September 21, 2010

by Gerald Doyle

ACADEMIC ASSEMBLY OF LIBRARIANS GENERAL ASSEMLBY

TUESDAY, September 21, 2010
2:00 PM
PALEY LIBRARY, LECTURE HALL

MINUTES

Attending: Larry Alford, Aslaku Berhanu, Steven Bell, Mark Darby, Carla Davis Cunningham, Kristina De Voe (chair), Anne Harlow, Eric Jeitner, Carol Lang, Jonathan LeBreton, Krystal Lewis (recorder), Rick Lezenby, Byron Mayes, David Murray, Penelope Myers, Diane Turner.

Meeting called to order at 2:04
  • Approval of minutes from the August 6, 2010 special meeting.
    • Minutes approved without changes.
  • Remarks by the Dean of Libraries and Senior AUL (L. Alford, J. LeBreton.) Larry discussed his recent trip to Japan and China.  He visited Temple
    • University Japan, which has a small but busy library with five librarians. TUJ is interested in our resources and services, and Larry asked for suggestions for helping the TUJ librarians.  Steven Bell suggested Skype meetings. While in China, Larry attended a digitization conference sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Library of China. In China, there is substantial government support for libraries, and libraries are engaged in digital initiatives.
    • Larry talked about the Indirect Cost Recovery Survey, which will take place over the next year. The University’s Comptroller’s office initiated the study to measure the amount of use the library gets by grant-sponsored researchers. The study, which was developed by the Dean of Libraries at the University of Connecticut and has been deployed at about 30 research libraries, is used to help negotiate the indirect cost recovery rate from government-sponsored research.  There is both an online and paper questionnaire. The purpose of the study is intentionally vague so that the results are not skewed.  Direct any complaints about the study to the Dean’s office.
    • Larry stated that there was no new news about a new library building.
    • Larry reported on the mold outbreak at the Ambler library.  Humidity rose above 70% and there was mold damage to books and carpet. Health & Safety conducted an air quality test and a remediation company estimated clean up at $50,000.
    • Larry talked about the Libraries’ relationship with Temple University Press. The director now reports to Larry, but the TUP is not a part of TU Libraries. TUP is participating in a Mellon grant with other university presses to study how to move from print to electronic format and generate revenue.  Larry would like ideas for library collaboration with TUP.
    • Larry named several new collections that the Libraries has acquired, including the archives of KIDSNET; production notebooks from various television shows from the 1980s through 2000s; and a mostly-digital advertising collection. The Libraries is still negotiating for a low-resolution digital collection of 30 years of local television broadcasts.
    • Larry announced that he has met with the library deans at Rutgers and Penn to discuss potential partnerships.  The three institutions will complete a collections analysis and holdings study to identify areas of strength.  There could be an opportunity for a digital initiative, and the deans are interested in any cooperative ideas.
    • After Larry’s remarks Jonathan provided a Coutts update. Carole Bell is scheduling training sessions for all subject specialists during the week of October 4, 2010. Currently, firm order requests initiated by subject specialists are being conveyed to Coutts only via Acquisitions staff (no direct orders). A draft of the approval profile gathered last month is expected from Coutts by the end of September.  Feedback on the draft will remain open for about a week.  After approval shipments begin, selectors will need to monitor arriving titles.
  • Report on Public Services Retreat (S. Bell)
    • Steven provided a recap of the Public Services Retreat. The planning committee learned that planning such an event requires a great deal of time and effort. Topics covered at the retreat included customer service, user experience, and models of public service. An entire day could have been spent on any one of these topics.  See TULibraries Insiders’ blog for more information about the retreat. The post-retreat survey indicated support for an annual retreat.  AAL members can individually request the post-retreat survey results from Steven.  A follow-up event is forthcoming and will be announced shortly.
  • Upcoming Research Project (S. Bell)
    • Steven reported that he is working on a User Experience research project and accompanying presentation for the ACRL 2011 Conference. He will administer surveys to students and staff based on retail user experience surveys.  The completion of his project will require the logistical cooperation of subject specialists, likely in the November.
  • iPad discussion (K. De Voe)
    • Kristina initiated a discussion of actual and potential uses for the iPad, a tablet computer that is currently available to staff in several library departments. Eric Jeitner discussed iPads in Media Services.  These will circulate to patrons. Media Services’ iPads contain the same desktop image as the RIS iPads. Loan period will be one week.  Patrons will be able to recharge the device’s battery “in the field”. Patrons will not be allowed to install apps. Individual book titles may be downloaded upon patron request. Reading eBooks and web browsing are expected to be among the most popular uses of the iPad. Eric also discussed the possibility of downloading film and other video on demand, but that is not certain.
    • Jonathan, Byron, David, and others discussed potential uses for the iPad among staff.  Ideas ranged from installing a spreadsheet app for use by student workers in the stacks to document creation in Google mobile docs via Safari to accessing Blackboard on the go via the dedicated Blackboard Mobile Learn app.  David later sent a list to the AAL listserv of sixteen iPad apps that could be used to provide reference services, as well as to view eBooks, periodicals, and video. The iPad’s utility increases greatly when the user has the ability to install apps on his or her own.  Larry noted the possibility of acquiring additional iPads if there is demonstrated need.
  • Old Business
    • None.
  • New Business/announcements
    • None.
  • Adjournment
    • Meeting adjourned at 3:40pm.
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