Management Council Minutes - August 15, 2007

Facilitators: Bob Michaelson, Roxanne Sellberg
Recorders: Patrick Quinn, Suzette Radford

Attendees: Jim Aagaard, Lori Arp, Stu Baker, John Blosser, Beth Clausen, Russ Clement, Charlotte Cubbage, Scott Devine, Peter Devlin, Jeff Garrett, Catherine Grove, Alex Hernandez-Herrera, Esmeralda Kale (for David Easterbrook), Scott Krafft (for Russell Maylone), Harriet Lightman, Katie Melody, Bob Michaelson, Jeannette Moss (for Denise Shorey), Sarah Pritchard, Patrick Quinn, Suzette Radford, Clare Roccaforte, Roberto Sarmiento, Roxanne Sellberg, Andrea Stamm, Claire Stewart.

1. Introductions, Announcements, and Acknowledgements

Harriet Lightman welcomed Esmeralda Kale, Jeannette Moss and Scott Krafft.

Katie Melody announced that there were three new facilitators for the coming period: Lucy Lyons, Laurel Minott, and Suzette Radford. Katie thanked Roxanne Sellberg, David Easterbrook and Harriet Lightman for their service as facilitators.

It was announced that a new East Asian Studies Librarian had been appointed. Her name is Qunying Li and she begins work on September 15th. The search for the Assistant Head of MARC is underway.

Peter Devlin reminded supervisors to be sure that their backup approver for ETES was approving timesheets in their absence. If the supervisor wants to designate a different backup, they should contact the Library Personnel Office.

Stu Baker announced that the NU Business Portal will have its initial launch in September and NUL will be front and center. The Portal is a gateway to Project Café.

Jeff Garrett made the following announcements:

The time is approaching to bid farewell to Russell Maylone, who will be retiring as curator of the McCormick Library of Special Collections at the end of this month. Russell, who came to Northwestern in 1969, has asked that there be no formal or even informal goodbye event, and reluctantly we are honoring his request. Still, thanks to Special Collections staff and the wonderful coordination work of Jeeyuhn Kang, we will be acknowledging Russell's manifold contributions to the Library and the University community. Russell has already been the subject of a portrait, composed by Robert McCamant, appearing in the August issue of the Caxtonian, the monthly newsletter of the Caxton Club of Chicago, focusing on his early years but also on his plans for retirement. (See http://www.caxtonclub.org/reading/2007/aug07.pdf .) This would have been Russell's last Management Council meeting. Do plan to stop by Special Collections during the next two weeks to wish Russell all the best.

We are pleased to announce that in collaboration with the Kellogg School of Management and NU Information Technology, university wide access to Gartner Research will be continuing into the future. The subscription had been carried fully by NUIT, but they announced that they were discontinuing it in July. Based on copious use statistics and support from Reference, we decided to seek a shared funding model with other campus partners. We also want to acknowledge the work that Library IT has done over the last several years to make Gartner accessible campuswide. For more on Gartner, visit http://www.gartner.com/RecognizedUser.

Approval of Minutes from August 1, 2007
The minutes were approved as revised.

Departmental, Committee and Task Force Reports

Charlotte Cubbage reported that in response to feedback, the NUL Web Services Group has made changes to the web site style guide including providing for a news feed and standards for graphics. The revisions will be distributed next week.

Clare Roccaforte noted that collections of distinction will be supported by visual representation. She will look at “brands” and the use of images to highlight their uniqueness, which will be derived from the overall library look. A proposal will be sent to the Administrative Committee and then Clare will work with the heads of collections of distinction to define their look.

Sarah Pritchard elaborated on Clare’s remarks by noting that the visual representations must be seen as part of a whole. Our web sites need consistency, better color schemes and less clutter and at some point we may work with a graphic designer. Images should not detract from content. Sarah urged flexibility and patience as the standardization process unfolds. She explained how the Web Services Group was set up and its purpose. It is supposed to serve in an advisory capacity to the Administrative Committee and to Management Council. The Web Services Group will take on issues relating to Metalib, ER and Einstein. Sarah noted that the NUL website does not work very well and we should look at the website from the point of view of the user. Reference should be viewed as a service not a location. Subject pages should point toward holdings in NUL special libraries as well as in the general collections. Subject pages should be “mini-gateways.” The library-wide nature of services should be emphasized. There needs to be a more holistic approach and web pages should be geared to patrons’ needs. On behalf of the Administrative Committee Sarah thanked the members of the Web Services Group for their efforts to date.

