New membership agreements, with the new Service Level Options, went to WiLS libraries in early April for a decision by May 1st. By mid-month, thirty-three libraries had already responded, representing 36% of the revenue goal needed to support the new service directions. (View the current list of libraries opting for Service Level 1.)

It is also encouraging to report the April 7th WiLS Hour New Directions for WiLS was one of the best attended sessions of the year. (In case you missed it, the recording and slides are available at April 7th WiLS Hour.)

Prefer the Executive Summary?
Key points are noted below.

Service Level 1 for libraries viewing WiLS as an extension of their staff; sponsors of the cooperative

Complete menu of services, some continuing, some totally new.

New services include:
• Enhanced Cooperative Purchasing comparative trials, content analysis
• Technical Services Workflow documentation & analysis
• ILLiad training
• Web design
• Business Intelligence
• Planning/Group Facilitation
• Conferences/webinars at lowest rate

Annual fee based on size and type of library with discount for groups with single billing agent

Service Level 2 Cooperative Purchasing & WiLS ILL

Service Level 3 Cooperative Purchasing

Q&A about WiLS Membership and Service Level Options

Q: Will there still be travel reimbursement for Peer Council and ILL User Group meetings?
A: Service Level 1 members will receive travel reimbursement; Service Level 2 libraries will receive travel reimbursement only for ILL User Group meetings.

Q: Can my library purchase the new services individually, on an as-needed basis without choosing Service Level 1?
A: No. At least during the first year of this new membership structure, the new menu of services will only be available to Service Level 1 libraries.

Q: Will all members be able to attend WiLS events?
A: Yes, but starting July 2009, we will have variable registration rates for WiLS events based on Membership Service Level.

Q: If my library has traditionally been a Full WiLS Member, what is the appropriate Service Level within the new structure?
A: For most academic libraries and public library systems, institutions that typically have made full use of WiLS services, Service Level 1 is likely the best option. Special libraries and K12 Schools, primarily users of Cooperative Purchasing and perhaps WiLS ILL, will find Service Level 2 or 3 to be adequate.

Q: If my library chooses Service Level 3, does that mean we can no longer use WiLS ILL?
A: Libraries at Service Level 3 (Basic) may access WiLS ILL but will be charged non-member per request fees. These fees are set by UW Madison; currently it is $20/request compared with $6.25 for WiLS members. Additional information available on the Interlibrary Loan Lending and Photocopy Policies page.

Q: Is there a Group Discount at Service Level 3?
A: Not at this time. However, the current formula for School Districts (based on number of High Schools) will continue to be available at all Service Levels.

WiLS is one of several state organizations partnering for development of open source resource sharing software. Initiated and led by the Ohio State Library, the goal was to have software ready for testing by September. An RFP was issued, responses received and a vendor selected in March. Contract negotiations were underway when AutoGraphics, one of the vendors that responded to the RFP, claimed they had been unlawfully removed from the selection process. Following the advice of their Attorney General, the State Library will be re-issuing the RFP with clarifying language in several areas.

In the meantime, we had been asked to provide a priority listing of local automated systems to be connected to the open source system. These would not be the only systems to be connected; this is just where the vendor would start. After some consultation with DLTCL, we came up with: Sirsi, Innovative, Polaris, Voyager, and Koha. If you have a differing view, please contact Kathy Schneider at schneid at wils.wisc.edu.

Wisconsin libraries are getting a little more bang-for-their-buck for WorldCat as usage increased over last year. Cost-per-use across all participants went from $.27 to $.26. Academic libraries, who use WorldCat at twice the rate of public libraries, have a cost per use of $.21. During the same period, cost per use of BadgerCat increased one cent, up to $.21 per use, as the number of searches declined slightly. Public Libraries, the heaviest users of BadgerCat, currently have a cost per use of $.15.

As you may have already heard, the FY10 renewal cost for WorldCat AND for BadgerCat will remain at the FY09 level. That should bring the usage cost down even more!

This spring and summer, be sure to take advantage of the many training opportunities available to WiLS members through the Network Education Exchange. The full list of offerings is available on the NEE page of the WiLS web site.

During the month of April we are offering trials of several career and employment databases for our public library members. Please see our blog WiLSCoop for more information or contact Sara Gold at sgold at wils.wisc.edu or 608-265-4167.

In May WiLS will be featuring a number of learning language online databases for public libraries including Tell Me More by Auralog and Mango Languages. If you are not receiving information about trials and wish to be added to our email list, please send your contact information to Sara Gold at sgold at wils.wisc.edu

We are in the heart of renewal season and are happy to provide pricing and invoices upon request in addition to our annual renewal forms. Please contact Cheryl or Sara at 608-265-4167 or email Cheryl with your request at cbradley at wils.wisc.edu

Most of the correspondence between WiLS and our member libraries is electronic and we are encountering a problem with Spam Filters particularly with our K12 member libraries. If you have not done so already, please check with your email administrator to ensure email sent from WiLS will be accepted. Thank you for your assistance.

