Bonnie Klein, FAC Secretary Date: May 14, 1997 Re: Minutes of the FEDLINK FAC Meeting April 24, 1997 FAC Present: FLICC/FEDLINK: Churchville Susan Tarr Klein Milton MeGee Lomax Porter ABACUS: Rettenmaier Bob Baker Updegrove Pete Koumalats Wright FAC Absent: Grimes Whitmore AGENDA 1. Approval of the March 20, 1997 FAC Meeting Minutes 2. FY98 Budget Proposal 3. FLICC/FEDLINK Business Plan 4. FLICC/FEDLINK Update 5. Committee Reports 6. New Business Fred Rettenmaier, FAC Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. 1. Minutes. The March 20, 1997, FAC Meeting Minutes were reviewed, corrected and accepted. 2. Budget. Susan Tarr distributed the FEDLINK FY98 Budget Proposal and reported that the FLICC Budget and Finance Working Group had recommended the approval of a $269K increase in FY98 funding. The increase is a result of FEDLINK funding the chief program analyst position that LC previously funded and the addition of a fiscal systems analyst (GS-13) to the FFO staff. Also included in the increase are COLA's, promotions, and regular with-in grade increases for FEDLINK staff. To cover the increase the Budget and Finance Working Group recommended raising the fees for direct pay users. The recent Abacus Technologies, Inc. study showed that direct pay accounts require more attention and, therefore, use more FEDLINK personnel resources than previously estimated.. The proposed fee increase will raise the direct pay base fee from $850 to $1200. Additionally, there will be a slight increase in the supplemental fee from .5% to .6% assessed on Direct Pay accounts over 100K. Tarr will sign a letter (dated April 23, 1997, timed to arrive before the May 2, 1997 membership meeting) addressed to FY97 FEDLINK Direct Pay members. The letter previews the change and encourages small accounts under $15K to consider using Transfer Pay or their agencies' procurement systems. These issues will also be discussed at the FLICC Executive Board (FEB) meeting on May 1, 1997, the FEDLINK Membership Meeting on May 2, 1997, and at the FLICC Quarterly Meeting on May 15, 1997. The summary Chart of the FY98 Budget and Fee structure compares the projected budget to the previous three years. FY98 assumptions for Direct Pay accounts are optimistic; it is anticipated the number may reduce in 1999. The FLICC/FEDLINK FY98 Budget & Fee Questionnaire on the homepage (http://lcweb.loc.gov/flicc/98bquest.html) garnered 20 responses after the listserv announcement; replies will help in determining FY98 activity and revenue. 3. Business Plan. Susan Tarr turned the meeting over to Abacus staff for the discussion about the FEDLINK Business Plan. Pete Koumalats noted that the Abacus contract for developing the Business Plan started September 30, 1996, and involved 8 months of information collecting.. He stated the task for the FAC was to assist in articulating FEDLINK's mission statement for the future. To do that, the FAC needed to consider the past and current missions to see where we have been and decide where we are going. Secondly, the FAC was asked to consider five possible business strategy scenarios with the likelihood that the final scenario would be a hybrid of the five. In the review of the draft Business Plan Outline, Koumalats remarked that non-profit organizations must behave in a business like way to meet their purpose/mission. FEDLINK is a reimbursable program. The goal is to have program costs as low as possible, so member fees are as low as possible for provided services. Mission Statement. Barbara Robinson stated that the Business Plan develops from the mission statement. She reviewed and summarized the January 1997 and February 1997 FAC brainstorming sessions. She recalled that someone had called for a Paradigm shift? What would it involve and why? She stated a focus is needed - presently both FLICC and FEDLINK are going in too many directions. Is there a natural life span of FEDLINK, even though FEDLINK underwrites FLICC? There was discussion about how the organization name is used as an acronym and has lost the full context of Federal Library Information Network. Milton MeGee discussed how FEDLINK's mission and services evolved to assist federal libraries with automation support. In 1974-75, FEDLINK became an OCLC network member and provided funding to develop dial access. In 1977, FEDLINK added online retrieval services, such as DIALOG and BRS. FEDLINK services developed in a logical sequence in response to member requests and grew to include equipment, serials, books, etc. Susan Tarr spoke further about the FLICC/FEDLINK tie. In 1965 FLICC came into existence. In 1968 Qunicy Mumford, the Librarian of Congress, established two LC appropriated positions to support FLICC. However, except for these two positions, the FLICC infrastructure is funded by FEDLINK revenues, not by the LC budget . A subsidy of FLICC is built into FEDLINK fees. Is there a FLICC without a FEDLINK? The next FLICC meeting will ask "Is the FEDLINK tail wagging the FLICC Dog?" Robinson posed the question that in the near future, within the next five years, where should FEDLINK be? FAC members suggested emphasizing essentials; narrowing the focus; scaling back from being everything to everybody; getting rid of the nice things; getting back to basics; and redefining the customer. There was discussion about the challenges of downsizing and that information is available to those that have the money. Which segments of the community does FEDLINK serve - the whole gamut of types, sizes and innovativeness? It seems FEDLINK best serves the middle-tier trying to do a good job. There is a need to identify the common denominators that have broadest interest throughout the federal library community. The FAC revised the Abacus strawman mission statement to: (1)To provide essential information related services to the cooperating community of federal libraries and information centers and (2) to sustain FLICC. The mission statement should be dynamic. Its context is within the broader context of the FLICC mission and the LC mission. Susan Tarr mentioned the four Library of Congress mission priorities: (1) To serve Congress (2) Preservation (3) ILS and Collection Control (4) Outreach. (On April 24, 1997, Tarr faxed a copy of the Mission and Strategic Priorities of the Library of Congress to FAC members.) The FAC-developed FEDLINK mission statement is: Working cooperatively with libraries and information centers to achieve effective management and delivery of essential information-related products and services (traditional and virtual) in the rapidly-changing federal environment and to sustain FLICC. Because the FAC ran out of time, Susan Tarr asked the members to look at the proposed Business Plan scenarios outlined on the summary chart found on page 7 of the Task 4 white paper. Members were asked to circle the pieces that are essential, add missing pieces, and fax the result to her by 25 April 97. 4., 5., 6. Postponed. The FLICC/FEDLINK update, committee reports and new business were postponed until the next FAC meeting. The FAC was reminded about the upcoming May 2, 1997 FEDLINK meeting The meeting adjourned at 12 p.m. Handouts Distributed at the April 24, 1997 FAC Meeting I. Minutes of the FEDLINK FAC Meeting, March 20, 1977 II. FEDLINK FY98 Budget Proposal III. Letter dated April 23, 1997, from Susan Tarr, Executive Director, FLICC to FEDLINK Direct Pay Members IV. Draft OCLC FY97/98 Pricing V. Agenda for FEDLINK Business Plan Discussion VI. Draft Mission Statement VII. Business Plan Outline VIII. Development of a Long-Range Business Plan White Papers A. Task 2: Assess the Current and Future Environment for FEDLINK Services B. Task 3: Identify FEDLINK's competitors C. Task 4: Formulate 5-year Strategy for FEDLINK Business Plan