Category Archives: Executive Committee

1. Sara Lowman announced that a preliminary design for the new LSC module has been selected. The Rice Board of Trustees will need to approve the new module, likely at the February/ March meeting.
2. The Executive Committee discussed the trend of some researchers using disciplinary repositories such as arXiv rather than institutional repositories. This practice does not appear to remove the need for an institutional repository. Not every discipline has a repository, and often researchers who make available  their work through a disciplinary repository are also willing to share it through an institutional repository.
3. The Executive Committee also discussed the increasing efforts of publishing companies to move into research analytics and data services. Exec members will read a recent report on the topic to inform potential next steps.
4. Denis Galvin described how Fondren currently handles privacy. As we move to Alma as our library service platform, it will be easier to anonymize patron data. Denis is working with Fondren IT to improve privacy practices, following emerging library best practices.
5. Lisa Spiro shared suggestions from Fondren staff who recently attended the Library Assessment Conference. These suggestions include making assessment data and reports available in a common area (such as the new staff portal); offering training on topics such as IRB, privacy, and analytical tools; getting started on ROARS assessment activities earlier in the academic year; building assessment into new project plans (including conducting user analysis and feasibility studies at the beginning and evaluations at the end); and promoting a culture of inquiry and trust.

Led by Mary Lowery, the group discussed interest by the Friends of Fondren Library (FoFL) Membership Committee in heightening staff and faculty engagement. Various measures were proposed to increase FoFL exposure and better understand staff and faculty interests FoFL might address. Faculty already play a large role in FoFL activities, e.g in delivering lectures.

Led by Sandi Edwards, the group discussed staff incentives for above and beyond performance. New university awards were discussed and creative ideas for library-specific recognition will be explored. Fondren already has a built-in event every other month in which service anniversaries are celebrated. These events could also be used for additional forms of recognition.

Led by Sara Lowman, the group began discussion of John Doerr’s book, “Measure What Matters.” Sara shared that the university administrators read this book as a group, but that full discussion has not yet taken place there. Denis Galvin noted that Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) as described in the book are already in wide use in IT circles.

The group discussed the current strategic plan version including action items. Comparisons were drawn to the planning documents of 3 other university offices (Dean of GPS, Dean of Undergraduates and Provost’s Office), but there is no need for our plan to look exactly like theirs. Our plan is now no longer a draft and will no longer be labeled as such. Issues raised recently, such as the lack of backup laptops and textbooks for lower-resourced students, should be addressed. The role of managers and chairs of key committees in the Fondren planning retreat was very significant. This group could possibly be of enormous help in the “care and feeding” of the plan over time. Lisa Spiro and Melinda Flannery will confer about these ideas and share with the group.

Various staff tuition and class opportunities were discussed, including a free leadership certificate from the Jones School (https://business.rice.edu/graduate-leadership-certificate-glc). The group will explore showcasing staff activities in these areas at an upcoming Town Hall meeting. Testimonials may be more effective than HR presentations to remind staff of these opportunities at Rice.

Sara Lowman reported briefly on Board of Trustee meetings. An important topic was ensuring student success across the economic range. The Board’s Building & Grounds Committee reported that the next Fondren renovation is likely to be scheduled on the late end of the Capital Campaign. Less major renovations to the Brown Library (e.g. furniture, paint) may be possible before the larger effort takes place.

1. Sara Lowman shared strategic goals from the university’s academic units. The Executive Committee will review Fondren’s action plan in relation to these plans as well as John Doerr’s Measure What Matters.

2. Planning for new storage space is underway, with funding available in FY19. Additional storage space will lay the groundwork for a future renovation of Fondren Library.

3. Alma update: August 1, 2019 remains the go live date for Alma. Many Fondren staff have been working on clean-up projects, including in acquisitions, cataloging, and resource sharing. The Primo team spent this summer benchmarking other institutions’ implementation of the same platform that we will use. The benchmarking process raised questions and ideas that will inform usability testing and training programs.

4. The Executive Committee discussed an external group’s request to book the Collaboration Space. The request was denied because of concerns about the technology demands and need for the space by library staff.

Sara asked the group to brainstorm discussion topics for the fall meetings scheduled: 9/13, 10/11, 10/25, 11/8, 12/6, 12/20.

Topics generated included:
Patron data, privacy and decision-making
Action Planning update
Fondren Fellows (a new endowment may allow expansion of the program by fall 2019)
Friends engagement by staff and faculty
SWOT analysis of Executive Committee roles (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats)
Quad 4.0 initiative—background preparations
Assessment—business intelligence analytics
Institutional Repositories—local and collective roles
Open Access—publishing opportunities, platforms and costs
Alma/Primo update (short)
Law
Review of Fondren’s memberships and their costs (annual)
Data management across the university—effectiveness, challenges and possible commercial rivals
LSC space study fall 2018, expansion prospects
Hiring timelines, possible efficiencies

Sara will assign topics to meeting dates in Google Calendar. She invited members to lead topic discussions, possibly assigning relevant background readings.

1. The Executive Committee congratulated Kerry Keck on her retirement and conveyed their best wishes.
2. Assignments were made for writing Fondren’s annual ROARS (Rice Outcomes Assessment Reporting System) reports, which are due August 12.
3. Sara Lowman announced that Sandi Edwards will serve as the Interim Assistant University Librarian for the Research Services Division. Sandi will work closely with David Bynog and Janice Lindquist on managing the collections budget, while Scott Vieira will take on an expanded role in managing licenses.

