s contract with EBSCO is up on December 31, 2003. He has been working with EBSCO to determine a price for next fiscal year. EBSCO is looking for a 6% increase, but Ron pointed out that NOBLE was given a 6% discount during the last contract negotiations. Ron is working on getting a better price for the next contract.

Fines Discussion:

Two issues regarding fines was brought up:

• What should libraries who do not charge fines do if another library’s item results in a fine? Should the library clear the fine or retain the fine on the patron’s record?
• Should libraries who offer no fines to Senior Citizens reciprocate those privileges with other libraries who do the same?

Discussion was tabled until next month.

Working Group Update:

The Electronic Resources Working Group has been meeting the first Monday of each month. They are working on a redesign of the web catalog. A survey was sent to each library asking about including websites in the catalog. Responses are needed by the end of February.

Meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Ronald A. Gagnon

Executive Director