UC Heads of Public Services
Conference Call
May 30, 2007

Present: Barclay, Dawson , Farley, Frenkel, Friedman, Gomez, Hughes, Kautzman, Persily, Sterling , Watstein
Guests: Terry Ryan, Elaine Adams, Ken Furuta

1. UC OCLC Pilot Project

Ryan gave an overview of the tentative agreement which has been reached with OCLC about the UC pilot project to test the use of WorldCat Local as a replacement for Melvyl. It will utilize WorldCat's current discovery and display features, but the pilot will need to explore how to create links to our UC local systems for functions like circulation, Request, and local holdings (which would include Reserves as merely another location) among other things.

Work groups have been proposed for the development of specific use cases and assessment tasks. Send an email to Amy K by June 8, 2007, if you have comments on the names put forward for consideration as members of the various teams.

2. Digital Reference Report on Collaborative Chat

Adams and Furuta presented the report of the Digital Reference CIG and answered questions about the group's experience this year and the recommendations. HOPS accepted the report, with thanks to the entire Dig Ref CIG. HOPS focused its discussion on the first recommendation concerning the continuation of the service as a production service. HOPS supports the service continuing in production mode, effective Summer 2007. HOPS also briefly discussed the second recommendation, concerning service schedule. HOPS supports the recommendation to implement limited summer service hours.

HOPS will schedule a conference call soon to consider some of the other recommendations of the report (administration and leadership, methods and modes of service delivery, and promotion) and if/how to package a synopsis for SOPAG based on SOPAG's level of interest. HOPS will also discuss the need for a local training session from QP in light of opportunities at ALA for such discussion about how to approach the development of a collaborative reference service based on IM ensued. There are significant technical hurdles when thinking about IM in a geographically dispersed cooperative, such as how to "hand off" patrons at the end of a shift and providing sufficient security for transactions. Watstein will develop a draft proposal for moving forward on an IM pilot to happen concurrently with the production QP-based service. Suggestions for the pilot include focusing on a discrete discipline or information format, such as engineering or government information. Campuses that are currently staffing the production service will also have an opportunity to participate in an IM pilot.

Document owner: Donald A. Barclay

Last reviewed: June 8, 2007