December 2006
Summit
Summit has completed its 1 millionth loan!
When we say that "Summit" has done this, of course what we really mean is that literally hundreds of staff at member libraries have selected, purchased, catalogued, processed, pulled, checked-out, bagged, shipped, received, checked-in, and re-shelved a million items. In addition, we have all the system staff that keep this complex system of more than 30 local and central servers running and all the library staff that serve on Orbis Cascade Alliance committees, working to develop better, faster ways to serve patrons and circulate more materials. Resource Sharing Program Manager Nancy Nathanson also deserves a round of applause for this achievement, as do the rest of the consortium staff who have helped with Summit over the years.
In 3 1/2 years, staff at Alliance libraries have processed over one million Summit Borrowing requests. This milestone represents a tremendous amount of effort and dedication at every member institution.
Congratulations and thanks to every staff member involved with Summit!
Comments from member institutions:
"Repeat borrowers often still express their amazement at this great service." --Gary Jeffries, EWU
"I hear students say that they are very impressed by the convenience of it. That if our home library does not have the book, they can check Summit for one and have it sent to the checkout desk by a few clicks of the mouse." --Summit Borrowing Processor
"Summit users have become grateful enthusiasts of the library and cheerful customers and friends." --Nancy Compton, EWU
"Summit Borrowing rates extremely high in terms of user satisfaction." --Louise Newswanger, GFU
"The ease of Summit has made all the difference in the world. Patrons are amazed that their items are here within 3 days." --Diane Schmitt and Eileen Neil, MHCC
"Our patrons are usually amazed at how easy it is to request an item. They expect the process to be more cumbersome and are happy when it's a snap." --Kim Marsicek, WWU
"[Our patrons] love Summit! They think it's the best money we've ever spent!" --Katherine Stevens, PCC
"I have recently been using Summit as a patron while doing research for a class paper. What I am most happy with is that almost every book I wanted was in the Summit system. " --Liesl Vorderstrasse, UO
Thank you to everyone involved in Summit Borrowing, because you are the ones who make this very important service possible!
Summit Unmasked
Nancy Nathanson (Alliance) and Debbie Hackleman (OSU) traveled to Spokane, Olympia, Eugene, and Portland in November and December to hold four Summit Regional trainings to help explain the Summit catalog--how it works, inside and out. Just over 130 people from 31 institutions attended!
Summit Catalog Committee
The Summit Catalog Committee Steering Team met in September at Lewis & Clark College. They had a very full agenda, including the following topics:
- Summit Search Interface
- Open WorldCat link to Summit
- Google Link to Summit
- Reducing Duplicates in Summit, etc.
The SCC Steering Team also set up working groups based on recommendations received from members. Four working groups have been established to address Council's charge: Data Harvesting, Short Term Summit Interface, Next Generation Summit Interface, and Duplicate Record Reduction. The SCC groups are already hard at work on their assignments.
Summit Borrowing Committee
The Summit Borrowing Committee Steering Team organized another successful Summit Borrowing Day event. Topics covered at SBDay ranged from Pickup Anywhere to courtesy notices to troubleshooting and tips. The committee has also been working on several assignments, including a few that came out of their full meeting in July. They have worked on issues related to the Booking Module, added a renewal period to the short loan, modified the paging slips to make processing easier and reduce errors, and discussed patron information suppression
Walla Walla College reduces duplicates
Thanks and congratulations to Walla Walla College for their significant efforts to add OCLC numbers to catalog records and reduce duplicates in Summit. WWC submitted about 94,000 WLN records for a matching process provided by OCLC; about 97% matched OCLC records. For an example, see: New worlds in medicine an anthology.
Strategic Agenda
At their October meeting, Council met at Portland Community College. A large portion of their agenda focused on the Strategic Agenda created through a planning process that started with the Council Retreat in April 2006 and was adopted at the recent meeting. Major initiatives include:
- Regional Library Services Center (RLSC)
- Cooperative Collection Development
- Resource Sharing Program (e.g. Shared Integrated Library System, Summit Data Harvesting, etc.)
- Digital Initiatives (a new Alliance program area)
For a detailed description of the Strategic Agenda process and stages, as well as more information about the initiatives, take a look at the main Strategic Agenda web page.
