Pioneer Users Council Meeting
May 6, 2002
Present: Patty Cutright, Darcy Dauble, Ken Reading, Carol Anne Thew, Jo Cowling, Anne Uhl, Marsha Richmond, Beth Longwell, Tara Bartley
Speaker Phone: Jolyn Wynn, Pat Bradshaw
Absent: Dale Edwards, Aletha Bonebrake, and Shirley Roberts
Recorder: Tara Bartley
1. Minutes of April 1, 2002
Anne clarified the sentence within the above minutes under agenda item 4-Reports, section 2, paragraph 2, “Anne suggested libraries go to the LC database and copy and paste areas onto their SuperCat template.” It was clarified that copying data in LC bibliographic records and inserting it into a SuperCat record is accepted practice under public domain regulations.
Anne handed a revision statement to Tara as a re-phrasal of the sentence in the April minutes; “Anne expressed her frustration on not being allowed to show the libraries different options for a bibliographic utility.” The revision as stated below was not read to Council Members.“I have been asked first to report about site visits to SOLN. I was welcomed at all sites and I trained library personnel in original cataloging. Original cataloging is the only option these sites have to enter their SuperCat no-hits. Some had expected demonstrations of other utilities. I must report that I was unable to do this. I made all arrangements with cataloging utilities other than SuperCat to have demonstrations available. I was assigned a laptop computer per the grant proposal when I first started this job. The laptop computer I was assigned has been taken from me for another use. It is not available to me any longer for fieldwork. I was instructed by Pat Cutright that I was not to demonstrate any other cataloging utility.Some reported that they did not want centralized cataloging. “
Minutes of April 1, 2002 approved with the above revision.
2. Agenda Review
Patty requests an executive session after the meeting to discuss updates on contracts and grant personnel. The Council meeting will adjourn at 11:30 and the executive session will go from 11:30 to 12:00.
3. Information Handouts
The handouts that were distributed were LaserCat Subscription Information, FastCat Subscription Information, CatExpress Information, Lending Policies in the Pioneer System, Loan Rules in the Pioneer System, and LEO grant description. The handouts are attached with the original minutes at Eastern.
4. Reports
1) Systems Administrator-Beth
Circulation Workgroup – It was reported that the Circulation Workgroup did not meet this past month. Heidi Florenzen, chair of the workgroup, held an ILL workshop in the Ontario area this past week. The workshop was a success.
Work order display – Beth proposes that the Council advocates that all requests and questions come from work order forms. Using the work order form allows Beth to keep track of all requests.
She proposes changing the name from Work Order form to System Inquiry form. The title would be more inviting for requests, concerns and questions one might have about the system.
It was clarified that work orders do go directly to Beth’s e-mail.
She suggested creating two additional forms that handle specific needs for I-types and branch locations. She will create a support link that will contain all support issues including; the System Inquiry form, I-Type form, Branch location form, Work Order form display (shows previous work orders that have been handled), and contact names.
Action Item/Person Responsible:
Beth will send reminder out on the list serv to use the System Inquiry form when needing Beth’s assistance.
Action Item/Person Responsible:
Beth will make the proposed changes and additions to the Pioneer Web Site.
Bibliographic holds – Beth is currently working with Innovative on the bibliographic holds.
Patron handout for My Millennium – Due to time constraints the handout for My Millennium was postponed. Beth will continue to work on this project.
Consortium pricing for cataloging utilities – Beth spoke to OCLC on consortium pricing. The handouts, LaserCat Subscription Information, FastCat Subscription Information, and CatExpress Information detail the group pricing.
FastCat looks to be an attractive bibliographic database for the schools. It receives two updates a year and has one million titles that are directly related to school bibs.
Beth pulled statistics from the State Library page to get an idea of how many units a year each library adds. From there she worked some figures on what it would cost using CatExpress. CatExpress would be reasonable for the smaller schools.
It was mentioned that a problem that could occur when using CatExpress is who will pay the $.90 for a record that others can attach too. Will people wait until someone else pays the $.90 and then attach to the record?
Libraries that use CatExpress will have to look at it is a consortium project. All libraries will benefit from records used by CatExpress. Policies and procedures will need to be made. Darcy asks Anne and the Cataloging Workgroup to develop some proposals for libraries interested in CatExpress to share the cost.
Action Item/Person Responsible:
The Cataloging Workgroup will meet this month to discuss ideas and develop a proposal for sharing of costs for CatExpress. Will report back to the Council at next month’s meeting.
By September the Council needs to make a decision for a bibliographic database. Beth suggests for training purposes making the decision sooner than September.
Ken comments that exploring the sharing cost of CatExpress is of great interest to the EOLN node. They are looking at purchasing CatExpress.
UCSLD has kept statistics for the last four months on their District’s temporary bibs that are being added to the system. By mid April 769 temporary bibs were created. UCSLD had a 58% hit rate on LaserCat, meaning 300 records were left to do either manually or by CatExpress.
Beth addressed an issue with our load table. Currently our load table is designed for the Follett system and the use of the 852 field. She knew that while evaluating CatExpress they could manipulate the load table to bring in the item and bib record. It would be a temporary solution. New load tables will need to be put in place as more libraries decide to go with CatExpress. She is currently getting pricing from Innovative for a load table and will report back to the Council. However, in October she will be trained in the development of load tables, which will then allow her to create load tables free of cost.
