FALCONS Meeting
Date: May 16, 2013
Minutes: Motion to accept February’s minutes: Homer made a motion to accept the minutes, seconded by Cato and approved.
Present: Apalachin, Auburn, Aurora, Candor, Cato, Cortland, Dryden, Groton, Homer, Newark Valley, Nichols, Ovid, Poplar Ridge, Seneca Falls, Spencer, TCPL, Trumansburg, Union Springs, Waterloo, Waverly, Weedsport and Amy, Rex, Eric, Linda, Robert, and Jan from FLLS.
Absent: Berkshire, Cincinnatus, Fair Haven, Interlaken, Lansing, Lodi, Marathon, McGraw, Moravia, Newfield, Owego and Port Byron.
Announcements: FLLS Director, Amy Zuch reminded those present of the upcoming workshop conducted by Rebekkah Smith Aldrich entitled Library Director/Manager 101: An Overview of Responsibilities, Best Practices and Working with Your Board for Success here at FLLS on June 7th. We are also still working on organizing and adding content to the new FLLS website. Amy also mentioned the relocation of FLLS. A building has been purchased, a fact sheet with the details was sent out to all libraries, and our tentative plan is to be in the new building by the end of 2014.
Old Business:
- Linda Beins gave an ILL/Database update.
- Two NYS Novel programs, (Twayne’s Author Series and Primary Search which includes Searchasaurus and Kid’s Search interfaces) are going away and being replaced with two new databases geared towards elementary aged children. Key Library (reference and periodicals) for K-5 and Kids Info Bits (Gale) also for K-5 with dictionaries, maps, charts, and an icon driven menu. We also have added Gannett Newsstand Complete which features New York newspapers. These start July 1st and Primary Search and Twayne’s Author Series ends June 30th.
- Linda also handed out a form to fill out on Intra Library Loan System policies. Current data is no longer correct due to the institution of the common card. She would like the form filled out and returned before Memorial Day, May 27th.
- New bands are now being used for out of system ILL’s. All the pertinent information is printed on the band.
- WorldCat is changing their platform but it should not affect anything on your end of it.
- Any suggestions, feedback or comments are welcome on ways to improve ILL services to your patrons.
- Rex gave a credit card update. We have our account set up and are now working on PCI compliance. The target date is June 1st to create the link in PowerPac. It will be located on the dashboard and will have a link for donations. The payment part will be in place first then the donation link. We will look into the existence of a memo line for the donation link in order to determine who the donation is for. We will create handouts for staff on how to use the credit card functionality. Payment by credit card can only be done in PowerPac by the patron. There is no staff intervention required. Refunds are not allowed through credit card processing. If a patron returns a lost item that has been paid for, the library will have to generate the refund. The minimum charge amount will be $5.00. Reports can be generated monthly or quarterly and we will send you the amount you’re supposed to get. No credit card information will be saved in the patron’s account. Once the patron logs into their account, it’s a secure connection and the information is encrypted. Polaris does retain the last 4 digits of the credit card in the transaction database. However no unencrypted traffic can get to the production server. This functionality will work on a mobile device also.
- Jan gave a training update and handed out an updated schedule. The Collection Development workshops were very well received. Thank you Amanda for your expert help and input. The eReader workshops are next and Linda will be training on the new databases only at FLLS on Oct. 18th.
- Rex discussed the PUG enhancements and explained the process. Polaris version 4.1 R2 is currently in Beta testing and 5.0 is slated for 2014. A handout was given out outlining which enhancements were passed. Cato indicated that voting on enhancements was confusing for the member libraries, some of the terminology and explanations used was unfamiliar and Libbie wondered if FLLS can recommend which enhancements would benefit the system the most and indicate those requests to the member libraries so they can vote more intelligently during the process. FLLS would be happy to do that next time.
- Rex gave an update on the Overdrive Download Committee meeting and a handout was included. The committee appointed a chair, a secretary, set goals, discussed the Overdrive platform, 3M, identified positives and negatives and discussed ways to share this information with others.
- Rex discussed the importance of updating the birthdate field in the patron’s record. When you run across a patron record without a birthdate field it is recommended that you insert a block (a library assigned block is already in the dropdown menu) in the record that will pop up when their card is scanned so you can then ask the patron for it. The birthdate field is a required field so it must be filled in before you can save the record. A birthdate is required for any patron sent to the collection agency. Data from this field can also be used to generate statistics on library usage, demographics, and collection development. Even though accurate birthdates are needed, for the occasional time when the information isn’t available and the patron registration has to be updated, please use 1/1/1901 for their birthdate. If you would a previously unrequired field to now be required, please contact Rex.
New Business:
- Eric discussed the bulk purchasing of computers. A handout was given outlining the process; similar to last year’s parameters with updated configurations. The public computers will be Windows 7 with Faronics Deep Freeze loaded. If you have any games on your Gates computers you will need to purchase new games. If you need to purchase Microsoft Office for your new computers (these would be ones that are in addition to what you already have) you will need to purchase Microsoft Office 2010 for $32 which includes software assurance. This will allow you to upgrade to 2013 at no extra charge. If this is a replacement computer, you can move Microsoft Office over to the new PC. They will all come with 5 year warranties, 22” widescreen monitors and Windows 7. Deadlines are as follows: Orders in by June 14th, Price quotes out by June 17th, Checks received by June 26th and PC orders in by June 27th. If you need to purchase a printer, please call as these will be done on an individual basis. Black and white printers run about $400 and may have issues with LibData, color printers run around $500. Eric reminded libraries that Microsoft is discontinuing support on the Windows XP operating system at the end of 2014.
- Rex discussed the Overdrive Big Read. FLLS is part of this program which runs from May 15th through June 1st. The title is “The four corners of the sky” and its usage and purchases will be tracked.
- There was a lengthy discussion on the prospect of a system wide common card. The card could be used throughout the system. Reports would have to be generated for each county on the distribution of fines collected. The implementation of the credit card will help this process. Preferred borrowers would still be in place and first priority given to your items for your patrons to pick up in your library. A system wide card would be especially helpful to those libraries on the border of two counties, such as Trumansburg. They would then see Ovid, Interlaken, etc. in Seneca County.
Open Discussion:
- Where is the fines collected report located? Custom folder/Public Services/Patron Financial/AA-Collected Fees Summary or Collected Fees Details
Meeting adjourned:
Motion to adjourn by Cato, seconded by Homer, meeting adjourned at 11:40 am.
Next Meeting: Thursday August 15th from 9:30 to 11:30.