Technical Services Committee – August 30, 2022

Zoom Meeting

Members Attending: Tammie Busch (co-chair), Susan Howell (co-chair), Jodi Craiglow, Brent Eckert, Robin Mize, Lauren Noel, Renata Schneider, Jackie Zook

Members Absent: George Gottschalk

CARLI Staff Attending: Jennifer Masciadrelli, Ted Schwitzner

Introductions

• Jen Masciadrelli welcomed attendees and presented a quick overview to the format of the meeting.
• Meeting attendees introduced themselves.

Committee Guidelines & Charge

• Jen gave a brief review of the CARLI Committee Guidelines:
  • In former years, CARLI committees were expected to produce formalized papers and/or reports. Currently, however, there’s an understanding that each committee’s “deliverable(s)” to the consortium will be formatted in a way that matches the nature of the project(s) they choose to undertake.
  • The committee chairs are responsible for writing and submitting to the Board of Directors an annual report every May that describes the work the committee has done in the previous year.
  • With COVID over the past few years, event planning hasn’t really been on our radar; however, now that the option has begun to resume for in-person meetings, if we choose to hold an in-person meeting or gathering, there are specific guidelines we must follow regarding timing and logistics.
  • The committee guidelines include a template for meeting minutes.
• Jen then provided an overview of the Technical Services Committee (TSC) Charge and Guidelines:
  • Since there’s a permanent Electronic Resources committee now, formal responsibilities have yet to be delineated; there’s room for collaboration and negotiation.
  • We’re encouraged to collaborate with other CARLI committees.
  • Part of our official charge (as it is with all CARLI committees’ charges) is to address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Committee Communication

• TSC members have been added to the committee listserv (technicalservices@carli.illinois.edu); Jen reminded committee members to “reply all” in their responses so that all committee members will see it (and not just the initial message sender).
• All TSC members have now been given access to the TSC Box folder:
  • Meeting agendas and minutes will be emailed out, but will also be posted here for easy access.
  • If there are any problems with access, contact Jen or Ted.

Meeting Scheduling & Logistics

• Committee members agreed that setting an established meeting time now would be most conducive for scheduling.
• Jen will send out a poll to gauge members’ availability.
• The committee set a roster for minute taking. If a member is absent, the next (non-chair) member alphabetically will take the responsibilities:
  • Jodi Craiglow (August)
  • Brent Eckert (tentatively September)
  • George Gottschalk (tentatively October)
  • Robin Mize (tentatively November/December)
  • Lauren Noel (tentatively December/January)
  • Renata Schneider (tentatively January/February)
  • Jackie Zook (tentatively February/March)

Continuing Business

• Remaining topics/projects from last year:
  • The Document Depository is operational.
    • Beyond occasional reminders about it to the consortium (including committee reminders so it’s not just staff talking about it), it won’t require additional upkeep.
    • We’re calling it a “depository” to avoid confusion with “institutional repositories,” which are entirely different things.
  • Renata Schneider, chair of last year’s DEI subcommittee, noted that we’ve really only scratched the surface of the work that can be done.
    • We need to continue testing the authority headings.
    • We need to consider subject headings at the IZ versus the NZ level.
    • The Discovery Primo VE Committee was investigating the use of 386 fields for DEI headings; we can collaborate with them on that.
  • The Best Practices subcommittee is wrapping up its work.
    • The Best Practices document has been written and awaits TSC refinement/approval before it’s sent off to the Board of Directors for formal adoption.
      • Ted Schwitzner advised that the TSC put the Best Practices approval on its agenda for the September meeting.
      • The board’s executive committee meets November 30; the full board meets December 9. We should aim to have the document ready for this meeting.
  • Data has been gathered on the Alma Confidence and Cataloging Best Practices surveys.
• TSC has the opportunity to present a report at CARLI’s annual meeting on Friday, November 4.
  • Brent asked if the report could be prerecorded; Jen said she’d have to check.
  • Susan noted that since our end-of-year report covered our activities last year and we’re still putting finishing touches on the projects, an in-person report might be redundant.
  • Ted noted that as of the date of the TSC meeting, no other committees have made plans to present a report.
  • The committee agreed that no TSC presentation will be given at this year’s CARLI annual meeting.

