Interlibrary Loan Codes, Guidelines and Technical Standards Committee

RUSA STARS

Interlibrary Loan Codes, Guidelines and Technical Standards Committee

Minutes, Seattle01/22/07

Present: John de la Fontaine, Tess Gibson (Invited Guest) Sue McGillivray (Recording Secretary) Merle Slyhoff, Karen Turner (Visitor), Nada Vaughn (Chair), Mary Wilke (Visitor)

1. Approval of the New Orleans Minutes

Previous minutes not available for review.

1. Report from the ILL Code Revision Subcommittee

Tess Gibson, Chair of the Subcommittee, provided a status update. She reported the group had met on Saturday (January 20th). The Subcommittee plans to have the revised Code ready for approval at the 2008 Annual Conference. She noted that there will actually be few changes to the “Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States” itself, but rather changes will be made to the contextual document, the “Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States Explanatory Supplement”. The Subcommittee hopes to present the RUSA constituency with a working draft for review by May 15th. The Subcommittee members also discussed ways to educate practitioners about the Code and the changes. People around the table agreed that the ILL Codes, Guideline and Technical Standards Committee has a role in assisting the Subcommittee with this task. Members brainstormed ways to achieve this:

• a wiki
• there needs to be publicity about the changes once the revised Code is released
• the topic should be shopped around to meetings at the 2008 Annual Conference i.e. included on the agenda at the main ILL Stars Meeting, the ILL Hot Topics Meeting etc…
• we should contact the organizers of the “ILL 101: Interlibrary Loan for New Practitioners” Pre-Conference to make sure the Code is being discussed

ACTION: Merle Slyhoff to contact Mary Hollerich

• information can be distributed using established channels such as the OCLC Networks, State Resource Sharing Meetings, listservs

Merle Slyhoff volunteered to create a one pager publicity/education handout that organizers could use at Conferences. The document should be brief and tell users about the Code rather then being a rehash of the Code’s content. Once the handout is ready it will be saved as a pdf document to the Web site for easy download and printing. The Committee will contact people about having the handouts distributed at upcoming meetings and conferences (such as the ILL Conference in Colorado), as well as library schools where ILL is often underrepresented in the curriculum. The group obtained permission to use the RUSA logo from the STARS Executive and clarified that RUSA does not need to approve the document because it is meant to be an informal handout rather then an official document. Merle will send the Committee a draft copy for internal review by the end of February. The final draft will then be distributed to the RUSA constituency for comment in March. The intention is to have the handout available in April 2007.

ACTION: Committee members to send Merle feedback within 2 weeks of distribution of draft.

ACTION: John will distribute the handout at the OCLC Western and Pacific North West meetings once it is released.

ACTION: Committee to draft introductory letter template that can be e-mailed to library schools, conference organizers and RUSA members, making them aware of, and asking them to distribute the handout.

Members also discussed the feasibility of the Committee functioning as a contact for sites that need advice regarding how to implement the Code and/or resolve issues with other ILL units. There was concern on the part of some of the members that the lines could become blurred between advising and mediating. It was decided that education about the existence of and how to interpret the code is the best way this Committee can empower ILL staff.

1. Web Site Content

John de la Fontaine agreed to draft some brief explanatory text to accompany the links on the Web site. Users need to know what the link points to prior to launching from our Web page. John will post draft text to the wiki for comment. John pointed out that he may need to handoff this assignment as his term on the committee is coming to an end.

ACTION: Nada to forward the email of links provided by Margaret Ellingson to John. John will let the Committee members know when there is text ready for review.

4. Programming

Members agreed they would like to sponsor a program at the upcoming 2008 Annual Conference in Anaheim. Seeing as the ILL Code can be perceived as a boring topic, the program should be dynamic and be publicized as information on best practices and ways to improve turnaround times. It’s important that ILL units review the Code in light of changing technology. Therefore the program needs to include scenarios taken from ‘real life’ and suggest how the Code is practically applied in the work place. The presentation should not be a theoretical discussion of the document. The program will emphasize that following the Codes can improve efficiency and service. Members brained stormed ways to deliver the content and presentation ideas.

ACTION: Merle to follow-up on the working title of the program.

ACTION: Merle and John to follow-up with acquaintances and local contacts regarding the possible use of video technology.

ACTION: Nada to take program proposal to the RUSA Executive for consideration for inclusion at Annual 2008

ACTION: Program description will need to be drafted once approval is obtained

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