Minutes of July 20, 2011 Meeting

Present:: Katie Anderson (remote), Stephanie Bartz (recorder), Natalie Borisovets (co-chair), Vib Bowman (remote), Joseph Deodato, Mary Fetzer, Judy Gardner, Rebecca Gardner, Tom Glynn, Dave Kuzma, Jackie Mardikian, Kevin Mulcahy (co-chair), Francoise Puniello, Tibor Purger, Jane Sloan (guest), Li Sun, Roberta Tipton
Absent:: John Maxymuk
Excused:: Grace Agnew

1. Approval of the Agenda

The agenda was approved as distributed.

2. Approval of the minutes for June 8, 2011

The minutes were approved as distributed.

3. Selection of new chair or co-chairs and USC representative to the Planning & Coordinating Committee

Kevin Mulcahy graciously volunteered to continue as co-chair for another year and Katie Anderson volunteered to serve as co-chair. They were elected by unanimous acclamation.
Roberta Tipton volunteered to represent USC to the Planning & Coordinating Committee and agreement was again unanimous.

4. Meeting schedule for 2011-2012 and other housekeeping items

The committee agreed to schedule meetings for 2011-2012 on the first Wednesday of each month beginning on September 7, 2011. There will be no meeting in August 2011.

5. AUL/IIS Director Reports

Fetzer:

"Check out your Library" and "Library services for undergraduate students on our website" bookmarks are now available for distribution.
The Strategic Plan goals have been distributed, but work continues on developing related objectives and priorities. Marianne Gaunt will be sending out letters on behalf of the Cabinet asking for continued participation in Strategic Plan development. The three year plan will go into effect beginning 2012-2013.
The most recent Public Service Directors of Large Research Libraries meeting included an exchange of reports on current activities. University of Illinois reported on their current study of public services using the Reference Effort Assessment Data Scale (READS) program. Mary asked for volunteers from USC to investigate READS and report back to the Council about its potential use at Rutgers. Vib, Katie, and Bobbie agreed to take on the task.

Puniello:

Facilities projects are ongoing on all campuses. A report on current activities was distributed via email.

Purger:

As a result of the extended power outage on July 8th and 9th representatives from the libraries will be meeting with Facilities to request such actions as a full inspection of the power grid and a stepped up installation of a back-up generator for TSB. IIS is also recommending that maintenance contracts for all critical equipment be a permanent part of all future Libraries budgets.

6. Swank - VALE Video Loan Program

Jane Sloan demonstrated the Digital Campus streaming video service provided by Swank Motion Pictures, Inc. The service provides streaming files for feature films plus some documentaries. The Rutgers dorms have already contracted with Swank to provide films for RUTV and the Libraries' Media Center has also occasionally acquired films for Cablecasts.

Swank provides streaming files of requested films within 10 days of the request at a cost of $92 per film. Each film is available for 6 months and the price decreases as the number of films increase. Acquired content would be based on requests from instructors and would be used in place of the current practice of locally created streaming video of clips taken from tangible material owned by RUL. There would be no restriction on the number of simultaneous users.

Although the concept was considered favorably by the council, the quality of the product and other variables indicate the need for additional investigation. Some of the questions raised were as follows:

What exactly would we get for $92?
Would access be based on IP or password?
Would it be possible to proxy the material for off-campus access (e.g., online students)?
Would all of RU have access, or is it intended to be restricted for the use of individual classes?
Would the budget for the material come from reserve funds?
How much bandwidth do the videos require?
How does the cost compare to the cost of creating our own streaming video from material owned by RUL?

Members of USC were asked to forward additional questions to Kevin who will collate them and send them on to Jane.

7. Goals/Activities review for 2010-2011

A draft version of a year-end goals review was distributed by Kevin prior to the meeting. Kevin will amend the report based on comments from the Council. Three activities were considered to be completed and the rest ongoing.

Support incorporation of streaming media (reserves and instructional material) into RUL web presence, with marketing through news releases, web announcements, BIs, etc. - Ongoing. Reports have been presented, but no follow-up action has occurred.
Assess Chat Reference service and evaluate software currently available; determine if a new platform is feasible and suitable for RUL at this time. - Complete. Implementation is in progress. Training is forthcoming.
Support and respond to Library Learning Spaces Task Force analysis of student needs and preferences through focus groups and other information gathering techniques. - Complete.
Work with Web Board to establish appropriate policies and procedures; establish schedule of releases; implement first release. - Ongoing.
Work with Web Board and Mobile Devices Task Force to implement the first phase of Task Force recommendations: providing mobile friendly core content for Reference, Buildings/Hours, User Services, and Databases. - Complete. Establishing a mobile presence should be new goal.
Work with Web Board to market and promote LibGuides; evaluate effectiveness and use of LibGuides; establish baseline usage data. - Ongoing. Needs closer review now that a full year of data is available.
Work with IPAC to investigate new open source public interface for VALE & RUL catalog. - Ongoing, but involving groups other than IPAC.
Explore instructional effectiveness and efficiency in order to transform teaching and learning. - Ongoing.

8. 2011-2012 Goals Setting

Suggested new activities for 2011-2012 included:

Assessment of reference statistics including what we collect, how we collect it, and investigation of the Reference Effort Assessment Data Scale (READS) program
Establish a mobile presence
Review of core responsibilities of reference librarians
Amend activity 7 to include consideration of a new discovery layer as well as a new public interface for the catalog, and specify which groups (e.g., CISC) will carry the plan forward
Further explore ways that videoconferencing technology might expand reference and investigate ways to increase awareness and provide training

Katie and Kevin will draft a list of activities for the coming year for final discussion and approval at the September meeting.

9. Announcements