April 6, 2006
Members Present: Ewa Barczyk, Peter Hamon, Sally Drew, Cynthia Lynch, Joyce Huang, Linda Bendix, Marc Boucher, Rita Magno, Mary Lou Zuege, Fred Marini
Others Present: Patrick Wilkinson, Karen Boehning, Kathy Schneider.
The meeting was called to order at 9:35 a.m. by Chairman Barczyk. A MOTION to approve the minutes of November 7, 2005 was made by Boucher, seconded by Zuege and passed by voice vote.
FINANCIAL REPORT
Kathy Schneider presented the July-December financial report which was
reviewed and accepted by the WiLS Board Financial Committee on March
24th. Members noted that current year income seemed lower than the
previous year, and Schneider indicated that this was due to the decrease
in the WiLS surcharge. The ILL "give-back" took place in
December; with the exception of DPI and the UW systems, individual
sums were small.
STRATEGIC PLANS
The Board reviewed Schneider's report on the WiLS Member Community
and agreed that the background information on the various types of member
libraries was interesting and useful for planning purposes. Breakdown
of current WiLS membership is as follows: UW system (40%); private colleges
(18%); school libraries/districts (17.6%); public libraries/districts
(15%); special libraries (5%), and technical colleges (3%). Schneider
presented 4 draft strategic goals. The first three outlined ways in which
WiLS members would work together as a community: (1) to position libraries
to be where and when users need information; (2) to address the next
generation of issues surrounding electronic content, and (3) to enhance
the user experience in obtaining needed information. Goal 4 focused on
expanding participation by Wisconsin libraries in the OCLC cooperative.
Discussion centered on the necessity of finding new income streams for
WiLS; how technology will change OPAC's, and the desirability of increasing
the planning period from two to three years. Board members suggested
adding a goal to reflect the importance of promoting WiLS services, as
Schneider had undertaken in the "What has WiLS Done for You Lately" project.
It was agreed that the plan itself was less important than the ability
of WiLS to react to member's needs.
Members discussed Schneider's document on trends, opportunities and challenges.
TRENDS. Interlibrary loan continues to average about 115,000 requests/year,
but now 60% of the requests come from the UW Madison contract. It is
assumed that 10 years from now, ILL will be much-reduced and focused
on items not available electronically. In OCLC services, cataloging activity
is down, but subscription pricing has increased the number of users.
The phase-out of commissions paid by OCLC is now one year away: the financial
impact to WiLS will necessitate increasing income and reducing costs.
The "rainy day" funds set aside a few years ago will help during
this transition. The trend toward virtual reference is growing in academic
and public libraries; the key challenge remains funding the service in
smaller libraries. E-Books: a separate NetLibrary group for schools will
be developed; the academic group is looking into patron-driven acquisitions; "OverDrive" is
going strong in public libraries. OPPORTUNITIES. The Group Services Initiative
offers potential for significant growth in OCLC users, with phase 2 starting
in July; much interest has been expressed in creating geographically-based
scopes. There is real growth potential for CatExpress in the school and
special library markets. Wisconsin Heritage Online (WHO) will create
a realm of new WiLS member types among historical societies and museums.
CHALLENGES. As OCLC eliminates commission income, WiLS will need to respond
and adjust to a changing relationship and its financial impact. In the
WiLS office, staffing will be a challenge, with 10 of the 16 current
WiLS employees nearing retirement age. After thorough discussion of strategic
planning issues, a MOTION was made by Boucher, seconded by Huang, to
approve the WiLS Strategic Goals 2006-2008, with the changes suggested.
Motion passed by voice vote.
PRELIMINARY BUSINESS PLAN (Action Plan July 06-June 07)
Schneider presented a report on two areas where the focus will be growth:
Group Services and AskAway. GROUP SERVICES will enter Phase 2 in July,
with the goal of adding all libraries already part of the FirstSearch
WorldCat group; emphasis is currently on academic libraries. Phase
3 emphasis (January 2007) will be on public library systems. Once the
Public and Academic communities are on-board, Unlimited OCLC WorldCat
could be opened up to school libraries at no cost. The Board will make
this decision. The WiLS partnership with Illinois in the ASKAWAY virtual
reference training services will continue; Illinois seems to be looking
to expand its partnership with WiLS.
WISCONSIN HERITAGE ONLINE (WHO). The WHO Committees have created detailed
Financial and Business Plans for this project. The Business Plan lists
goals, guiding principles, vision, potential audience and overview of
possible services; 8 working groups or advisory committees are identified;
a three-step implementation plan is suggested. The State Historical Society
seems to have accepted the role of "Champion" for this project,
and is officially onboard as the central host site for WHO content. UW
Madison will develop and operate a harvester to collect metadata; WiLS
will serve as the coordinating organization and financial manager and
will provide the position of Project Manager; DLTCL will continue to
provide a source of funds for digital projects for libraries, and the
Milwaukee Public Museum will provide technical expertise and a link to
the museum community. Board members commended Schneider and the various
working groups for their hard work. The Financial Plan: UW Madison will
be allocating $50,000 to year one, and possibly year two, of the project;
Schneider suggested that WiLS contribute $25,000 in FY06/07, and $10,000
in FY07/08 and FY08/09. This funding will carry the project initially,
but the Financial Plan suggests that future revenue will come from project
management fees, project support fees, and a surcharge for licensing
Content DM. A MOTION was made by Huang, seconded by Bendix, to allocate
$25,000 from WiLS 06/07 budget to support the WHO project, and passed
by voice vote. Members reaffirmed that the $35,000 remaining from the
initial $60,000 that was set aside to support WHO will continue to be
carried in the WiLS budget for possible future funding.
