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Future meetings (tentative): January 12, 2006 (Conf. call) April 5, 2006 June 14, 2006 (Conf. call) October 4, 2006 |
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Future meetings (tentative): January 12, 2006 (Conf. call) April 5, 2006 June 14, 2006 (Conf. call) October 4, 2006 |
PRESENT: Thomas Alrutz, Gail Barraco, Bill Crumlish, Liza Duncan, Randy Ericson, Dottie Hiebing, Cara Janowsky, Janie Kaplan, Maribeth Krupczak, Mary-Alice Lynch, Sara McCain, Mary Redmond, John Shaloiko, Kate Storms, Barbara Stripling, Linda Todd, Janet Welch
ABSENT: Soumaya Baaklini, Stephen Bolton, Michael Borges, Diane Courtney, Diana Cunningham, Carol Desch, Tracey Firestone, Carey Hatch, Carole Huxley, James Kadamus, Wanda Knight, Jerry Kuntz, Kitty Little, Christine McDonald, Kathleen Roe, David Walsh
RECORDER: Deitz
Ms. Hiebing welcomed everyone to the 25th meeting of the NOVEL Steering Committee, with a special welcome to Library Development's newest staff member, Maribeth Krupczak, Library Development Specialist 1.
The minutes of the May 18 conference call were approved: Randy Ericson moved; Bill Crumlish seconded.
2006 Regents Legislative Priorities for Libraries
Regents priorities are in line with NYLA priorities.
State Library Director Search -- The State Education Department launched a national search for a permanent director of the Research Library this month. The announcement is posted on the State Library web site.
Update on Library Development Staffing -- Good News! The State Library recently filled two Library Development (LD) Specialist 1 (librarian expert consultants) positions. Bad News! LD Specialist staffing continues at crisis levels with work backlogs growing each day. Three of twelve LDS positions are now vacant.
NECAT -- John Shaloiko (Gail Barraco, Randy Ericson, Cara Janowsky, Janie Kaplan, Sara McCain, Kate Storms, Linda Todd) -- The members of the NOVEL Electronic Collections Advisory Team (NECAT) have discussed the ongoing endeavor to trial new databases; e.g., history and Grolier Online Encyclopedia, and the need for long-range planning and a possible survey to determine other databases or groups to target and the evaluation process. These issues will be discussed in future meetings of the Steering Committee.
Portal Demonstration -- Liza Duncan -- Ms. Duncan demonstrated the New York State Federated Search Portal Pilot Project, in which 14 libraries partner with the Research Library to test federated search engines. It is a tool that retrieves authoritative information as opposed to the type of information obtained through Google. Phase 2 starts in a few weeks, with Albany Public Library as the test library. The pilot project ends March 31, 2006, at which time there will be an evaluation that will, hopefully, have enough validation to continue the project. Both Messrs. Alrutz and Crumlish expressed their appreciation to Ms. Duncan and the staff of the State Library's Research Library for seeing the project to fruition as the project far surpasses their fondest wishes.
Driver License Access -- Mary Redmond -- Our agreement with the Department of Motor Vehicles enables people to get into the NOVEL databases with a driver license or non-driver license ID, in addition to accessing the databases from their local libraries. Even though the service is still in test mode, there have been 200 users per month already and many libraries have linked the URL www.novelnewyork.org to their home pages.
Ms. Redmond will work with staff to prepare publicity on the program for use during an upcoming State Education Department press conference, along with press releases, print-friendly flyers and tool kits so local libraries and library systems can announce the project.
LSTA Five-Year Plan Evaluation -- Sara McCain -- The State Library's internal work group has met twice to discuss the scope of the evaluation. As they begin to work on the RFP for an outside evaluation of NOVEL, they would like to have members of the library community involved. As the work of the evaluation proceeds, we will also be collecting information for development of the next LSTA five-year plan which also needs involvement of the library community. The work group noted that we have a lot of statistical information about NOVEL but not significant documented information about its value--to libraries and to users. That seems a likely path for the evaluation to take. Questions to consider: How should the NOVEL Steering Committee be involved in the evaluation of the federal LSTA Five-Year Plan, which is due in April 2007, and the development of the next LSTA Five-Year Plan? Mr. Ericson stated that the Steering Committee should be involved in the review of the plan either during a meeting or via listserv, and will provide information for the evaluation. Ms. Lynch suggested that an early draft of the RFP be shared with the Steering Committee so members can assist in its development.
