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Library Managers • Minutes

Library Managers, October 19, 2004
9:15 a.m., LIB 407

Present: Lorraine Beattie, Susan Bellingham, Betty Graf, Mark Haslett (Chair), Michele Laing, Sharon Lamont, Richard Pinnell, Shabiran Rahman, Linda Teather, Debbie Tytko, Annette Dandyk (Recorder)

Regrets : Eric Boyd, Susan Routliffe, Mary Stanley

  1. Chairs Remarks
    • Recognition and Commendation
      • Mark welcomed Shabiran to the group, and congratulated her on her appointment as Head, Porter ISR.
      • Staff Anniversaries:
        October 1: Connie Deighan, Cataloguing, 30 years
        October 1: Shabiran Rahman , ISR-Porter, 20 years
        October 7: Karen Shantz , Cataloguing, 30 years
        October 17: Jon Morgan, UMD, 10 years
        October 29: Val Huggan , ISR-Porter, 20 years
      • Laura Briggs is featured in the October 2004 issue of C&RL News. The Job of a Lifetime article describes her liaison work in LT3.
    • Updates
      • Mike Ridley has been appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the University of Guelph . He will be responsible for the administration of the library as Chief Librarian, and of Computing and Communications Services (CCS).
      • Reminder - Town hall meeting tomorrow (October 20) from 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. , HH.
      • Mark reported on the October 18 Senate meeting:
        • there was extensive discussion about Bob Rae’s review of Ontario post-secondary education; Mark encouraged managers to read the recently released discussion paper (http://www.raereview.on.ca/en/
          default.asp?loc1=home). UW, COU and OCUL are preparing responses;
        • Mark will use one of the themes of the Rae discussion paper (building a “capacity for collaboration between institutions”) at his November Senate presentation;
        • The Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT) which was an Ontario sponsored program used when funds were received from CFI (OIT funded a portion of the OC UL Scholars Portal) was cancelled earlier this summer and has been replaced with the Ontario Research Fund (ORF). It will provide over $300 million over four years;
        • An Adaptive Technology fair is scheduled for October 28th.
      • The School of Architecture will host an open house this weekend with Friday designated for dignitaries and invited guests. The library will be open over the weekend and anyone interested is welcome to visit. An opening event for library staff is planned for late November.

  2. Business Arising from October 5
    The notes were approved.

    Business Arising:
    Business Arising from September 21 - Mark has requested a copy of the agenda for the December 7-9 OCUL Forum. If he has not received it by the end of the week he will, in consultation with others, decide who should go.

    School of Pharmacy - Richard has been in touch with Joan Leishman, Director of the Gerstein Science Library, University of Toronto and will speak with her again, specifically about resources. He will also arrange a site visit for Susan R, Laura Briggs, possibly Carol Stephenson, Joan Leishman, Elizabeth Vitek Khoo (Pharmacy Librarian at U of T), and himself.
    Action: Richard

    4. Opportunity for all Managers to meet Davis ISR Department Head Candidates - LibExec has not yet had an opportunity to discuss this further.
    Action: LibExec

  3. Planning for the 6 th Decade
    Managers will discuss how best to proceed at the November 16 meeting. This is an opportunity for long range planning as well as reflection on present activities; the 5th decade plan will also be revisited. The final submission deadline is April 30, 2005.
    Action: Mark

  4. Cultural Change Update
    The staff information sessions on October 8th and 9th went well, with 46 people attending including several from Porter. Sharon has received expressions of interest in extending the program to Porter.

    A number of issues were raised, such as a need for more external publicity (suggestion for an article in Imprint), and additional training for staff to raise their comfort level when patrolling. Sharon, Jo Heimpel and Sharon Bissonnette have begun their own patrols to ensure compliance with the guidelines and to observe. They had similar experiences – cell phones are not as big an issue as was believed; the noise level is generally high although no one table was particularly loud – they are all equally loud; it is difficult to hear conversations at the service desks because of the noise levels; and no one objected to the guidelines. Sharon sent a message to Davis staff requesting volunteers to assist in monitoring the new guidelines.

    Next steps:

    • monitor space issues and possessions left behind to “reserve” spaces,
    • post and fill the library security supervisor position,
    • additional publicity; Sharon will contact Mary,
    • assess the success of the program,
    • Sharon will talk to Shabiran about Porter issues.
    Action: Sharon

    The group discussed food issues in Porter. More users are bringing food and beverages into the computer areas. It was noted that students are not allowed to bring food or beverages into computer labs. Recommendations for Davis and Porter are different because of differences in the layouts (cell phone users often use the stairwells in Porter), and the fact that Porter has a coffee shop. Modifications to the language in the guidelines may be suggested.

  5. Managers Updates at November Meeting
    At the last meeting it was proposed that a formal mechanism for sharing details about significant activities within departments be established. The updates will provide an opportunity for Managers to inform each other about activities, and the rest of the staff through the notes that are mounted on the web. Mark will send a note to all staff indicating that all committees, task groups, and ad hoc groups etc have a standing invitation to report on their activities at Managers’ meetings on the third Tuesday of every month. Administrative contacts will encourage the groups to do so.
    Action: Mark

  6. ARL E-Metrics Statistics
    A document distributed prior to the meeting shows what kind of e-metrics statistics are being asked for in the new survey. Linda noted that it may help influence how we collect data in the future. Managers were asked for their help in interpreting some of the questions and in identifying people who may be able to provide the data. Managers should let Linda know within a week. The survey is divided into three sections: Number of Networked Electronic Resources; Expenditures for networked electronic resources; and Use of networked electronic resources and services. Data may not be available for all of the questions.

    The survey is due December 1st.

    Mark commended Linda, Gail Sperling, and the UW statistics and reports support group on their work managing statistics collection and surveys.
    Action: Managers

Next meeting: November 2, Porter

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August 17, 2006