Meeting Minutes for 01/09/2018

Coordination of Discovery and E-Content Committees (ECC) in 2018 — Jordan Fields (Marmot)
Pika development plans in 2018 include significant new functionality related to e-content. SimplyE, for example, is a new app we have talked about viewing in an ECC meeting, but perhaps the Discovery meeting of Feb 6 or Mar 6 would be a better venue. Jordan and Tammy want to talk with the ECC about how to best manage topics of interest to both committees. We also want to clarify for members of both committees that Discovery focuses on Pika functionality where E-Content focuses on content—particularly the shared OverDrive and Zinio/RBdigital Magazine collections.

• Jordan is the Product Owner for Pika.  She is involved in deciding what features should be built next for Pika, and how to prioritize and develop those features.
• There is overlap with eContent between the two committees (ECC & Discovery), because eContent materials are included in Pika.
•  ECC is primarily working with shared content and purchasing.  Discovery is primarily about the software and working with the discovery of eContent.
• There is a lot of work planned in Pika concerning eContent in the next year.  Jordan plans to join future ECC meetings to talk about what is happening in Pika for eContent.
• The Discovery Committee has been discussing needing more eContent integration, and wanting other eContent sources other than OverDrive.  The eContent sources will be shown in Pika for what you have checked out with returned dates, and reading history (if enabled).
• Jordan polled the Discovery Committee members (you all should have a member from your library on this committee) for the top three choices for the next sources to be integrated into Pika. Hoopla had the most requests.  The other requests were ranked to get an idea of what sources to integrate next.  Hoopla is in the works right now.  The next integration will be RBdigital and Kanopy.  The integration will look similar to OverDrive, but the features will be specific to the eContent source to make sure it works in Pika.  
• Whatever ECC decides as far as Advantage Share has no bearing on how it works in Pika. 
• The issue with titles starting as Advantage titles and becoming shared have been completely solved.
• There is one issue with holds that OverDrive does not consider a bug. The R & D team does consider this issue with OverDrive holds a bug.  With the OverDrive Advantage titles, when you see the holds list in Pika you are seeing all the holds on that title for everyone in the system for the shared collection, or anyone’s OverDrive Advantage collection even after you sign in.  You are seeing a longer hold list then if your library has that copy as an Advantage title.  Once your user puts a hold on a title, the hold queue will be shorter.  This has to do with how the OverDrive API was written.  
• When you get a new OverDrive Advantage collection, please let your library Pika administrator, or the R & D team know at pika@marmot.org. OverDrive Advantage collections have to be setup in Pika to have the titles show.
• The R & D team thought the SimplyE app demo should happen for the Discovery Committee meeting, because they want the Discovery Partners to have the opportunity to see that demo as well.  

Advantage Share for all? (Alysa Selby)  
Click here for Alysa’s Notes.

• Alysa and Joyce expend the consortium dollars every month to manage the hold list for the shared collection.
• Have two separate systems of ordering is hard for Alysa to explain to her director, as well as management of both.
• With the new Advantage Share option, a member would buy titles with Advantage dollars.  The Advantage library’s patrons will always have access to those titles first.  However, if that title is not circulating, and someone else in the system has a hold on that title, the system will share that title with the other library’s patron.
• Alysa wondered why the group would continue with the present model, when we could have the same kind of buying model as our physical materials.
• If we all chose to become Advantage members, and buy all Advantage dollars, you have the ability to share or not share an Advantage title. For example, many libraries buy multiple copies of the hottest titles. An Advantage library could buy one title that circulates to just their patrons, and purchase two Advantage titles that their patrons can get access to first, but if the titles are not being circulated, than everyone in the collective can use. This is called browsing with the physical collection.  
• Advantage members can withhold titles from the collective.
• If we adopted the Advantage Share model, we would have to be much more diligent about purchasing the same copy to facilitate the holds management.  OverDrive cannot combine the holds on different copies of the same title.  As lending models change, you have to be careful of what copies are purchased.
• Currently, Advantage titles cannot be weeded.  You might have a low circulating Advantage title that has expired, and you do not want it to show in the catalog anymore.  Right now, you have to have OverDrive weed the title.  OverDrive does expect to make Advantage title weeding available in early 2018.
• An effort by everyone would be needed to manage holds.  
• Alysa made the point that any money Bud Werner spends on Advantage titles is not currently part of the shared collection, but it would be with the new Advantage Share.

