1. CALL TO ORDER
This regular meeting of the CLAN Steering Committee meeting was called to order by Chair Kathryn Taylor at 9:45 A.M. at the Warwick Public Library.

In attendance: Anne Parent (DSL); Susan Aylward (NKI and CLAN Secretary); Regina Slezak (NPT); Carol Brouwer (NSM and CLAN Vice Chair); Doug Pearce (WAR); Leslie McDonough (SCI and CLAN Treasurer); John Carney (EPL); Kathryn Taylor (WES and CLAN Chair); Ulla Virks (CHA); Peter Bennett (PPL); Rick Payette (CLAN Technical Support Specialist); Cindy St. Amour (Head of Data Processing); Bob Allen (CLAN Accountant)

2. MINUTES OF THE MARCH 16, 2005 SPECIAL STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
VOTED to approve the minutes on a motion by Carol Brouwer, seconded by Leslie McDonough.

3. CLAN ACCOUNTANT BOB ALLEN´S PRESENTATION OF THE ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT

Bob Allen, CLAN´s CPA, gave a brief overview of the annual financial statement and responded to questions from the Steering Committee. He clarified several issues. Current assets do not necessarily translate into “free’ cash. The timing of expenditures has a great deal to do with the current assets figure. Some items are paid at different times from fiscal year to fiscal year and some payments may span more than one fiscal year. The financial statements are always a snapshot of a particular moment and the receipts and expenditures recorded at that moment appear in the financial statements.

Regina asked about the practice of accumulating E-rate money for special purchases of equipment, etc. Bob Allen responded that this likely shows up in the cash line of the financial statement. If the organization wants to track this amount separately, the Steering Committee would have to pass a resolution to account for these funds as “Board-restricted.’ When asked if CLAN has appropriate controls in place, Bob Allen said yes, that the controls are satisfactory based on the size of the organization and the volume of transactions. The Steering Committee also asked him whether he receives the financial information in a timely fashion and in an efficient way that helps him to prepare the reports; whether the CLAN staff should be using accounting software; and whether we need to hire a bookkeeper. Bob responded that yes he does receive the information in a timely fashion and that Elaine completes year-end reports that provide him with what he needs. There are many software programs available that are simple enough for a non-bookkeeper to use, some are designed specifically for non-profits, but these are very expensive. Since our volume of transactions is not that great, he does not see the need for us to use accounting software. He also recommends against the need for a bookkeeper for the same reasons. The most complex part of our financial setup is the group purchases. Peter pointed out that with the new way we are handling Champlin grants, much of the complexity of the group purchases will go away.

4. INNOVATIVE INTERFACES PROJECT

Steering Committee members had favorable comments about Monday´s (4/25) five-hour presentation from the Innovative Interfaces team. What was particularly helpful was that they seemed to understand the questions and could answer those questions using (in the case of the engineer, Nathan) specific library experience.
        
There was some confusion on how much of the system that was demonstrated on Monday would be part of the package included in our quotation. Peter explained that 90% of what was presented is in the quote. All of the modules, including reports and their version of Telecirc are in the quote. Web Bridge is not part of our quote, nor is the option for credit card payment of fines.

There was also some confusion about what is and what is not available based upon what staff members saw on the field trip to CW/MARS. This was particularly evident in a report that Fran Farrell-Bergeron read to the Steering Committee that had been written for her by her circulation supervisor after the field trip to the Worcester Public Library. Her circulation supervisor was unhappy to learn that the Worcester staff said Batch deletes could not be done. Carol Brouwer pointed out that yes, batch deletes can be done. It´s just a different process. It is especially important to remember that some library systems (CW/MARS for example) do not have all of the same features that we will be getting. They have an earlier version of the system. This is also the case with HELIN. Also, as Regina Slezak pointed out, it is important to know what decisions have been made by the network/library that you are visiting. Sometimes staff members say that something is not available, when in fact it is, but local decisions have affected whether or not their library/network uses that feature.

Doug Pearce thanked Fran for sharing the report as he was especially impressed with Fran´s circulation staff member´s recognizing that standardization of policies and procedures is an important piece of any decision that CLAN makes.