As of now, Harney is able to bring in records from CatExpress. They do have to go in manually to change the location code if it is different from the default location.
It was decided that the discussion of purchasing an additional load table would be tabled to next month’s meeting with the discussion of the budget.
EOIN training – Ken Watson and Noel Peden will attend the EOLA meeting on Friday, May 10 and will give a presentation on EOIN. They will present the new enhancements to EOIN and take suggestions from the group on what they would like to see for EOIN.
Inventory data devices – Beth purchased a portable data terminal. She will be going to Ontario schools this Friday, May 10, to test inventory on the portable terminals. She purchased the one terminal for a little over $800 and will be purchasing the rest this month.
WAM (Web Access Management) – Web Access Management is a module in Innovative that allows you to use the Innovative patron database to authenticate valid users of reference databases and serve as a proxy, which allows patrons to access the database in remote areas. It is available for any library to use if they have a use for it. BMCC is the first site to use this module and issues are being worked out. EOU plans to utilize this module in the near future as well.
If anybody wants further information on this module contact Beth.
Hold shelf – Beth proposes having a unified hold shelf time of 5 days. Currently some libraries have 1-day hold shelf periods, which does not allow enough time for the patron to be notified and pick up the item.
It was clarified that the 5-day hold period would give the staff and patron 5 days from the time it arrives at the library until being checked out by the patron.
It was agreed to standardize the hold shelf time period. For general circulation materials there would be a 5-day hold period. For short term materials there would be a 3-day hold period.
Action Item/Person Responsible:
Beth will begin working with libraries and their loan rules to make this change.
2) Polycon Units
Aletha faxed the LEO grant description, which explained the areas that would receive bi-directional teleconferencing units. Noel reported that he has not yet contacted Scott Carter from NCESD. Discussion for the units will be tabled to next months meeting.
Noel did report that the largest number of connections a Polycon unit can have is four. There is no option to go with more connections.
3) Cataloging – Anne
Anne reported that her site visit with Harney County was successful. She spent April 8-12 at Harney Public Library. She worked on LaserCat and CatExpress training, made brief assessment of their western collection and gave advice on their weeding process.
On April 17, Anne and Beth went to Ontario to demonstrate LaserCat and CatExpress. Between the two utilities they found everything that was brought to the demonstration.
On April 27 through the 30, she attended the IUG Conference in Houston, Texas. The conference was very informative. From the information she learned she will be preparing a handout for creating lists.
Anne reported that she has received a few statistical reports from participating libraries. The libraries will continue to keep the stats for another month. If there are any questions with these reports contact Anne.
4) Systems Workgroup, courier
Beth reported that the Systems workgroup met this past month. On the agenda were discussions for node representation, courier, universal borrowing card, and new sites joining.
Courier – Ken will be adding the state courier to his area and expects to be on by July 1. A courier for Harney County still needs to be determined.
Patty will meet with Union County’s ESD this week to discuss options for courier routes.
Ken checked with Umatilla-Morrow ESD as a possible courier route to Harney, but discovered that as of now they only make a monthly run to John Day. It would be too expensive to use this option as a courier route.
The courier issue will be looked into further.
Universal Borrowing Card – It was discussed that a standardized loan period be put in place for the universal borrowing card. The main collection would have a 21-day loan period and ILL would have a 28-day loan period.
Marsha and Jo expressed that they would like to keep their 14-day loan period. Also,
Pat was concerned that the Malheur County Library Board would not be happy with changing the loan period because she had just changed a 6-week loan period to 4-weeks.
It was clarified that the reason to make a standardized loan period was to make it more unified for the patron. The 3-week loan period would be for the general collection. New books would not have to be included with this loan period.
It was decided to wait until a courier route is in place before making any decisions for loan periods.
New libraries joining consortium – The idea of a membership startup fee was discussed. The fee would cover all incidental costs when libraries join. Libraries interested in joining would be considered on a case to case basis. There would be no geographical limits.
Standards and policies will need to be created. The criteria will be a guideline for libraries to review in the future.
The next Systems Workgroup meeting has not been scheduled yet. Beth questioned what priorities the Council wants the workgroup to work on. The membership policies were one priority the group will continue to work on.
Node representation – It was discussed to make the Pioneer Library System as a whole and absolve the nodes. It will be looked at further in future meetings.
5) Paging slips
Beth informed the Council that she had increased the automatic transfer of holds to 5 days due to problems that were arising from libraries with duplicate shipments. This was only temporary until the Council could make a decision.
Problems occurred when some libraries printed paging slips and then put them aside. When the slip is printed, the hold is not considered filled until the item is put in transit. If more than 3 days (72 hours) passed before the item was placed in transit then the hold would automatically be transferred, generating another paging slip and creating the possibility of multiple sites filling the request.
The Council decided that 3 days was sufficient time for libraries to send a request off. Libraries should place the item in transit within the 3 days from printing the paging slip. In cases where there is a 3 day weekend, paging slips should not be printed Friday unless they can be processed that day.
Action Item/Person Responsible:
Beth will e-mail ILL departments and Directors explaining the procedures.
6) Presentations
Presentations given at OLA and IUG conferences will be tabled until next months meeting.
5. Budget Review
The July serials and acquisition training has been postponed till fall.
The budget review will be moved to June’s meeting.
6. Announcements
Patty would like to thank everyone that supported her for OLA Librarian Of The Year award.
7. Next Meeting
The next meeting will be Monday, June 3, 2002.