Members were asked to indicate their availability to attend two conference calls and two in-person meetings in 2007. Based on the availability of members both present and absent, the 2007 meeting dates will be selected and members will be informed.

Report from the State Library-Loretta Ebert

Ms. Ebert updated the members on the New York Knowledge Initiative, followed by a Q&A session. She emphasized the important role of the Steering Committee in getting out the word on the proposal. NOVEL will move to a higher level with this funding, while continuing full support of the existing level of content.

NOVEL Statewide Education and Information Program-Pam Fitzgerald, Ivy Group

Pam Fitzgerald provided a PowerPoint presentation of the Ivy Group's draft communication plan for the NOVEL Statewide Education and Information Program, followed by a Q&A session with members. Linda Todd will e-mail the Ivy Group's PowerPoint presentation and the draft communication plan to members following the meeting. Linda Todd invited the Steering Committee to send comments on the presentation and the plan to her attention by Wednesday, October 11.

LSTA 5-Year Plan Evaluation-Linda Todd

The evaluators for the NOVEL piece of the LSTA 5-Year Plan, Himmel and Wilson, have conducted focus groups and are currently conducting personal telephone interviews. The summary of their findings to date, distributed to the Steering Committee before this meeting, is also posted on www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/lsta/focusrpt.htm

Approval of June 14 Minutes-Randy Ericson

The minutes of the June 14, 2006 conference call were unanimously approved.

Reports from Small Groups

Integration of NOVEL in Local Library Holdings/Digitization-Loretta Ebert

The two groups saw a natural overlap in discussing digital collections and integration of local holdings, so they combined. The results of their conversation follow.

Mission: Understanding New York State's heritage to shape our future. Use NOVEL as a discovery and delivery tool for local and regional digital collections.
Goals:

NECAT-Randy Ericson

NYLA Conference/Poster Session-Maribeth Krupczak

The Commissioner will speak about the New York Knowledge Initiative at 8 AM on Friday, November 3; followed by a session with legislators; "Moving Forward with NOVEL" is scheduled for 5:15 PM on Thursday, November 2; and the poster session is Saturday morning and will feature: driver license access, the Himmel and Wilson and Ivy Group activities, and Phase 2 of the Portal Project. Please contact Maribeth Krupczak if you can spend some time at the NYLA poster session.

Onward and Upward-Randy Ericson

Mr. Ericson expressed appreciation to members of the Steering Committee whose terms expired on September 30: Janie Kaplan, Wanda Knight, Kitty Little and Sara McCain for the work they did in moving NOVEL forward. He read excerpts from the Onward and Upward document, noting highlights in the NOVEL Steering Committee since the first meeting in April 2002. Lorraine Deitz will e-mail the Onward and Upward document to all members.

Portal Project, Phase 2-Liza Duncan

Negotiations have been completed with WebFeat. The four libraries (Albany Public Library, Wallkill High School, Monroe County Library System, and Orange County Community College) are creating their instances to combine their catalogs into their subscriptions along with NOVEL so that their users will have access using their local library cards. Most of them should be up and running in a few weeks.

Other

Since Mr. Ericson's term on the NOVEL Steering Committee will end in 2007, he asked members to contact him if they are willing to consider serving as Co-Chair starting in January 2007.

Mr. Ericson will send Susan Bartle a card on behalf of the NOVEL Steering Committee to express condolences on the death of her brother.

***** Action Items *****

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, February 7, 2007-Conference Call, 10-11 AM.

The meeting adjourned at 2:35 PM.