NOVEL Invitational Training Grants -- Linda Todd -- In the summer of 2004, the State Library awarded 62 NOVEL Invitational Training grants. These grants started in September 2004 and ended in June 2005. After the grant period ended, State Library staff "mined" the valuable information contained in the reports and created a NOVEL Invitational grant web site entitled "Lessons Learned." The web site consists of several pages containing statistical data, anecdotes, training and promotion tips, as well as links to online tutorials and other electronic resources developed through the grant program. Linda Todd demonstrated the web site to the Steering Committee and invited Steering Committee members to submit improvements/suggestions to her by Friday, October 7. The web site will be shown to the library community at the NYLA conference as part of the Saturday program showcasing four unique NOVEL Invitational grants. Ms. Todd expressed her appreciation to Sara McCain and Maribeth Krupczak, as well as student assistants, Sam Cook and Heather Courtney, for their work on the NOVEL Invitational Training Grants Project.
Ms. Stripling requested a run of the numbers by types of libraries to show low search numbers in school library systems. In the past, more than half of our search numbers have been from academic libraries. Kate Storms will run the search numbers again by types of libraries.
Ms. Welch indicated that although there are 5,000 libraries registered to use NOVEL, 2,000 libraries are NOT using NOVEL-almost entirely school libraries. The Regents introduced this issue in their topic, "Closing the Achievement Gap." Ms. Lynch suggested the numbers could be used in negotiating NOVEL databases with vendors and would also be of interest to legislators.
Statewide NOVEL Education and Information Program -- Linda Todd -- There will be a statewide education and information campaign to promote the NOVEL databases. The RFP was issued in the beginning of June; bids came in at the end of July and were reviewed in August. Feedback may be requested of the Steering Committee on a deliverable plan that includes developing different types of media. Ms. Todd will report on the developments during the next Steering Committee meeting.
NYLA Conference, NOVEL Meetings, Poster Session -- Linda Todd -- Linda Todd distributed a handout listing all the programs and displays sponsored by the State Library at the October 2005 NYLA conference. She will contact Wanda Knight and confirm her participation at the Poster Session. Mr. Alrutz will represent the Steering Committee at the NOVEL meeting and will make some introductory remarks on behalf of the Steering Committee. Mary Redmond will coordinate preparation of NYLINE messages to promote State Library programs at the NYLA Conference.
Portal -- Liza Duncan -- The Portal Group discussed the future of Federated Search in New York State and concluded they would like to continue the service and model it on the present pilot configuration. Then every library would be able to add their individual databases at a discount worked out with the vendor. The group also discussed IP and patron ID authentication, funding and being able to sustain assistance to other libraries without overwhelming staff of the State Library. The goal is that Webfeat will eventually work directly with the libraries.
Databases -- John Shaloiko -- The Databases Group recommended identifying a group of expert librarians around the state that could help review databases that are available for trial. They discussed confidentiality and asking people outside of the Steering Committee for recommendations on who should be invited to participate and also suggested that guidelines be developed for this work. Selections would be based on the type of library--PULISDO, SLSA and 3Rs can recommend based on geographic areas around the state. There might be a pool of 10-25 participants in the trial, with an expectation that people would complete some type of review format/web survey. Expectation would include comparison of like databases. A long-range collection development plan for NOVEL databases will be discussed at a future NECAT meeting.
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WHEN |
WHAT |
WHO |
| September 15 | NOVEL Demo for NYS Senate Fellows | Kate Storms |
| September 16 | NOVEL Update at RAC Meeting, METRO | Mary Redmond |
| End of September | Updating Upper NYS and NY Area MLA Chapters, Lake Placid | Janie Kaplan |
| October | NOVEL Demo for State Education Department personnel | Kate Storms |
| October 26-29 | NOVEL Programs/Poster Session at NYLA | Linda Todd/Wanda Knight |
| November 17 | NYLINK's Showcase | Mary-Alice Lynch |
| End of the year | Teaching and Learning Retreat, Department of Education, New York City | Barbara Stripling |
Based on a poll of members' availability, the following future meeting dates have been set:
Certificates of recognition were presented to Dottie Hiebing, Co-Convenor, and departing Steering Committee members with many thanks for a job well done: Thomas Alrutz and Bill Crumlish. Diane Courtney and Diana Cunningham were unable to attend the meeting and will receive their certificates in the mail. The outgoing members of the Steering Committee will continue to be on the listservs so that they can be informed of future developments.
Meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m. for the farewell reception.
