Materials Services Division Managers' Meeting Minutes for August 14, 2003

 Date: August 14, 2003 

Capitol Hill Library 

Present:  Janet Brooks,  Heidi Johnson, Karen Marriott, Pauline Rodriguez 

MSL Update 

Computer Problems 

• MSL and most of DN have been suffering with computer problems and delays over the last week.  Automation was working on the computer lines, which required MSL to turn off computers for long periods of time.  When the computers were brought back up, there were lots of problems with connections.  The problems seem to have been corrected. 
• Janet lost a good deal of data and information when her hard drive crashed last week.  Fortunately, Automation had saved data from her old computer when she got a new computer 4 weeks ago.  Janet only has to reconstruct files she worked on over the last month.   

Library Visits 

• Selectors conducted a 6 month collection review at RE during the month of July.  Each selector visited with staff and with Daphene Keys.   
• During August, selectors will conduct 6 month collection reviews of DN and SO.   
• During September they are scheduled for a 6 month visit to BI and an annual visit to MC. 

CAT/TP Visit 

• Kim, Julie and Megan visited CAT/TP on July 22. 
• MSL is expecting Veronica for a visit next week.  Kim and Elizabeth will work with her. 

Intranet 

• Janet met with Teresa Goggins to discuss the MSL page of the Intranet.   
• Janet has forwarded some information for Teresa and Traci to work with. They should have a “prototype” for MSL to look at in the next couple of weeks.

Spotlight On 

• Selectors developed new lists for the Hispanic American Spotlight On.    • The lists have been sent to Teresa and will be up on the web during September. 

Grants 

• Janet has submitted another small order for the Hispanic Grant.  She will try to finish out the grant in the next few months. 
• Selectors will be spending from the Friends 03 Grant in the upcoming months.  Even though the grant is small, Janet has asked selectors to submit their orders at various intervals over the next few months so that the MSL technicians, TP and CAT are not overwhelmed.  The first order is scheduled to go out on September 25.  Others will go out on October 9, October 23, November 6 and November 20.  Janet does not anticipate that the grant orders will have a big impact the weekly number of items going out each week. However replacements are scheduled to go out the same time two of the grant lists go out (September 25 and November 20).  These lists may be slightly larger than others. 

ILL Cross-Training 

• Megan is cross-training in ILL so she can help out when they are short staffed.  She has had 2 sessions with Sharlott. 

Ingram Rep 

• Janet and Julie met with Jeff Bowman the Ingram Rep on August 8.  He was seeking feedback on I-page and other services they offer.   
• He is setting up a free trial on Children’s E Library, which is Internet access to popular children’s books.  
• He will also supply MSL with some e-notification of materials for African Americans. 

Programmers’ Meeting 

• Janet attended the YA programmers’ meeting on August 6th.  Ron Volmer from Atomic Pop Comics presented information about graphic novels.  They also had a presentation from an artist and a college financial aid consultant.  
• The summer reading program was evaluated and was deemed a success.  
• Programming was up substantially and some libraries saw a large increase in the summer reading participants. 
• Julie is scheduled to attend the children’s programmers meeting on August 20, 2003. 

True North 

• Elizabeth is training the True North workshop on August 18th. 

United Way 

• Kim Rickey is working on the United Way Campaign Committee.  She attended a planning meeting at the first of the month. Basket Weaving 
• Julie is conducting the last two sessions of basket weaving for VI in the next two weeks.   
• She has been conducting informal classes for DN staff on Fridays at noon.  It has been a fun and relaxing experience. 

Teacher Orientation 

• Julie and Susan demonstrated the databases and talked about library services to teachers attending orientation sessions related to the Holocaust.  The teachers spent time at the Holocaust Museum, the Art Museum and the DN Library.   

Graphic Novels 

• Janet submitted two substantial orders for graphic novels in the past couple of weeks.  This should be the bulk of what she plans to order for the YA collection.  She will pick up a few titles occasionally as she sees them in the reviews and from customer requests.   
• Janet supplied Heidi and Pauline with a list of titles recently purchased. 
• Kim is a Graduate! Kim finished her last class at UCO.  She should receive her diploma in the next few weeks.  Materials Selection (and Heidi) celebrated the occasion with a surprise luncheon.  Congratulations Kim! 

