Library Office Notes

Present:  Paula Kaufman, Chair; Bill Brockman, Bob Burger, Margaret Chaplan, Marianna Choldin, Bart Clark, Alan Conrad, Barbara Henigman, Deloris Holiman, Janis Johnston, Barbara Jones, Lyn Jones, Sara Randall, Diane Schmidt,
Jo Kibbee, Paula Watson, Joyce Wright

1.  Holiday Schedules/Floating Holiday -- Kaufman

Paula Kaufman asked Bart Clark to explain the issue of the new Floating Holiday. The Friday Spring Break holiday will no longer be observed.  Instead, there is now a Floating Holiday that faculty and staff can take at any time as long as it is cleared with their supervisor before the day being requested (not the morning of the day being requested).  The holiday can be taken anytime during the fiscal year, but cannot be carried over to the next year, and cannot be accrued.  If anyone needs details about how to report having taken the Floating Holiday, they can see Kim Hutcherson in the Business Office.

The Library will be open on Friday of Spring Break week, with the same holiday schedule as the rest of the week.  Next year, at Thanksgiving, students will have a Fall Break week, and the Library will have holiday hours (same as Spring Break hours) except Thursday and Friday when it will be closed.

Faculty are unclear about reporting their vacation time, Floating Holiday, sick leave, etc.  This will be a future agenda item.

2.  Communications -- Conrad and Kaufman

Word of important Library information doesn’t always get around to all the staff or to all units.  Paula noted that communication is always an issue, and she hopes to build an environment that encourages discussion in the units.  Even though it’s difficult to get everyone together, she would like to encourage all units to have meetings where people can participate in interactive communication.

Alan Conrad pointed out that access and training for e-mail is a problem in some areas.   It was pointed out that there was an early understanding that everyone on staff should have access and training to use e-mail for administration purposes.  Another problem is attachments that sometimes can’t be opened because people are using different programs.  People could make use of the staff area in the Gateway to post information.

Currently, there is no separate file or means to send information to all the staff because it is too difficult to keep up with personnel changes.  Since it is very important to have a central list of all personnel in the Library, it was determined that the Personnel Office should create a list that is kept up-to-date, reviewing it daily or weekly.  The list should be searchable.  Bart will look into it, investigate categories that need to be searchable, and report back to AC.

Means of communication in the Library should be studied until we are comfortable with the amount of information we’re getting, how it’s shared, and who it’s shared with.

3.  Review of Operating Committees -- Kaufman

It was noted at the AC retreat that the Library has an over abundance of committees.   Combining committees, using task forces (which would have closure) instead of committees, having a single person to carry on a task instead of a committee, and using more advisory committees were mentioned as considerations on this issue.

Committee membership was also discussed.  Some people are on ten committees and some people are on none.  While it is important to have consideration for non-tenured faculty, it is also important that all participate and that divisional representation is in place where it’s needed and is appropriate.

Diane Schmidt, Bob Burger, and Paula Watson will study the current Library committees and their relation to the By-laws, and make recommendations to AC.

4.  Announcements

Karen Wei has been appointed Acting Area Studies Coordinator.

The Library is entertaining 25 campus development officers this afternoon.  Paula Kaufman will welcome them.

Several people from the Library will attend the CIC Virtual Electronic Library retreat at Northwestern University, December 5, 6, and 7.

Deanna Marcum, President of the Council on Library and Information Resources, will give a Library Colloquium December 8 at 130 p.m. in 233 Grainger.

 The meeting adjourned at 3:25 p.m.

Present:  Paula Kaufman, Margaret Chaplan, Tim Cole, Marty Friedman,
Bill Maher, Mary Stuart, Leslie Troutman, Mitzi Williams

Absent: Tina Chrzastowski

I.  Approval of the Past Meeting Minutes

The minutes of the November 22, 1999, meeting were approved as revised.

II.  New Business

1.  Replacement Committee Appointments

Committee assignments will be needed to replace Kazuko Sakaguchi who is leaving in January for a position at Harvard.  Kazuko serves on EIRC, EEOC, and RPC.

2.  Visiting Committee assignment for Alvan Bregman

The Visiting Committee assignment for Alvan Bregman will be Mary Stuart and Bill Maher.

3.  Visiting Committee Changes

Because Gail Hueting is on sabbatical until May 21, Richard Burbank was appointed as her substitute on Stephen Smith’s Visiting Committee for the spring semester.   Other Visiting Committees were adjusted to meet upcoming retirements and other circumstances.  Jim Williams will replace Kathleen Kluegel for one year on Elizabeth Clarage’s Visiting Committee.  Mary Beth Allen will replace Richard Burbank on Phyllis Danner’s Visiting Committee.  Kazuko Sakaguchi is resigning and her Visiting Committee will disband.  Paula Kaufman will follow up on the Visiting Committee changes.

4.  Promotion and Tenure Rollbacks

There was a discussion of grounds for rollbacks.  A Promotion and Tenure rollback can be granted for two reasons (1) grave administrative error, or (2) reasons of health or family.  A potential rollback recommendation was discussed.

5.  Honorary degree/CAS/University Scholars/"International Dimension" Nomination Discussion

A name was brought forward for consideration for University Scholar.  Paula Kaufman will look into how the process works and follow up on it. 

Because of the stability of its membership, the EC is suited to taking leadership in the area of Campus scholarly awards and honors, creating an awareness for what is available and the deadlines involved, and nominating individuals for awards, when it is appropriate.  Furthermore, the Chair of RPC is aware of Faculty qualifications, and the Faculty at large should be on the alert as to who is qualified for awards.  Names of qualified individuals should be forwarded to EC.

