September 2010 Executive Committee Meeting
Meeting Minutes
September 15, 2010; 1-3
Columbus, GA
I.Call to OrderClaudia Gibson, Chair
Claudia called the meeting to order. Members present were: Lecia Eubanks, Claudia Gibson, Alan Harkness, Sandy Hester, Thomas Jones, Lace Keaton, Jeff Tomlinson and Jean Turn. PINES/GPLS staff present: Emily Almond, Katherine Gregory, Elaine Hardy, Elizabeth McKinney, Chris Sharp and Lamar Veatch. Several representatives from member and non-member libraries were also in attendance.
II.WelcomeClaudia Gibson
Claudia welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending and participating.
III.Executive Committee Membership ChangesClaudia Gibson
Jean Turn was nominated to serve as secretary of the Executive Committee. Claudia Gibson asked for any other nominations. Hearing none, she asked for a vote on Jean’s nomination. The committee voted in favor of Jean’s election as secretary. She assumed the duties immediately.
Claudia announced that Carrie Zeiger’s previous position representing medium libraries is now vacant.
IV.Approval of May 12, 2010 Meeting Minutes Claudia Gibson
One change was made to the May 12, 2010 minutes: Item VII. A. sentence four – “Time” was changed to “Tim”. Alan Harkness moved May 12, 2010 meeting minutes be approved as amended.
May 12, 2010 Annual Meeting Minutes were reviewed but will be approved at the next annual meeting.
V.PINES Staff Reports
Elizabeth McKinney announced that Andy Witter from CCG will be the new PINES system administrator until 7/1/2011. Emily Almond is the new IT director. This position will combine some of Emily’s old duties with some of Tim Daniels’ former duties.
A.Bucket Project – Emily Almond stated that replacement hardware will be delivered on Sept. 22. The data center contract has been finalized and will be installed mid-October. Chris Sharp is working on the house test server (called ‘Fang’). The new PINES server cage should be available in about six months.
B.Upgrade – Elizabeth McKinney went over the listed PINES Upgrade Project Milestones. The expectation had been to go directly to Evergreen version 2.0 until it was discovered that 2.0 is still in alpha release. Now the upgrade will be to version 1.6. 1.6 has many new settings and will require training. Target date for going live is approximately February, 2011, but nothing is certain.
C.FY Reports – Katherine Gregory reported that year end reports are up. Reports should run faster because now twelve reports can run simultaneously instead of six.
D.Reports Cleanup – Katherine is cleaning up the reports templates in anticipation of version 1.6
E.Reports Training – Katherine, Chris and Dawn Dale of GPLS and Leslie St. John of Newton County Library System attended reports training at Equinox’s offices.
F.Other Training – Elizabeth stated that current training is on-demand, as needed.
G.Group Order is ready
H.Database Cleanup – Elaine Hardy said this will being in October. There will be a partial cataloging freeze after the database is pulled to Backstage. The freeze will only be on editing records. Will still be able to add records. Exception reports will be sorted by library and sent out. The cataloging module re-write effort has been suspended pending a review of Evergreen 2.0, which is supposed to contain many features PINES catalogers have been asking for. Elaine is also writing the non-functional requirements for an inventory module.
I.Northwest GA Regional – Emily Almond reported that everything is ready and on schedule for the NW GA migration to PINES. A cataloging freeze for PINES libraries will be for one day only – October 5.
J.Evergreen Foundation – Elizabeth McKinney said the group formed at the last Evergreen International conference. They are working on bylaws. The Evergreen Governance Committee has put in an application to the Software Freedom Conservancy, which would serve as an umbrella organization.
K.Acquisitions – Elaine Hardy stated they will start testing the module but won’t be able to go live until 2.0. There will be possible policy changes. The database will be updated when the order is placed. Current policy is that only CAT1 can bring in bibliographic records. New policy will need to address which staff can do this. Cataloging staff will still be responsible for the quality of the record when the item is in-hand. Will need to batch load records. If no record exists at the time of the order, there will be a way to brief title the record. There will also be a new policy to address holds on on-order items. Only patrons of the ordering library will be allowed to place holds, or possibly holds will not be allowed on on-order items. Questions still to be resolved are: must everyone use the acquisitions module, can libraries opt in or out, and what if an item never arrives?
VI.Executive Committee Action Items
AI1. Proposal to Change Holds Process - A request was made to restrict a patron from placing online holds outside the patron’s local library system. Recommendation from the subcommittee was to deny the request. Thomas Jones moved that the holds process not be changed. The motion was seconded and passed.
AI2. Cataloging Outside of Regional HQ – A request was made to allow branch staff to perform some cataloging functions. Recommendation from the subcommittee was to deny the request. There was some discussion about allowing anyone designated CAT1 to perform cataloging functions at any location, but a decision will be delayed for further consideration. Thomas Jones moved that the cataloging policies not be changed. The motion was seconded and passed.
AI3. Handheld Devices – A request was made to review the policy on handheld devices used by patrons to check out items. It was discussed whether a pin number could be required to provide better security. Alan Harkness moved to overturn the policy allowing handheld devices in lieu of the physical library card. The motion was seconded and passed.
NGRL Policy Names – Thomas Jones made a motion to approve the following NGRL policy names:
NGRL-CG for Calhoun-Gordon County Library
NGRL-CM for Chatsworth-Murray County Library
NGRL-DW for Dalton-Whitfield County Library
The motion was seconded and passed.
VII.Executive Committee Discussion Items
PINES Bag Purchase – Greg Heid will work with Elizabeth McKinney and Staples to get free or reduced price PINES bags in exchange for Staples logo/advertisement on the bags.
SIP2 Policy – The SIP2 Policy was presented for the Executive Committee’s consideration.
Phone Notification - Elizabeth McKinney stated that the cost to send overdue notices by mail is $.53 per notice. The cost by phone is $.15 per notice. Thirty day notices will still be sent via mail. PINES will perform a three month trial using phone notifications. They will request a list of incorrect phone numbers.
Public Library – University Courier Service - GPLS is investigating the option of including the University system in the courier service, which would save approximately $80,000 per year. Items would need to go in the appropriate bag – blue Galileo bags for the University, green PINES bags for public libraries. Stat has agreed on no additional charge. A mutual decision between GPLS and the University system is still pending.
VIII.Old Business
Electronic votes
-Jeff Tomlinson appointed to PINES Executive Committee as Replacement for Chuck Gibson
-Northwest Georgia Regional Library Membership Agreement Approval
-West Georgia Regional Library Policy Name Approval
IX.New Business
X.Next Meeting
The next PINES Executive Committee meeting will be held in conjunction with the December Directors’ Meeting.
