Minutes of January 11, 2006 Meeting

Present:: K. Denda, M. Kesselman(absent), A. Montanaro, L. Mullen, J. Nettleman, C. Pecoraro (recorder), G. Smulewitz, C. Sterback

AGENDA

Review minutes of last meeting
Discuss chart
Outline process for ejournals
ALA

1. Review of minutes:

[When the website is active, minutes will be posted (AM)]
Minutes were approved.

Jim sent the team a relevant article-
Title:Electronic Resources and Web Sites: Replacing a Back-end Database with Innovative's Electronic Resource Management.Source:Information Technology & Libraries; Dec2005, Vol. 24 Issue 4, p163-169

It was noted that the conclusion in this article summed up the issues we have encountered and was a good overview of what we have been discussing.

2. Discuss chart

(if you look at the chart while reading these notes, it makes more sense)

[The chart was based on a template from T.Jewell presentation (viewed during last meeting), revised by AM, GS, CP, CS with RU specific procedures and to outline what RU currently does for processing databases]

-Objective: review chart. Do we agree with the process? Outline the major steps; indicate where we think an ERM would help.

Investigation:

ASSESS NEW PRODUCTS [STAFF] (budget is included because there has to be an understanding of the scope of the cost)
comments: it's important to see the full picture; we're looking at RU workflow & how the ERM will help that; there is still confusion among selectors & the people processing (tech services; although, we're cultivating a culture among selectors to send requests to the Serials Team list.

Step 1 deserves discussion because people don't understand what's going on-
AM: Can an ERM be used to track this information in Step 1?
LM: The process of setting up databases varies from Central-Selector-Free requests
SET UP TRIAL [ERM + STAFF]

Provide Access:

EVALUATE LICENSE TERMS [STAFF]
ESTABLISH RUL PRICE [STAFF]
ACQUIRE/ORDER: [STAFF] (at this point we should detail components that make up the subscription (it might be necessary to duplicate information if the ERM is not from the ILS -Vendor Contacts Set Up: different aspects of the subscription can have contacts for different problems (subscription expiration:Acq, content: selector, proxy: systems, etc.)
INFORM PROCESSING STAFF TO CATALOG, PROXY, PREPARE DESCRIPTION, UPDATE WEBPAGE [STAFF]
there are a lot of little places where information lives, but vital for produc
t.
LM: we require a 'dumping ground' for all of the information KD: we need a system that will integrate information seamlessly (if not from the ILS)
GS: it is important that we do not give the concept of the ERM so much importance that we lose sight of using a system to serve our needs - we need to look at what we need
UPDATE OPEN URL RESOLVER [ERM + STAFF]
INFORM RUL USERS [STAFF]
[aside: we're looking at an established product vrs. product as a development partner]

Re: Web pages- MIT populates AtoZ list, research guides, etc with information from their ERM which supposedly places the resource in appropriate categories.

** QUESTION: How does an ERM handle resource? Does it recognize where a resource would live? This is an important question for us to consider and investigate.

Administer

PAYMENT, MANAGE FINANCIALS [STAFF]
CUSTOMIZE VENDOR INTERFACE [STAFF + NOTES IN ERM]
HOLDINGS MANAGEMENT (A-Z LIST AND WEBPAGES) [STAFF + ERM]
SET UP USAGE STATISTICS [ERM] - when the database is accessed, where are the usage statistics recorded? Keep in mind the question of duplication of statistics. *RU does not take statistics on Journals.

Provide Support

PROVIDE USER TRAINING: [STAFF]
MANAGE CHANGES: [ERM + STAFF] How do we know about changes? Information comes from: provider, vendor, patrons, librarians,etc. what information changes: title changes, ceased publications, added titles, titles lost from packages.
comments: the ERM would give us the ability to locate and know about these changes
TROUBLESHOOT PROBLEMS: [STAFF]
TRACK PROBLEMS: [ERM]
INFORM USERS OF CHANGES: [ERM]

Evaluate/Monitor

REVIEW HISTORY OF PROBLEMS: [information from ERM + STAFF]
REVIEW ALTERNATIVE RESOURCES [STAFF]: -what interface to choose; how to know what vendors offer (same resource offered by multiple vendors)
comments: 5 ways to choose PsycInfo- did we choose OVID because we like the interface, and not because it was sent to bid
REVIEW USE STATISTICS
REVIEW USER FEEDBACK
LM: we receive very little user feedback, it's hard to get user 'satisfactory' stats versus usage stats-we assume no news is good news…

-What about the print component for ordering e-resources? It was added to the Chart under 'Provide Access'

-KD: we need to look at people who will be used to implement this resource; AM: technical systems analyst/coordinator who would work with: openurl resolver, ERM, federated search tool, Repository.
-Roles will change; depends on 3rd Party provider versus ILS provided resource

We decided to skip #3 (Outline process for ejournals and ebooks- but cp will review the procedures)

4. DEMOS?

-AM will contact Lesley Brown in Purchasing to find out if an RFI is needed.

-RFI- Request for Information: fact gathering by this group & invited guests, then submit RFP.
-Laura received an invitation to Endeavor's Meridian product at ALA; she also received information about ExLibris's Verde product

5. ALA

Who's going to ALA mid-winter from the group to gather info? -KD, MK, AM, LM, GS

-AM will ask Lesley Brown about whether or not she wants to be included in the demonstrations.

Discussion: should we all go to the demos enmasse? what makes sense?

Product Demos to consider:

Endeavor: Meridian
ExLibris: Verde
III: ERM
Serials Solutions: ERM (and other products)
Sirsi: ERM

Possibly start with Demos next meeting Feb. 8, 2006 9:30am TSB

Notes:

The Chart was reviewed and discussed, we evaluated what information pertained to the ERM tool versus Human Action/STAFF
A major discussion point was #1 - Assessing Products - internally there is still confusion about WHEN resources are evaluated; who is responsible and how is information shared? The WebPage helps, but still is in development. Currently, there is one point where selectors can go to view what's in process.