My name is Kirsten Houtman and I'm new to the Cooperative Purchasing Program.  I've been at WiLS for nine years and until recently was closely involved with OCLC services to our WiLS Members.  My area of focus is serving academic libraries. I'm working with vendors to negotiate discounted pricing for online databases and have a goal to make it easier for librarians to make choices about the databases they purchase.  In an effort to minimize the number of announcements of database trials, I'm offering a set of trials at the start of each month.

Supplementing this, on a quarterly basis, I'll focus in on a particular subject and give librarians the tools to evaluate like-subjected databases by including reviews, lists of other institutions that subscribe and any other useful information I can find. To streamline the process, all trials include a link to a short survey where librarians can submit their opinions of the database, ask any questions and let me know if they are interested in getting pricing or subscribing.

When I'm not working, I enjoy cooking, baking, gardening, lifting weights, listening to music, reading, writing, traveling, bicycling and watching movies with my wonderful husband and our three dogs. 

A few years back I created the Dogs of Wisconsin Libraries CONTENTdm digitial collection.  If you work in a Wisconsin library, please consider adding your dog to the collection. Instructions are on the web site.

Starting in May, I'll be sending out a monthly announcement of a number of database trials in an effort to minimize the number of announcements of database trials you receive.  Emails will go out in early May, but you can always find information on the trials being offered on the WiLS Coop blog.

Trials of Global Road Warrior and Access World News: Research Collection are being offered through Friday, April 24.  If any other libraries are interested, there could be groups forming.  For more about the trials, visit the WiLS coop blog.

The April 2009 Access Newsletter is available on the WiLS web site. Included this month: 2009 ILLiad International Conference Review and Reference Service News.

We have some new and exciting ways for those interested to stay connected to WiLS. This could be a way to become familiar with these social networking tools and try them out.

Twitter: WiLS has a Twitter profile. We plan on tweeting from events and updating with new tool, tricks and ideas for libraries and beyond. We will gladly add you to our followers if you would like.

Facebook: a group called Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS) has been created. The group is mainly used for communicating with our student employees about happenings in the office.

GoodReads: For those of you interested in ways to discover books and see what others are reading I have created a group on Goodreads. The group is called WiLSReaders.

IM: A few of us use instant messaging. If you have a quick question for us please drop a line.

Angela Milock: aangela1010
Eric Robinson: ericatwils

There are a few free tools, including Meebo, to help you manage your IM accounts if you have more than one.

If you have any ideas for other interesting social tools or if you have any questions please contact me however best suits you!

- Angela Milock

October 29-30, 2009
Madison, WI at The Pyle Center

Please consider participating, even if you may not have enough to talk about for a full session. A number of panel presentations and poster sessions are being considered. The deadline for proposals has been extended to Friday, May 1, 2009.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

• Audio and video projects
• Learning Management Systems and CONTENTdm
• Marketing your collection
• Funding your project
• Planning and implementing a digital project
• Metadata practices
• How individual institutions (or small consortia) are working with larger consortia
• Working with 3D objects (artifacts, museum objects)
• Generation and use of reports and statistics
• CONTENTdm server management
• Programming and application building (widgets, CONTENTdm API, other add ons)
• Workflow models
• Collections management and configuration
• Institutional Repositories and organizational archives
• Digital archiving and preservation of digital collections
• Non-newspaper text projects such as OCR extension, compound object documents, monographs, PDFs
• Licensing, intellectual property and digital rights management
• Project Client (CONTENTdm 5's Acquisition Station) tips and tricks
• Creating and using metadata controlled vocabulary
• Web templates and interface customizations
• Talk about and show your institution's CONTENTdm collections

Submit your proposals here.

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The featured collections for April 2009 are the Medical Artifacts Collection from Virginia Commonwealth University; the History Center Digital Collections from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society; the Dard Hunter Book Collection from the University of Utah; and Editorial Cartoons of J.N. "Ding" Darling from the University of Iowa.

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For complete OCLC news, see the OCLC news archive.
WiLS members may find these articles of particular interest.

OCLC and EBSCO have signed an agreement that makes it possible for libraries that subscribe to both WorldCat Local and EBSCOhost Integrated Search (coming soon) to provide their users with easy online access to the full text of a wide range of authoritative electronic content through the Web. As part of the WorldCat.org Partner Program, EBSCO's content will be more visible to library patrons through WorldCat Local.

Writing contributions by WiLS staff.


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