Author Archives: lspiro

October 8, 2015

No meeting

October 1, 2015

Scott Carlson shared the Horizon Group’s report. This report summarizes last summer’s presentations by leaders of campus organizations such as the Program in Writing and Communication and recommends potential projects inspired by these presentations.  The Horizon Group was commended for its excellent work in organizing the presentations and writing the report. The Executive Committee will discuss the recommendations, determine which to pursue and what groups should be made responsible for them, and get back to the Horizon Group soon.

Sara Lowman asked for suggestions for projects that could be funded through a gift fund. Lowman also updated the group on Rice’s research competitiveness initiative (http://news.rice.edu/2015/09/21/rice-announces-150-million-in-strategic-research-initiatives-2/), which will fund a program in data science, invest in molecular nanotechnology, and promote research competitiveness more broadly, including through sponsoring postdocs.

Lowman noted that people in certain positions (such as desk security) will need to be trained in accordance with the Clery Act, which requires annual reporting on campus crime, support for victims, and policies and procedures related to timely warnings (http://clerycenter.org/summary-jeanne-clery-act). Contact RUPD if you observe a crime, and know if you are considered a “campus security authority.”

Lowman gave a brief update on the renovation project, saying that the carpet will be delivered the week of October 12, but that furniture will be delayed until the end of October.

Diane Butler provided an update on the working group to assess library systems. After an extensive review process that included presentations by four vendors, webinars, and site visits to interview current users, members of the ILS committee selected two vendors to give full-day presentations for library staff: ExLibris Alma and SirsiDynix BlueCloud. Staff are encouraged to attend presentations by ExLibris on October 15 and SirsiDynix on October 23.

Upcoming Event

Dr. Rick Wilson “Reproducibility and Transparency: A Challenge Not Just for the Social Sciences”
Monday, October 19, 2015 – 4:00pm
Humanities 119

September 24, 2015

No meeting

September 17, 2015

Angela Lipari and Rebecca Salinas visited to share information about Careers @ Rice with the Executive Committee and Lee Pecht.

September 10, 2015

No meeting.

September 3, 2015

The Executive Committee discussed Careers @ Rice, a recent initiative from Human Resources focused on providing more consistent job descriptions and opportunities for advancement. In addition, the Executive Committee planned for library committee meetings during the fall semester.

May 28, 2015

Lowman updated the group on Rice Board of Trustees actions that relate to library goals.

The project to renovate the first floor will move forward. In preparation for renovations, the reference collection is being back-shifted and VHS tapes are being re-located. The aim is to complete all of the noisy work by the end of the summer.

June 4, 2015

No meeting

June 11, 2015

The Executive Committee discussed plans for an upcoming Town Hall Meeting, which will include presentations on CMACS, disaster preparedness, the Rice Digital Scholarship Archive, and Fondren’s web site.

Lowman gave an update on the first floor renovation, saying that Fondren is currently waiting for furniture bids.

The committee divided up responsibilities for writing Fondren’s FY 2014 ROARS report and its contributions to Rice’s SACS report, both of which are needed to reaffirm the university’s accreditation status.

• The Friends of Fondren student research awards were announced.
• Planning for the upcoming renovations of the first floor is underway. A working group led by Kerry Keck worked out a process and a timeline for re-locating materials. The furniture group has reviewed carpet and furniture samples; furniture will be ordered by early May.
• Fondren plans to roll out CORAL as an open source module for electronic resource management. Scott Vieira will coordinate the work with IT and other staff.
• Fondren will be participating in a campus-wide effort to improve accessibility, such as by closed-captioning new library-produced videos and making PDFs searchable.

February 26

The Executive Committee discussed the new organizational structure for IT.

The Executive Committee discussed the charge to the Horizon Committee to facilitate strategic planning. The Committee will arrange for leaders of educational and research initiatives across Rice to make brief presentations about their work.  The Horizon Committee will facilitate breakout sessions in which library staff will discuss potential ways that the library might support these initiatives, then synthesize the recommendations.

March 5

The Executive Committee approved a change to the Horizon Committee strategic planning charge that will extend the timeline and hopefully allow more staff to participate.

The Executive Committee discussed with whom Ithaka should meet when they come to Rice to share results of their upcoming survey. Meetings will be set up with the library committee, library staff, and groups interested in particular reports, such as research data.

Lowman gave an update on the budget meeting.

January 15, 2015

1)    A new version of RiceWorks will be rolled out this spring. Starting on February 3, most users will be unable to create new actions until the new system is up and running.
2)    Fondren will begin a review of library systems this spring. Input will be sought from throughout the library. More details TBA.

3)    New members of the Horizon Group were selected:

• New Members:  Scott Carlson, Jet Prendeville, Monica Rivero, and Rebecca Russell (two year term, 2015-2016)
• Continuing Members:  Jean Aroom, Mary Brower, Lauren Mueller, and Nyssa Juneau (two year term, 2014-2015)

4)    Given recent experiences with a problem patron, all staff should be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to RUPD.  The police will need an eyewitness report.

To facilitate sharing information about potential patron-related problems in Fondren, Diane Butler set up a new library-only listserv, fonalerts@rice.edu. Libstaff should continue to be used for all other correspondence.

5)  A plan for salary increases was discussed and will be shared with all Fondren supervisors.
January 22, 2015

1)    Rice is discussing the possibility of offering an enriched spring break educational experience in the future. Executive Committee members discussed potential ways that the library could participate in this program, should it come to fruition.
2)     The Executive Committee explored potential topics for future Library Committee meetings.