Other impressions about III that were shared with the Committee included: Pat Redfearn (WRR) liked that call numbers could be printed on a laser printer and that in the circulation module, patron information stays at the top of the screen throughout the checkout process. The system does have a bookmobile feature (this was a concern of Susan Reed). Holds are done by Bib#. Access to system features is by who you are. Staff cannot inadvertently delete another library´s holdings information. The system says “checked in’ rather than “on the shelf’. It is very easy to make changes to subject authority subfields. The system supports non-MARC authorities. There is no HIP, which means there are not multiple servers as we have on HORIZON that provide multiple points of failure.

Peter presented a “Plan B’ for funding the project. This plan looks at the statewide catalog as a long-term goal and moves along incrementally rather than trying to achieve everything at the same time, providing a significant reduction in the cost of the project this year/next year and also much less of an impact on the Champlin request to fund it. Peter calls this “The One Step at a Time Approach.’ He writes: “In this alternative CLAN focuses on step 1, the CLAN migration to III and puts aside the INN-Rhode phase for the immediate future. This seems not unreasonable since the CLAN migration is necessarily the first step in implementing INN-Rhode. The migration process could probably start no earlier than January 2006 and would likely not be completed until July 2006 at the earliest. This “Plan B’ would use funds from maintenance cost savings; erate funds; and an estimated modest Champlin request of around $93,000 a year for the next three years.

Rick Payette, while offering the caveat that CLAN still needs to conduct a serious self-examination on the way we do things, did say that this “Plan B’ would work financially, particularly as it affects CLAN technology-related requests for individual libraries over the next three years.

After discussing the issues and hearing Peter´s financial presentation, the Steering Committee VOTED to recommend to the membership that CLAN migrate to the Innovative Interfaces system using the PLAN B “One Step at a Time Approach’ on a motion by Anne Parent, seconded by Regina Slezak. The vote was as follows: 7 in favor (Susan Aylward, Carol Brouwer, Kathryn Taylor, Regina Slezak, John Carney, Ulla Virks, Anne Parent); 2 opposed (Doug Pearce, Leslie McDonough); 1 abstention (Peter Bennett).

Debbie Barchi (BAR) wondered if there could be an informal meeting to discuss the Innovative Interfaces project prior to the vote at the annual meeting. The Steering Committee felt this was a good idea. The Committee VOTED to hold a special meeting prior to May 12th to discuss informally the Innovative Interfaces project on a motion by Anne Parent, seconded by Regina Slezak. May 5th was selected as the date.

5. ACLU REPORT ON INTERNET FILTERING

The Steering Committee discussed the recent report which the ACLU compiled on Internet filtering in Rhode Island public libraries. The Committee determined that it would be helpful for the Data Processing staff to provide an explanation of how Web Sense works so that everyone has a clear understanding of what is being blocked; what options are available on the local level; and how one goes about unblocking sites. The Committee also felt it would be helpful for the message that accompanies a blocked site to be less cryptic. They asked Peter to change the blocking message to read: “If you want this site unblocked, please ask a librarian.’
        
6. TREASURER´S REPORT
Leslie McDonough reported that the third quarter was fairly straightforward. There were no questions on the report as presented.
VOTED to accept the Treasurer´s report on a motion by Carol Brouwer, seconded by Doug Pearce.

7. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR´S REPORT
There was no report from the Executive Director.

8. QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION OF CLAN STAFF REPORTS
There were no questions for Cindy St. Amour (Head of Data Processing) or Rick Payette (Technical Support Specialist) on the reports they filed on CLAN.Message.

9. OTHER
Pat Redfearn asked the Steering Committee to consider cooperative buying of supplies.

Donna DiMichele asked if it is possible for each individual library´s fee for the shared databases to be broken out and the information given to OLIS.

Donna DiMichele suggested that CLAN make a donation to the scholarship fund in memory of De Johnson. The Steering Committee felt this was a good idea, but that CLAN as an entity could not contribute. Doug Pearce suggested that we take up a collection at the May 12th meeting for this purpose.

The Steering Committee VOTED to go into Executive Session to discuss personnel matters on a motion by John Carney, seconded by Regina Slezak. Each member of the Committee was polled individually and the consent was unanimous.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 A.M.

Respectfully submitted,
Susan Aylward
Secretary