November 20, 2014

The group discussed agenda items for the next library Town Hall, including a renovation update, staff introductions and updates on open access, room booking and web redesign.

Some future meeting topics were penciled in:

December 4 Library Plan review
(http://library.rice.edu/about/admin_org/mission-goals/mission-goals)

January 15 Updates, Library System Review

January 22 Ithaka survey; Assessment

January 29 Updates

February 19 Information Literacy; CRUP objective and report discussion (http://www.professor.rice.edu/images/professor/facultysenate/crup_report.pdf)

The 2005 report of the Committeee on the Rice Undergraduate Program (CRUP;  http://www.professor.rice.edu/images/professor/facultysenate/crup_report.pdf) is being reviewed in preparation for Rice’s upcoming decennial re-accreditation process. The library has been asked to review the core element of Information Access and Evaluation (#6) to update wording and suggest techniques.

The group also may discuss selected issue briefs from Ithaka S+R (http://www.sr.ithaka.org/issue-briefs).

Completed performance appraisals are due to Lowman by March 13. Each Executive Committee member may set an internal schedule to meet that deadline. Self-evaluations of Executive Committee members are due to Lowman by Jan. 16.

November 27, 2014

No meeting (Thanksgiving Holiday)

December 4, 2014

The group discussed an upcoming power outage connected with the basement construction. All facts are not yet clear; details will be made available when they are.

The closure of the women’s basement restroom will extend 1-2 more weeks, due to unanticipated problems detaching the existing countertop. The DMC move is on schedule for Dec. 19; the service will reopen Jan. 10. The collaborative space should be ready for use by Jan. 19.

The group discussed the existing planning document for the library, public version at: http://bit.ly/1zvd4xr, internal  version (more detailed; login required) at: http://bit.ly/1wFaHul. Most of the document remains relevant; Flannery suggested adding under Outreach a second goal covering the various ways we reach out to the community. She will draft wording for the group to consider. The group also noted how many of the project-level initiatives (clickable in the internal version) have been accomplished. Butler suggested tasking the Horizon group with drafting new project-level initiatives for the coming year, involving other staff as appropriate. Lowman will discuss the possibility with Horizon group co-chairs Shannon Kipphut­-Smith and Amanda Focke.

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.

October 23

No meeting summary available

October 30

The group discussed a draft room reservation policy document prepared by Diane Butler, covering study rooms, library collaborative spaces and conference rooms, and the Kyle Morrow Room.

Dan Cohen’s visit to Houston Oct. 28-29 was discussed.

Several members reported progress toward 100% completion of online staff training in sexual harassment norms.

Judy Howell will meet separately with each Executive Committee member to ID appropriate departmental needs for inclusion in a new donor brochure.

Planned topics for the next meeting included:
ID of library needs to be spotlit in the “Paddles Up” feature of the Friends of Fondren Library Gala
Agenda for the next meeting of the faculty Committee on the Library Dec. 1
Opening up the staff blog for public view

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.

September 4

No meeting.

September 11

Guests were Sandi Edwards and Debra Kolah. Lowman described the desire to review the library’s assessment efforts. Rice’s next SACS accreditation review is scheduled for March 2016, and we will soon need to begin to prepare for Rice’s annual ROARS (Rice Outcomes Assessment Reporting System) process for 2014. The library already performs periodic surveys, including 3 administrations of LibQual, evaluations of activities sponsored by the Staff Travel, Training and Development Committee and UX (User Experience) projects.

Doing our next major survey was discussed, focusing on LibQual and a new offering from the consulting firm Ithaka S + R. There has been difficulty with accessibility to the LibQual surveys for participants with disabilities, and customization options have been limited. Ithaka is now offering a locally tailored faculty and student survey, building on their record of successful national faculty surveys (http://www.sr.ithaka.org/research-publications/faculty-survey-series). It seems highly customizable. Because of its cost, university libraries routinely partner with other campus offices, such as a writing center, to pay for it. Some preference was expressed for giving the survey in the spring. Kolah will contact Ithaka to let them know we would like to participate and to ask some questions raised in the discussion. She will also do a literature search for any published accounts of participation at other university libraries.

It is possible that a more formal review of Fondren’s assessment activities and options may still be desired.

September 18

Guests were Shannon Kipphut, Amanda Focke, Mike Dewey (Director, Academic and Research Computing). Mike Dewey was invited to share information about his IT division’s projects and discuss how the library and IT can collaborate effectively. All agreed that the library’s role in managing data should be developed in collaboration with IT, and that close communication will prevent wasted resources and overlaps in service.

Dewey stayed for the discussion of the Horizon report Open Educational Resources as a Factor in the Effective Development of MOOCs [link]. The library’s role in supporting MOOCs has been evolving, as has Rice’s exploration of MOOC possibilities. Three high school courses are now in development. The library can create a Libguide on MOOC development resources, and provide short courses and individual consultation on where to find Open Educational Resources (OERs) for use in MOOCs. Helping faculty members track down clearances for materials under copyright for use in MOOCs is extremely time-consuming and will not scale. Rice Online, the campus entity coordinating Rice’s MOOC efforts, now has a website and is adding positions.

Dewey asked how the library is handling campus interest in 3-D printing. Currently, inquirers are directed to the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) or the Moody Center for the Arts. There is campus interest in more access to 3-D printing. Staffing and hours of access are complex issues for this technology.