January 29, 2015

Angela Lipari visited to share information about Human Resources activities.

November 6, 2014

The Executive Committee discussed plans to run the Ithaka S+R Local Faculty and Students survey at Rice. The Library Committee will be invited to provide input on conducting the survey.

In addition, the workflow for the Concur travel and expense system was discussed. The $5 fee for using Christopherson Business Travel through Concur to book travel will be covered by the library.

The Fondren Library Staff News blog will no longer require a login.

For the Friends of Fondren gala, the focus of the “paddles up” fundraiser will be technology for the DMC.

Circulation will hold its study break on December 8.

November 13, 2014

Lisa Spiro updated the Executive Committee on a working group investigating potential replacements for the Faculty Information System.

A four-hour power outage affecting parts of the basement will be scheduled for a date to be announced; it is part of the renovation project.

The DMC will be closed December 18-January 10 to allow time for it to be moved back into Fondren.

The Executive Committee was invited to suggest topics for an upcoming library town hall meeting.

September 25

1) IT projects—Diane Butler

Diane Butler met with members of the Executive Committee to discuss IT projects for the current year. As a result of this process, she developed a list of IT Projects, generally for fall 2014.

2) Library Committee meetings.

David Tobin, who teaches business communications and marketing at the Jones School, is chairing the library committee this year. The library committee will initially focus on communications, but will also be invited to suggest other possible topics. The committee will be encouraged to take a “flipped meeting” approach, in which meeting time is focused on discussion and hands-on work rather than presentations.

October 2

No meeting

October 9

No meeting

October 16

Jeff Koffler will be coordinating communications around the renovation project. He has prepared a construction update document summarizing the rough timeline for the work. Please note that the schedule is subject to change. During the initial stages of the project, construction meetings will be occurring bi-weekly.

As the university rolls out Concur, Rice’s new travel and expense system, Fondren will do the following to help staff transition to the new system:

1) Diane Butler will work with Tessie Skulski to organize training sessions for staff who have P-Cards and to determine an appropriate workflow.

2) Karen Hyde will work with the heads of the Staff Travel and Development Committee and Melinda Reagor Flannery to develop travel policies and workflows for staff who do not have P-Cards.

The operating principle will be simplicity and efficiency.

August 21

Judy Howell visited to discuss Fondren’s fundraising efforts.  Howell plans to update the “one-pager” listing fundraising priorities for Fondren, since it hasn’t been revised since 2007. The Executive Committee identified four key areas to focus on, including current use funds (such as technology), capital projects, a proposed fellowship program, and digital projects. Executive Committee members will provide Judy with short descriptions to be used in funding requests.

Lowman offered an update on the renovation project. Since project costs are within the anticipated range, work is proceeding on renovations to the basement (including relocating the Kelley Center collections and building a new space for the DMC and a collaboration room) and the south end of the first floor. Demolition work on the basement back stacks area will start in late September, and the basement renovation is expected to be completed in mid-December.

The Executive Committee reviewed and provided feedback on updates to the university policy concerning travel.

August 28

The library will close over the winter break (December 25-January 4).

The Executive Committee offered feedback on the draft Rice Digital Scholarship Archive Deposit Guidelines, which will be posted soon at scholarship.rice.edu.

Staff are encouraged to attend Dan Cohen’s October 29 lecture, “The Emerging Research Environment & the Digital Public Library of America.” Cohen serves as the Executive Director, Digital Public Library of America and formerly was the director of the Center for History and New Media. The lecture will take place at 4 p.m. in 301 Sewall Hall.

Fondren has been challenged by the University of Texas Libraries to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. If staff are interested, they can volunteer to help organize Fondren’s response. Participation is completely optional.

Melinda Flannery thanked Diane Butler for recommending that interview groups do more advanced preparation for candidate interviews; the change allowed for more focused questions and will become a standard part of the interview process for librarian positions.

Topics for upcoming Executive Committee meetings:

• September 4: no meeting
• September 11: library assessment
• Sept 18: Mike Dewey (to be confirmed)
• Sept 25: IT projects
• October 2: library communications
• October 9: no meeting

June 12, 2014

No meeting.

June 19, 2014

The Executive Committee discussed defining key technology skills for library staff. Potential strategies include developing technology competency standards for staff (based on department or roles) and integrating thoughtful consideration of technology skills into the hiring process.

Lowman reported on the renovation kickoff meeting, mentioning Facilities, Engineering and Planning personnel changes. Ana Ramirez, who worked on the previous renovation, will be working closely with us on this renovation. More meetings are scheduled for June 24, after which the detailed work of the design phase will begin, lasting approximately 6 weeks.

Lowman will serve on the CIO search committee.

Janet Thompson will return to work July 7.

June 26

No meeting.

July 3

Shannon Kipphut-Smith visited to discuss the Public Access Working Group (PAWG) report about Fondren’s readiness to support the Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) public access policy memorandum and the SHared Access Research Ecosystem (SHARE). Kipphut-Smith acknowledged uncertainty about the development of SHARE, but emphasized the need for the library to be ready. Already the library has many of the crucial pieces in place, including staff expertise and an institutional repository. An important part of Fondren’s efforts will be raising awareness of SHARE and public access issues with key people on campus.  Shannon will schedule a meeting with the Research Services group to discuss SHARE and other open access initiatives. The PAWG report will be shared with Fondren staff and will be discussed as part of an upcoming library town meeting.

In addition, the Executive Committee briefly discussed the ARL’s strategic design process, including the six systems of action presented at the Spring 2014 Membership Meeting.

The Executive Committee meeting will be on a summer hiatus until July 31.