PRESENT: Baaklini, Barraco, Courtney, Desch, Ericson, Hatch, Hiebing, Janowsky, Knight, Little, McCain, McDonald, Redmond, Shaloiko, Storms, Todd, Welch
ABSENT: Alrutz, Bolton, Borges, Crumlish, Cunningham, Duncan, Firestone, Huxley, Kadamus, Kaplan, Kuntz, Lynch, Meierhoffer, Roe, Stripling, Walsh
RECORDER: Deitz
Ms. Hiebing welcomed everyone to the conference call, particularly our newest Steering Committee member, Christine McDonald. She then asked for a roll call of participants. The March 24, 2005 minutes were approved--Gail Barraco moved to approve and Randy Ericson seconded.
Mrs. Welch asked Carol Desch to update the group on Federal LSTA funding. Although the President has proposed an increase in LSTA funding to $221.33 million, New York State would not get a large increase due to a formula change which will entitle smaller states to larger base grants. Keep in mind that the cut in state funds will impact LSTA funding in Fall 2007.
The proposed five percent cut in state funding has been restored. New Century Libraries has put forward a budget request for $14 million for NOVEL for the last several years. It will be in play again next year, with $5 million for databases and the remainder for library systems to improve their access to local NOVEL databases.
Promoting NOVEL -- Considerable progress has been made in getting out word about NOVEL through State Library LSTA grants and NOVEL training sessions conducted with legislative staff. Mrs. Welch encouraged members of the Steering Committee to continue meeting with legislative staff in such a positive way.
There has been recent media coverage about NOVEL: NPR, Albany, and the Daily Freeman (Kingston) article entitled, "An Untangled Web-Internet Access Widens in Public Venues." Mr. Ericson suggested that the text of the article be sent out to NYLINE.
ACTION: Carol Desch will send the article out on NYLINE.
Ms. Hiebing suggested sending a joint message to library systems from the New York State Library and the NOVEL Steering Committee mentioning how helpful the training and demos have been to legislative staff and, if at all possible, continue to train legislative staff. The message should mention the effectiveness of the recent media coverage.
ACTION: Dottie Hiebing and State Library staff will work on a joint NYLINE message to library systems from the New York State Library and the NOVEL Steering Committee mentioning how helpful the training and demos have been to legislative staff and, if at all possible, continue to train legislative staff.
Ms. McDonald suggested that staff of Republican representatives who have received training could call or write the Governor in support of NOVEL and CDLC ads could mention testimonials from local legislators or local citizens. Ms. Knight suggested that testimonials from legislative staff could be shared with the Governor's staff.
ACTION: Mary Redmond will pursue targeting the Governor's staff for NOVEL demos and training.
According to Liza Duncan, there is a good possibility that there will be a demonstration page available by the end of the week to search across a number of NOVEL databases. As soon as it is available, it will be shared with the group. John Richardson, President of einfo Dynamics LLC, is still working on the implementation of the technical details with Liza Duncan, NOVEL database vendors and portal vendors.
Driver License Access -- A notice was sent to the system directors some time ago inviting them to try it and share it with their members. The notice will be sent again. A number of systems (e.g., CDLC) have put it on their web page.
ACTION: Mary Redmond will send the notice to the system directors again inviting them to try the driver license access page and share it with their members.
Ms. Storms provided an update on the NOVEL vendors: EBSCO and Thomson-Gale. Newsbank, which has up to 28 New York State newspapers, recently provided a demo for New York State Library staff.
NOVEL invitational training grants training period ends May 31. By the end of June, everyone will have submitted their final report, providing an update of a variety of NOVEL training activities. Linda will provide a preliminary report for the September 14 meeting based on her review of the final reports, indicating "best practices," what did and did not work, and some indication of the number and kinds systems that will continue the activities begun by these projects.
ACTION: Linda Todd will provide a preliminary report for the September 14 meeting based on her review of the final reports.
The New York State Library will have a NOVEL display. If anyone has an idea/ideas for new and different for the poster session, please contact Linda Todd. Volunteers will be needed! If you plan to be in Buffalo for the NYLA Conference, please consider volunteering. Thanks to Wanda Knight, our first volunteer.
ACTION: Contact Linda Todd to volunteer for the NYLA Poster Session.
On Thursday morning, there will be a slot focusing on New Century Libraries, which could also include information about NOVEL. Carol Desch will provide additional information via listserv. Kate Storms will have a program on Thursday at 4:45 PM, which will illustrate the Help Desk on a typical day.
ACTION: Carol Desch will provide additional information on the NCL program at NYLA via the listserv.
