TexShare Advisory Board Meeting
10:15 AM until 2:00 PM on April 27, 2007
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
1201 Brazos, room 314
Austin, TX
Minutes
1. Minutes from the January 26, 2007 meeting were
approved.
2. No public comment.
3. TSLAC Update: Peggy Rudd discussed the
prospects for LSTA funding in the upcoming fiscal year. Due
to federal budget process, TSLAC will not get the increase
in LST funding we planned to get. Consequently, we won’t
be able to award TexTreasures grants in FY2008. Ms. Rudd also
discussed plans for the Lorenzo de Zavala building renovation.
4. TLA TexShare Riders: Gloria Meraz discussed
the progress of legislation related to the State Library.
5. LSTA 5-year Plan: Peggy Rudd reviewed
material in packet. She discussed the current plan and the
upcoming plan. She requested input from TSAB on how to assess
needs, and how to address them at the state level by means
of the LSTA plan. The board expressed interest in TSLAC programs
that address the needs of all kinds of libraries, and the
reinstatement of competitive grants.
6. Expanding Database Cost Sharing: Sue
Phillips presented the Task Force on Database Fees’
recommendations for adjusting the floors and ceilings on the
fee schedule to collect an additional $80,000 per year in
cost share. The task force had not yet developed recommendations
for changes in the cost share for medical and joint public/school
libraries. The board supports the recommendations that were
presented, and directed TSLAC staff to alert the membership
so they can budget for an increase in the FY2008 assessment.
Formal approval of a revised fee schedule was tabled pending
the full set of recommendations, to be presented at the July
board meeting.
7. Strategic Partner Reports
A. University of Texas at Austin: Sue
Phillips reported on the April meeting of the International
Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC), highlighting use
of open source software for a combined catalog, PINES, in
Georgia and new, consortia report formats up for approval
by Project COUNTER. Ms. Phillips also reported that several
SAGE Publications Packages will be available as a TexSelect
option through the TexShare partnership with Amigos Library
Services. Maurice Fortin alerted the board to potential
impacts on TexShare vendor agreements if Angelo State University
is moved from the Texas State System to Texas Tech System.
B. Amigos: Tim Prather reported on the
new courier hub in Texarkana, changes to times in some hubs,
and a new vendor in Arkansas. The rise in price of gasoline
will have an impact on the courier service in FY2008.
C. ESC 20: Susanna Garza reported.
- ESC-20 presented information at several regional and
statewide conferences
- ESC-20 distributed 700 copies of an “Online Resources
Integration Toolkit” to school librarians at the TLA
Conference
- ESC-20 completed a bid process for Digital Knowledge
Central (DKC) databases to supplement the K-12 TexShare
package
- Upcoming plans include producing video clips on best
practices for integrating database resources into instruction
- Database training scheduled for the summer
8. Working Group Reports
A. Card Program: No report.
B. Interlibrary Loan/Courier Service:
Mark Dolive reported on the NETLS local courier, improved
statistics collection, and plans for a 2-day option on courier
service. The group is planning for an ILL Workshop in February
2008.
C. Education Services Program: No report.
D. Electronic Information: Kerry Keck
reported.
The group met face-to-face on February 26, 2007 and discussed:
- Core databases with lower-than-average usage. The working
group will continue to review these specialized subscriptions
to evaluate their cost-benefit on an ongoing basis.
- NetLibrary e-books weeding project. The draft policy
is available, and the subgroup has begun applying the weeding
criteria to the collection, targeting June 2007 for completion
of this project. (The 183 TexShare libraries that have loaded
MARC records for netLibrary will be able to make individual
decisions regarding implementing weeding suggestions by
removing appropriate records from their OPACs).
- Identifying additional databases to be added to the TexSelect
program. This year we are adding Sage publications, Facts
on File, and Encyclopedia Britannica products. The group
is also discussing the possibility of adding audio books
to TexSelect.
E. Communications: Greg Tramel reported
on the success of Communications Working Group program Taking
the Cloak of Invisibility off your E-Collections, presented
at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference.
F. Library of Texas: Beverley Shirley
(for Jeanette Mosey) reported that TSLAC signed a contract
with Index Data to upgrade LoT to the newest version of
their platform. Along with this upgrade, the interface will
get a "face lift" based on usability testing being
conducted by Diane Neal from Texas Woman’s University.
