FALCONS Meeting Minutes – August 2015

FALCONS Meeting Minutes – August 2015

 Date:     August 20, 2015

Present: Auburn, Cato, Cortland, Dryden, FLLS, Groton, Homer, Lansing, Newark Valley, Newfield, Nichols, Ovid, Poplar Ridge, TCPL, Trumansburg, Waterloo.

Absent: Alternatives, Apalachin, Aurora, Berkshire, Candor, Cincinnatus, Fair Haven, Interlaken, Lodi, Marathon, McGraw, Moravia, Owego, Port Byron, Seneca Falls, Spencer, Union Springs, Waverly, Weedsport.

Announcements:

Rex Helwig –

1. Jenny Clark, the new Training Coordinator, was introduced. She has already done some trainings and the schedule is posted on the website.
2. Webinar software is being looked at with the possibility of being able to broadcast trainings and meetings in the future.

Linda Beins –

1. There is now a new database available in the FLLS (Consumer Health Complete). This was made possible through SCRLC.  The Auto Repair and Home Repair databases are being discontinued.
2. The Directors Advisory Council (DAC) met on 4/27/2015. The 3 largest libraries in the system (AUB, CORT, TCPL) are automatic members.  Representatives of 2 smaller libraries from each county are needed to serve on the committee.  The next time the counties have meetings of their directors, delegates should be chosen.

 

Amanda Schiavulli –

1. Registration is open for the “Successful Outreach Using Mobile Gaming” training to be held on  9/17/15.  Each library that attends will receive a Nintendo 3DS XL game system and 2 games.
2. Movie Licensing renewals are due by 9/18/2015. New libraries can also be added.
3. Two representatives for COSAC are needed, preferably from Cortland County.

 

Annette Birdsall (TRU) – She thanked Kristi Downham for assisting her in obtaining a grant for solar panel installation at the Trumansburg Library.

 

Sarah Glogowski –

1. She is planning to visit all the libraries in the system.
2. Nominations for awards to be given at the Annual Meeting should be submitted by 8/28/2015. The meeting will be held on 10/16/2015.
3. There will be an open house at the FLLS building on 9/25/15 from 3-6 PM. This is open to the public and will include demonstrations, refreshment and tours.
4. People have stopped at the office and asked if they can return books here. A book return is being considered.

 

Susie Gutenberger (LAN) – Lansing has new children’s library cards with artwork provided by a graphic designer.  They will also be using the design for a banner.  Rex reminded everyone that any library can design their own cards but will then have to pay for them.

 

Approval of Minutes:  Sara Knobel (GRO) made a motion to accept the May 2015 minutes.  Lisa Carr (AUB) seconded this motion.  The minutes were approved unanimously.

 

OLD BUSINESS

System-wide Common Card Circulation Policies – Lisa Carr (AUB) is chairing the committee.  She plans to have a meeting in September.  She has spoken to Onondaga and Chemung Counties for input on their parameters.

 

Power PAC Committee –

1. Jen Schlossberg (TCPL) reported the committee met on 6/16/2015 and is planning to meet every other month. They are looking into ways to meet remotely. She is looking to have increased representation from each county.
2. The purpose of the committee is to explore how the PAC looks to patrons and how well it is working for patrons. Libraries should get feedback from patrons regarding their use of the PAC.
3. Annette Birdsall (TRU) suggested providing more user training.
4. There is a difference in the way the Power PAC and the Mobile PAC look.
5. Rex can make changes based on suggestions however it should be noted that if changes are made to they are not reflected in the “Help” pages.

 

Zinio Update (Linda Beins)

1. Zinio is now live. There have been 150 people that have setup accounts and 736 checkouts so far.  101 of the 103 magazines have been checked out.  Better Homes and Gardens has been the most popular.  Once downloaded, the magazine will stay on a device and not need internet connection to access it, making it very portable.
2. Bookmarks and brochures are available and electronic versions will be sent to each library. Any library can add in its own graphic but it is requested that they keep the FLLS graphic in one of the places.
3. A link to Zinio has been added to the dashboard of each PAC. Links are also available for user guides and tutorials.  Jenny may incorporate information into her trainings.
4. Diane Pamel (DRY) asked about sustainability of funding for Zinio. Linda reported that FLLS is covering the platform fee for the next 2 years.  The money used to purchase the magazine titles is from the CBA grant.  There are still some funds available if patrons request specific magazines.

