Minutes of the Librarians’ Meeting of March 16, 2017
Present: Don Brown (DB), Analu Josephides (AJ), Mary McMillan (MM), Gary Medina (GM), Claudia Striepe (CS), Rebecca Russell (RR)
Absent: Noreth Men (NM)
The meeting was chaired by DB and MM took minutes.
AGENDA ITEMS
1.Approval of Minutes.
The minutes of the librarians meeting of March 3rd were approved. The abridged form of the minutes will be sent to D. Baldwin who will post the abridged minutes to the LRR website, and send out to the LLR staff.
2.Book Donations
GM has requested that the librarians develop a policy regarding the donations of books and other materials to the library. A draft policy was provided for review. It was noted that with the absence of our Acquisitions Librarian, we currently do not have anyone to manage large donations, or review donated items for potential addition to the collection, causing a large backup of donated materials to collect in the archive storage area. MM noted that she and the former acquisitions librarian, Alice Cornelio, conducted a review of donated materials and found that less than 3% of all donations were deemed suitable for addition to the collection and the rest ended up being shipped out to Better World Books. For this reason, handling donations does not seem to be the best use of staff time. In addition, it was noted that the librarians are actively working on a project weeding out old materials so we do not want to add more outdated materials into the collection. It was decided that we would temporarily halt accepting donations until further notice.
Action: GM will notify the Public Access technicians regarding donations.
3.Electronic Resources
a.) MM provided up an update regarding electronic resources. CCLC spring database renewals are coming due for submission. MM noted that we need to consider cutting 1-2 databases due to the fact that our subscriptions budget stayed the same from past years, however, most of our electronic resource costs are experiencing an annual inflationary increase. It was recommended that we start by cutting Resources for College Librariesas it is no longer being heavily used by librarians and would not impact students. MM will be bringing forward other recommendations to future meetings. Librarians agreed to cease our subscription to RCL. MM is planning to obtain a trial to Choice Reviews Online to see if it would be better suited for collection development needs and, since we are already subscription to the Choice periodical and review cards, a discount might be available.
Action: MM to cancel subscription to RCL, which would go into effect in July 2017.
b.) MM attended the SCELC Vendor Day where many of our database representatives shared updates on their products and demoed new products now available. There were many interesting resources that could benefit our students (e.g. Gale’s Human Anatomy database), however as long as our funding stays stagnant we are limited in our options. However, MM is going to develop a Database Trial Libguide, along with an evaluation form, for librarians to use when reviewing potential new resources.
Action: MM to develop Libguide and evaluation form for database trials.
c.) MM started discussion on the future of our ebook acquisition model, which has primarily focused on ebook purchases for ownership in the past rather than ebook subscription models (with Credo Reference being an exception). MM would like to consider moving to a subscription-based model (e.g. eBrary), with books purchased for perpetual access on an as-needed basis, which would likely give us more “bang for our buck” and would support the needs at the community college level. She will begin exploring options and pricing.
Action: MM to review ebook options and, depending on available future funding, consider obtaining access to an ebook subscription platform.
d.) Libguides: MM would like to see the librarians[WU1] begin developing more subject guides that could be linked to the library website. Several of our part-time librarians are interested in creating guides (some have experience / some need training), however we want to ensure it is being done systematically with the most-needed guides being prioritized. MM will begin generating a list of potential guides to use as a starting point (e.g. citations, using ebooks, searching the library, computer/printing, etc).
Action: MM to start a list of recommended Libguides and provide training to those interested in assisting with their development.
4. LLR General Brochure
The general LLR Brochure, used in library orientations, needs to be updated. AJ has offered to take the lead on this effort.
Action: Submit recommended revisions/additionsto the LLR Brochure to Analu.
5. Weeding Procedures
Librarians discussed the need to create weeding guidelines that can be shared with our part-time librarians assisting with this effort. The objective is to ensure librarians are weeding with some consistency, although there will naturally still be some subjectivity involved in the process. Areas to be weeded will be divided by liaison area with that division’s library liaison working with a part-time librarian. It was noted that, when weeding, librarians should include the oversized collection in their review.
Action: Review weeding guidelines provided and send recommendation to Analu.
6. Food and Drink Policy
Librarians are reviewing this policy, which will be taken to the next Division Council meeting for discussion.
Action: Send feedback regarding the food and drink policy to Claudia.
