The Spring meeting of the Information Alliance was held at Cumberland Lodge in Williamsburg, KY on April 19, with some 40 UK and UTK librarians in attendance. Moderator Linda Phillips opened the meeting with introductions, followed by library updates given by Aubrey Mitchell and Paul Willis. Counterparts and counterpart groups held morning and noontime discussions. A session just before noon was devoted to a review of the draft Information Alliance constitution. Participants suggested changes that would make the document more flexible for future Alliance members. Phillips and Gail Kennedy will incorporate changes into the Constitution and send it to Paula Kaufman and Paul Willis for their approval.
The afternoon session opened with demonstrations of two electronic projects at the libraries. Gayle Baker described her work in creating an interface for Current Contents in collaboration with UTK's campus research offices. Rob Aken discussed UK's progress in creating and using Web-based forms.
Counterpart Reports included the following:
Collaborative Collection Management Institute
Sandy Leach and Bonnie Cox reported on plans for an Information Alliance Institute to be held on June 13-14 at Carnahan House in Lexington. George Soete will facilitate, and has custom-designed the program for UK and UTK. Space is available for 40 participants, and the target audience is selectors.
Leadership Institute
Linda Phillips and Gail Kennedy reported on plans for an Information Alliance Leadership Institute, "Leadership in the Post-Hierarchical Age" that will be held September 5-6 at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, KY. Richard Sweeney will give a keynote talk, and Shelley Phipps will moderate. The Alliance is seeking funding from the Council on Library Resources for the speakers.
The Leadership Institute Planning Group sought comments regarding the way the 40 participants would be chosen. Suggestions included offering the Institute broadly at both libraries, and to consider videotaping portions of it. Regarding specific topics that should be covered: 1) Ways to get teams to accomplish specific library activities; 2) Decision-making in the team environment. The Planning Group will meet with Sweeney and Phipps at ALA to further discuss the program.
Sharing Beilstein
Maggie Johnson reported on efforts that she and Flora Shrode had made to have UK and UTK share a Beilstein subscription via a server. Now, one can access Beilstein's server for $4,000/year. At present, there is no economic advantage to collaboration, so UK will subscribe to Beilstein server access next year. There may be future opportunities to cooperate on access to this resource.
Interlibrary Services
Jim Hammons reported on ideas that he and Barb Hale have been considering for enhanced access to resources via ILL. 1) After in-state resources have been exhausted, UK and UTK will select one another as suppliers. 2) Shipping will be expedited, with 48-hour turnaround the goal--Ariel is already used for photocopies, and UTK is investigating use of FedEx through the ARL special rates. 3) Staff visits will prove helpful--UTK ILS staff visited UK earlier this year. Both libraries are interested in Uncover's SUMO document access.
Acquisitions
Wanda McClure, Judy Webster, and Mary McClaren reported on several serials and acquisition issues. They have discussed serials claiming and unwanted mail. UK and UTK follow similar procedures for claiming and have drafted a letter to use for unwanted mail, with plans to share the results. They noted that the use of different online systems inhibits joint activities. Both libraries use Yankee approval plans, and are sharing observations about profiles, ideas for improvement, and returns; they are also discussing Yankee's Web pages.
Cataloging
Agnes Grady, Miko Pattie, and Kate Seago discussed outsourcing ideas, including PromptCat and shelf-ready processing. They have compared similarities and differences in their catalog processing; major differences arise from the centralized/decentralized library models in place at UTK and UK.
Information Technology
Mary Molinaro noted that many UK and all UTK e-mail addresses have changed, and asked if use of the ListServ warrants making revisions. The group agreed to use Web pages and e-mail instead of the List.
Maps
Kandace Rogers noted that she and Jim Minton have discussed ways to promote GIS awareness and training. They have created and are using handouts for each product. Solinet GIS training was held in Knoxville last November and is scheduled for UK on June 21.
Development
Joe Rader reported that he and Paula Pope discussed deferred giving, smaller gifts, and Library Friends groups.
The conclusion for the day was to discuss topics for the Fall program. Participants favor returning to the Cumberland Lodge setting. Next time we should use the microphone. The group likes the time with counterparts, but also recommends that wider discussions on library functions, such as Circulation, are helpful. Issues raised in the Collaborative Collection Management and Leadership Institutes could be pursued in the Fall. One discussion session could focus on the differences between the two libraries.