G. TexTreasures Grants: No report.
9. Administrative Report: Beverley Shirley reported.
A. TexShare Database Fees: As of April
9, 2007, we have collected $1,515,985 of the TexShare FY07
Database Program Fees. 649 libraries have paid. The Task
Force on Database Fees met in conference call February 15
and April 16. A subcommittee of the task force was appointed
to review data on medical library enrollment, budgets, and
other criteria and present one or more alternatives for
a restructured fee system. Task force discussion on fees
for joint public-school libraries was pended until we know
the results of the legislative session.
B. Outreach: TexShare database usage in
public libraries is declining. We are working on outreach
through several venues - TLA Conference programs, direct
electronic mail of vendor-generated materials, informational
packets distributed at system meetings, a University of
Texas ischool study of usage patterns, and vendor-provided
training. Because the decrease in public library usage corresponds
with a period of time during which TSLAC has not offered
face-to-face database training, we consider this to be a
major factor and hope that training for public libraries
can be scheduled soon.
C. TLA: TexShare programs/services were
featured in several programs at the Texas Library Association
Annual Conference:
· Texas-sized Bytes! Z39.50 and Metasearch/Interoperability
Standards
· Texas-sized Collaboration: The TexShare Card and
Loan Star Libraries
· TexShare Rx for Robust Health Resources
· What Can the Library of Texas Do for You: Federated
Searching and Associated Service Enhancements for TexShare
Libraries
· Take the Cloak of Invisibility Off Your E-Collections
· Teaching with TexShare: Teacher-Librarian Collaboration
D. TexShare Annual Report Survey: The
results of the TexShare Annual report for FY2005 have been
tabulated and illustrate a high level of support for the
program. There were also several suggestions for improvement
that will be turned over to TexShare working groups to address.
E. TexTreasures Grants: Because of a delay
in approving a federal budget, IMLS is still operating off
of the previous appropriation level. It appears that we
will not be able to reinstate TexTreasures grants in FY08
as previously anticipated.
F. Advisory Board Appointments: The Texas
State Library and Archives Commission appoints members to
our TexShare Advisory Board. The commission will appoint
new members to the board at its August 6, 2007 meeting.
G. THDI Information of Interest: TSLAC
submitted an IMLS National Leadership Grant proposal for
continuing development of the Texas Heritage Digitization
Initiative, requesting $448,858.08 in grant funds, with
$473,831.84 provided in cost share by three partners (TSLAC,
Amigos Library Services, and the University of North Texas).
The abstract reads: "The Texas State Library and Archives
Commission, working with the University of North Texas Libraries,
Amigos Library Services, and a variety of additional partners
and participants, will develop 'Train to Share,' a project
of the Texas Heritage Digitization Initiative (THDI). In
this three-year demonstration project, THDI will address
the need, identified nationally but equally evident at the
local level, for quality sharable metadata, metadata produced
within specific traditions of practice that can nonetheless
be shared seamlessly across communities to provide a rich
experience for digital library users."
The THDI Annual meeting was held February 23, 2007 at the
University of Houston, with 62 persons in attendance. The
theme for the meeting was "Powerful Partnerships,"
focusing on ways in which institutions can improve their
abilities to contribute to and benefit from a variety of
partner relationships.
At that meeting, the THDI Steering Committee adopted the
THDI Standards, version 1.0 on February 22 (http://www.thdi.org/documents/THDI-standards-20070222.pdf).
Next board meeting will be Sept. 26,
2007.
Present:
TexShare Advisory Board Members:
Nancy Anderson, Howard Payne University
Steve Brown, North Richland Hills Public Library
Cathy Dean, San Antonio Public Library
Doug Ferrier, UT Brownsville/Texas Southmost College
Maurice Fortin, Angelo State University
Larry Justiss, Tom Green County Library System
Candice Scott, Schreiner University
Martha Tandy, Weatherford College
Texas State Library and Archives Commission:
Mike Avila, Library Resource Sharing Division
Sue Bennett, Library Resource Sharing Division
Dave Hardy, Library Resource Sharing Division
Deborah Littrell, Library Development Division
Ann Mason, Library Resource Sharing Division
Peggy Rudd, State Librarian
Ed Seidenberg, Assistant State Librarian
Beverley Shirley, Library Resource Sharing Division
Working Group Chairs/Liaisons:
Mark Dolive, ILL/Courier WG
Kerry Keck, Electronic Information WG
Greg Tramel, Communications WG
Strategic Partners:
Susanna Garza, ESC-20
Sue Phillips, University of Texas at Austin
Tim Prather, Amigos Library Services
Guests:
Gloria Meraz, TLA
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