SUNYConnect Advisory Council

 

March 15, 2006

 

Present:            Randy Gadikian, Carey Hatch, Janet Potter, Dave Ritchie, Judy Sikora, Rick Winant, Maureen Zajkowski, Connie Perrin (Staff)

 

Excused:           Walter Asonevich, Don Boyce, John Homburger, Stephen Roberts, Walter                               Lukhaup, Nancy VanDeusen

 

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of February 15, 2005 were approved as distributed.

 

Aleph 500 LMS Update

Maureen provided the following LMS update:

 

Implementations

  • As of March 15 all of the Group9 campuses will have moved to Ex Libris Support:  SUNYIT (INS), Mohawk Valley Community College (MVC), Brockport (BRO), Niagara (NIA) and Empire (ESC) and North Country (NOR).
  • University at Buffalo (BUF) - implementation activities over the past four weeks:
    • evaluating data loads - bib, authorities, holdings, items, acquisitions
    • working on configuration and testing LDAP
    • working on various WebOPAC display issues
    • updating the test server environment
    • working with Ex Libris on functionality questions and follow-up questions from training sessions

 

Version 16 Upgrade Activities Underway

  • Creating version 16 DEV regions
    • Competed:
      • 18 campuses on Westaleph now have v16 DEV regions on Saranac
    • Remaining: 
      • 4 campuses on Westaleph (to v16 regions on Saranac)
      • 18 campuses on Niagara (to v16 regions on Seneca)
      • 10 campuses on Hudson (to v16 regions on Delaware)
  • Individual announcements are sent to the campus representatives when a campus v16 DEV region is available.  The announcement includes a multi-page document outlining next steps and another attachment with server and port information.
  • Periodically, public announcements have been and will continue to be made to the SUNYLMS list as to the campuses that have been notified of the availability of their version 16 DEV environments.
  • OLIS is working on manually updating to v16 campus WebOPACs to reflect the customizations campuses had on v14.  Once completed, the campuses are notified and provided a document that indicates what files were edited, differences between v14 and v16, and next steps.
  • A Version 16 Upgrade Support page has been created. It provides links to information such as v16 upgrade schedules, a v16 GUI, access to a test v16 database, and information on downloading Interwise sessions (pre-recorded web videos of the GUI clients created by Ex Libris).  It can be accessed at   http://www.sunyconnect.suny.edu/aleph/v16upgrade.htm (login: aleph500/ aleph500).
  • Campuses that have not yet received their v16 DEV region announcement have been asked to review the document "How to Prepare for the Version 16 Upgrade" located at the Version 16 Upgrade Support page (URL and login above).  This information has been shared in various mailings to the SUNYLMS list.
  • Aleph upgrade training begins next week.  Training highlights:
    • Ten regional sessions have been scheduled. 
    • Each session includes 4 days of training.

o       OLIS will be contacting campus representatives closer to the training dates regarding the logistics of the training and to determine campus staff that will attend.

o       Training will be train-the-trainer scheduled at regional locations noted on the v16 upgrade schedule.

o       Due to the number of sites represented at each session only two people from each campus can be accommodated.

o       Staff members that will participate in v16 Aleph training must review the Interwise Information sessions prior to the scheduled training.

o       Version 16 provides a significantly different staff GUI interface - training will focus on how to use the new interface to perform routine Aleph functions in cataloging, circulation, acquisitions and serials; other v16 changes will be reviewed.

o       People attending training must be comfortable with and have a high level of expertise with v14

o       Training will not be refresher training; it will not be for new staff who have no knowledge of v14.

 

Union Catalog

Carey reminded the group that he had sent out the links to our development catalogs for the union catalog and the campus catalog with a union catalog base.  He stated that in either case, it is necessary for a campus to have ILL/Doc Delivery configured within SFX.  Also included in the e-mail was a spreadsheet showing every campus and their SFX ILL status.  He said we will be working with campuses over the next few weeks to ensure base level e-mail functionality.

 

Electronic Resources

Carey reported that presentations with each of the following vendors were held on March 7 in Albany:  EBSCO, Wilson, ProQuest and Gale.  The e-resources team has received price quotes from each vendor.  The group will be meeting again in April to continue discussions.

 

ILL Update

Members discussed possible timelines for creating an ILL Task Force.  Carey explained that SCLD will want to look at issues pertaining to process, funding and training.  He said he would draft a document for members of SUNYLA explaining where we are in the process and stating that talks will be taking place at the SCLD meeting in April.

 

Pakistan – Public Higher Education and Libraries

Randy reported that one of his colleagues presented a paper in Pakistan at a four year undergraduate college.  During a visit to the library, the colleague was surprised to discover that the full IEEE journal was available.  SAC members discussed how institutions of higher learning in third world countries often receive e-journals from publishers as gifts or for nominal fees.

 

University Centers Discussion

Carey will be talking more with Steve Roberts before the next SAC meeting in April about the role of the university centers in SUNY-wide library services.

 

SCLD Annual Meeting – April 24-26

Carey said he would know more about the SCLD annual meeting after the conference call on 3/17.

 

Janet reported that the directors from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences made a recommendation to the SCLD executive board that cross sector meetings be held at SCLD.  Everyone agreed this is an excellent idea.

 

SUNY and the Digital Library

Carey stated that John Schumacher has been working on a budget for the UUP proposal.

 

DSpace

Carey said that Upstate Medical has begun the process of using DSpace for the submission of dissertations

 

NYSHEI Membership

Carey reported that a conference call was held on March 7 between SAC’s Finance Committee and SUNY’s three representatives on the NYSHEI Board in order to discuss the continuation of SUNY’s university-wide membership.  As a result of the discussion, it was decided that SUNY remain for one more year, after which time SUNY will revisit its commitment.  A letter has been drafted for John Townsend, Director of NYSHEI.

 

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12 in Albany.  Randy reminded the SAC that he, Janet and Judy will be going off the Council in July and that elections for replacements are upcoming.

 

Adjournment.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Nancy Van Deusen, Secretary

Draft prepared by Connie Perrin (Staff)