Present: Alfred Hopkins, Alan Benkert, Cheryl Beturne, David Bretthauer, Samuel Brown, Anne Maio, Jenifer O’Connor, Deborah Salewski, Jim Smith, Kendall Wiggin, Jonas Zdanys
Others: Lynette Baisden, Sharon Brettschneider, Stephen Cauffman, Bruce Stark, William Sullivan (Ct. State Library)
Absent: Betty Goyette, Alana Meloni

1. Call to Order
Al Hopkins called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m.

2. Introductions – Bruce Stark
Al Hopkins introduced Bruce Stark to the board. Bruce will be the Statewide Library Catalog Coordinator for iCONN.

3. Approval of Minutes
David Bretthauer MOVED (2nd Alan Benkert) to approve the minutes as presented. VOTED unanimously.

4. Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved as presented. VOTED unanimously.

5. Public Comment
There was none.

6. State Library Report – Kendall Wiggin
Kendall Wiggin reported that due to layoffs, Bruce Stark’s position as the Assistant State Archivist was eliminated. Bruce is now in the position of the Digital Library’s Statewide Library Catalog Coordinator. Gail Hurley held that position previously and is now working as a Law & Legislative Reference Librarian at the State Library. The State Library lost 14 positions. The Governor is offering an early retirement initiative plan. The State Library has 44 employees that are eligible, but Ken doesn’t think that they will all participate. The budget came out yesterday. The CLSU’s were reduced substantially. Ken will meet with the directors tomorrow. The book budget was cut again and the rest of the library funding was level funded. The budget proposes moving the Commission on the Arts out of the State Library budget and merging it into a new agency – Commission on Arts, Culture and Tourism. There were also no capital funds for library construction. The State’s bonding capacity is very limited and many projects are being eliminated or postponed. Funding for the Commission on Education Technology was also not in the budget. iCONN and reQuest survived the cuts. The state filed an application for USF to aid in funding school and library connections to the network. At the Federal level, the bill for reauthorization of the LSTA will be debated tomorrow. The President proposed an increase in funding for libraries. We will see an increase in the federal funds if it is enacted. This should increase the base level for all states.

7. Department of Higher Education Report – Jonas Zdanys

Jonas Zdanys reported that there had been a reduction in the budget for the faculty, the institutions and for financial aid. There is a proposal to change the Department of Higher Education and create an order of regions and promote a policy group to have approval for programs. Mr. Zdanys stated that the Board is responsible for the licensing and accreditation of institutions and it also looks at the standards of libraries. Libraries have changed. Mr. Zdanys would like a member from the Digital Library Board to work to redefine what libraries should be on an academic level. The input received from that research would be important.

8. Other Reports
a. Database Committee – Sharon Brettschneider

Sharon Brettschneider reported that the Database Committee met this afternoon. Jane Emerson and Sam Brown have met with different organizations to discuss their choices for priority databases. Jane met with CEMA and public library reference roundtables. Sam met with CCALD. Sharon stated that there was discussion to save the most valuable databases in schools and public libraries and maybe choose alternatives as well. The committee will look at the prices for the newspapers and whether it will be possible to include academics, especially historical collections of newspapers. This might be possible if academics reallocate some funds currently spent on other databases. Jane Emerson will review the prices that we are paying this year and what we will pay next year.

b. Digital Library Progress Report – William Sullivan
Bill Sullivan reported that Gail Hurley was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation prior to leaving her position the Digital Library. Bruce Stark started his new position with the Digital Library on March 3 and is now going through training. Bill has informed the libraries of this personnel change. There was a significant design change to the Wilson Biography product, resulting in the need for Jane Emerson to rewrite that portion of the iCONN Training Manual. We have also made available on iCONN a new version of the InfoTrac Kids database, called Kids InfoBits, which will replace the previous version on July 1. Bill distributed an updated statistical report produced by Jane Emerson, showing significant increases in the number of searches comparjng the first and second quarters of 2002 and 2003. Bill stated that there is an opportunity to promote the Business & Company Resource Center database, especially in the small business community, as 70% of the businesses in Connecticut are small businesses and would have difficulty affording this resource on their own. Information about this service has been sent to CERC, the CT Small Business Development Center, and the CT Business Magazine.

c. RFP Update – William Sullivan
Bill Sullivan reported that the proposal review team had met 10 times since January 1. They have completed development of the content of the RFP and are now focusing on finalizing the scoring system.

d. C-Car Update – Sharon Brettschneider
Sharon Brettschneider reported that the original C-Car outsourcing proposal did not move forward due to the lack of available state positions for the drivers. However, we are moving towards a partial outsourcing. The vendor, Beaver Express agreed to a proposal in which they would cover some libraries and the C-Car drivers would cover the remaining libraries. DAS gave us the go ahead for the process. A letter was drafted to the union and was also sent to the Office of Labor Relations. The State Library Van Block storage facility will become the new home for C-Car and will double their space. The facility is also located for better access to the highways.

9. Old Business

There was none to report on.

10. New Business
a. Commercial Database Discount Program – Fact Sheet 03-01
Sharon Brettschneider reported that the State Library has contracted with the Capitol Regional Library Council (CRLC) to do the management and fiscal administration of the database discount program. The discount program offers vendors ways to market their products to libraries in Connecticut. CRLC takes the orders and payments from libraries and then pays the vendors. CRLC also allows vendors to publicize their products online and in newsletters and to negotiate discounts and free trials. Pat Copes met with Sharon and Jane Emerson to propose a way to cut back the workload. Alan Benkert MOVED (2nd Samuel Brown) that the iCONN staff proceed with planning to change the discount program for next year on a reduced basis. Management will include: negotiating with vendors for the discount, publicizing through newsletters, web pages and/or demo sessions around the state. Management will no longer include: billing, technical support, and taking and tracking orders. Each vendor will be responsible for direct billing to the schools and libraries. Purchase orders will be made out to the individual vendor, not CRLC.

b. Z39.50 demo – Stephen Cauffman
Stephen Cauffman gave a demonstration of the Z39.50 features available in the AGent. Z39.50 is a protocol that allows two library catalogs to communicate.

11. Any other Business to come before the Board

Ken encouraged the board members to thank their legislatures for the iCONN funding. The legislators have received their informational iCONN packets and Sharon has more iCONN cards if they are needed.

Alan Benkert MOVED (2nd Jim Smith) to adjourn the meeting at 2:05 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for May 7, 2003 at the Middletown Library Service Center.

Respectfully submitted,

Lynette Baisden,
Connecticut State Library