Questions & Information about how Advantage Share will affect the group:

• Q: What happens when titles are expired, but they do not have holds for your library?  Who determines who goes and buys those titles, and who is using the money to purchase them?
• A : Alysa is advocating that it is up to every single library that participates on OverDrive to run searches to find expired titles with holds.  Workflows would need to be created for your library (like physical materials) to run a search for these titles. If every library is doing this search, than holds should not be dropped. Alysa is purposing that she and Joyce no longer have to manage holds for people, that they should be managing holds themselves. Another suggestion would be to have Tammy run a list every month with consortium titles with holds that no one has purchased yet.  Tammy agreed to help with this process by running reports, and training members who need help.
• Q: Do we need to choose to share each title or can we do a blanket acceptance that we share all?
• A: Libraries would need to decide what titles they want to share.
• Q: If we all become advantage libraries, what happens to the consortium collection? Will we all still have access to these titles?
• A: No one would lose access to the consortium collection.  The real issue is holds management.
• Q: is there an added charge to be an advantage library?
• A: There is no charge for Advantage.  You have to purchase a few items so OverDrive can make sure Advantage is working for your library.
• Q: Would libraries that plan to share their advantage titles share all of them or go title by title, which I believe is an option? I am asking because of how CMC might be able to obtain MARC records for shared Advantage titles.
• A: Alysa believes that it is copy by copy that is shared.  Jimmy spoke about the MARC records.  Everything for OverDrive is harvested through the OverDrive API. CMC needs to send the MARC records to be discoverable through EBSCO EDS.  Yulia responded that they use MARC records for EDS and side load into Pika, but Overdrive did not offer a good way of giving us MARC records for Advantage titles.
• Q: Alysa would you be willing to share the advanced search criteria you used to make your advantage account lists showing the expired titles with holds with the rest of us so we don't have to make the same list from scratch?
• A: Alysa responded that she would definitely share her searches. She will send them to the group.

Some questions that still need to be answered:

• Q: Why can’t the current Advantage libraries move forward with Advantage Share, and those libraries who do not spend big bucks on OverDrive stay with the collective buying model?
• Q: How would it affect the collective budget to buy down the hold list, if the Advantage libraries no longer give money to the collective budget?
• Q: I'd like to know about any disadvantages there may be for us switching to all advantage share libraries.
• Q: At this point should each library be looking at the notices for expiring titles?
• Q: I am still committed to having a shared collection + the advantage share, but would like to know if this dual model creates new problems for marmot and/or members (especially financial issues).

Jimmy thinks we need to do a little scenario planning, and need some input from another OverDrive customer who has switched to Advantage Share.  For the sake of argument, let us say that all the current Advantage Libraries are going to adopt the new Advantage Share 100%.  How much effort does that leave the Marmot office to perform the holds management for the libraries who are committed to the shared environment? We have to think about how much of the budget is allocated to fund this purchasing.  The shared collection funding has been 30% for the last few years.  If we switched to this new model for both Advantage Share and collective buying, what happens to that number? 

Action Item: Tammy will work with OverDrive Reps and other consortiums to find out the pitfalls of the Advantage Share.  Tammy will report the findings back to the group at the next meeting, or a special meeting to reach some closure in the next few months.  Tammy will find out the answers to the questions from this meeting.  

Action Item: Tammy will work with Joyce to find out how her process to bring down the holds list, find expired titles with holds, and weed the collection.  We want to find out the time comment and estimated level of effort needed for these processes.  If it all goes well, Tammy might continue to help with the process until Advantage Share and collective buying is resolved.  

Action Item: Marmot will draft a plan about how to go forward with the Advantage Share.  This plan would have Marmot flipping the switch, and Bud Werner sharing their items. We would test this for a month with everyone looking out for weirdness, or things we did not think about during the planning.  After a month, assess how things are going for the Bud Werner Pilot Project.  Month 2, if everything goes well, other libraries who want to share their Advantage titles will join the Advantage Share like Bud Werner.    Month 3, check to see if the other libraries want to join as Advantage Share libraries.  Once the plan is approved, we will start with each phase.  
 

Renewal of Blackstone Audio “Always Available” collection

• Here is a list of the Blackstone Audio titles up for renewal.  
• The group decided to keep purchasing the 25 Blackstone Audio titles.
• The group decided to replace the two titles that have less than 60 checkouts.
• These titles are paid for with the collective budget, so we will have to think about how to fund these titles in the future if we switch to Advantage Share.

Action Item: Liz and Tammy will work to find two new titles to replace the titles with the lower checkouts.

RBdigital (Zinio) Magazines Discussion - Tammy 
A discussion for anyone who is a member of RBdigital Magazines (formerly Zinio) about the budget and available titles.

• A list of titles from 2017 with checkouts and cost per circ was shared with the group.
• The group needs to decide what titles will be purchased for 2018.  The conversation will continue through email.
• The amount of money for the titles and platform fee were discussed.

Action Item: Tammy will create a list of titles for purchase for 2018.  The group will need to discuss which titles to keep or renew for 2018.  The list will first be sent out to ECC email first, so we can verify if anyone who interested in making a decision is included in the Zinio-Libraries email group.  

Other Discussion
Mark Haley informed us that Recorded Books has a new product out for streaming videos that would cost $3.00 a week for unlimited access.  The streaming videos and eAudiobooks both use the same app as the RBdigital Magazines (formerly Zinio). Anyone who currently has eMagazines would not need to use a new app.  
 
Action Item: The group agreed to a demo.  Tammy will set this up for the April 10th ECC meeting with Mark Haley.
Next meeting is on April 10th at 1 p.m.