 

 

Annual Computer Bulk Buy Update (Eric Franks)

1. Eric reported on issues he has been encountering with attempting to upgrade the new computers from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10.0. The benefit of Windows 10.0 is that it looks more like Windows 7 and is therefore more user friendly.  Windows 10.0 is also introducing a new browser called Microsoft Edge (which is replacing Internet Explorer).
2. After discussion of various options, it was decided that the new computers would be released with Windows 8.1. The 2016 Computer Buy will have Windows 10.0 as the operating system.

 

Interlibrary Loan/Lender Trial (Linda Beins) – see handouts for specific details

1. After 10 years of FLLS only borrowing books from outside of the system, it was decided that the system needed to reciprocate. Linda gave a handout for specifics on what types of books would be loaned and how the process would work.
2. All libraries need to make sure ALL their item records for books list the books as “holdable” and “loanable outside of the system”. Rex provided a handout with detailed instructions for how to do this.  Libraries can choose to “opt out” books in certain categories (eg reference, local history) or if a book is rare or valuable and do not want to let it circulate.  In some cases articles/chapters can be copied and then loan them.
3. Requests will come through the Request Manager and be sent to FLLS for further processing.

 

NEW BUSINESS

2016 FALCONS Budget (Rex Helwig) – see handout for specific details

1. The overall budget has increased by just over 3% with some budget items increasing and others having decreased since 2015. Rex reminded that Polaris software maintenance fees increase by 5% each year and this cost needs to be passed on to the libraries in the system.
2. A generator for the server room has been added so that if FLLS loses power Polaris will still remain functioning as long as there is an Internet connection.
3. Lisa Carr (AUB) reminded everyone that part of each library’s fees include the “Acquisition Module” through Polaris but only AUB and TCPL are currently making use of it.  This feature will work when making purchases through Baker & Taylor and Ingram.

 

Polaris Upgrade – New Features (Rex Helwig) – see handout for specific features

1. Patrons can change their pick-up location on PAC up until the time it arrives at the library – when it is received and scanned in it will be sent on to the desired location.
2. Patron Associations feature – patrons can see the blocks that are on accounts of their “associates” – this will allow parents to know what is happening with their children, such as overdue books – they should sign a consent form to allow for this – this can be an added option to registration forms.
3. At this point there is no way to keep copies of online registration forms
4. Rex has turned off access to our PAC to certain countries due to hackers
5. “Lost/claimed returned” items are now displayed in the patrons account in PAC.
6. Rex wrote a SQL Job so that when a missing part is checked in, it removes the “missing item” block off of the patron account. You will still need to manually remove the note in the Item Records Special Item Check-in field.
7. OCPL has stopped using LEAP because it is not running over VPN and it was thought there might be security risks however LEAP requires an SSL certificate which encrypts all the traffic from the Leap device to the Leap Server and Rex says this is not a valid concern.

 

Network Upgrades and how to pay for it (Rex Helwig) – the routers currently in the libraries are not providing needed stability – Rex would like to upgrade them to Meraki Routers which are cloud managed equipment.

1. They are teleworker routers with a full deep packet inspection firewall.
2. They can be set to give the remote desktop priority for bandwidth.
3. FLLS will be able to access the libraries’ routers remotely.
4. The cost is $261 plus a $29/device yearly maintenance fee and a lifetime warranty.
5. It is possible to get an e-rate discount of up to 70% – Libraries would need to be CIPA compliant by having a Web filtering product turned on and filtering the staff and public computers which the Meraki Routers can do. FLLS filters for Pornography and Malware without impacting staff.

 

Training Opportunities (Jenny Clark)

1. Regional trainings will be offered throughout the fall months.
2. Trainings will need a minimum of 5 people and maximum of 10 people. Registration is available on the FLLS website.
3. She is working on training for LEAP.
4. Contact Jenny with any questions at jclark@flls.org.

 

OPEN DISCUSSION

1. Auto-renew is an options for libraries to have turned on. It will only renew items that are assigned to the library.  Rex submitted an enhancement request to allow all items at libraries with Auto-renew turned to Auto-renew all items regardless of the Item’s assigned library.
2. A new product (URL Detective) is being looked at to verify Bib’s that have a URL.
3. Reminder from Linda – School Libraries should be reminded about the availability of Ask Us 24/7 as a homeworker helper. New pencils and book marks will be provided to promote the service.
4. Some library systems have worked with school districts to issue iCards which can only be used to access digital services (eg databases). It may be possible get dump from the schools to get information on all of the students in the district and import them into Polaris.

 

 

Meeting adjourned:  Annette Birdsall (TRU) moved and Libby Messina (CATO) seconded and the meeting adjourned at 12:00.

 

Next meeting:  November 19, 2015 (9:30 -11:30) at FLLS.