1) Careers@Rice rollout

Salary letters and Careers@Rice packets will be distributed on June 4, with follow up meetings scheduled for June 4-16. HR made all of the changes to career profiles that had been requested by library managers. New changes will need to be made after July 1.

2) Power outage procedures.

The power outage procedures policy, originally written in 2013, was revised. The revised document can be found on the Fondren wiki (login required). Revisions include:

• Clearing the book drops is now mandatory
• Staff should gather in the south reading room so that the area near the Circ desk is kept clear.
• A chain of communication is specified: Sara Lowman, then Kerry Keck, then Sue Garrison.
• If the power is out during business hours, during the academic year with classes in session, and if power is available at the Pavilion or Rayzor Hall, essential personnel will remain an additional hour at one of these locations to see if power returns and the library can reopen.

3) Symphony migration: Fondren IT is migrating the Sirsi Symphony servers on June 24, which is a Sunday (when the library is closed). Symphony will be offline that day.

4) Visiting/online/collaborative patrons. Denis Galvin noted that IT receives around 10 tickets from visiting scholars and online students per semester regarding the inability to access library resources from off-campus. There is a libguide for online students at http://libguides.rice.edu/onlinestudents. Online MBA students should be treated like all other students, as they go through regular admissions processes and pay full tuition. Visiting scholars typically cannot be granted off-campus access to library databases because of licensing restrictions.

1. Building hours: Draft hours were presented by Kerry Keck through Spring 2020 in support of library planning, including Kyle Morrow Room reservations. These hours will be posted on the website close to the time they are relevant. General patterns persist, with a few changes to make hours around Commencement more consistent and an experimental change to Saturday Fall 2018 hours, in response to user requests.

2. The English Department sponsors a four-week theater program for disadvantaged high-school and a few middle-school students. As Hamman Hall will be under renovation, they are seeking space on campus June 12-July 15. Sara Lowman will offer the Kyle Morrow Room and/or Rm 156 for this purpose.

3. Denis Galvin brought up several IT-related issues:

Central IT will be changing the method of campus sign-on to the campus network to Cisco’s ISE (Identity Services Engine). The changes will not start until this summer and we are unlikely to notice them.

Central IT is discussing storage changes.

Central IT will also be continuing to move toward VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) for phone service. Both the LSC and the adjacent PDC (Primary Data Center) have already made the move.

In early June, Fondren IT will be migrating the Symphony (Sirsi) operating system. The move is unrelated to the Alma transition but, rather, required to maintain system security.

4. Careers @ Rice: Sara Lowman updated the group on the status of the new career profiles for all library staff. These are generalized profiles supporting a single transparent job structure across campus, and will be supplemented by more specific detail for specific jobs.

5. Sara Lowman and Lee Pecht noted a good deal of recent publicity for the Houston Jewish Archives, with additional donations continuing to be offered and fundraising being planned. The Houston Chronicle has featured the project and several Rice Board members have shared congratulations.

6. Sara Lowman discussed response to her presentation of the current draft of the Fondren strategic plan to the Deans Council earlier in the day. In addition to several compliments on the library’s work, she received follow-up questions about the Fondren Ambassadors program, faculty research support and library space.

7. The book sculptures by Michael Stilke installed in the library are being repaired through Rice art curator Evan Garza.

RiceWorks changes: The group discussed these changes and their impact on the mechanics of the hiring process, using an example provided by Angela Lipari of HR through Sara.

Research Data team charge: Lisa invited discussion of a previously distributed broader charge for this existing Fondren group, prompted by low campus interest in its previous narrower focus on data management. Lisa will share with Fondren staff the text of the new charge.

Planning process debrief and discussion of the Library Committee discussion of alignment between Fondren’s plan and the recently-released Rice plan (https://v2c2.rice.edu/). The Library Committee discussion focused on four areas in the Rice plan that are not heavily represented in the current draft of the Fondren plan, dividing the committee into subgroups:

Build Renowned Graduate Programs
Invest in Faculty to Achieve Preeminence (discussed together with Elevate Research Achievement and Reputation)
Expand Access, Diversity and Inclusiveness
Extend Rice’s Reach and Impact

Executive Committee members are grateful to Debra Kolah and Amanda Thomas for helping devise the meeting plan and facilitating two of the four groups. Those present raised many interesting ideas, some of which would involve library partnerships with other campus units or initiatives. The Fondren strategic planning team will meet the week of March 5 to assess where we are and plan next steps. Sara has been asked by the provost to present the Fondren plan to the Dean’s Council as it exists on April 12, with no requirement the plan be in final form.

Miscellaneous: The group discussed potential expansion of the Fondren Fellows program, not necessarily by having more fellows but rather by supporting them more deeply.

1) Denis Galvin informed Exec that it will be necessary to upgrade SirsiDynix Symphony before the LSP migration. The upgrade should happen in the middle of May.

2) Mary Lowery invited staff to attend two upcoming Friends events (both events are now full):

• Meet the Author with Diana Strassmann (Thursday, February 15, 6:00 pm): http://www.library.rice.edu/event/meet-author-diana-strassmann
• The Books That Shaped My World, featuring David Leebron (Tuesday, February 20, 6:00 pm): http://www.library.rice.edu/event/books-shaped-my-world-featuring-david-leebron

3) Exec discussed the Research Data Management Team’s idea to collect information about the range of skills represented on Fondren’s staff through a survey. Lisa Spiro will draft a survey that will be discussed and refined.