November 7 , 2005
Members Present: Ewa Barczyk, Peter Hamon, Sally Drew, Cynthia Lynch, Joyce Huang, Karen Grothe (for Bendix), Janet White (for Jewell), Marc Boucher, Rita Magno, Mary Lou Zuege, Fred Marini, Mary Blackwelder
Others Present: Patrick Wilkinson, Karen Boehning, Kathy Schneider.
The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Chairman Barczyk. A MOTION to approve the Minutes of July 20, 2005 was made by Hamon, seconded by Boucher, and was approved by voice vote.
FINANCIALS
The WiLS Board Finance Committee is scheduled to meet on November 16th. Kathy
Schneider presented an Audit Report and Management Letter for Board review. The
management letter, prepared by Wipfli LLP, commended WiLS management
for its success in containing costs and increasing net assets. Wipfli
noted that the increase in net assets for FY2004/05 might be helpful
in offsetting future impacts due to changes in the OCLC revenue stream.
Schneider reported that, at the suggestion of the auditors, additional
oversight of journal entries is being provided by Tom Klement, working
10 to 15 hours per week on deposits, receipts and checks.
Schneider noted that tight control of the expense side of the budget throughout the year was responsible for containment of costs, and Cooperative Purchasing provided most of the excess income for FY04/05, followed by an increase in ILL. Three recommendations were offered to the Board for use of the unexpected increase in WiLS revenue: 1.) add $10,000 to the WiLS equipment budget for FY05/06; 2.) return $40,000 to ILL users; 3.) allocate up to $70,000 to Wisconsin Heritage Online (WHO) and ask the Digital Planning Committee to develop an implementation plan for the funds. A MOTION was made by Hamon, seconded by Zuege, to approve the three expenditures recommended by Schneider. A discussion of the three recommendations ensued. Concerning the equipment budget (#1), Schneider reported that computer upgrades had been postponed and the internal Tech Committee had underspent their budget. Now that money was available, several staff computers should be replaced. Concerning the ILL “giveback” (#2), Schneider recommended crediting the deposit accounts of ILL users, pro-rating the credits based upon actual use. Drew asked how much gain over budget was provided by ILL; Schneider reported that the increase was $55,000. Drew suggested that more than $40,000 be allocated to the “giveback.” Board members entered into lengthy discussion of the WHO Digital Initiative recommendation (#3). Concern was expressed by Wilkinson that, because the original idea of funding through grant application had been set aside, there is currently no identifiable income stream for this program and its future direction is unclear. Schneider suggested that offering additional funding might help to “jump start” the program. Members discussed the need for a “champion” – an established organization that would take a leadership role in WHO’s statewide digitization efforts. It was generally agreed that it would be premature to appropriate WiLS monies to the Digital Initiative before the Planning Committee had a chance to develop a plan. The Digital Planning Committee is scheduled to meet in December.
Subsequent to discussion, it was decided to act on Schneider’s three recommendations individually. Hamon withdrew his motion. A MOTION, to add $10,000 to the WiLS equipment budget line for FY06 was made by Grothe, seconded by White and passed by voice vote. A MOTION to return funds to ILL users in the form of pro-rated credits to their ILL deposit accounts in an increased amount of $50,000 was made by Drew, seconded by Boucher, and passed by voice vote. Because of the increase in the amount to be returned to ILL users, the funds remaining for Schneider’s third recommendation were reduced to $60,000. A MOTION, to earmark up to $60,000 in the WiLS budget for possible use by the Digital Planning Committee once a more specific plan is developed and reviewed was made by Hamon, seconded by Boucher and passed by voice vote.
Schneider presented a financial report on the FY06 budget. Revisions have been made to the income side which will increase due to the Illinois Virtual Reference Project, through which WiLS will offer training. The removal of an accountant position and shifting to contractual accounting services may lower expenses slightly.