7. Adaptive Access Room
Per the SRC, no official sign-in is needed for their needs so the decision on this procedure belongs to the librarians. It was decided to continue this practice so we have a record of which students are using that space in case any issues arise. It was also noted that the computers in that room are outdated and can no longer support needed software updates. SRC has stated that they are unable to provide new computers and that the responsibility for funding new computers should come from the library.
Action: RR will contact Gary Greco to discuss upgrades to the computers workstations in the Access Room so software updates can be installedAction: AJ will speak with SRC staff and request that they provide a presentation to librarians on the software being used in the Access room. . The librarians would like further discussion on this with the SRC as this does not meet past practice.
8. Library Programming
Part-time librarian Vince Robles is collaborating with Campus Police to offer a series of discussions related to ECC and the law. An example is a discussion related to medical marijuana laws. He would like to hold the events in the library during the evening hours and is working with Vivian on creating flyers. In the future, rooms for non[WU2]-library specific programming should be requested through the division office prior to confirming plans. It was also reiterated that use of the library classroom 102 is only available when library instruction workshops are not scheduled. The latter will have priority if requested.
9. Part-time librarian evaluation process.
VP Shankweiler indicated that student evaluations of our part-time librarians are needed per the faculty contract (page 111). The Librarians reviewed Section 4 of the contract for evaluating PT non-instructional faculty, which states that student evaluations are not required for non-instructional faculty if an alternative evaluation process is in place.Librarians reconfirmed the decision made in Fall 2016 to use the existing Librarian Evaluation Form The Librarians reviewed the evaluation form used by Counselors and discussed whether or not a form could be created for this purpose that can be used at the reference desk to solicit student feedback (see example of form used by Counselors). Concerns were expressed that the form used by the Counselors was inappropriatefor library interactionswhich tend to be shorter and are directional questions instead of appointment-based interactions.It was also noted that changes to the evaluation procedures should have been discussed/requested prior to this semester, and any changes would need to have been implemented by the fourth week. It was recommended that the current process remain in place. Director Russell will share the Librariansfeedback with the VPAA.
Action: RR will take librarians feedback to the VPAA.
10. Program Review
DB provided the most recent draft of the program room which incorporates the feedback he has received from the librarians thus far. It is still requested that each librarian provide 2-3 summarizations of the library program’s strengths, areas needing improvement, and future recommendations as they relate to their service areas (e.g. Access Services, Systems, Collections, Instruction). In addition, a special meeting has been scheduled for 3/27 at 2:00pm to solely discuss the program review. Once completed and the recommendations ranked, we will need to tie future annual plans to our program review. DB will also share the draft at the Division Council next week.
Action: Librarians to provide additional feedback to DB including service area strengths, areas for improvement and recommendations. DB will share the draft at the Division Council.
11. Announcements/Updates
a.) Campus Police is coordinating another “Shelter in Place” taking place on 5/3 at 9:40am and 7:10pm. All building staff, including part-timers, should be notified on procedures.
b). RRdiscussed planned changes to the statewide categorical funds. Basic Skills funding is now being combined with SEP and SSSP programs. A new funding plan will be developed and a summer summit is being planned. RR encouraged librarians to provide representation to ensure the library / information literacy is included.
c.) Procedures need to be put into place regarding complaint forms.
SUMMARY: ACTION ITEMS
Action Item: GM will provide this information to Public Access staff.
Action: MM to cancel subscription to RCL, which would go into effect in July 2017.
Action: MM to develop Libguide and evaluation form for database trials.
Action: MM to start a list of recommended Libguides and provide training to those interested in assisting with their development.
Action: MM to review ebook options and, depending on available future funding, consider obtaining access to an ebook subscription platform.
Action: Submit recommended revisions/additionsto the LLR Brochure to Analu.
Action: Review weeding guidelines provided and send recommendation to Analu.
Action: Send feedback regarding the food and drink policy to Claudia.
Action: RR will contact Gary Greco to discuss upgrades to the computers workstations in the Access Room so software updates can be installed. (???)
Action: AJ will speak with SRC staff and request that they provide a presentation to librarians on the software being used in the Access room.
Action: RR will take librarians feedback regarding PT evaluations to the VPAA.
Action: Librarians to provide additional feedback to DB including service area strengths, areas for improvement and recommendations.
[WU1]
[WU2]There still needs to be some type of vetting process so all library programming is reviewed by Librarians.