TexShare Advisory Board Chair Joe McCord convened the meeting and welcomed guests.

Minutes

The minutes of the May 9, 2002 meeting were accepted.

Public Comment

None

Communication Plan (Molly McDonald)

Ms. McDonald presented the TexShare Communication Plan for Board approval. The plan was written based on the results of a telephone survey of 50 TexShare member librarians and a stakeholder meeting held on July 24, 2002.  This was the most collaborative planning process Ms. McDonald has ever facilitated. It is an ambitious plan, but Ms. McDonald feels TexShare can accomplish most of what is outlined. She feels the biggest challenge is that the plan based on grassroots support, requiring much coordination. If funded through a contract with a consulting organization, the activities outlined would cost $400,00-500,000.  In order to accomplish our goals with a more modest budget, Ms. McDonald recommends use of an Implementation Task Force as outlined in the plan.

Per Board recommendation, the plan will be amended to specify all the organizations of academic institutions as stakeholders, not just the academic librarians.

The Board members feel that this is a very good plan. They believe that it is most important to stay focused on activities that address librarians’ needs as we approach the next legislative session.  There was agreement to begin by prioritizing tasks and to use the upcoming Texas Library Association district meetings to get the word out.  Board members were enthusiastic about the possibilities of librarians working with their local media and with their legislators.

Gloria Meraz announced TLA plans for video spots during the Texas State Fair. There can be expanded use of that video footage for public service announcements on local radio and television.

The Board members will send TSLAC their recommendations for persons to serve on the implementation task force.

The TexShare Communication Plan was unanimously adopted.

LSTA Five-Year Plan (Deborah Littrell)

The TSLAC Library Services and Technology Act  (LSTA) Five-Year Plan was submitted to Washington and was accepted. The plan is based on the needs of Texas Communities. This plan is broader than the previous five-year plan, with the addition of support for digital library collections, the Talking Book Program. The plan outlines staged implementation of outcome-based evaluation of LSTA-funded programs.

K-12 Pilot Project (Peggy Rudd)

Included in the recommendations of the Task Force on TexShare Expansion was initiation of a model program of cooperation between TexShare and K-12 school libraries. TSLAC staff have met with Mary Lankford of TEA  to plan such a program. It was agreed to select a site where there is already collaboration at local level and where TEA and TSLAC both have an active presence. The libraries of Hidalgo County meet these criteria, and TSLAC has contacted the Hidalgo County Library System to arrange a meeting to discuss the possibilities of doing a model program with them.

Working Group reports

Card Program working group

No report.

Courier working group (Jo Anne Hawkins)

82% of TExpress libraries are reporting their statistics to Amigos. The current report for September through July reflects corrected statistics from prior reports. A total of 369,457 packages were sent and received by the courier service. This is down from previous reporting periods, possibly due to the failure of some large libraries to report statistics. The Working Group has recommended that the statistics be reported on a fiscal year basis so that more meaningful year-to-year comparisons can be made. Several working group members have terms that expire at the end of August, and the working group will work with TSLAC to appoint or reappoint members and to assure that all constituencies are adequately represented.

Education working group (Bonnie Juergens)

The working group has appointed a task force to discuss quantitative and evaluative data to collect from persons participating in TexShare workshops.

Electronic Information working group (Tommie Wingfield)

All database subscriptions have been renewed. TDNet was added to provide a serials management utility that will enhance access to the full text content of the databases and increase use.  A $1 million Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) grant allowed the working group to add Salud Para Todos, Stat!Ref, and medical ebooks to the TexShare core collection. The working group is researching the possibility of adding the Lippencott Nursing collection to the Ovid databases as well. The Board expressed disappointment that Gale Group dropped the Dallas Morning News from its newspaper collection without providing us with advance notice.

Interlibrary Loan working group (Sara Lowman)

The next ILL workshop will be held on November 22, 2002 in Dallas. $50 per participant will be charged. The theme is “Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be – NOT!”  The focus of this workshop will be on learning what other consortia are doing with their ILL programs. Speakers include:

Anita Cook, Director of Library Systems for OhioLINK

Bill DeJohn, Director of MINITEX Library Information Network

Jeff Steely and Ken Carriveau from Baylor University

Florence Mason, owner of F. Mason and Associates.

Nominations are open for the ILL Department of the Year Award.

Texas Collections working group (Ellen Safley)

The Texas Collections Working Group met for two days in June and reviewed 22 grant proposals. Additional funding this year allowed the working group to recommend $190,000 of grant funding.  The Texas State Library and Archives Commission awarded eleven grants at its July meeting. Two grants were put on hold; one of these applicants has withdrawn.

Three issues arose this summer concerning the awards:

Smaller libraries are competing against the largest institutions for TexTreasures grants.

Funding is being requested for projects that may be seen as continuations of previous projects

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission has placed emphasis on collections of  materials about Texas.

