Barton Advisory Group

To: all-lib@MIT.EDU
Subject: Barton Advisory Group Minutes, Aug. 30, 2001
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 13:58:33 -0400
From: Walter Powers


Present: Darcy Duke, Charlene Follett, Stephanie Hartman, Erja
Kajosalo, Kim Maxwell, Georgiana McReynolds, Christine Moulen (chair),
Walter Powers (minutes), Beth Siers


1. Updates:

   a. Darcy reported that she, Christine, and Harolyn Hylton were
      continuing to try to make RSC patron requests work through
      Aleph; ILB will be starting to create brief records in the
      system shortly; she will be handing off all her Transition Team
      responsibilities as she leaves the Group

   b. Kim reported that the Open Labs for Serials are bringing up a
      number of issues, such as the sorting in the item display,
      appropriate for consideration by the Items/Holdings sub-group;
      serials orders and invoices are not yet operational in the
      system.
   
   c. Beth has reached an agreement with Ex Libris about the loader
      development and the OCLC loader is ready to test; direct
      indexes, notably the call number direct, were re-run over the
      previous weekend - there still appear to be some call number
      index problems, but some indexing problems were solved; indexing
      decisions will be reviewed before the major re-indexing

   d. Georgiana reported that progress on self-checkout has been slow
      because of difficulty getting response from 3M; there are still
      some problems, reported to Ex Libris by Oliver Zeff, in the
      Reserves module; there have been some patron complaints about
      not receiving notices; adding ID number in patron's addl. ID
      field not working - should be fixed with Patch 3

   e. Charlene reported that invoicing had started, but ran into
      system problems with shipping amounts; print font on copy orders
      is too small; a BAS-ACQ group has been formed to look at
      workflows between those 2 sections; the GOBI loader, except for
      minor problems, looks OK and ready to go; Joan Kolias is working
      on a report of receipt statistics, now being kept manually;
      Charlene met with Macrina Rizzo and CMG to discuss selector
      training

   f. Walter reported that the Items/Holdings sub-group had given 3
      training sessions, and more were contemplated; a heavy-agenda
      meeting of the sub-group later that day would generate
      topics for the Advisory Group
      

   g. Erja reported that she had given a presentation to the American
      Chemical Society on the implementation of Aleph; she is working
      on testing the no-frames OPAC; she and Tracy Gabridge will be
      meeting to discuss the next steps

   h. Stephanie and the Processing Committee are continuing to
      evaluate processing workflows; the Macro Study Team, of which
      she is a member, is recommending that the Libraries purchase
      licenses for Macro Express and Snag-It

   h. Christine discussed developments with the loaders (OCLC, GOBI,
      patron loader); she has been working on the expansion script for
      the MARC 949 field; she ran a successful feed of invoice data to
      Accounts payable; an Oracle security patch is being installed
      for the system

2. Next priorities were discussed

   a. Loaders

   b. Patch 3 - need testing period

   c. Customization of Web OPAC after Patch 3

   d. System back-ups - Christine will be meeting with Carl Jones and the
      server team

   e. Test server - forward movement awaiting resolution of system
      response issues

   f. 3M self-checkout

   g. ADA compliance - Christine will be talking to Kathy Cahill from
      the ATIC Lab

   h. Further work on "Your Account"

   i. Outstanding system problems reported to Ex Libris

   j. Macros and macro software

   k. Z39.50 connection

3. It will be recommended that the Emmy server, and thus Advance
   Barton, remain available until Dec. 31, 2001.

4. Christine thanked Darcy, Georgiana, and Walter for their service to
   the Transition Team; they will be leaving as the Team snaps back
   into its original shape as the Barton Advisory Group, with the MARC
   Database Manager (Beth) as a new permanent member.

Next meeting: Thursday, Sept. 6, Hayden Conference Room