AVL 

• Ruby should be back from her long AVL on Friday, August 15.  
• Janet will be on AVL starting August 27.  She’ll be back in the department on Monday, September 8. 

Cataloging Update 

• Lacey Carr will not be coming back to work; Laqueta Lewis, who is resigning from Tech Processing, will be her replacement.  Laqueta’s official switchover date is August 16, but her first day of work in Cataloging will be August 25. 
• Robin is working extra hours during OU intersession, August 4-22, and is much appreciated. 
• Megan, Kim, and Julie from MSL visited Cataloging on July 22.  They asked good questions and came up with some good ideas to improve operation of both departments. 
• Ursula attended a Metrodocs meeting on July 25. 
• Clyde and Jana attended the OLA TSRT meeting on July 25. Ursula submitted the suggested list of additions to the system’s GPO selections to Karen; Karen made final decisions and submitted the list to GPO before the July 31 deadline. 
• Pauline has attended various OLA committee meetings: Ethics Committee on August 1, and Career Recruitment and Retention Committee on August 4.  She recorded a book talk for Read About It on August 4. 
• Recall of materials classified in 468 began on August 4.  Jana is coordinating the project with Paula.  The recall is going quickly; Pauline estimates no more than 6 months before it is complete. 
• The system’s annual documents visit by Kevin Motes of  ODL took place on August 6.  Ursula, Pauline, and Sharon Bish of DN participated.  Kevin described changes in the GPO inspection system and its requirements for smaller depositories.  The group discussed various ways that Cataloging might create spine labels to make for easier shelving at DN.  Pauline and Ursula agreed that it was one of the most productive visits in memory. 
• Pauline attended the Amigos workshop “ILL for New Users” in Dallas on August 7.  She gained valuable information, and has now entered the system’s ILL policy and other information in the new ILL Policies Directory. 
• Pauline arranged for Amigos “ILL Policies Directory” training to be offered online at CH.  Karen and Pamela attended the training on August 12. 
• All Amigos invoices for FY03 have been received and submitted for payment. 
• As Genealogy and OK Collection materials have been sent for re-barcoding, Cataloging staff have been setting aside those needing rebinding.  They are working to have the materials ready for the next bindery group.  The plan is to print barcodes for all the materials, then destroy the barcodes after they are coded for bindery. The HRC gifts are being completed.  The Cataloging Technicians are being trained to edit OCLC records before submitting to Catalogers.  The Catalogers will check the editing, classify and provide subject access, and download the records.  Hopefully, this will speed up the cataloging process. 
• When the decision was made to classify juvenile AV in all J classes, Sally provided Pauline with a list of videos to be reclassified.  Pauline and Paula have been working on the project.  When Pauline began to prepare the most recent list of titles, she noticed that on many bib records, all or most of the copies have enough circs to require withdrawal.  Paula confirmed that she has withdrawn at least as many copies as have been reclassified.  After talking with Janet and Julie in MSL, Pauline decided to suspend the project.  She will check the remaining titles on the list.  She will proceed with recall only for recent titles with few circs.  Cataloging will place a 590 note, visible only to Cataloging staff, on the remainder of the records.  The note will state that if new copies are received, older copies are to be recalled for reclass or withdrawal before new copies are added to the bib record.   
• Anne Fischer has indicated that an old computer is available for Cataloging on a temporary basis.  Pauline has notified her of the location for the computer; when Automation can, they will install it. 
• The ergonomic underdesk and top-of-desk keyboard drawers have been received.  However, one top-of-desk drawer is broken, and one underdesk drawer did not contain all needed hardware.  Frank is working on getting replacements. The new file frames, folders, and labels to be used for organizing and storing AV type-on labels have been received.  The Cataloging Technicians are working on setting up the new storage system. 
• Due to some differences between the amount of petty cash that Cataloging records show, and the actual amount in hand, Cataloging has purchased a cash box with a combination lock.  Three staff members have access to the combination.  This should make balancing the amounts easier and more efficient. 

