AskWI Links QuestionPoint Login Page AskWI Chat Support Page AskWI PR Materials Page Training Resources Administrator Training Training Resources Train the Trainer (T3) AskWI Chat Patron Page Combo Patron Page Draft ByLaws AskWI Meetings Board Minutes Oct. 2003 Meeting Minutes WLA, Oct. 2003 Board Minutes Jan. 2004 Meeting Minutes Spring, Apr. 2004 Meeting Minutes, Dec. 2004

Board Meeting Notes Ask Wisconsin Librarians Placeware Web Conference October 6, 2003 3-5 p.m. Participants: Mark Beatty, WiLS; Jan Dibble, Oshkosh PL; John Hubbard, UW-Milwaukee; John Stoneberg, L.E. Phillips PL; Anne Kasuboski, UW-Green Bay; Mimi King, UW-Eau Claire; Kim LaPlante, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College; Mary Struckmeyer, Reference & Loan Library; Kathy Schneider. WiLS. Governance and Election of Officers Mark Beatty chaired the first part of the meeting until officers were elected. Mary Struckmeyer was elected secretary at the annual business meeting held July 24. At that meeting it was also agreed that the Board will consist of seven elected members and an ex-officio WiLS representative. At this initial board meeting it was determined by consensus that other officers will be Chair, Vice-Chair/Chair Elect, and committee chairs. Duties of the chair will be to schedule and run meetings and delegate committee responsibilities. The vice-chair will substitute for the chair when necessary and become the chair after one year. Each chair will recruit members for his/her committee. By-laws will also be drafted. They will be left flexible to accommodate changes when new members join the consortium. The board will have discretion to adjust the by-laws as needed. If a board member resigns, the vice-chair will be in charge of elections to fill the vacancy. The replacement will be from the same type of library as the person who resigned. The vice-chair will also be in charge of general elections and will appoint a nominating committee. The by-laws will also define the role of the ex officio member from the WiLS staff. This is currently Mark Beatty. He described his job as "helping people implement stuff;" providing support to the board; and serving as liaison with the product vendors. This will be similar to the roles WiLS staff members play as part of other consortia. The following officers were elected by unanimous vote: Anne Kasuboski, chair; and John Stoneberg, vice-chair/chair-elect. The length of the terms of each board member was then decided, also by unanimous vote: Anne Kasuboski, Jan Dibble, and Kim LaPlante, one year; John Stoneberg, Mary Struckmeyer, Mimi King, and John Hubbard, two years. The terms of office will run from July 1-June 30. Terms of current members were established to assure equal representation by type of library. Elections will be held four weeks before officers take office. The vice-chair, who is in charge of elections, will determine the exact date each year. The board discussed the pros and cons of methods and times to meet. They unanimously agreed to have two meetings of the general membership per year. One will be in the spring to hold elections and one will be in the fall at WLA. The board will meet four times a year—before and after each meeting of the general membership. One face-to-face board meeting will be held in July. John Stoneberg will chair a committee to draft written by-laws. Mark will give him a copy of by-laws used by other consortia sponsored by WiLS. The following areas of concern were identified for the board to deal with. Renewal of QP license; alternative products; basic vs. enhanced software; measures of success; profiles; scheduling and coverage; service levels/quality control; knowledge bases; marketing; licensed resources; methods of patron access. At this point, Anne Kasuboski, as newly-elected chair, began running the meeting. Subscription Renewals Renewal dates are scattered for various members. They begin in October and continue through next spring. No evaluation of the service has been done so far. It was suggested that the general members of the consortium would like a written summary of the pilot period. Doing an evaluation might help to decide whether to publicize the service now or wait to see what changes will be made in the software A quick survey of the consortium membership could be conducted to find out what people do and don’t like. The period when the software was not working properly should also be documented. A baseline report on the pilot project is needed so that there is something to compare alternate services to. It was suggested that a committee be created to look at evaluation methods and to generate a report. Jan Dibble was elected unanimously to chair a committee on evaluation and subscription renewal. After a review of the pilot period is completed, the next task for the committee will be to draft a survey to determine future needs. Mark has to write a report on the pilot for OCLC, so he will contribute to Jan’s committee report. Mimi King asked about gathering information on staff satisfaction with the service and quality control issues. Are people comfortable with the types questions asked and answered? Marketing The board needs to find out who has marketed the service and how successful they have been. Marketing efforts should focus on service and not be platform specific. It was unanimously agreed that a marketing committee, chaired by Kim LaPlante, will be created. It was pointed out that bookmarks developed by WiLS include the phrase AskAway, which is the name of the South Central Library System’s virtual reference service. Mark said that the bookmarks are being reviewed and that AskAway could be removed. Knowledge Bases Mary Struckmeyer volunteered to chair a committee on the global and local knowledge bases. Mark said that the knowledge bases will be easier to access if the collaborative group software is used. Mary will work with Mark to set up a committee and to schedule training. Statistics Mark will post figures for all months from the beginning of the pilot. It would be nice to know if people try to access the chat service when it is not staffed. Mark cannot determine this but OCLC should be able to. Some e-mails are created in early morning hours. Each member accesses its own e-mail statistics. The committee on evaluation and renewal may ask individual members for statistics that the committee decides it will need. Committee Reports Formal committee reports will be made at board meetings. Written reports may be posted to the board’s listserv to solicit feedback. AskWisconsin Users and Link Placement There was discussion about whether links to the AskWisconsin Service should be placed on websites such as WISCAT and BadgerLink, which could be accessed by anyone, anywhere. It was decided that new members might not join the consortium if the link is readily available on websites accessed by users of libraries that have not subscribed. New members will continue to be encouraged to join the consortium and links will not be placed on statewide library resources. Software Demos Demos of a new QuestionPoint feature for sharing chat space and of chat scheduling software were postponed. Mark will schedule these demos for the entire membership. Posting the Minutes Minutes will be routed to board members for additions and corrections via the board’s listserv. After approval by the board, the minutes will be posted to the general membership’s listserv. WLA Board members agreed that AskWisconsin Librarians should have a presence at WLA this fall. Mark will try to get a room where members of the consortium can meet and where other librarians can come to get information about the project. The general membership may want to discuss measures of success. Mark will send messages on the major listservs to announce the location and times that the room will be staffed. The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m. Submitted by Mary Struckmeyer, Secretary