CARLI User Group Committee
Report to the CARLI Board of Directors
October 17, 2005
Submitted by Belinda Cheek
The User Group Committee met on September 30th at the CARLI Office in Urbana. At that meeting I let the group know that Jamie Nelson, Augustana University, has found it necessary to withdraw from our committee due to personal reasons.
The group is working toward consensus on a common definition for the terms “user group” and “Special Interest Group.” Although we have not reached complete agreement, we are currently working with the two terms in the following manner. Our working definition of a user group is a group of persons who share similar interests, goals or concerns regarding use of a specific technology or consortially licensed software product. Although some members are not completely comfortable using the term Special Interest Group (SIG), we are currently defining this (very loosely!) as a group of persons who share similar interest in a particular area/topic and who wish to have an opportunity to share ideas, discuss current issues, etc.
The committee spent a good portion of the meeting discussing potential structures for user group and SIG support within CARLI. Tom Dorst attended our meeting and gave input from his perspective of working with electronic resources. Although Elizabeth Clarage was unable to attend due to personal reasons, she did share some thoughts with Tom who passed these on to our group. Throughout this discussion it became very clear that whatever our final proposal ends up being, we need to clearly define all pieces of the structure and, where applicable, provide sufficient history of “legacy” groups. We want to ensure that all members, especially those not previously affiliated with one or more of the legacy consortia, understand the function and need for specific groups that we feel should be continued in some form.
At this time, the committee is working to more fully define a potential structure that would include three components:
- User Groups
As indicated above, we are defining user groups as supporting members using consortially licensed software. Our current working list of user groups includes five I-Share Voyager groups as well as groups for currently licensed digital products:- I-Share Acquisitions/Serials
- I-Share Circulation and Universal Borrowing
- I-Share Consortial Cataloging and Authority Control
- I-Share End User Instruction
- I-Share OPAC Customization
- ConentDM
- SFX
- WebFeat
For those of you familiar with the legacy structure from ILCSO, at this time we have simply carried forth the five ongoing IUAG committees/task forces that have reported to IUAG. There is still a need for further discussion regarding this specific list and whether or not any changes are needed at this time. Also, you will notice that we have not listed IUAG itself on this list. We are exploring the concept of having just one coordinating committee as described below, and that committee would carry out most of the functions currently served by IUAG. - Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
Although our committee recognizes a need to maintain continuity for groups from legacy consortia whose work needs to continue in CARLI, we are also encouraging each other to think “outside of the box” to be creative about meeting the needs of our new consortium. We are trying to structure our suggestions such that the CARLI membership can create its own identity over time and not simply blend together the things our legacy consortia have always done. We also want to adhere to the “membership driven” philosophy that has carried forward into CARLI. One of the areas in which we feel this can be accomplished is in the SIGs.
Although there are numerous functions or groups of staff within the CARLI that we feel might wish to gather to discuss ideas and current issues, network, etc., there is a feeling that these groups need to be member driven. In other words, rather than a committee such as ours prescribing what SIGs will exist, we feel that the membership should have the ability to form SIGs as the need and interest arises. Therefore, we are currently working toward a proposed structure and mechanism by which CARLI members can initiate a SIG group. There will, of course, also need to be oversight of these groups, a means by which we can determine which groups are no longer needed, etc. - Coordinating Committee
The coordinating committee, as currently envisioned, would liaison with the Board and among the SIGs and user groups. It would be responsible for creating and disbanding SIGs and user groups in accordance with CARLI by-laws; appointing task forces or working groups, as needed; coordinating calendaring of SIG and user group events; etc. Our initial thinking is that this group would be made up the chairs of the user groups and a representative number of chairs from the SIGs. It was also felt that the Board may wish to have some direct involvement with this committee, perhaps by appointing the chair.
We concluded our meeting with a preliminary discussion of our involvement in the October 28th CARLI Membership Meeting. We are looking to spend 10-15 minutes briefly describing our charge and our work thus far. We then would like to allow approximately 15 minutes for questions and input from those in attendance. We would plan to encourage this discussion with a few leading questions such as:
- Are there SIG groups in which you would like to participate and for which you might be willing to participate in organizational efforts? What types of support from CARLI would be necessary to make the SIGs successful?
- What barriers might prohibit your participation in User Groups or SIGs? Is there anything that the consortium could do to eliminate these barriers?
Our committee is meeting via conference call on Thursday, October 20th to continue our work and finalize our plans for the Membership Meeting.
We are still very much in the developmental stages of our proposal, and we would like to encourage feedback on our current direction of thinking. If the Board, or individual members of the Board, would like to make comments or pose questions for us to consider, we welcome that input. Please feel free to contact me or any member of our committee.