REPORTS ON CURRENT INITIATIVES
WHO Digital Initiative. A digital planning conference, held
in Ohio prior to the OCLC Members Council meeting, was attended by Wilkinson
and Schneider, plus WiLS staff member Debbie Cardinal and Cathy Markweise
from Milwaukee Public Library. Attendees at the meeting came away
with different perspectives. Schneider reported that her feeling
that Wisconsin was far behind other states in digitization efforts was
somewhat modified: while some states are ahead, there are many
that are not. Wilkinson sees sustainability as a major problem
as grants, used for pilot projects, become less available.
He also commented that successful programs tend to be headed by an organization
for which digitization is a core mission: is there such a “champion”
for Wisconsin? Discussion by the Board covered many topics, including:
“champions” for WHO; sustainability models other than revenue
production; OCLC’s “Core Content” tools; the role of
the State Historical Society and possible collaborations with WiLS; creating
digital imaging centers based on library type rather than geographic regions;
what WHO will do, if given funding, to make itself sustainable; the need
for a better definition of audience for the digital collections; the continuing
role of major players; the need for a 5-year plan or business plan. The
Board will await further reports from the Digital Planning Committee.
OCLC GROUP SERVICES
Schneider reported that Phase 1 is set to begin in January with 61 libraries. The
group catalog will be named “BadgerCat,” with eight scoped
views of WorldCat (all state libraries, colleges and universities, WAICU,
public libraries, technical colleges, University of Wisconsin libraries,
a northeast Wisconsin academic consortia called New ERA, and the South
Central Library System). There is much interest in creating geographic
views of WorldCat (i.e., Southeast Wisconsin).
Phase 2 begins in July: there is a fair amount of interest, and
one additional library has already signed up. By that date, Schneider
hopes to add any Phase 1 Target Libraries that have not yet joined, plus
30 additional libraries.
Phase 3 will be initiated in January 2007.
VIRTUAL REFERENCE
The move to a statewide virtual reference service that is truly 24x7
is progressing toward the January start date. There are 15 public
library systems participating in the program. Four academic libraries,
Carthage, Viterbo, St. Norbert’s and Edgewood, have recently
joined. The number of total participating libraries is close
to 300. Schneider is collecting information on each of the libraries
and Schneider and Drew are working on a website. A full-day kick-off
event will take place in Madison on November 18th. LSTA is making
funds available to cover the Cooperative Reference (24x7 aspect) part
of the service, reducing the annual cost to participate in the program
to $750 for individual libraries and $1,500 for Public Library Systems.
OCLC MEMBER’S COUNCIL REPORT
Delegates Wilkinson and Boehning attended the October meeting, which
was heavily focused on global issues. Notes from the meeting
should be posted on OCLC’s web site soon. OCLC has made
it a priority to sell their services globally, because markets in Europe,
Asia and South America offer areas for real growth.
There was some discussion of a possible Member’s Council meeting
outside the U.S. in the future. A draft of a new study, “Perceptions
of Libraries
& Information Resources,” was presented at the OCLC meeting;
the study was prepared by the Harris Corporation with data gathered via
an online survey.
There was much discussion of OCLC’s relationship with networks
versus individual libraries during the course of the October meeting.
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.
OTHER BUSINESS
DLTCL New ILL Guidelines. Drew distributed draft “Wisconsin
Interlibrary Loan Guidelines.”
This first revision since 1996 was compiled to provide a common understanding
and give libraries guidance in how to participate in the state ILL system.
The document is a set of guidelines rather than rules, and is intended
for use outside of public library systems, where agreements are already
in place.
Of special interest: a list of situations for which ILL should not be
used (best sellers, new media, materials owned but in use, materials
on order, and prepublication titles); descriptions of the many players
involved in ILL; an extended section describing “best practices” for
library staff; and sections on ILL law and copyright compliance. Members
were asked to forward any comments on the document by November 11th. Final
guidelines will be completed upon the endorsement of the Council for
Network & Library Development.
NEXT MEETING: Schneider will contact members with proposed dates for the next meeting, which should be scheduled for early April. There being no further business, a MOTION to adjourn was made by Boucher, seconded by Hamon, and passed by voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 1:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Cynthia D. Lynch, Secretary