Technical Processing Update 

• Runs are between 400-750 labels at this time.  TP receives an average of about 40 boxes of materials a day. 
• Since TP is still short a Receiving Technician, plus Alan has been on vacation for a week, then Christy for a day, Heidi has been busy helping to unbox and receive materials to make sure Cataloging has enough materials to work on.  Everyone in MLS, CAT, and TP  has been very good at taking on extra tasks to help move materials from TP's garage to the libraries' shelves for our customers; this wonderful cooperation is greatly appreciated. 
• The bindery picked up the genealogy materials to be rebound and returned the special magazine bindery group sent from Downtown in June. 
• Laqueta's party/open house is today, 8-14-03.  The department is decked and trimmed, the goodies have been set out, and hopefully all can come to have refreshments and sign the card for Laqueta. 
• Loretta and Heidi have tested 5 applicants for the processor position.  The top three candidates selected will be interviewed on Thursday and Friday.  Heidi hopes to make the final decision very soon.  Roy is supposed to call in applicants for the Receiving Technician opening to take a keyboard and math test once he returns to work next week. 
• Heidi met with Jeff Bowman, our sales rep. from Ingram, on Tuesday, August 12.  TP gave him some feedback on shipments received with confusing shipping information on the outside of the boxes.  The total number of boxes per shipment listed on the boxes a lot of times is incorrect or misleading, leading to unnecessary delays in receiving of these shipments. 
• Loretta conducted two Basic Materials Processing workshops at Ralph Ellison.  She received excellent evaluations from all students, also some valuable feedback regarding additional information on availability of certain processing supplies to include in the manual.  The next general workshop to be offered through Planning is scheduled for Dec. 4. 
• Julie, Kim, and Megan from Materials Selection visited TP on July 22, 2:00 p.m.   Everyone had specific questions they wanted to ask, and lots of information valuable to both MSL and TP was exchanged.    

Administrative Update 

Topics at recent AdTeam meeting 

• Nicoma Park Library - The library has been offered use of the whole building in which Nicoma Park is currently housed.  However, the 1200 sq. ft. building will need to be remodeled and refurbished if Nicoma Park wants to expand its library space.  The Commission is to vote in this month's meeting whether to accept this offer. 
• Luther Library - The city bought a building about the same size as NP's building.  Todd Olberding is looking at remodeling the building for completion this fall.  There will be a meeting room and double the current shelving capacity.  Luther's materials budget will be increased by $5000.00 to provide additional materials.  Additional computers will also be installed. 
• Spyware -Anne Fischer has provided information on spyware.  This software reports computer addresses to companies which use it to generate pop-up ads and spam e-mails.  It is often triggered by downloading "cool" items from the Internet.  All staff should be reminded that PCs they use are library property, not personal.  No one should download unnecessary items.  Pop-up ads should be closed using the X.  Spam should be deleted; do not reply, even to ask to be taken off a list.  Failure to follow these policies could result in disciplinary action. 
• OU Intern - Another OU intern will be touring/visiting the library system in the fall.  Managers are to expect a visit to their departments as well; dates are still to be set. 
• Commission and Committees - The Commission will have a special meeting to approve the consent docket from July 29 which includes a new Tandem mainframe and the budget. The Finance Committee is to meet on 8-20-03; the Commission on 8-30-03; and the Public Services Council on 8-19-03, all at BI. 
• Choctaw Library - Roof problems will delay the planned opening of the new Choctaw Library for about one month.  The opening was originally planned for September. 
• Downtown Library - The new Downtown Library is still expected to be completed by January of 2004.  An official opening date has not been set.
• Help Manual - Human Resources reported that the Help Manual is now available online on the Intranet. 
• New Workshop - Planning will be offering a new workshop geared towards new supervisors' needs. 
• Performance Standards - Karen asked managers to look at their own standards in the section called "Communications/policies and procedures" and compare them to the new "Good employee standards".  Are there any parts that are redundant, or can be combined?  Managers should have this information for the next MSD monthly meeting. 
• TP PowerPoint Presentation - Karen suggested that this presentation be shown at an AdTeam meeting.  Also, Karen would like the managers to attend an AdTeam meeting and talk about their departments.  It was mentioned that the AdTeam is invited to attend any of the MSD monthly meetings, especially if they are held at the Downtown Library.   

The meeting adjourned at 10:15 a.m.  The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 18, 2003, 8:00 a.m., at the Capitol Hill Library.  Pauline will chair.