Board Meeting Minutes, September 20, 2006: Wisconsin Public Library Consortium

WPLC Board Meeting Minutes: September 20, 2006
Location: South Central Library System

Present: Phyllis Davis (SCLS), Kristen Anderson (WRLS), David Weinhold (ESLS), Evan Bend (OWLS), Lin Swartz-Truesdell (KCLS), Stef Morrill (SCLS), Mellanie Mercier (WCFLS), Maureen Welch (IFLS), Bob Hafeman (MCLS), Steve Platteter (MWFLS), Noreen Fish (La Crosse PL), Mark Merrifield (NLS), Sharyn Heili (WVLS), Jim Gingery (MCFLS), Linda Miller, Project Manager, and Josh Morrill.

1. Reports from Partners

Some members are investigating downloadable video from vendors other than OverDrive.

Lakeshores, MWFLS, and Brown County went live with OverDrive on September 19.

Chippewa Publishing sent an e-mail regarding the company's e-books.

4. Project Proposals

This agenda item was moved earlier in the agenda to allow Josh Morrill to present. Josh shared his proposal for a survey, in response to the request from the WPLC Board. He reported that DPI may also be interested in a survey. Josh stated that there would not be any additional charge for adding questions from DPI to a WPLC survey but suggested that WPLC may want to charge DPI. He also suggested that individual libraries could pay to add questions to the WPLC survey.

Kenosha had already contacted Josh. Josh proposes doing any statewide survey before Kenoshas survey. Kenosha wants to have local data to compare to statewide findings.

David asked about incorporating any questions from the ALA survey to make comparison easier, and Josh will consider this.

February is the best time to conduct a telephone survey. Josh needs to know by January 1st if a survey is to be conducted in February.

Phyllis suggested that the survey should ask if the participant votes and wondered about asking about awareness of new WPLC services.

A committee of David, Lin, Stef, and Mellanie (or Tom Hennen) was established to review the proposal.

2. Budget

Phyllis reported that pledges for the challenge that SCLS and WLS made for OverDrive content have been received from NWLS $750, MCFLS $4,000, Milwaukee PL $1,000, WRLS $500, La Crosse PL $500, OWLS $500, and Nicolet $500.

Library systems have different models for how they fund WPLC, and partners want to continue to allow such flexibility. WPLC should not dictate funding options to partners. However, the WPLC Board may need to discuss the question of what is WPLCs responsibility for and role in long term projects. David stated that he believes that keeping the project within WPLC gives value to the organization. Such a discussion seems appropriate for early 2007.

The 2006 budget is on track.

3. OverDrive

Linda reported that a grant request had been submitted for LSTA funds for a project to add titles to enhance services to Regional Library users. She thanked Steve Heser, Stef Morrill and Marsha Valance for their assistance.

There are 842 titles available for circulation at this time. Kenosha doubled usage by adding a link on the librarys home page to the WPLC OverDrive page. Sharyn reported increased usage after records were added to the catalog.

The Selection Committee is still reviewing the offerings for video titles available from OverDrive for downloading.

Linda shared information on the cost of downloading stations. Due to cost, no one is interested at this time.

Linda responded to requests for information on how WPLC provides the service from Ontario and British Columbia.

OverDrive can now provide statistics at the library level based on library card number prefix. Interested partners should send to Linda a list of libraries with each librarys unique library card number prefix.

The issue of school participation in the OverDrive project was raised due to Burlington School Districts participation in the Lakeshores ILS. Both ESLS and SCLS have non-public libraries in their ILS consortium.

Linda reminded everyone that patrons cannot contact OverDrive directly for technical assistance, but libraries can. OverDrive had informed Linda that some Wisconsin libraries had provided OverDrives contact information to patrons, which is not permitted. Several persons mentioned that they had actually received very few requests from patrons for assistance throughout the entire project.

4. Project Proposals/New Projects - continued
Methods that libraries offer for providing technical assistance to patrons were discussed. Lin reported that KCLS staff respond to questions from patrons. Stef reported that some questions are submitted to virtual reference, but reference staff have difficulty in responding to some. The question was asked as to whether a centralized telephone help line would be feasible.

5. Next Meeting

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, December 6, 2006, 10:00 AM at the SCLS office.