The Board discussion determined: (1) It is important for the Commission to understand the intent of the TexTreasures program as a mechanism to fund access to important materials in Texas libraries, not exclusively Texana. (2) It is important for the TexShare Advisory Board to have an opportunity to review and act upon the funding recommendations of the working group prior to thier presentation to the Commission.

Dr. McCord will compose a letter to the commission outlining the original purpose of the grant and forwarding the Board’s recommendation that the program continue to fund important collections within Texas libraries. The Board will review and comment on the draft. Dr. McCord will send the final version to the Commission prior to their September meeting.

The TexTreasures grant program will be an agenda item on a future TexShare Advisory Board meeting so that the Board can continue to address the issues raised by Ms. Safley’s report.

Strategic Partner reports

Amigos Library Services (Bonnie Juergens)

TExpress participation costs are now $2,750 per year. Eligible libraries pay a direct fee of $1,130 per year with TexShare subsidizing the remaining $1,620.  The TExpress Service Satisfaction Survey was conducted in June. 81% of resspondents rated the service “good,” “very good,” or “excellent.”

University of Texas at Austin (Sue Phillips)

No report

Administrative update

LRS Staffing Update:

Susan Beebe will be joining the LRS team as TexShare Coordinator on October 1, 2002.

Library of Texas Update:

We have renewed the core collection of TexShare databases and selected TDNet to provide an electronic serials utility that will enhance access to the databases.  TIF awarded us an additional $1 million grant to provide TexShare libraries with electronic medical resources.

• The Electronic Depository Program software testing is almost complete. 
• We have completed the purchase of the hardware to support the videoconferencing service and are preparing it for installation in locations throughout the state. Web based learning software has also been purchased.
• Eleven companies/organizations signed up to participate in the L.O.T. Resource Discovery Service proof of concept effort conducted by Dr. Moen at U.N.T.
• Information on all of the developments regarding the Library of Texas can be tracked through the redesigned Web site at http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/lot.
• TexShare Expansion Update: Per the recommendations of the Task Force on TexShare expansion, we have embarked on three cooperative ventures:
• Border Community Project: We will be a partner in FronteraTEC, a TIF-funded program in support of communities in fourteen Texas counties touching the border.
• TIF-funded database training program: The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board to develop a program to provide training to Texas public and school librarians in the use of TLC and TexShare databases.
• Model project with K-12 libraries: We have met with TEA regarding a model program of cooperation between TexShare libraries and high school libraries. Hidalgo County, where there is already a strong history of cooperation among libraries, is a potential location of such a project.

Communications Plan Meeting: We signed an agreement with the Center for Media Training to develop a communications plan for the TexShare database program. The Center conducted 50 telephone surveys and facilitated a stakeholder meeting on July 24.  The primary goals of the stakeholder meeting were to discuss ideas for energizing the library partners of TexShare to promote greater use of the databases, to identify stakeholder roles and responsibilities, and to plan strategies for creating greater public awareness of and access to TexShare databases.

Legislative Appropriations Request: We submitted our Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR) for Fiscal Year 04-05 on August 16, including an exceptional item request for General Revenue funding for TexShare databases.  The exceptional item request for databases was given a #1 priority ranking.

Governor Perry requested that all state agencies submit a budget reflecting 97% of the funding level requested for FY 2004-2005 and a budget reflecting 95% of the funding level requested for FY 2004-2005.  We were able to maintain full funding for all TexShare services in its 97% budget plan.  At the 95% level, the commission approved reductions involving several TSLAC programs including the Texpress courier services and TexShare databases.

New Advisory Board Members: Three TexShare Advisory Board members have expiring terms this year.

Present:

TexShare Board members:

Joe McCord, University of Houston at Clear Lake, Chair

Eva Poole, Denton Public Library, Vice-Chair

Nancy Anderson, Howard Payne University

J.J. Baskin, Austin Public Library Foundation

Paul Dumont, Dallas County Community College District

Rhoda Goldberg, Harris County Public Library

Maurice Fortin, Angelo State University

Eileen Shocket, St. Edwards University

Glenda Swink, Southwest Texas Junior College

Darryl Tocker, Tocker Foundation

Elaine Wells, University of Texas Health Science Center – Tyler

Texas State Library and Archives Commission:

Peggy Rudd , State Librarian

Michael Avila, Library Resource Sharing Division

Coby Condrey, Library Resource Sharing Division

Deborah Littrell, Library Development Division

Erica McKewen, Communications Office

Beverley Shirley, Library Resource Sharing Division

Jay Velgos, Library Resource Sharing Division

Russlene Waukechon, Library Resource Sharing Division

Working Group liaisons:

Jo Anne Hawkins, University of Texas at Austin

Sara Lowman, Rice University

Tommie Wingfield, University of Texas at Arlington

Ellen Safley, University of Texas at Dallas

Strategic Partners:

Bonnie Juergens, Amigos Library Services

Sue Phillips, University of Texas at Austin

Visitors:

Mary Lankford, Texas Education Agency

Gloria Meraz, Texas Library Association

Angela Skaggs, Angelo State University