WiLS is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt corporation providing services to libraries throughout Wisconsin and collaborating with neighboring states. Its mission is to enhance innovation and collaboration among members enabling them to provide the best services possible to their users. WiLS has a staff of 15 FTE, an operating budget of $1.8 million and a total budget of just under $10 million. Further information about WiLS can be found at wils.wisc.edu/wilsmkt.html.
Ms. Morrill assumes leadership of a successful library consortium. It is financially sound with an active board of directors and it employs a top-notch staff that has been able to anticipate and adapt to the changing needs of libraries. She begins her new duties on April 1, 2011.
We extend congratulations to Stefanie Morrill as she begins her new duties as WiLS Director.
Edward V. Van Gemert
Deputy Director of Libraries
General Library System
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sally Drew
The long-time head of Resources for Libraries and Lifelong Learning (formerly Reference and Loan Library) retired at the end of December. I worked with Sally on numerous committees over the years and I was impressed by her dedicated and passionate defense of Wisconsin's libraries. I'm sure I speak on behalf of all the WiLS staff that we wish her a long and prosperous retirement.
- Bob Shaw
Online Productivity Tools
At a library staff session this week, Mark Beatty from WiLS gave a presentation about online productivity tools. The WiLS ILL staff uses Jing frequently in sending short online videos to our member libraries to resolve problems they are having—a picture (or video) is worth a thousand words. Angela Milock is a big fan of Evernote and uses it daily. So check out the tools listed below. I hope they might find a place in your daily workflow to make your ILL operation even more efficient.
- Bob Shaw
1. Jing—pictures or video of your monitor
2. Dropbox—sync and share files across computers
3. Evernote—connects all the computers and phones you use daily, allowing you to capture something in one place and then access it from another
4.Remember the Milk—to do list
5. LastPass—password manager
6. MyStickies—sticky notes
7. Freckle—time tracking
Making Processing Electronic Articles More Efficient
As all of you in the resource sharing world know, article requests are increasingly being filled through the electronic copy rather than the print copy. So the question for the electronic journals has always been: does our licensing agreement allow us to use the electronic copy for ILL?
UW-Madison has hundreds of licensing agreements with various publishers and the licensing agreements regarding whether we can use the electronic copy for ILL vary tremendously. In the past this meant that the students who do our request processing had to consult a printed list of publishers who we knew we had ILL rights to the electronic copy.
Well, no more!
WiLS recently integrated OCLC's Knowledge Base into ILLiad. On a practical level it works the following way. Information regarding UW-Madison's licensing agreements is loaded into OCLC's Knowledge Base. When WiLS gets an ILL request for an article from a journal that the Knowledge Base determines that we have ILL rights to the electronic copy, the request automatically gets routed into a queue within ILLiad named "Awaiting EJournal Processing." In this queue, article requests will appear that have a collections sub-tab on the request. Within this sub-tab, there will be one or more links to ILL "ok" electronic journals that we have access to for the given article. The searcher simply clicks on the link(s) to jump straight into the journal and navigate to the article to print. No more uncertainty about whether we have ILL rights, no more looking at a printed list. It will save a lot of time and do away with uncertainty.
Libraries that use WorldCat Resource Sharing rather than ILLiad also have access to the functionality provided by the Knowledge Base. As OCLC's documentation states: "Libraries that use the OCLC WorldCat Resource Sharing interface have the same functionality as libraries that use ILLiad. Their lending requests will contain hot links directly to electronic articles, eliminating the need to consult multiple sources to determine article locations. WorldCat Resource Sharing libraries may also choose to implement the use of the Direct Request feature to further benefit from this new functionality. (Note that use of the Direct Request feature in WorldCat Resource Sharing requires a subscription to WorldCat on FirstSearch and use of the customizable request form in the FirstSearch service)."
Curren Riley from UW-Madison and Eric Robinson from WiLS put a lot of time into getting this to work. If you would like to implement this at your library or if you have any questions, please contact Eric directly at erobinson@wils.wisc.edu or by phone at 608-262-6068.
- Bob Shaw
New Membership Database and Event Registration
Hello,
Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS) has a new look to our event registrations. This new interface provides step-by-step instructions to sign up for our events. We hope this makes the registration process easy, quick, and hassle-free.
In addition to event registrations, you can also login and edit your contact information to let us know of a new address, phone number, or email. (By receiving this email, some of your contact information is already in our new membership database. Please follow the link to access this information and update it. If you feel you have received this message in error and/or are not affiliated with WiLS in any way, please email jchampoux@wils.wisc.edu.)
In order to edit your profile or register for a WiLS event, you will be led to a login page:
To login for the first time, please type in:
Username: [your work email]
Password: Password1* (the password is case sensitive so please use a capitalized "P")
*You will then be prompted to change your password to whatever you choose. The following steps will allow you to register and pay for a WiLS event in a secured environment. If you have any questions during the registration process, please contact Jen Champoux at 608-890-2356 or jchampoux@wils.wisc.edu.
