Falcon Meeting

 

Date:     5/17/2007

 

Minutes:

The February Falcon meeting was cancelled so there are no minutes from that meeting. Minutes from the November meeting are on the FLLS website, copies have been sent out and additional copies are available today. Motion to accept: Newfield seconded by Groton, approved.

 

Present: Apalachin, Auburn, Cato, Cortland, Dryden, Groton, Homer, McGraw, Moravia, Newfield, Ovid, Poplar Ridge, Seneca Falls, TCPL, Trumansburg, Union Springs, Waterloo, Waverly, and Weedsport. Rex, Linda, Eric, Robert, June, Jan, Annette and Karen from FLLS.

 

Absent: Alternatives, Aurora, Berkshire, Candor, Cincinnatus, Fair Haven, Interlaken, Lodi, Marathon, Newark Valley, Nichols, Owego, Port Byron, and Spencer.

 

Announcements:

1)      The New York State government has approved additional funding for libraries for this year only.

2)      The new director of the Dryden Library was introduced, Diane Palmer, welcome!

3)      The new director of the Auburn Library was introduced, Sheila Anderson, welcome!

4)      Kay Zaharis from Cortland introduced her new assistant director, Jan Dempsey, welcome!

 

Old Business:

1)      Robert discussed Quick Bibs. He has sent out tips on locating the Publisher Number which helps identify materials. Any library who wants to do the paperless Quick Bib just call Robert and he will set up templates for you specific to your library. It has been working very well and it’s rare that the actual item has to be sent in. Paperless Quick Bibs mean no forms and no printouts need to be sent in. If the material is unusual you may have to send it in though.

 

2)      The Polaris Inventory Manager was discussed. Auburn, Cato, Waterloo and FLLS have used it. The instructions have been revised thanks to valuable feedback from Auburn. Before you attempt an inventory, weed your collection first and run the Pre-Inventory Call Number report to check for problems with any call number errors. The Inventory Manager is very easy to use. Call CNS to reserve it.

 

3)      Rex discussed the LSTA grant for the wireless access manger. It was a 2 year grant 2007 – 2008 with a maximum allotment of $10,000 which is not enough. We are not going to be participating at this time. Plan B is to install wireless routers on top of the existing network. This has been done at Cortland, Trumansburg and Ovid and works well.

 

New Business:

1)      Polaris 3.3 was discussed. We are on the top of the list to have the new version installed on the training server as soon as it’s available. The training curriculum will be based on the new version.

 

2)      In Polaris 3.3 there is a new parameter that will allow patrons to place a hold on an item that has a status of “in”. This can be set at the branch level. Some discussion followed and then the libraries were asked to make a decision as to whether they would like their patrons to have the ability to place holds on their items if the status is “in”.

 

3)      There has been a change to the wording in PowerPac regarding local vs. system availability. Local availability has been changed to “This library”. System availability has been changed to “Other libraries”. This was approved by those members present. If you are interested in seeing the new version of PowerPac, check out the Pierce County Library System’s 3.3 version of PowerPac.

 

4)      We are designing a form that will be available on the FLLS website for Polaris enhancement suggestions.

 

5)      We have requested a fourth setting for consortium fine calculating to be based on where the item is checked out.  This new setting will be in 3.3. Currently fines are calculated based on the patron’s registered library which can cause confusion for the patron.

 

6)      There is no need to check the box in the patron record “do not send to collection”. A script runs every night and inserts a check mark in that box. Currently you cannot have more than one library using a collection agency. This will be a new enhancement in Patron Services in 3.3.

 

7)      The notices generated in Polaris 3.3 will come from the patron’s registered library.

 

8)      Replacements costs will now be linked to material type by branch if the item record price field is not filled in.

 

9)      The electronic databases and RPA were discussed. If you have troubling accessing the databases it may be your pop up blocker. There are troubleshooting tips on the database page located to the right of the database list. In Internet Explorer hold down the control key and click on the link. There is a security issue with Internet Explorer 7.0, so do not install it on your public pc’s. Please continue to check access to the electronic databases and report any problems promptly to CNS.

 

10)  A system wide card was discussed but we need the ability to merge patron records before it can be implemented.

 

11)  ILL announcements: there will be some changes in Inter Library Loan procedures. In 2006 over 123,000 ILL requests were handles both inside and outside the system. 98% of those requests were filled. This year so far nearly 44,000 requests have been handled. Please direct all questions pertaining out of system requests to June Gilligan. A map of where each request was filled was displayed. Currently only Adult Non fiction can be requested. We have expanded that as of June 1st to include Adult and Juvenile Fiction, Juvenile Non Fiction, Large Type, sheet music, microforms, foreign language materials and periodical articles. There is an average two week turn around period. No requests for items that can be purchased for less than $10 will be filled. Exclusions are: anything owned by the FLLS system, new materials purchased in the last 12 months, DVD’s, music CD’s, reference materials, rare books, bound or entire issues of periodicals, Books on Tape and Books on CD. If a periodical request is submitted, please include detailed information and instructions. New procedures for handling out of system requests include the creation of a Quick Bib and Item Record by the FLLS ILL Department so it will be all ready for you to just check it out.

12)  Rex reminded those present that if you have an account with Bowker Books in Print, he can set it up to check PowerPac to see if you already own the item before you purchase it.

 

13)  Downloadable media was discussed. FLLS may fund part of the subscription. No special equipment is required. Bandwidth may be affected by downloading large amounts of data. We will offer policy suggestions and security. Either listen to it on a PC or transfer to another device. Burning it to a CD may also be available. You must have download software prior to downloading the data. For dial up access you can download it a little bit at a time. It will not work on IPods. Patrons who use the service must be sure they have the right equipment, i.e. Windows Media Player. Go to overdrive.com to see what devices work with downloadable media.  Also let Rex know if you need a USB cable for your public PC.

 

14)  A question was raised on what is the life span of a memory stick? That information should be on the documentation that came with the memory stick. It’s probably based partially on the number of rewrites or data and the purchase date.

 

15)  The new Harry Potter book was discussed. A BIB record will be available for you to add your item records too, however they will not display in PowerPac. Create the item record as “Holdable” and uncheck the box “display in Pac”. Use the circulation status of “on order”. This book will not be officially released until July 21st. Robert will notify you when the new Harry Potter bib record is in the system.

 

Meeting adjourned:

            12 Noon

 

Next Meeting:

               August 13th, 9:30 – 11:30 am