NOVEL Steering Committee
February 19, 2004, 10:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Librarians Room, Cultural Education Center, Albany

Present: Alrutz, Baaklini, Brink, Crumlish, Cunningham, Desch, Douglas, Ericson, Hiebing, Janowsky, Johns, Kaplan, Lynch, McCain, Monahan, Redmond, Storms, Todd, Welch

Absent: Cannell, Courtney, Ebert, Hatch, Huxley, Kadamus, Keitel, Knight, Little, Meierhoffer, Nichols, Roe, Shaloiko, Walsh

Guests/Observers: Donna Dixon, Lynne Graziadei, NYLINK; Doug Loynes, Anita Reeb, Robert Smith, OCLC; Liza Duncan, Glenis Ratcliff, Ian Duckor, NYS Library; Prudence Backman, NYS Archives

Recorder: Deitz

Welcome/Introductions/Agenda -- Dottie Hiebing

Ms. Hiebing welcomed the group to the 15th meeting of the NOVEL Steering Committee. The meeting began at 10:45 with the introduction of members and guests. Since State Librarian Janet Welch could not join the group until the afternoon, Ms. Hiebing modified the agenda to reflect her report at that time.

The minutes of the January 27 conference call were approved. John Monahan moved to accept and Bill Crumlish seconded the motion.

New Century Libraries -- Dottie Hiebing

Ms. Hiebing directed attention to a handout on the Executive Budget Proposal, as legislative visits are being conducted this week and next. Ms. Hiebing noted that as State Librarian Janet Welch visits legislators, her emphasis will be on restoration of the proposed 5% cut and a start on the $14 million state funding needed to sustain and expand NOVEL. She encouraged everyone to be concerned and make visits and phone calls, write letters and send faxes. Ms. Hiebing has sent letters via fax to NYC legislators, had three sessions training legislative aides on NOVEL databases, along with an all-day meeting w/Assemblywoman Sandra Galef and Julie Marlette. She then asked NOVEL Steering Committee members to identify their advocacy efforts.

OCLC Concept for a New York Catalog -- Robert Smith

Mr. Smith, along with Doug Loynes, demonstrated a New York Statewide Group Catalog, an OCLC/NYLINK proposal, which OCLC hopes will elevate the visibility of New York Libraries, increase access to information within New York, and provide a strong foundation upon which systems in New York can extend information resources they deliver to their users. The Illinois State Library has a pilot program. You may link to the Illinois Group Catalog -- Preview at: http://findit.ilsos.net/OCLC (case sensitive). The presentation will be summarized during the March 9 conference call, and then will be an agenda item for discussion at the April 13 meeting at the East Greenbush Community Library. If you would like a copy of the handouts (flyer and PowerPoint text) from the OCLC presentation for review prior to the March 9 conference call, please contact Lorraine Deitz.

*** The meeting broke for lunch and small group discussions at 12:15 and reconvened at 2:15 PM.***

REPORT OF WORKING GROUPS

• NOVEL Electronic Resources Group -- Randy Ericson (for John Shaloiko)

  Mr. Ericson reported first on NECAT, the NOVEL Electronic Collections Advisory Team. Messrs. Ericson, Shaloiko, Kuntz, and Ms. Barraco had their first meeting on February 5 with State Library staff. It was effective and a good start to the process of sharing and identifying information as they move forward in making recommendations for selection/deselection of databases. Their next meeting will be held on March 22nd at the State Library.

  The Electronic Resources Group discussed an agenda for its work and examined the Selection, Acquisition and Marketing Policy for a Statewide Approach to Electronic Resources sheet. Recommend the group focus on evaluation and marketing/promotion and training. Action: Mr. Ericson will discuss further with Mr. Shaloiko and Ms. Courtney (co-chairs of the Electronic Resources Group).

• Portal Group -- Thomas Alrutz

  The group talked about efforts to find out what departmental resources are available and procedures/shortcuts that can be used to move forward on a contract for Portal. Ms. Douglas contacted the Governor's Office for Technology to get assistance, but only general information is available. The Portal Group will talk with Harry Chan, vendor/consultant who has done a lot of work throughout the state, recently school libraries, about directions/possible ways to proceed with a Portal.

  Mr. Alrutz presented two other proposals: Fretwell Downing Z portal, which has an academic look to it and would probably be more suited to an individual library; and the Autographics AGENT product (both seen at ALA), currently used as the New Jersey State Library portal, which is more on target for our needs. It utilizes Z39-50 connectivity to existing catalogs. Mr. Alrutz suggested we might have presentations by Harry Chan, Fretwell Downing and Autographics. Ms. Hiebing suggested we start with Autographics, as it uses the existing resources in the state and links them together. Action: Mr. Alrutz will contact Autographics.

  Ms. Douglas reported that the State Education Department's Virtual Learning Space has launched its portal, but right now is only contains links to materials that are within the Department. What we want is to have a NOVEL portal that will bring a VLS user into all the NOVEL resources. Commissioner Mills has sent a request to the Deputy Commissioner in DMV to provide direct authenticated access to NOVEL through the use of the NYS Driver's License algorithm. DMV will alert Ms. Douglas when it gets on to their work schedule. She had a meeting with all their security and ITS people about any concerns they may have; they are comfortable with the process we would like to put in place.

State Librarians Report -- Janet Welch

The message from the New York State Library and NYLA is that the legislative and money decisions are being made now. The ongoing work to get the message out, particularly about NOVEL and the proposed cut, is extremely important. Mrs. Welch referred to a recent e-mail sent to the NOVEL Steering Committee with attachments and talking points for use in their efforts to contact legislators. Ms. Hiebing added that we need State funding to sustain and expand NOVEL. Action: Ms. Hiebing will send a message to the NOVEL Steering Committee and NOVEL-L that we really want people (particularly those who were absent today) to put forth the effort to contact their legislators. Mrs. Welch is cautiously optimistic on the restoration of the 5% if we can keep the issue in front of legislators. Getting the startup funds for NOVEL is a long shot for 2004, but we are building momentum and are off to a good start for this year or next.

Evaluation Question: What is the one thing you can do before March conference call to move NOVEL forward?

Action Items:

• Mr. Ericson will discuss further with Mr. Shaloiko and Ms. Courtney (co-chairs of the Electronic Resources Group)
• Mr. Alrutz will contact Autographics to arrange a demonstration of AGENT product.
• Ms. Hiebing will send a message to the NOVEL Steering Committee and NOVEL-L that we really want people (particularly those who were absent today) to put forth the effort to contact their legislators.

Upcoming Meetings:

Tuesday, March 9, 2004 -- 2:00 p.m. Conference Call
Tuesday, April 13, 2004 -- East Greenbush Community Library, 10:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004 -- 10:00 a.m. Conference Call
Thursday, June 10, 2004 -- Albany Public Library, 10:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Upcoming Events:

March 16: NYLA Library Day, Concourse Level, Meeting Room 6, Empire State Plaza, Albany
April 19-21: National Library Week, Exhibits/Demos of NOVEL, NCL, Concourse Level, Empire State Plaza, Albany

The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.