Materials Services Division Minutes - March 17, 2016

New Business 

Job Description, Director of Collections and Digital Strategies – Tim 

Tim referenced the job descriptions that he had forwarded to the managers earlier.  The Director of Collections and Digital Strategies position would replace the previous position of Deputy Executive Director, Materials and Outreach.  The duties of the position would include supervision of the managers of Materials Selection, Cataloging & Interlibrary Loan, and Technical Processing.  The duties of supervising Outreach have been moved to the public service side and will no longer be a part of this position’s responsibilities.

The group discussed the job description and made suggestions for changes.  Tim will incorporate the changes and report back before or at the April 14 meeting.

Job Description, Chief Operating Officer – Tim 

Tim explained his concept behind this position, as a means of consolidating oversight of all departments that do not directly serve the public under one umbrella.  The group discussed the position, what it might mean, and how the managers might contribute to the success of the individual in the position.

Tim will report back on progress before or at the April 14 meeting.

ILLiad implementation update – Pauline 

Pauline reported that her meetings with the Regional Directors and Library Managers went well, and that the members of both groups are on board with the implementation plan.  She and the ILL staff will demo the product to Materials Selection staff on March 18, and will offer train-the-trainer sessions for library staff on March 23.

Target dates are April 4 for all libraries to submit ILL requests via ILLiad, and for customers to be able to submit requests via individual accounts on May 2.

Review future action items 

Tim will report progress on the two job descriptions presented at or before the April 14

Issue Follow Ups 

Receiving EDI orders in Technical Processing – Heidi 

As mentioned in the update to the minutes of the March 4 meeting, Technical Processing staff are able to receive and bin shipments, and the initials of the Receiving Technician responsible for receipt can be accessed.  However, materials ordered on two different purchase orders (P.O.s) are often shipped together.  Usually, one of P.O. is for AV materials and the other for print.  When a shipment contains materials from multiple P.O.s on one invoice, the Data Entry Technicians have to duplicate each invoice, mark off any materials not on the one P.O., then use the copy of the invoice to mark off the items for the other P.O. so that payment for each P.O. can be handled separately.  Receiving split payment often causes confusion at a vendor’s accounting department and intervention by TP is  required.  MSL has been communicating with Anne Fischer who in turn has been in contact with TLC about this issue.

The system is working, but is not satisfactory.

Cataloging barcode printer and workaround – Pauline 

Pauline reported that the problem barcode printer in Cataloging had not been replaced.  After the meeting, she learned that she was misinformed; the printer was replaced while Pauline was out of the office.  The replacement printer seems to have solved the major problems with labels.

Cataloging keyword search – Pauline 

Pauline reported the keyword search function in CarlX and ITSi (the TLC cataloging client) continues to be nonfunctional.  The lack of keyword search increases the time Catalogers spend per record because it makes checking for duplicate call numbers more difficult.  She commented that not having keyword search also makes ILL’s work more difficult; Heidi and Janet agreed that it makes work in Materials Selection and Technical Processing more difficult as well.

Tim informed the managers that MLS has purchased $6,000 worth of programming time from TLC.  TLC will use these funds to create specific reports that MLS has requested.

Future meeting schedule – Pauline 

At the March 4 meeting, the managers agreed to meet on the first and third Thursday of each month.  Since several group members will be unavailable on April 7, that meeting has been moved to April 14; this will be the only April meeting.

Pauline distributed an updated meeting schedule with assignments for a manager to chair each meeting.  The chair assignments can be adjusted as needed.

 Questions/Miscellaneous 

Tim reported that Anne Fischer has informed him that TLC is bringing another library system online the week of March 28.  They expect to have the requested report data for Cataloging and Technical Processing available the following week.The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 14, 8:30 AM, in the Service Center meeting room. 

Janet will chair.