Minutes of February 16, 2010 Meeting

Present:: Joe Abraham, Ashwin Bijur, Anne Butman, John Gibson, James Harstein, Ken Kuehl, John Maxymuk, Kevin McGuire, Andrew Ruggiero, Rich Sandler, Chris Singh (recorder), Darryl Voorhees
Absent:: Steve Dalina
Excused:: Ka-Neng Au, Stephanie Bartz, Mary Belasco, Nick Gonzaga, Pam Johnson

1. Systems Update

Anne Butman announced that Systems was able to place orders for 66 new computers to replace Windows 2000 Pro public machines within the Libraries.
These computers will consist of 40 PCs and 26 iMacs.
There will be no extra machines distributed, only replacements.
Camden and Newark currently have no active Win2k machines. These locations will be required to return existing WinXp machines to accommodate iMacs (Pending approval by Library Administration at both locations).

Anne Butman reported that the evaluation copy of NotifyLink is up and running.
Members of the group were invited to try their devices with the software as Anne wants to test as many different mobile platforms as necessary.
On the iPhone, NotifyLink currently only supports the default iCal calendaring application.

Funding for the pilot has been approved.
Judy Gardner will be working on policies for Workflows.
The pilot is expected to begin during the Spring break and will take place at the Art Library.
Five laptops will be purchased as well as a mobile charging station that can accommodate up to 10 laptops and provide secure lockdown of each.

Rich Sandler spoke about his correspondence with Grace Agnew regarding the proposal to use Flash video conferencing software for online reference. Grace told him that before further exploration by the PCWG the proposal needs to be reviewed by the USC leadership.
Ashwin Bijur suggested using popular platforms such as AIM, Yahoo, MSN Messenger and Google but Anne Butman cited privacy issues related to using those clients.
Joe Abraham pointed out that Meebo does not have a queuing system.
James Harstein informed the group that Meebo currently has an application available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Anne Butman announced that candidate interviews are being conducted for the position of Department Head of Systems.
Joe Abraham spoke about the VPN service called VHA (Visual History Archive) provided through the School of Arts and Sciences. SAS expressed that the only way to access this service was through VPN.
Joe enquired if VHA can be accessed using the proxy and Anne Butman said that she would look into the matter.
Joe asked about the Libraries approach to VPN and Anne said that for any service that requires VPN, users should try using the proxy first. If the proxy fails or if a service is not supported, then the VPN is recommended. If a user has support questions, he/she should be directed to OIT (oit.rutgers.edu/vpn).
Joe Abraham announced that he tested the new OIT wireless service in New Brunswick called RUWireless_Secure. By default, the service will remember user credentials when they successfully log on. Joe has found a solution to prevent this from occurring that can be implemented on the hardware to be used for the laptop lending pilot.
Darryl Voorhees announced that a public scanning solution has been approved and that 5 scanners will be purchased. These scanners are to be located at the Alexander, Art, Dana, LSM and Robeson libraries. The hardware vendor will provide training sessions.

Future Meeting Dates: March 16, 2010.