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In attendance were: Lisa Davis (OSL), Celeste Dyer (CUM), Ed Garcia (CRA), Mattie Gustafson (NPT), Mary Ellen Hardiman (NPR), Julie Holden (PAW), and Chris La Roux (GVL).
E-Zone Committee Chair: Elections were held for a new committee chair, and Julie Holden was elected. She begins her term at the conclusion of this meeting.
Suggested Titles Form: Lisa D. reported that Rick Payette felt we would need a service to create a form for the E-Zone website that would allow users to make suggestions for titles to purchase. The committee discussed the matter and decided to put this on the "back burner" for now, while keeping an eye out for a way to create the form.
There is a system currently in place that was designed by Lisa D., which utilizes the Ocean State Libraries message board and has its own folder titled "Overdrive--Suggested". Committee members are required to look in the folder regularly and open e-mails that list titles being requested by users. Several suggestions were made by committee members to make the system easier to use and more organized, but each had its own problem. Here are some of the suggestions, none of which are possible:
Mark e-mails after media is ordered
Put e-mails in folders by media type or author
Create a purchase order in the folder
Arrange purchase orders by date so e-mails can be deleted by date
One suggestion that is possible is to rotate responsibility for checking the e-mails, so that several people aren't looking at the same e-mails and duplicating each other's work.
Mary Ellen H. offered to have North Providence staff review as many e-mails as possible, during slow or down time, and create purchase orders. She will let Lisa know which e-mails should be deleted.
Lisa D. will bring a list of suggested titles to be purchased to the quarterly OSL meeting, with the hope that libraries will offer to purchase the titles.
E-Zone website: The E-Zone Website now has an updated list of compatible audio book devices, up to date as of January 21.
Audio and E-Book lists on the website are only showing 100 titles when users request all titles. Lisa D. will contact Overdrive about this. If nothing else, the wording should be changed to "More Titles" so users don't think they are viewing all of the titles owned.
Champlin Grant for content: Mary Ellen H. suggested the committee consider how to obtain a Champlin Foundations' grant to increase content available on the E-Zone. Providence Public Library received a Champlin Foundations' grant two years ago and it was used to obtain several standing orders. These increased the E-Zone's content greatly while not requiring staff time to do the selecting. Discussion ensued, and it was decided that OSL should not request a grant for content, since it takes care of equipment needs. Maybe some libraries would like to ask for grants for content, which would be shared with all the members via the E-Zone. Mary Ellen H. agreed to ask the Champlin Foundations how to approach a grant for group purchasing.
Discussion of dissatisfaction with Overdrive's technical support for members ensued.
EPUB vs PDF: Mary Ellen H. brought up the topic of competing formats for e-books. Overdrive offers both PDF, an Adobe product, and EPUB, a standard format. Apparently, the new Sony readers will not allow both formats to exist simultaneously on the readers. Ed G. noted that older Sony readers did not have this problem. Lisa D. received a message from Overdrive's Susan Lima confirming the problem on the new Sony Readers. It is important for librarians to be aware of this so users can be informed.
Down Load Stations: The cost of Overdrive's down load station software was discussed again. Lisa D. contacted Overdrive and is waiting for the latest pricing.
PR materials: Lisa D. feels there is a need for new user friendly E-Zone promotional materials for patrons.
The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 12 at 1 p.m. at the OSL office in Warwick.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris La Roux
Director, Greenville Public Library
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