WiLS DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Schneider reported that she is serving as a member of a negotiating team
formed by network members of OCLC. The group was formed in response
to OCLC's rewrite of the Network Manual. Formerly, the manual
(written in the late 1980's) served as a guideline that outlined areas
of organizational and operational responsibility. The new Manual
is more of a labor agreement than a representation of the relationship
between OCLC and the networks, and some language in the Manual suggests
that OCLC has the power to sever its relationship with a network at
any time. The negotiating team is suggesting revisions to OCLC
and a meeting should take place shortly. Schneider assumes that
OCLC wants the issue resolved before the next Members Council meeting
in February.
She will keep the Board posted on new developments.
In other news, Schneider reported that WiLS is contracting with the State Library of Illinois to provide initial training and implementation assistance for virtual reference; primarily, WiLS will “train the trainers.” This project will provide additional income in FY06. A network planning retreat was held in mid-October which focused on ways that networks could collaborate more extensively in offering OCLC and non-OCLC services; there is a current plan to share online education and training materials.
PLANNING FOR WiLS WORLD & MEMBERSHIP MEETING
WiLS World will take place on Wednesday, July 26th and Thursday, July
27th, with the membership meeting scheduled after breakfast on Thursday
morning. Program ideas include AskAway Virtual Reference, BadgerCat
and OCLC Group Services, Wisconsin Heritage Online, and a discussion
of the WiLS Strategic Plan. Members agreed that the breakfast meeting
would be an ideal time to "launch" Wisconsin Heritage Online,
and describe its progress to date. Conference materials will indicate
the starting time for the talk so that members not coming for breakfast
can plan to arrive in time to hear all about WHO. It was suggested
that similar information about WHO be presented at the WLA conference.
It was agreed that, rather than having a session at WiLS World about
WiLS Strategic Plan, the information should be included as a handout
in the conference materials.
FEES PROPOSED FOR FY2007
Members reviewed the proposed fee structure for FY2007, which had been
accepted by the WiLS Finance Committee in March. In general, there
is a 3% increase for all WiLS membership categories, and an increase
of 4-5% in OCLC fees. The proposed WiLS surcharge will be 13.3% (up
from FY06, but still below FY05 and FY04). After discussion, a MOTION
was made by Hamon, seconded by Boucher, to approve the FY07 fee structure
as proposed. The motion passed by voice vote.
MEMBERS COUNCIL REPORT
Boehning reported on the February meeting in Dublin, Ohio. Among the
topics of discussion at the meeting were the future of online catalogs
and the movement by libraries towards more web-based services. One
meeting next year will take place in Quebec City.
BOARD ELECTIONS
Elections were deferred until the July meeting when new members will
be present. With 10 Board Members completing their terms this June,
it was suggested that the expiration dates for terms of new members
be staggered so that the Board could retain continuity from year to
year.
WiLS Director's Report
Schneider's report included: an update on the "What has WiLS Done
for You Lately" project (extremely well-received by member libraries
and something that will be done on a regular basis); an update on the
relations between OCLC and member Networks (a revision to the Network
manual was negotiated and is now "official"); a report on new
direct-access to MINITEX for WiLS ILL members; the role of WiLS as billing
agent for the National Transportation Group Catalog; announcement of
new WiLS staff member Mary Robb (Coop/Business Assistant); and update
on WiLS World keynote speakers (Stephen Abram of SirsiDynix and Lorcan
Dempsey of OCLC).
OTHER BUSINESS The CAMPAIGN FOR WISCONSIN LIBRARIES.
Schneider and the Board discussed the appropriateness of WiLS contributing
funds to this publicity campaign, which was devised by the Wisconsin
Library Association Foundation to raise awareness of the value and
importance of Wisconsin libraries. Members agreed that recognizing
this campaign was important and consistent with WiLS goals and vision.
Schneider reported that WiLS did contribute some funding in the past
for a series of television ads promoting libraries, but did not regularly
make contributions to other organizations. A MOTION, made by Hamon,
and seconded by Boucher, to contribute $1,000 to the Campaign for Wisconsin
Libraries passed by voice vote. As a final item of business, Schneider
alerted Board members to the fact that another Wisconsin organization,
Wisconsin Leadership Seminars, has adopted the name of "WILS." The
organization is a volunteer group that provides weekend leadership
seminars for high school sophomores throughout Wisconsin. The group
has use "WILS" for about 2 years. Members suggested that
Schneider check with legal council to determine if steps to protect
the WiLS nickname needed to be taken. Barczyk offered to ask legal
council at UWM for an unofficial opinion on the matter.
There being no further business, a MOTION to adjourn was made by Huang, seconded by Marini, and passed by voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia D. Lynch, Secretary