Claire Stewart reported on a draft schedule for the Teaching, Learning and Technology Workshop, copies of which were distributed to Management Council. These sessions are focused on faculty and cover how people learn and teaching methods. The Searle Center for Teaching Excellence, AT and the University Library are putting on this workshop, which is funded by the Provost’s Office. If anyone is interested in becoming a TLT staff member for 2008 or has suggestions for future topics, please contact Claire.

2. Charlotte Cubbage introduced Stu Baker who reported on reCAPTCH, the Mailhide software to limit spammers from harvesting e-mail addresses off NUL websites. A discussion followed about the benefits and drawbacks of reCAPTCH. This software would be particularly helpful for departmental e-mail accounts, but would add an extra step for patrons who are trying to access our departmental e-addresses. Another advantage is that this software helps with OCR corrections. Apparently, there are alternatives for people with low vision or who are colorblind. The consensus was that its use should be optional. A document will be presented to the Administrative Committee for approval.

3. Computer Use Policy (Bob Michaelson) -Bob Michaelson presented a revised draft of the computer work station use policy which he reworked along with Lori Arp There was a discussion of the policy and where it will be posted. It will be available electronically, with paper copies near workstations, at the Lantern, and possibly printed on the NetID form. A full-length version of the policy could be posted electronically with a more streamlined version available in print. Comments about the policy are encouraged and should be sent to Bob. Feedback is especially needed from units who are frequented by non-NU people. Individual library departments will have discretion in how they implement the policy.

4. University Travel Policy (Katie Melody) Katie Melody reported on the NU travel policy and distributed copies of the policy. She pointed out several important aspects of the policy:

There is a $50 plus tip per person limit on meal reimbursements.

There is a $225 plus tax per day limit on lodging reimbursement.

Katie noted that the Compass booking website defaults to United Airlines but from the drop down menu it is possible to select another airlines.

5. University Librarian’s Report

Sarah Pritchard thanked Katie Melody for making changes to the travel document in response to the revisions that were approved by the Assembly.

Sarah announced that the selected candidate for the Scholarly Communications Librarian position turned down the job. After Sarah met with the search committee and others, a decision was made to break apart life sciences and scholarly communications responsibilities. The Scholarly Communications Librarian position will be redesigned, re-advertised without life sciences responsibilities, become part of Academic Liaison Services, and will work closely with digital repository staff. The half-time Core/Reserve

Librarian vacancy may be reallocated to a half-time life sciences position, with the possibility of it becoming a full-time position down the road, budget permitting.

Sarah reported that the search for a new Provost continues. She and the other Deans have interviewed 4 of the 5 or 6 candidates. The Deans will meet with President Bienen on August 21st to share their thoughts. The Vice President for Research is leaving and the search for a replacement will be expedited, is possible.

Sarah reported that the Slide Library’s transition to becoming a part of NUL is moving along. Three positions are coming over from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences to NUL (the two that are half-time are being expanded to full-time). Two newly funded positions are being created for digitizing assistance. A curator for the Image Library will be reallocated from a position already within NUL. The new NUL Digital Image Library will have six positions. Sarah thanked Claire Stewart, Russ Clement and Peter Devlin for their assistance in facilitating the transition and Stu Baker and his colleagues for working on server and software issues.

Sarah noted that the life safety initiative is moving ahead. The kick-off meeting will be next week. Compromises with the Evanston Fire Marshall have been made regarding the number of shelving sections that have to be removed in the stacks to accommodate life safety space requirements. As a result of the compromises, far fewer volumes (30,000 – 40,000) will have to be removed from the stacks.

Sarah said that plans for the Deering Library 75th anniversary celebration are proceeding. She is working with Alex Hernandez-Herrera on a kick off announcement and they hope that the celebration will generate some major gifts to help with renovations in Deering and enhancing collections. Clare Roccaforte, Nina Barrett, University Press staff, and others are working on a commemorative book on the Deering Library. A gift proposal was given to the Development Office. If the Board of Governors want a mini-fund raising campaign they will have a list of what we would like to do with the money.