LIBRARY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
April 27, 1999


Present: J. Bessler, M. Gleason, J. Wruck, J. Younger

We discussed the issue of establishing priorities for work on Aleph in recognition of the fact that only a few of the most critical improvements can be accomplished in the next few months. Many useful enhancements will have to be accomplished over a longer time period. While additional programming assistance may be desirable, locating qualified staff and to familiarizing them with the Aleph structure and system cannot be done immediately. We agreed that we must find a way to identify the most important priorities on which to focus the efforts of Systems staff, and to communicate those decisions to Library staff effectively, and further discussed what role a reconstituted ILS advisory group might play in that task.

We determined that, although prompt and efficient decision-making may be difficult to achieve through a group process, participation beyond Systems was needed, especially in the absence of a Systems Librarian. To increase its effectiveness, the ILS group would need to have potential fixes and enhancements organized, analyzed and placed in context, a task not easily accomplished through meetings. Laura Sill, soon to return to the Libraries on a half-time basis, may well be able to do this. The group would have to understand how its function of prioritizing work on Aleph, internally and with Ex Libris, and that of promoting two way communication with Library departments was to be interpreted, and LEC would have to be prepared to support them in their efforts. A facilitator may well be employed to encourage productive discussions leading to decisions. Potential membership in the group was discussed, but no final decision was made.

We did agree that the current Migration Task Force would be dissolved after its next meeting on Wednesday, April 28, and that Jim would announce that to Task Force members, thanking them for their service. LEC is asking for a proposal from Jim, Doug McK, and Laura S. on the charge to the successor group, based on what they would find most useful in carrying out improvement work on Aleph. Jim will also contact the other MALC libraries. Given the fact that only the most essential tasks can be undertaken during the next few months, Jo and Maureen will consult with department and unit heads in their respective divisions in order to list the critical functions absolutely necessary in order for the Library to operate effectively, and to identify any of those functions not now being performed or being performed only with great difficulty. We recognize that there exist some fixes that, if not done now, will result in the necessity of a much greater fix later, and that must be considered.

Jennifer raised the issue of how Notre Dame should be described when writing position opening notices: how its Catholic character can be expressed while not suggesting that only Catholics were welcome, or that there was a doctrinal test. This has been a matter of discussion in the Deans' meeting. We will consider this, and it may be a topic of discussion at a Library Faculty meeting.

Jim distributed a list of CPUs which will be available for distribution to staff, and also one of staff who now have something less than a Pentium 266. He asked for guidance on how to allocate the new or 1 year old computers, noting that no regular staff member should be using anything less than a Pentium 266 after this summer. Jo and Maureen will consult with department heads and notify Jim. The new computers have been ordered, and we will begin installing within the next several weeks, beginning with the public machines.

Maureen noted that, according to her calculations, we may be using $18,000 to $20,000 in additional overtime between now and June 30, in order to clear away backlogs caused by system implementation. She will inform Bob Wittorf so that he may take this into account in calculating end of year expenditures.

Jennifer announced the presence on campus of Alison Kershaw, the head librarian at Notre Dame, Australia. Meetings with various people in the Libraries have been arranged, and several of us are having lunch with her today (Tuesday).

We approved Laura Sill's position description as drafted by Jo Bessler, which focuses on ILS system-related projects. She will report to Jim Wruck, at least until a Systems Librarian is appointed.

Jim inquired about the wording of the announcement of the withdrawal of UNLOC which he had distributed earlier. Maureen suggested a more specific phrase stating that no new records had been added since December 1998, and Jo suggested mentioning the UNLOC was not Y2K compliant. We confirmed that telnet access to Aleph 500 was impossible, an inquiry made by some faculty members.

Jo announced that Mary Jackson, from ARL, would be here Thursday and Friday, April 29 and 30. On Thursday she will offer a program on interlibrary loan for INCOLSA. On Friday she will meet with our ILL staff to take up some of the suggestions from the workshop, and to discuss her findings on best ILL practices. This will be followed at 10 a.m. by a larger meeting of all those interested in hearing about and discussing new trends in ILL and document delivery.

After reviewing the next day's LAM agenda, the meeting adjourned at 11:45.

Maureen Gleason

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