April 6, 2005
Members Present: Zuege, Marini, Huang, Slocum, Lynch, Bendix,
Blackwelder, White (for Jewell), Boucher, Barczyk, Drew, Hamon
Others Present: OCLC Members Council Delegates Boehning & Wilkinson, Karen
Grothe, new public library alternate, Schneider
The meeting was called to order by Zuege promptly at 9:30 a.m. A MOTION to approve the minutes of the November 11, 2004 meeting was made by Huang, seconded by Hamon and unanimously approved by voice vote.
FINANCIALS: Kathy Schneider distributed a financial report reflecting account status as of January 31. Overall, the mid-year financials are positive. Schneider presented a breakdown of ILL usage by type of library: total requests are up 14% over last year, with increased activity by UW libraries, public libraries, DLTCL and UW Madison, and decreased activity by private colleges, special libraries, and technical colleges. The increases at UW libraries may result from use of patron-initiated requests.
STATUS OF FY05 PLAN: Board members reviewed a report prepared by Kathy Schneider. Schneider noted that much time has been focused on the digital project, Wisconsin Heritage Online, and work of the Illinois Model Committee (formed at the November Board meeting). Discussion of these projects was set aside because each would appear as a separate agenda item later in the meeting. Schneider reported that the Support Log is providing very useful and interesting information: WiLS and OCLC are sharing information on a bimonthly basis to identify what questions are being asked with high frequency. Often-asked questions will identify areas where further training is needed; a future plan is to send reports outlining areas in which support was requested to library directors.
PLANNING FOR WiLS WORLD: Many programs are already in place, including Joe Janes speaking on digital reference, OCLC's Chip Nilges on the future of WorldCat, a program on group services in Illinois, a digital project at Marquette University, and Peter Gorman of UW-Madison speaking about their digital metadata server. Pending program topics include pod-casting, gaming and its relevance to libraries, and the designing of Cleveland Public Library's eBook web page. Members agreed that a breakfast meeting with short presentations was a popular WiLS World feature and should be repeated this year; numerous suggestions for presentation topics were shared. All agreed that it will be important to enforce strict time limits on each presentation. The possibility of doing poster sessions or creating articles for the newsletter about topics not chosen for presentation at the breakfast was discussed.
WISCONSIN HERITAGE ONLINE: At a meeting to be held in early May, committee members will focus on the shift from the Digital Exploratory Committee to the WHO Planning Committee. The Digital Summit was a great success, with attendance by libraries and other cultural and related institutions. Thirty-six institutions signed on as Founding Members of WHO; board members suggested that additional Founding Members might be secured through direct invitation. Seven working groups have been established to move the project forward. A too-short timeline prevented completion of a grant application for the project; interim funding/staff will come from WiLS and UW-Madison. Next year, a half-time staff position will be created by shifting duties of current WiLS personnel. Future funding from LSTA will be limited to small projects of organizations rather than used for setting up infrastructure. It was agreed that Questions/Answers gathered from the Digital Summit should be mounted on the web. Members suggested that invitations to WiLS World be extended to museums and historical societies to support the desire for collaboration on the digital project.
ILLINOIS MODEL COMMITTEE: Karen Boehning reported on committee actions. After an initial meeting with OCLC in February, further negotiations regarding costs will take place in May. The committee has divided into groups by constituency and will make presentations at meetings of CUWL, Peer Council, WAICU, WiLS World, WILIUG and WLA. Members suggested that school libraries and small public libraries be contacted as well.
PLANNING FOR FY06: Kathy Schneider presented a preliminary draft; key focus areas will be OCLC group services, Wisconsin Heritage Online, virtual reference re-invigoration, and an ILL review and assessment. The WiLS Board finance committee has been formed; as recommended by the auditors, a half-time accountant position will be created and filled in time for the annual audit. The WiLS office also hopes to acquire appropriate Desktop Management software for ILL staff.
PRELIMINARY BUDGET OVERVIEW & ISSUES: Schneider presented a budget overview and a suggested schedule of fees for FY06. She described key factors that would drive the budget, including elimination of OCLC commissions, necessity to subsidize WHO digital project, and OCLC price increases, and also explained creation of a new membership category for groups. After review and discussion of these issues and review of the proposed fee structure, a MOTION was made by Hamon, seconded by Bendix, to adopt the proposed fee structure with the exception of reducing the proposed Basic Annual Membership fee from $175 to $160. The motion passed unanimously. A second MOTION, to continue to subsidize the WHO and digital services effort for another year using WiLS project funds was made by Barczyk, seconded by Blackwelder, and passed unanimously.
MEMBER COUNCIL REPORTS: Wilkinson described OCLC's view of how technology will change the way information is delivered in the future, including looking at how the Google model could serve libraries. OCLC's interest in internationalization is another current area of focus with potential for improving their income stream. Boehning noted that OCLC's current council structure, with 60 members and 8 international members, could be reconfigured in response to globalization: either a larger council would be considered, or the council would remain the same size, but with fewer U.S. members. Representation might be based upon financial expenditure.
ELECTION OF NEW CHAIR-ELECT: Zuege reported that the nominating committee had received agreement from Peter Hamon to serve as Chair-Elect. There being no further nominations from the floor, a MOTION, to cast a unanimous ballot for Peter Hamon to fill the post of Chair-elect, was made by Bendix, seconded by Boucher, and passed unanimously.
WiLS DIRECTOR'S REPORT: Kathy Schneider described OCLC's efforts to increase revenue by eliminating commissions, instituting online ordering, encouraging rapid implementation of new products/services, and giving networks like WiLS the option to become "sales partners." The 2.9% commission previously paid to WiLS on core services will be reduced over a two year period and fully eliminated by FY08. Members of the board discussed the "sales partner" concept; many were uncomfortable with WiLS taking a sales role, preferring that WiLS continue to make meeting the needs of Wisconsin libraries their priority. Members noted increased "cold call" activity by OCLC's sales force. Schneider will gather more information regarding OCLC's "sales partner" proposal in a meeting later this spring.
There being no further business, a MOTION to adjourn was made by Boucher, seconded by Huang, and passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 1:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia D. Lynch, Secretary