Sage Council Agenda
January 15, 2008 9am Pacific Time
Attendance: Karen Clay, Beth Longwell, Louise Weeks, and Kim Tally; via video: Amy Hutchinson, and Ken Reading & Shannon VanKirk.
Council Chair Karen Clay called meeting to order at 9:08 A.M. PST. As there were problems with connectivity, we were unable to connect with Perry in Baker City via webcam and lost our conference calling with Jolyn & Jean.
- Agenda Review – Add: 7. Catalog costs for last year’s CatExpress and 8. Update on conversations re: Evergreen
- Approval of November minutes –OK
- Committee wikis – progress report—Catalog wiki is completed and being used. Cataloging is working on a list of material types to upgrade the system. Beth is working on the one for Circulation this week.
- Patron privacy policy – Amy—Reported that Lakeview adopted a privacy policy the 1st of the year. Possibly Sage should consider a policy following the Freedom of Information Act. Do we need two levels—one for academic and one for public/schools? Amy asked if we want to send copies of policies to her and she could compile something together. It was suggested that we send out an email instead and request volunteers to sit on a committee. We should have about two academic libraries and three public libraries to be on a short-term committee. Karen will send out email for the request.
- New software release/beta testing – Beth—Reported that it is scheduled to release on Monday, January 21—Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Beth will send out an email to let libraries know what to expect and ask that they let her know immediately of any problems. Also send her any comments regarding the new release. Printing will have enhancements as well as the self-checkout module for those who have it.
- Sage Budget—Beth is keeping a spreadsheet on courier costs. She listed only our dollars spent on courier. It does not include grant money expenditures. The server reserve allocated more money in the five-year plan than on this budget. Because of the increase in costs of Innovative and personnel, she lowered the amount of money going to the reserve. She will gradually raise it back up in subsequent budgets. Ken commented that Umatilla Co. increased 15% in ILL activity, but they also went from two days a week to three. Send any issues regarding the budget to Beth by email.
Regarding subscribers opting out at the last minute, we need to know that they are committed to the subscription and follow through or tell us well in advance. It is in their contract to give 6-12 months notice. Beth feels she needs to be proactive and send out an email in November or December, reminding sites that if they are not going to continue in the next FY, they need to notify us by a certain date in December [to be determined]. It was questioned whether we need a form to affirm their subscription. The example of a high school that had not paid the bill was brought forth. When Beth called to inquire why, she was told that they were no longer using the system. Beth excluded them from the 2008-2009 budget figures, but they still have the current bill pending. Smaller high schools seem to be the ones that are dropping out. Do we need to consider a different plan for high schools? Will it be okay to eliminate their records from the system? Possibly we could make the non-circulating high school a subset of the closer public library that is circulating and charge a fee to help with the courier costs. More discussion followed but the bottom line at issue was this is a reciprocating system and without the records in the system, they cannot be seen and thus borrowed by others in the system. We can also consider re-negotiating with Innovative and lower our Innovative fee because we don’t have as many subscribers in the system. It was decided that Beth send out an email reminding libraries of their commitment and let them know that now is the time to opt out for the 2009-2010 FY. She will give a deadline of July – September.
Another issue that arose was whether or not to give a library a card to check out books. After much discussion, it was decided NOT to give corporate institutional membership. ILL was the way to access books if they were not a part of the Sage System.
Shannon asked how to figure out the increases in the budget, as she must do a two-year budget. Beth said to figure approximately a 4% increase.
- Evergreen Update—Karen reported that nothing has been heard. There was an announcement that the State Library had expected an increase in their budget and it didn’t follow through. So it’s not sure if they will have the funds to startup a test of Evergreen. Even so, it was suggested that Karen go ahead and ask for an update.
- Cataloging costs for CatExpress—Beth usually times it when EOU gets the bill to look over and send out billing. Beth will find the bill and get out CatExpress charges next week.
- Other issues—Ken asked just how many schools do we have on our system? Karen asked Beth to do a spreadsheet to figure out how much the schools are contributing to the budget. Ken suggested that the schools that are for the system “huddle up” and explain why they like the Sage System and find out why others are considering dropping out. Kim, Cove Schools, will get the information from Beth and brainstorm about getting the schools motivated. Would like to set up a meeting to discuss ideas. The school libraries used to meet monthly and discuss problems and solutions that they were experiencing until the ESD stopped sponsoring them (the meetings) about five –seven years ago. She would very much like to see something like this available for the school libraries. Most of our school libraries are remote and don’t have the resources the bigger schools have. That is why she is so in favor of the Sage System.
Meeting adjourned at 10:25 PST
Louise Weeks, Recorder