02/20/2009
Research, Instruction and Outreach Committee (RIO)
Minutes of the February 6, 2009 Meeting
Present: Bryan Goodwin (chair), Susan Kimball (recorder), Beth Lang, Barbara Polowy, Bonnie Vigeland
Visitor: Stephanie Schmitt
Bryan welcomed Stephanie Schmitt, the new Aleph Manager. Discussed whether or not to continue development on our current OPAC given that it is not being significantly upgraded by Ex Libris and other products are available in the marketplace. Stephanie suggested that a Next Gen catalog option would likely not be possible inside the 3-5 year time frame. She suggested we continue checking things off our punch list for OPAC improvements.
Number one on our punch list is relevancy ranking. We discussed the issue of switching to a single bibliographic record and whether or not that would solve the relevancy ranking problem. There is recognition that merging records and workflows would involve a huge amount of work but also a feeling that the bottom line is that the users are the priority. The former production server that was replaced is now available to test a single bib solution.
Recent decreases in response time were discussed. The OPAC currently has 5 handlers to manage traffic and it’s not adequate. Stephanie reported that they are looking to increase that number to meet demand.
Other punch list items were discussed. We would like call numbers to display in fewer clicks, preferably on the summary screen. Accessibility is also a really big problem. Journals are also very difficult to use. SFX implementation in the OPAC needs to be explored. Having a modify search box on every screen with the most recent search is highly desirable. There was a feeling that although we have clear priorities, the relative level of difficulty involved was unknown. Part of the problem is that the people with the appropriate knowledge are not all at the table.
Next meeting will be Friday, March 13th 9:00am
