Advisory Committee to the Associate University Librarian for Services

Committee Charge

Minutes

Minutes for Services Advisory Committee – Monday, August 13, 2007

Members in attendance: Scott Walter (chair), Lori Mestre, Lura Joseph
Visitors Present: Peggy Steele, Meg Burger, Karen Hogenboom
Members absent: Lisa Hinchliffe, Mary Laskowski, Karen Wei, JoAnn Jacoby, Stephanie Davidson, Susie Duncan

Additions to the Agenda:

This is the last Services Advisory Committee meeting before the new members join. Some of the new members, Peggy, Meg, and Karen, were in attendance. Tina Chrzastowski will also be joining the committee.

1. Cutover Date for New Gateway

   • The committee was asked to give input as to when the new gateway should be implemented. Possible dates from other sources suggested August 20 or 23. Scott will email Beth and suggest it be implemented as soon as possible, but no later than August 22, the first day of classes.

   • Note: in later discussions, a suggestion was made to determine if the Gateway cut-over date could be postponed until later in the semester in order to address the substantive issues of process and ongoing site management identified below. Scott will email Beth Sandore and suggest that the new site not be launched until October 15, 2007.

2. New Gateway General Comments

   • It was discussed whether having a link to the old Gateway on the new Gateway would make the transition smoother. It was decided that once the cutover happens, the old Gateway should not be accessible. Instead, those frustrated with not being able to find something should be encouraged to send in their comments and suggestions. All links on the Gateway need to be active before rollout. If a new page is not ready, the old page needs to be linked.

   • Scott will contact Bill Mischo about the need for a feedback loop. Users need to get some sort of response when submitting feedback – if possible both when it is submitted and when the problem has been addressed. The committee discussed whether it would be possible to use the same tool as Library IT (OTRS).

   • The committee also discussed whether the new Gateway should utilize the new Illinois branding (i.e., make use of the "illinois.edu" domain name). This is to be a campus-wide process. Peggy will check her notes about this from CITES and get back to the committee.

   • Instead of the footer having a link to submit comments, the committee decided using something like ‘if you have a problem’ or ‘feedback’ would be clearer. Scott will contact the correct party with this change.

   • It was asked when there will be access to the CMS. Once it is stabilized and working, the goal is to train units. For now, the SWAT team is trained and fixing pages. At some point, when CMS is working, units will be able to control pages. The committee discussed that this is a significant service issue since content owners are unable to update their pages once they are converted. SWAT is focused on converting, not editing. The committee needs to make it clear that the pages need to be editable now – if not by the owner of the pages, then by someone on SWAT available to make the edits. It is essential that the SWAT teams’ goals encompass the service aspect. There was a suggestion that one person in each division should be trained now. Also, the owners of the pages need to be alerted when their pages are being converted. Scott will send out a query on the process.

3. New Services Page

   • Concerns: capitalization is still inconsistent; headings hard to pick out because of too much text on the page; no sense of priority on the page; all the headers are not links; a "Borrowing" page is needed, but it is unclear who will create the content.

   • Changes: with less text, the headings may be more distinguishable (Scott will work on editing the text down); "Resources for" should move to the left column under the dividing line; all the headings need to be links; change "Teaching and Learning" to "Learn About the Library"; re-organize headings; take fax number out of the left column; add a feedback link on the footer

4. New Service Models

   • Scott asked the committee to email him with their thoughts on how Services Advisory wants to contribute to the question of the new service models. The proposals are due on September 14, so Scott will talk to Paula about what input she wants from the committee. This will be discussed at the next meeting.

5. Next Meeting

   • The next Services Advisory meeting is September 10, 2007 at 9am in Library 428.