We thank you for your patience and cooperation during this time of transition to a new event and membership recordkeeping process. We hope the change serves you better and more efficiently. Please refer any general feedback regarding our implementation process and new database to Jane Richard at jrichard@wils.wisc.edu.
- Jen Champoux
WorldCat Resource Sharing Best Practices Webinar
Jennifer Block, Interlibrary Services/Document Delivery Librarian at Princeton University will share her tips for successful use of the deflection feature of WorldCat Resource Sharing at a March 2 webinar. In WorldCat Resource Sharing, deflection automatically redirects resource sharing requests based on policies defined in the Policies Directory.
Jennifer's presentation will include an overview of how deflection is used at Princeton and how Princeton's interlibrary loan staff has adapted their use of the feature to fit the needs of their library. The session will also include time for participants to ask questions of Jennifer or share their own advice about successful use of this feature.
This webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, March 2 at 2:00 pm Eastern.
Register for this no-charge webinar to learn how your library can benefit from use of deflection in WorldCat Resource Sharing.
WorldCat Resource Sharing Enhancements: Deflection by custom holdings and use of statistics to inform lending relationships
Two new WorldCat Resource Sharing tools will help you increase the efficiency of your interlibrary loan operation. Deflection by custom holdings groups continues OCLC's work to automate interlibrary processes in order to save time for your library's interlibrary loan staff. In addition, a reciprocity calculator will let you use interlibrary loan activity statistics to inform your borrowing and lending agreements with other libraries.
Deflection by custom holdings groups—Available now
You may now set deflection options based on custom holdings groups to ensure that only the most appropriate interlibrary loan requests reach your library. With the new deflection option, your staff can save time by deflecting requests from members of custom holdings groups to ensure that some requests (those that exceed your maximum cost or do not include libraries with which you prefer to lend) do not reach your library. For example, you may choose to deflect requests from a group of libraries you have identified that charge for loans. You may also indicate that a specific custom holdings group is excluded from a deflection.
To add custom holdings groups to your deflection settings, just update your library's profile in the OCLC Policies Directory.
Reciprocity calculator—coming soon
WorldCat Resource Sharing statistics can soon be used to create reports of your library's borrowing and lending activity with libraries of your choice. These reports will provide data you can use to manage your interlibrary loan partnerships, such as reciprocal borrowing agreements.
To create reciprocity reports for your library, log on to OCLC Statistics at www.stats.oclc.org and select the Assessment tools category.
Learn more, please join us at the upcoming webinars:
The Shortest Distance Between Two Clicks: From User to Article in No Time Flat
Learn about the new WorldCat knowledge base that simplifies the way libraries share electronic resources, such as journal articles and e-books. The result is time savings for your library staff and faster access to electronic resources for the people who need them.
This enhancement is available to all Libraries that subscribe to OCLC Cataloging and WorldCat Resource Sharing or ILLiad at no additional charge.
March 16, 1:00 p.m. ET—For ILLiad users,
Register
March 16, 3:00 p.m. ET—For WorldCat Resource Sharing users, Register
Colorado Interlibrary Loan conference — April 28th and April 29th, 2011
Times they are a changin', that's the theme of this year's Colorado Interlibrary Loan conference and we've got some great programs lined up to show it on April 28th and April 29th, 2011 in lovely Fort Collins, Colorado!
- Learn how Colorado State University — Pueblo and the University of Denver have respectively managed changes in circulation and ILL while in the throes of major library remodeling projects.
- Over the past couple of years, several small libraries have migrated from local systems to union catalogs. Representatives from two libraries and a Kansas library consortium will share their experience.
- Learn about creative techniques the University of Arizona has developed in solving the most difficult borrowing requests.
- Join us for a reception at the Council Tree branch Library in Fort Collins, a LEED platinum certified library.
- This year we are also offering two pre-conferences on Wednesday April 27th, the day before the main conference. Lori Smith, SWIFT coordinator from the Colorado State Library and Valerie Horton, Executive Director from CLiC will share the most current news and changes for SWIFT and the Colorado Library Courier. Heather Black of ATLAS is also offering a pre-conference (for fee) on ILLiad.
- Chicken Lips, an improv comedy group in Denver is back by popular demand and is sure to make this an entertaining and lively event for all with their session "Mental Floss" and skit "LipService with Chicken Lips"
These are just a few program highlights to peak your interest.
We are still confirming plans on other sessions, so be sure to check our website for future updates and registration information.
You can also check us out on Facebook where you can connect with colleagues and check out some spectacular photos from last year's conference in Estes Park, CO.
Minitex Training Schedule:
One of the basic tenets of Minitex participation has been that libraries should keep their local serial holdings information up-to-date somore efficient and effective resource sharing can take place — both withinthe Minitex region and beyond.
During Fiscal Year 11, we are waiving the training fee for staff members of libraries in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin for our two-hour Local Holdings Records Maintenance webinars to encourage the region's libraries to help staff become familiar with the options for updating and maintaining their Local Holdings Records in OCLC's WorldCat.