RLSC
Endorsement of current activity
As a part of the Strategic Agenda, Council endorsed current activity in the planning of the Regional Library Services Center (RLSC).
Recent activity
The University of Oregon has decided to discontinue consideration of an RLSC facility located at Linfield College and to focus their efforts on locations near Eugene. Given that the Alliance's current RLSC initiative is predicated on UO as fiscal agent and Linfield as host site, the withdrawal of either party indicates the end of this effort in its present form. Thank you Linfield College and UO for your concerted efforts on behalf of the RLSC initiative.
- RLSC appears in the Oregon Governor's recommended budget for 2007-09: $4.6 million Lottery Bonds, $4.6 million Other Revenues.
- The RLSC Leadership Group has drafted a report to Council that briefly conveys four alternatives for the future of the RLSC initiative and provides a specific recommendation concerning next steps.
- Council will consider options at the March 2007 meeting.
Electronic Resources
CDMC and ERC Joint Meeting
The Collection Development & Management Committee and Electronic Resources Committee held a successful program on October 6th at Portland Community College. Addressing the increased activity in electronic journal licensing, participants were provided with presentations on archiving of electronic journals through Portico and LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe).
A panel discussion with librarians, a publisher, and a serial agent discussed the challenges posed by moving journals from print to electronic and the complications that consortial journal packages present. After a tasty lunch, a session on Innovative Interfaces, Inc. statistics and reports by the two committee chairs and John Helmer rounded out the day.
2006: The Year of the Electronic Journal Package
In addition to agreements with Springer and Elsevier that were initiated pre-2006, many Alliance libraries will participate in three new agreements. All three are multi-year, which provides predictable budgeting by capping annual price increases.
Cambridge Journals
- 11 libraries participating
- Access to 208 Cambridge Journals with coverage from 1996/7 -
- Participating libraries will pay a surcharge on their current 2006 Cambridge subscriptions
Wiley Interscience
- 17 libraries participating in a title sharing agreement with Wiley
- Access to 246 Wiley journals for years 1996/7- for a slight surcharge on the institution's own 2006 subscriptions
Sage Premium Online
- 22 libraries participating in a 3-year agreement
- Access to 418 Sage journals
- Each participant pays a surcharge on their 2006 subscriptions
Collection Development & Management Committee
CDMC and ERC Joint Meeting
The Collection Development & Management Committee (CDMC) and the Electronic Resources Committee (ERC) planned the recent ERC-CDMC joint meeting. Topics covered at the joint meeting included: Portico, LOCKSS, e-journals, and Innovative Interfaces, Inc. statistics. The CDMC has also been working on several very ambitious projects, including:
- Working on draft MOUs for Dark and Dim/Light Archives as part of their continuing work on the Distributed Print Repository Pilot Project
- Survey on Monographic Selection
- Distributed Print Repository Pilot Project
The CDMC Steering Team met on November 20th. Agenda topics included: suggesting a CDMC representative for the SCC Data Harvesting Working Group, OCLC Collection Analysis pilot project, and a draft RFI (Request for Information) for a consortial approval plan.
Courier
New Courier Program Manager
As part of a reorganization of who does what in the Alliance office, Debi Baker assumed responsibilities as Alliance program manager for courier service starting September 1. Debi has played a major role in the courier RFP process in the past. In her new role, she will work with new dropsites and serve as the chief management contact with Senvoy.
Four new Dropsites
Four new courier dropsites will be added in early February 2007. They are being added thanks to recently awarded LSTA grant money.
Courier Program & Summit Borrowing
Although there is some overlap between the Courier and Summit Borrowing Programs, it is important to remember a few key points about how they are different:
- Over 1/3 of the Courier program members DON'T participate in Summit Borrowing
- The Courier program transports ILL and Summit Borrowing materials
- When asking for more ILL bags, you should post to the courier listserv, and when asking for Summit bags, you should post to the summit-circ listserv
For a more in-depth look at the differences between the Courier and Summit Borrowing programs, take a look at a new web page that provides a more detailed breakdown of the differences.
News Ideas?
What would you like to hear more about? Contact Michelle Williams with suggestions.