10:00 am – Video Conference (Zoom)
Attendees: Evan Boyd, Virginia Dearborn, Laura Giacobbe, Jim Humble, Patrick Milas, Greg Murray, Lydia Putnam, Christine Schwartz, Elizabeth Young Miller
Approval of the agenda
The meeting began at 10:02 am by congratulating Patrick on becoming a new dad. Virginia mentioned that Princeton Theological Seminary has a part-time circulation position open and moved to add this to the announcements section. The amended agenda was approved by acclamation.
Announcements (staff transitions at Princeton Theological Seminary, Missio, Lancaster Bible College, Evangelical and Eastern)
Virginia shared that Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) is still welcoming applications for the part-time circulation position. The posting mentions evening hours; however, there is the possibility of some daytime hours.
On July 15, Chris Schwartz moved into a new role at PTS: Systems and Electronic Resources Librarian. Julie Dawson is the Serials and Cataloging Librarian. Greg shared that he is happy for Chris; however, she will be missed on the digital team. Chris’s new role means that there is now an opening for a metadata librarian at PTS. Job openings at PTS can be found at the following URL: https://www.ptsem.edu/about/employment
Lydia announced that Missio has a new library director: Rachel McConnell. Rachel has experience as an elementary school librarian and assisted with a move at a previous institution. While Rachel is settling into her new role, Lydia will continue to function in some respects as interim director. Due to a mold outbreak and a delay with the renovations, Lydia is unsure of the schedule for moving offices and the library. She hopes to learn more at a meeting tomorrow.
Patrick shared that Gerry Lincoln retired from Lancaster Bible College, and Mark Draper, the former library director at Evangelical Seminary, was hired as the new Electronic Resources Librarian. Julie Miller remains at Evangelical as the Assistant Librarian and Jim Sauer, formerly of Eastern/Palmer Theological Seminary and College, is the new Librarian at Evangelical, serving in a part-time role. The new library director at Eastern/Palmer Theological is Joy Dlugosz.
Approval of the Spring 2019 minutes
Several Executive Committee members proposed revisions and updates to the minutes. Patrick and Laura will collaborate on a revised version, which will be shared with the Executive Committee at the next meeting.
Treasurer’s report
Evan mentioned that his name has been added to the PNC accounts. Currently, there is $5,172.72 in the non-profit checking account and $6,769.88 in the money market account for a total of $11,942.60. Lydia motioned to approve the treasurer’s report and it was approved by acclamation.
Reviewing survey results from the spring 2019 meeting
Elizabeth provided some highlights from the spring meeting survey. Ten (10) people responded. In terms of overall satisfaction with the meeting, all respondents rated the meeting a five (5), the highest score. Comments indicate that attendees really enjoyed the discussion and topics presented, with the report on collection development receiving the highest marks. All respondents attended the meeting. With regard to topics for future meetings, there is interest in e-books, as well as continued conversation on collection development and how this could impact the bylaws. Respondents indicated an interest in virtual meeting and could choose more than one response for this question.
- 6 are interested in webinars co-sponsored with Atla (topics mentioned include e-books and support for distance students/online programs)
- 5 are interested in specific topics
- 3 are interested in attending a live broadcast in lieu of attending in person
Individual membership was mentioned in the comments section.
Chris asked for some clarification about the future meeting topics. Elizabeth explained that the topics of e-books and collection development are distinct topics, as opposed to collection development policies that address/include e-books.
Plans for Fall 2019 meeting at Moravian
Elizabeth mentioned that plans are underway at Moravian for the fall meeting and asked what time the meeting would begin and end, when lunch should be scheduled, and if break-out rooms for the interest groups are needed. Once she knows this information, she can coordinate with catering and arrange for parking.
Virginia asked about the Research Services Interest Group. When Jim Sauer was at Eastern/Palmer Theological, he had expressed a willingness to chair this interest group. Patrick will follow-up with him.
Lydia mentioned that she hopes to be in touch with the Continuing Education Committee in the next couple of weeks. Focusing on collection development, in light of e-books may make sense.
Patrick shared his thoughts about interest groups and ideas for the fall meeting. Perhaps the interest groups could expand; sometimes topics apply to both. Moving forward, we may want to discuss as a membership what has gone well at our institutions in the last five (5) to ten (10) years, in addition to sharing both how we can help each other with current projects and big ideas for the future. Maybe we could have small group discussions that could result in lighting talks lasting three (3) to five (5) minutes.
Elizabeth mentioned that she and Myka Kennedy Stephens had been in conversation last fall about discontinuing interest groups for the time being, given all the vacancies in SEPTLA leadership roles. However, when volunteers emerged, this idea was tabled.
Chris explained that the management of acquisitions and e-resources do not fit well with the current interest groups’ focus.
Patrick encouraged the committee to continue the conversation surrounding interest groups and Virginia highlighted that the Slack channel can be used for discussion.
Status of Slack adoption and use for collaboration
Virginia shared that there has been some activity on both the general and random Slack channels. Lydia explained that timing may factor into the usage of Slack; it is the summer. However, Slack may be useful for newcomers. Patrick mentioned that Slack could potentially be used for a courier system for interlibrary loan (ILL), resource sharing, and/or shared reference services. Lydia plans to use Slack to communicate with the Continuing Education Committee. Other committees and interest groups could also use Slack to extend conversations.
Exploring GreenGlass for shared collection development
Elizabeth shared that after the spring meeting and the possible interest in shared collection development, she reached out to OCLC to learn more about GreenGlass. She spoke with Pete Zeimet at OCLC and shared Pete’s follow-up e-mail with Patrick. The big unknown is cost. Pete would like to show us a demonstration, either at an Executive Committee meeting and/or at our fall meeting. Elizabeth will follow-up with Pete about additional information, namely costs, and share what she finds with the Executive Committee. She will also post some material to Slack.
Planned review of SEPTLA Bylaws and Constitution
Patrick explained that before amending the bylaws and constitution, he would like the membership to do some “soul searching,” examining the structure of the organization. He plans to begin these conversations at the fall business meeting, which will in turn inform proposed changes to the bylaws and constitution. The Executive Committee supports this plan.
Other business
Evan shared that he has been working on some digitization grants, using the Internet Archive and Backstage. He highly recommends PA Photos & Documents—great platform and unlimited space.
Chris explained that now that her main focus is systems, she is not the right person to chair the Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group.
Adjournment until next meeting: September 11 at 2 pm
Patrick adjourned the meeting at 10:58 am.