In May, EC will put out a call for names for possible Honorary Degree candidates. Nominations are considered throughout the year.  Nominations and supporting materials received by the end of the fall semester will be considered for the degree at the end of the next academic year.  The deadline for nominations for associateships in the Center for Advanced Study is early October.

The International Council is requesting proposals from colleges, departments and other units at UIUC to fund positions of short tenure which will enhance the international mission of the University.  Paula will post information to the Library Faculty with a response date.

6.  Retirements and Emeritus/Emerita Status

Because of the upcoming retirements of Bali, Nancy Anderson, Jean Geil, and Lois Pausch, EC will begin working on papers for possible Emeritus status for these people.   Those preparing letters and supporting documents are Tina Chrzastowski for Nancy Anderson and Lois Pausch, Dick Griscom for Jean Geil, and Margaret Chaplan for Bali.   Leslie Troutman will find an example of what was submitted in the past and will be in contact with EC via e-mail.

During the discussion on Emeritus/Emerita status, it was decided that the Personnel Office should have a checklist for retiring people with their needs and preferences in areas such as the phone directory, receiving mail at the Library, e-mail, and parking.   We should also include retirees in the Library Phone Directory.  Paula will talk to Bart about this.

A call will be put out to the Library Faculty for nominations for acting heads to replace unit heads who are retiring this spring.

III.  Old Business

1.  Update on spousal hire possibility

The spousal hire possibility issue has not been resolved.  Paula has a phone date tomorrow with the person being considered, and she will see where that leads.  Bill Maher moved the creation of a new position for the spousal hire and proceeding separately with the search (already planned for FY2000) for Assistant University Archivist.  The vote was 4 to 3 in favor of the proposal, and when Paula cast her vote, the vote was 5 to 3 in favor of the proposal.

It was noted that the spousal hire situation would be an opportunity for Archives to hire someone who could manage electronic records.  Currently, electronic records are being managed only in a small reactive way.  Since Campus is not supporting the Archives and the services they provide for the State as the designated repository required by Law, it falls upon the Library to provide the services as it is able.  Paula and Bill Maher will talk more about this and related Archives issues at a later time.

2.  Status of Afro-Americana Position

Paula provided an update on the status of the Afro-Americana Bibliographer position.   The division is still reviewing the position and considering whether it can be justified as full-time or should be incorporated into a combined ethnic studies position.

3.  Revised User Ed Charge (Chaplan and Williams)

The new charge and composition for the Committee on User Education was corrected and unanimously approved as corrected.  Paula Kaufman will discharge the Task Force on User Education and reconstitute the members as the User Ed Committee with the new charge, effective as soon as the members are notified.  The committee will continue until the User Ed Coordinator is appointed.

Present:  Alvan Bregman, Sharon Clark (chair), David Griffiths, Gregg Homerding, Bill Maher, Chris Quinn.

Meeting called to order.

Minutes of November meeting approved.

The handling of supplemental materials was discussed.  K. Schmidt will collect comments for further review.

The balance of the meeting was dedicated to a discussion of the proposed Library Friends Preservation Fund competition.  Preservation Committee will be responsible for establishing guidelines and procedures.  The competition will provide needed funding for preservation projects and raise the profile of preservation in the library.   The value of the competition will be greatest if participation is broad and draws widely from throughout the library.

While discussing the application process, the committee considered issues such as choice of material, possible inclusion of bibliographic information, estimated projected cost, and justification of the chosen preservation process.  While a standard form needs to be developed, the form should not be restrictive.  The selection process may require future reevaluation or adjustment to make it fit the needs of the competition.   Available tools such as the Etherington price guidelines may prove useful.

Some questions and concerns regarding definitions and policy need to be addressed before the committee can move forward with drafts of the announcement and application form.  In addition, it must be determined if this is to be an annual or one-time competition.  Once the parameters are finalized, the committee will move forward.

Meeting adjourned.  Next meeting is January 11, 10:00 AM, 428 Library.

Respectfully submitted,

Gregg Homerding

Gregg Homerding

Present:  A. Bendel, A. Conrad, J. Gammon, P. Lindell, G. Witte, and C. Kopp

I.  Minutes of the December 8, 1999, meeting were revised and approved.

II.  Reports

A.  Admin. Council - see LON for detailed minutes

B.  Faculty meeting - see LON for detailed minutes

C.  Library reconfig. - nothing new to report.

D.  Strategic Planning Committee - revised plan was presented to Faculty Meeting. Next meeting will begin looking at tasks from the last plan and new tasks, time-lines, and who should make sure they are done.

E.  Awards sub-Committee - Andy Bendel gave a report on the meeting held December 15, 1999.  Committee will write a document for Paula K. with the following recommendations

1.  Awards should be cash

2.  Nominations may be made by any staff member (staff here is used to indicate anyone working in the Library)

3.  Awards will not have set categories

4.  Groups of employees may be nominated

III.  Updates/Announcements

A.  LSSC Elections - this year the election group tried using e-mail for the nomination portion of the election process.  After receiving about a 50% response rate, the non-respondees were contacted regarding the nomination and if they had received the e-form.  Many of the those not  responding were either out or were having trouble with e-mail.  Ballots are to be sent prior to the end of the week and returned in January 2000.

Gil Witte also passed out updated lists of staff members in each division to their representatives.

IV.  Discussions

V.  New Business

A.  Personnel Office - brief discussion regarding the departure of Al Dries.

Respectfully submitted,

Jane Gammon, Transcriber