Linda K. Miller


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Members Bylaws Committees Meetings Discussion List Statistics Current Projects Proposals for Future Services Reports Links Home Contact Us		WPLC Board Meeting Minutes: September 20, 2006 Location: South Central Library System Present: Phyllis Davis (SCLS), Kristen Anderson (WRLS), David Weinhold (ESLS), Evan Bend (OWLS), Lin Swartz-Truesdell (KCLS), Stef Morrill (SCLS), Mellanie Mercier (WCFLS), Maureen Welch (IFLS), Bob Hafeman (MCLS), Steve Platteter (MWFLS), Noreen Fish (La Crosse PL), Mark Merrifield (NLS), Sharyn Heili (WVLS), Jim Gingery (MCFLS), Linda Miller, Project Manager, and Josh Morrill. 1. Reports from Partners Some members are investigating downloadable video from vendors other than OverDrive. Lakeshores, MWFLS, and Brown County went live with OverDrive on September 19. Chippewa Publishing sent an e-mail regarding the company's e-books. 4. Project Proposals This agenda item was moved earlier in the agenda to allow Josh Morrill to present. Josh shared his proposal for a survey, in response to the request from the WPLC Board. He reported that DPI may also be interested in a survey. Josh stated that there would not be any additional charge for adding questions from DPI to a WPLC survey but suggested that WPLC may want to charge DPI. He also suggested that individual libraries could pay to add questions to the WPLC survey. Kenosha had already contacted Josh. Josh proposes doing any statewide survey before Kenoshas survey. Kenosha wants to have local data to compare to statewide findings. David asked about incorporating any questions from the ALA survey to make comparison easier, and Josh will consider this. February is the best time to conduct a telephone survey. Josh needs to know by January 1st if a survey is to be conducted in February. Phyllis suggested that the survey should ask if the participant votes and wondered about asking about awareness of new WPLC services. A committee of David, Lin, Stef, and Mellanie (or Tom Hennen) was established to review the proposal. 2. Budget Phyllis reported that pledges for the challenge that SCLS and WLS made for OverDrive content have been received from NWLS $750, MCFLS $4,000, Milwaukee PL $1,000, WRLS $500, La Crosse PL $500, OWLS $500, and Nicolet $500. Library systems have different models for how they fund WPLC, and partners want to continue to allow such flexibility. WPLC should not dictate funding options to partners. However, the WPLC Board may need to discuss the question of what is WPLCs responsibility for and role in long term projects. David stated that he believes that keeping the project within WPLC gives value to the organization. Such a discussion seems appropriate for early 2007. The 2006 budget is on track. 3. OverDrive Linda reported that a grant request had been submitted for LSTA funds for a project to add titles to enhance services to Regional Library users. She thanked Steve Heser, Stef Morrill and Marsha Valance for their assistance. There are 842 titles available for circulation at this time. Kenosha doubled usage by adding a link on the librarys home page to the WPLC OverDrive page. Sharyn reported increased usage after records were added to the catalog. The Selection Committee is still reviewing the offerings for video titles available from OverDrive for downloading. Linda shared information on the cost of downloading stations. Due to cost, no one is interested at this time. Linda responded to requests for information on how WPLC provides the service from Ontario and British Columbia. OverDrive can now provide statistics at the library level based on library card number prefix. Interested partners should send to Linda a list of libraries with each librarys unique library card number prefix. The issue of school participation in the OverDrive project was raised due to Burlington School Districts participation in the Lakeshores ILS. Both ESLS and SCLS have non-public libraries in their ILS consortium. Linda reminded everyone that patrons cannot contact OverDrive directly for technical assistance, but libraries can. OverDrive had informed Linda that some Wisconsin libraries had provided OverDrives contact information to patrons, which is not permitted. Several persons mentioned that they had actually received very few requests from patrons for assistance throughout the entire project. 4. Project Proposals/New Projects - continued Methods that libraries offer for providing technical assistance to patrons were discussed. Lin reported that KCLS staff respond to questions from patrons. Stef reported that some questions are submitted to virtual reference, but reference staff have difficulty in responding to some. The question was asked as to whether a centralized telephone help line would be feasible. 5. Next Meeting The next meeting will be on Wednesday, December 6, 2006, 10:00 AM at the SCLS office. Linda K. Miller

		Updated December 4, 2006