New Business

• TSC members discussed new initiatives for this year:
  • For the benefit of new TSC members, Jen described last year’s process of forming two subcommittees that focused on our concurrent projects.
    • Some members worked on both subcommittees; some chose one.
    • At various subcommittee meetings, individuals outside TSC were invited to lend insight/expertise.
  • Tammie noted that the DEI work is ongoing; it would be easy and appropriate to continue that project into this year.
  • Brent suggested that, since this is a CARLI (not just I-Share) committee, our work might be best conceived of as broadening out past Alma.
    • Have we reached out to non-I-Share CARLI institutions for participation/input?
    • Jen noted that some committees/projects are more naturally inclined to a broader CARLI audience, and simple adjustments might be made to I-Share-specific projects to make them more inclusive.
  • Tammie suggested that we might look to survey data to inform our project planning this year.
    • Description of Surveys:
      • The Cataloging Best Practices survey originated with the TSC Best Practices subcommittee, and gauged CARLI member libraries’ tech services staff competence and confidence with Alma- and OCLC-related cataloging workflows.
      • The Alma Confidence survey originated with the CARLI office, and included a number of open-ended questions to gain a clearer view on where CARLI libraries needed additional support and guidance in working with our new library management platform.
    • Ted shared results from the cataloging survey.
      • Tammie asked if results could also be shared from the Alma survey; there may be an opportunity to share aggregated results (to honor confidentiality agreements with respondents).
      • Highlights include:
        • 95% of respondents use OCLC Connexion and/or Worldshare Manager; 79% of respondents use it either every day or multiple times a week.
        • Most respondents prefer to look in OCLC for print records and in the Alma Community Zone (CZ) for electronic records.
        • By a roughly 3-1 margin, respondents start their search for bib records in the Alma Network Zone (NZ) over OCLC.
        • By a nearly 5-1 margin, respondents create new bib records in OCLC over Alma.
        • Nearly 88% of respondents rated their/their catalogers’ comfort with OCLC as “Very comfortable” or “Somewhat comfortable.”
        • 78% of respondents said they would either be “Very interested” or “Somewhat interested” in participating in Connexion training opportunities.
      • Lauren noted that it might be interesting to see if the simple act of taking the survey changed any respondents’ tech services practices.
    • Jodi suggested that, since almost 80% of respondents showed interest in further OCLC training, instruction could be a potential focus of the second subcommittee.
      • Brent drew the committee’s attention to the Connexion training modules provided by OCLC.
      • Tammie described how she adapted these modules to train her own staff, and suggested a design that included having participants complete modules on their own and then offer breakout sessions where participants could debrief what they’ve learned.
      • Jen noted discussion around the consortium about the need for general, non-MLIS staff training on working in a library, and that this kind of a project could help to fill that need.
      • Renata noted that training would also help to ensure content quality levels across the consortium.
      • Jen highlighted the Amigos Library Services cataloging workshop modules as another possible source of training materials. (Note: These modules would come at a cost.)
      • Ted alerted the committee that unless we’re asking CARLI staff to add training to their responsibilities, we’d need to hire trainers.
        • This would most likely be on a cost-recovery basis; to get around the appearance of hiring consultants, we’d need to hire different people each time around.
        • Cataloging isn’t the only area where CARLI libraries need OCLC training, so this may part of a broader conversation.
        • Jen noted that training is officially outside of what CARLI “supports,” but it’s part of being an integrated library system.
        • Tammie asked if it might be possible for TSC members to lead some of this training.
        • Lauren affirmed the idea of using existing training as a starting point.
      • Jen proposed a rolling structure where participants meet for three debrief sessions after working through groups of three OCLC training modules – and then gauge satisfaction via participant surveys.
        • Ted floated the option of using part of the Tech Services Q&A time for debriefing the OCLC training modules.
        • Lauren mentioned that it might drive up attendance at the Q&A sessions, as well.
  • Tammie suggested a more blended model for this year’s TSC meetings, with additional overlap between the two subcommittees.
    • Renata agreed; getting broader participation across TSC would keep DEI work moving.
    • Tammie proposed that we scrap last year’s separate subcommittee meetings, and hold all the business during the main meeting session.
    • Jen noted it would be easier to schedule one TSC meeting per month than three.
    • Tammie agreed to take point on DEI work, and Susan will take point on training.

Assignments for Next Meeting

• Full Committee:
  • Work through the first three OCLC training modules.
  • Review the Best Practices document.
• Individual Assignments:
  • Jen will send out a poll regarding schedule availability for TSC meetings.
  • Susan will begin drafting an advertisement for the OCLC training.
  • Tammie will review last year’s DEI work.

Upcoming Important Dates

• Tech Services Q&A: (Wednesdays) September 21, October 26 at 2:00 PM
• Next TSC Meeting: Thursday, September 22 at 9:30 AM

The meeting was adjourned at 2:54 PM.

Submitted by Jodi Craiglow