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WHEN |
WHAT |
WHO |
| April 30 | NYSALB Trustees Institute, Syracuse -- NOVEL Demo | Carol Desch |
| May 14 | NOVEL Demo for NYS Senate Staff | Kate Storms |
| Week of May 23 | Conference call w/3Rs Directors | Janet Welch/Dottie Hiebing |
| June 3 | Open House/Dedication of New Building -- NOVEL Training Grant Slide Show Presentation for Town and County Officials | John Shaloiko |
| First week in June | Full Library System Retreat, Otesaga | Gail Barraco |
| June 20-21 | Regents Full Board -- Agenda will feature a NOVEL Update | Janet Welch |
| Ongoing | The NOVEL databases have been incorporated into WEBS career counseling and job-search training provided on an ongoing basis in Larchmont and other libraries in Westchester. | Diane Courtney |
Wednesday, September 14, 10:30 A.M., Albany Public Library
ACTION: Lorraine Deitz will check whether the Café at APL is open.
The conference call ended at 10:50 a.m.
Present: Alrutz, Baaklini, Backman (representing Roe), Barraco, Bolton, Borges, Cunningham, Desch, Duncan, Ericson, Hiebing, Janowsky, Kuntz, Little, Lynch, McCain, Redmond, Storms, Stripling, Todd, Welch
Absent: Courtney, Crumlish, Firestone, Hatch, Huxley, Kadamus, Kaplan, Knight, Meierhoffer, Shaloiko, Walsh
Recorder: Lorraine Deitz
Ms. Hiebing welcomed everyone to the meeting, particularly our newest members: Stephen Bolton, Gail Barraco, Jerry Kuntz and Barbara Stripling, and expressed appreciation to Randy Ericson for his assistance as Co-Convenor since September 2004.
The January 27 conference call draft minutes were approved (Little moved; Alrutz seconded; motion passed).
As an introduction to the Steering Committee for the newest members, Dottie requested a listing of NOVEL accomplishments:
There is still a hope that there will be an on-time budget. In separate budget bills, the Senate and Assembly have agreed to the five percent.
The NYICE proposal (New York Institute of Cultural Education) is strongly opposed by both houses of the legislature.
Mrs. Welch updated the group on the funding for NOVEL, which is part of the New Century Libraries proposal.
Mr. Kuntz gave an update of the NOVEL Electronic Collections Advisory Team (NECAT). They will recommend what role NOVEL may have in promoting access to non-fee databases, particularly those developed by state agencies; e.g., the State Archives. For the benefit of our new members, Mr. Ericson mentioned that NECAT is an advisory group that makes recommendations to the State Librarian. Ms. Todd referred to the NOVEL Databases Fact Sheet that is included in the handouts, pointing out that the fact sheet and all the materials included in the NOVEL Tool kit have been updated to reflect the additional Gale Virtual Reference titles.
Mr. Ericson gave a brief history of the work of the portal task force. It began with a series of seven one-hour demonstrations by vendors last Fall. In January, the State Library retained the services of John Richardson, President of einfo Dynamics LLC, as a consultant to the Task Force. The State Library issued a Request for Solicitation for a pilot project for a NOVEL portal to run from April 2005-April 2006. Eight vendors responded and the Task Force invited three vendors to make detailed presentations in February. The Task Force then recommended Web Feat as the vendor for the pilot project. Web Feat will create one interface for NYSL and a second interface for the NOVEL databases. Fourteen libraries have been selected to participate in the pilot. It is hoped that the pilot will commence in April 2005.
Ms. Redmond provided a demonstration.
Ms. Hiebing asked that the members of the groups think about emergent issues that NOVEL should possibly consider down the road; e.g., How can NOVEL be most effective despite financial restraints?
Between now and 2008, consider your own library, and answer these questions:
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WHEN |
WHAT |
WHO |
| Ongoing | Legislative Visits/Training | Kate Storms |
| Ongoing | SLSA w/Mary Ratzer Tool kit-Web | Gail Barraco |
| Ongoing | NOVEL Workshops w/Schools | Gail Barraco |
| Now 'til May | Legislative Aides/NOVEL Training/Tutorial | Mary Redmond |
| April 30 | NYSALB Trustees Institute | Carol Desch |
| National Library Week May 3-4 | Library Displays and NOVEL Demos in Legislative Office Building and on Empire State Plaza Concourse | Kate Storms, etc. |
| June | 3Rs Meeting | Dottie Hiebing |
Wednesday, May 18, 2005, 10 AM Conference Call
Wednesday, September 14, 2005, 10:30 AM (Albany Public Library)
Meeting adjourned at 3 PM.