MINITEX training sessions on Local Holdings Maintenance have been scheduled for Spring 2011. These sessions are intended for staff that is new to working with OCLC Local Holdings Records (LHRs) and staff wanting a refresher on working with LHR data and the Connexion Browser interface. If you or other staff at your library need training on how to maintain your Local Holdings Records in OCLC, please sign up soon to assure your place.
The schedule of Local Holdings Maintenance training is:
Local Holding Maintenance-part 3 (webinar) Tues. 3/ 1 , 10:00 AM
- 12:00 PM
Local Holding Maintenance-part 1 (webinar) Thurs. 3/10, 1:30 -
3:30 PM
Local Holding Maintenance-part 2 (webinar) Thurs. 3/17, 1:30 -
3:30 PM
Local Holding Maintenance-part 3 (webinar) Thurs. 3/24, 1:30 -
3:30 PM
Local Holding Maintenance-part 1 (webinar) Weds. 3/30, 10:00 AM -
12:00 PM
Local Holding Maintenance-part 2 (webinar) Weds. 4/ 6 , 10:00 AM -
12:00 PM
Local Holding Maintenance-part 3 (webinar) Weds. 4/13, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM
It is strongly recommended that you take the full set of LHM webinars, in order, before you begin editing your LHRs in OCLC. You are not required to sign up for all 3 parts of one series, however, so you can sign up for whichever combination of sessions fits your schedule.
To register, go to the Minitex Upcoming Training Sessions (tip: filter the search by checking the Local Holdings category on the right-hand list)
If you have questions about this training, or other issues related to Local
Holdings, please feel free to contact David Linton,
Minitex — MULS unit
Minneapolis, MN
linto001@umn.edu
612-624-3360 / 800-462-5348
OCLC to hold prices flat for 2012 fiscal year
To the OCLC Membership:
I want you to know that OCLC will again hold the line on pricing for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2011. This will be the third consecutive year that OCLC has held prices flat.
This action was supported by the Board of Trustees during its meeting earlier this month. Both the Board and the management team agree that this decision reflects the values of a cooperative, acting in the best interests of its members and participants during a time of economic stress. It is equally clear that on behalf of its members OCLC must pursue its public purposes vigorously. We must continue to promote innovation and invest in developing services to control costs for libraries. In particular, as OCLC delivers Web-scale services, libraries will be able to optimize workflows and take full advantage of the technologies that the Web and cloud computing offer. The scale of the investments to launch these solutions rivals any development effort that the cooperative has undertaken in its 44 year history.
Investments in research and advocacy programs will also remain central to our plans. Already this year, significant studies have been released by OCLC Research, including, Cloud-sourcing Research Collections: Managing Print in the Mass-digitized Library Environment, which examines the feasibility of outsourcing management of low-use print books held in academic libraries to shared service providers. The latest OCLC membership report, Perceptions of Libraries, 2010: Context and Community, was released last month and offers new insights into information consumers and their online information seeking behaviors. OCLC's investments in research on behalf of its members will continue in 2012 and beyond to support and advance libraries and their work.
Frankly, I must temper the good news by noting that in the future OCLC will not be able to absorb inflation year after year without passing through some of those costs to participating institutions. While our balance sheet and cash flows are sound, we must manage costs very strictly to maintain good financial health and advance the cooperative into the next generation.
OCLC members have been through many up and down economic cycles during the past four decades, but the members always have chosen to sustain the cooperative to advance OCLC's public purpose. In that spirit, the promise of Web-scale Management Services bodes well for OCLC's capacity long into the future to deliver information to people across the world when and where they need it. Toward that end, we will continue to do everything we can to control costs and add value. We look forward to working with you to achieve the vision set out by Fred Kilgour almost 50 years ago.
- Jay Jordan
OCLC President and CEO
Upcoming enhancements to OCLC Usage Statistics
We are introducing a new interface and expanded features for users of OCLC® Usage Statistics.
OCLC® Usage Statistics (www.stats.oclc.org) provides a user-friendly, easy-to-use interface for tracking your library's OCLC service usage. The interface has now been updated, making it easier than ever to navigate and evaluate statistics of interest to your library. More information about the changes can be found in this document.
As a complement to your current subscriptions, OCLC Usage Statistics contain valuable information about your library's use of OCLCs products, including:
-
FirstSearch®
- WorldCat.org™
- WorldCat® Resource Sharing
- Online Cataloging
- WebDewey®
- COUNTER
- Digital Collections
- WorldCat® Link Manager
- WorldCat® Navigator
Using these reports your library can more effectively track usage trends, borrowing and lending activity, database access, Web site traffic and more. This lets you understand how people are using your OCLC services and helps you plan for the future. Whether you are just discovering this tool, or have been using it for years to manage your OCLC activities, OCLC Usage Statistics, at www.stats.oclc.org, offers several helpful, new features to explore.
Thank you,
Meghan M. Hopkins
Product Analyst
