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Cornell University Library
Council of Librarians
January 20, 1999
Attendance:
Steve Rockey, Jean Poland, Pat Court, Katie Margolis, John Saylor, David
Block, Paul Constantine, David Corson, Juan Serrano, Tom Hickerson, John
Dean, Deb Lamb-Deans, Susan Currie, Pat Schafer, Diane Hillmann, Ed
Weissman, Ved Kayastha, Peter McDonald, Marty Schlabach, Zsuzsa Koltay, Lenore Coral, Christian Boissonnas, Lee Cartmill, Sarah Thomas, Don
Schnedeker, Ross Atkinson, Judith Holliday (recorder)
1) "About CU Library" redesign
Marty Schlabach reported on the redesign of the "About CU Library" page of the Gateway. Marty and his group were asked to redesign the "About CU
Library" page so that it would better serve as an introduction to the
gateway and the Library for non-Cornell users but they decided that a home
page would serve this purpose better. Options were presented to the
Gateway Committee which agreed with the recommendation of the group that a
CUL home page be designed.
Media Services is working with the redesign group to design the home page
to provide users with an attractive and functional introduction to the
Library Gateway. Many new features will be added to the About CU Library
page, among which are: library history, annual statistics, various
policies, individual library descriptions, the library administrative
structure, a browsable and searchable staff directory, Friends of the
Library section and a section on finding library materials.
The home page development is on a fast track and there should be something
to look at in 2-3 weeks.
2) Introduction of Jean Poland
Sarah Thomas introduced the new AUL for Mathematics, Engineering and
Physical Sciences, Jean Poland. There will be a reception for Jean on the
afternoon of 2/16/99.
3) User Survey
Christian Boissonnas presented a report on the User Survey. The committee
has met with Yasamin DiCiccio of the Computer-Assisted Survey
Team (ILR), surveyed the literature, and has met with several groups such
as the Working Group on Cataloging. The committee is attempting to
understand the goals of the survey as well as define the population to be
surveyed. They have heard very different comments from the various groups
but the user population seems to be emerging as the people listed in the
Cornell phone book. We need to find out the information needs of our users
and the survey will help us to do this. Once we know this, we can figure
out how to provide them and prioritize them. Yasamin has given the
committee good ideas on what not to do: for the Cornell community, a
questionnaire is a very bad idea. A telephone survey would be much more
productive.
4) Personalized Electronic Services
Zsuzsa Koltay reported on the development of the "virtual carrel."
Zsuzsa said she and her group were taking the "talk show" approach and
going around and talking to various library groups as well as using tools
such as the Gateway User Study.
5) Announcement
John Dean announced that there was a federal initiative from the Institute
for Museum and Library Services for preserving America's treasures. The
deadline is 2/1/99 and the Department of Preservation and Conservation will
be submitting a proposal for $515,000 to digitize and provide conservation
treatment for 10,000 anti-slavery pamphlets.
Submitted by Judith Holliday
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rev. 1/27/99 peo