Present: Alrutz, Barraco, Bolton, Borges, Courtney, Crumlish, Desch, Ericson, Firestone, Hiebing, Janowsky, Kaplan, Knight, Kuntz, Little, McCain, Redmond, Shaloiko, Storms, Todd, Welch
Absent: Baaklini, Cunningham, Duncan, Hatch, Huxley, Kadamus, Lynch, Meierhoffer, Roe, Stripling, Walsh
Guest: John Richardson
Recorder: Deitz
Ms. Hiebing welcomed everyone to the 22nd meeting of the NOVEL Steering Committee, with a special welcome to Randy Ericson on his first formal meeting as co-convener and our newest members: Gail Barraco, Stephen Bolton, Tracey Firestone and Jerry Kuntz.
The September 14, 2004 draft minutes were approved as amended (Tom Alrutz moved; John Shaloiko seconded; motion passed).
Ms. Redmond provided an overview of the project, with a timeline:
Ms. Redmond's update was followed by remarks from John Richardson, who has been working with Liza Duncan on the project. He mentioned that due to end of the academic year timing concerns, a decision was made to have a pilot program as Phase 1. Libraries will be selected and the eight vendors will be contacted toward the end of February/early March. (T D Net was added to the original list of seven vendors.) Mr. Richardson will send a complete listing of the vendors and a report will be ready for review at the March 24 meeting. Based on Mr. Shaloiko's suggestion, the FAQs will be updated to indicate that the successful vendor will be recognized as an OGS vendor.
Any questions or comments can be directed to the representatives on the Steering Committee: Messrs: Bolton, Ericson and Shaloiko or posted on the NOVEL SC listserv.
Mr. Alrutz extended his congratulations to the group on bringing the project to fruition.
Ms. Redmond referred to her e-mail message about the neutral prototype pages and publicity and thanked everyone for their comments. We now have a domain name -- www.novelnewyork.org -- and are moving along on publicity plans. She will summarize in an e-mail. We will contact PULISDO, NYTRO and SLSA members, and Central the Library Directors. In communicating with the systems, we will indicate that we would like their help in getting information to the local libraries. We have a contact person in the Department of Motor Vehicles who will help with publicizing information.
Mr. Ericson gave a brief overview of the NECAT group for our new members: NECAT is an advisory group that looks at the databases that are included in NOVEL, determines what databases to provide in NOVEL, and makes recommendations to the State Librarian.
At their last conference call, the focus was on the upcoming business databases subscription renewal. Mr. Ericson sent an analysis of the various products to the members of the NECAT group. NECAT will complete the evaluation soon and make recommendations for purchase to the State Librarian.
NOVEL demonstrations are an effective way to promote and increase interest in NOVEL, and at the same time increase legislative awareness of libraries. The State Library's NOVEL (and other databases) demonstrations will be expanded for 2005.
We are still struggling to replace the many people who have recently retired from the Library Development staff. Within the last two years, we have incurred a loss of approximately fifty percent of our staff and the loss is expected to be greater in the future. Mrs. Welch asked for continued support and patience as tasks are reassigned.
Mr. Borges discussed the New York Institute for Cultural Education (NYICE) proposal which has been proposed for the last four years and is once again contained in the Executive proposal NYICE would be a public-benefit. The Governor would appoint the majority of the NYICE Board and the first Board Chair and an executive director, taking control of the activities of the State Library, Museum, Archives and Public Broadcasting. The New York State Legislature currently appoints the Board of Regents, which oversees these activities. If the NYICE proposal is realized, control of state and LSTA federal funds will shift to the Governor's Office.
The State Legislature is opposed to the NYICE proposal. The NYLA Legislative Committee will discuss the proposal at its meeting next week. Frank Mauro, Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute (formerly with the Cuomo administration) will give an explanation of the budget situation at the Legislative Committee meeting. Ms. Hiebing mentioned that members of NYLA will receive e-mail regarding the Court of Appeals decision. If you are not a member of NYLA, consider joining. Mark your calendar for NYLA Library Day, Tuesday, March 15, and plan to participate.
Kathy Miller is Chair of the Legislative Committee. Contact Kathy (kmiller@rrlc.org) or Steering Committee members Alrutz, Borges and Crumlish with your concerns.
Reminder: Legislative budget hearings are scheduled on February 8 (Higher Education/Office for the Professions) and February 14 (EMSC/VESID/Cultural Education). NYLA Library Day is Tuesday, March 15.
Thursday, March 24, 2005, 10:30 AM, East Greenbush Community Library
The meeting adjourned at 11 AM .
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