LIBRARY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
April 6, 1999

Present: JB,MG,RJ,JW,and JY

Reports:

Jo:

User Services is compiling information on which 44 public computer stations should be replaced this Spring. She will work with Divisional Department Heads and DCCs in evaluating competing needs.

New carpeting has been approved for the Life Sciences Library. We are awaiting information from Academic Space Managment which will help us determine if there will be any impact on our budget.

Maureen and Jo will soon be meeting with Laura Sill to determine options for her return to work in some new role on a part-time basis.

Steve Hayes is working with COBA to identify ways to meet the library needs of two Masters level programs which will be offered during May-August. One option is to offer some special services through the BIC. The ACE program may also want some additional service hours. Jo will raise this issue with Pat Hall.

The Electronic Reserves Team is currently examining software options and is finalizing a needs survey which will be distributed to a representative group of faculty and students.


Maureen:

Mike McCauslin is working with Cataloging to identify ergonomic needs. The goals are: to have Mike look at individual work stations, to recommend improvements on a case-by-case basis, to offer some options to those individuals who need some ergonomic equipment (such as keyboard tray, keynoard, and/or mouse), to estimate costs for upgrades, and to have the A.D.s work with the Department Heads in developing a strategy for prioritizing and addressing needs.

Jim indicated that we can order special keyboards with the new computers if the need is identified and documented by the time we place our order. Another potential source for funding may be end-of-the -year balances in some library budget lines.

Maureen is working with JCER to determine if current funds can cover both the backruns of Web of Science and Current Contents. Despite early optimism, there may not be enough money to cover Current Contents.


Jim:

The Graduate Student Cluster is now in place on the 11th floor of Hesburgh. The graduate students would like the OIT to offer some support--such as paper and a gradual upgrade of equipment. Jim suspects that the Library's Help Desk will get questions. For the Renovation, it is important to consider how we wish to segregate or integrate computer cluster support in the Library.

The Systems Help Desk is officially opening today. Mandy and Sandy have just returned from a training program.

A group of visitors from Cornell will be looking at ALEPH next week. We may try to tap their own expertise in the area of Gateway Services.

Divisions will soon have to gather information on staff needs for work station upgrades. We will be allocating 40 300mgh machines and @ $80,000 worth of 450 mgh machines. Bob Wittorf will get early access to a 450mgh machine to allow him to do some statistical analysis for space planning, etc.

Divisions will also have to identify all staff who need to upgrade to a 19" monitor.


Jennifer:

Search Committees have been established for the following positions: Business Officer, Rare Books Librarian, and the Systems Librarian.

Maureen has agreed to work with Carole Richter and Donna Stevenson and others in creating a group to develop the Library's Gateway. The initial discussions will involve individuals from User Services, Cataloging, and Systems.

The architects, Wendell Wickerham and Bill Barry, will be visiting campus April 12 and 13. They will meet Jennifer, Paula Carlaccini, the expanded Library Planning Committee, and selected campus administrators to review overall space estimates and major library and campus space needs. The estimate for the collection size in 2015 is 2,900,000. Jo mentioned some concern about roof repairs and was encouraged to ask Dave Thornton to send the information to Paula.

An update on campus web planning is available on the web at Web.nd.edu. In addition, Tom Monaghan mentioned the development of an events calendar on the web, which will be a place where many campus units can post calendars, something for the Libraries to consider. Office supplies will soon be available for purchase by campus units from the ND book store via the web. He is investigating cybercase capabilities, live broadcasts and the creation of a web-based archived audio/video library, which sounds like something we could contribute to or assist in developing.

Next fall, he is planning on bringing up a faculty director with comprehensive listings, browsing and keyword searching. eCommerce is targeted for release in summer 99 where ND is the vendor. In conjunction with OIT and business services, the questions of cybercash accounts, single bank merchant accounts and so on will be resolved, along with a finalization of the internal processing needed to support this.

Last, Tom mentioned the long term goals of developing a "portal strategy." This will require substantial partnerships, internal and external, along with substantial resources. He envisions an integrated architecture with a single point of entry and common authentication - no timetable yet.

Submitted by Jo Bessler

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