Bonnie Klein, Secretary, FEDLINK Advisory Council (FAC) Date: December 3, 1997 Re: Minutes of the FEDLINK FAC Meeting, October 23, 1997 FAC Present FEDLINK Churchville Susan Tarr Klein Milton MeGee Lomax Joseph Banks Porter Rettenmaier Updegrove Wright FAC Absent Grimes Whitmore AGENDA 1. Approval of the September 18, 1997 FAC Meeting Minutes 2. FAC Issues and Topics 3. FEDLINK Mission Statement: Final Discussions 4. FLICC/FEDLINK Update 5. Committee Reports 6. New Business Fred Rettenmaier, FAC Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. 1. Minutes. Review of the September 18, 1997 minutes was delayed to accommodate late FAC arrivals and in order to establish a quorum. The minutes were corrected and approved later after the FLICC/FEDLINK Update. 2. FAC Issues and Topics. Fred Rettenmaier announced that newly elected FAC members will be invited to attend the December 11, 1997 meeting. The agenda will include an introduction and orientation to FEDLINK/FLICC. Rettenmaier noted the excellent slate of candidates and that the Nominating Committee will tally votes during the first week of November. It is also time for the FAC to elect Officers for 1998. Rettenmaier strongly recommended that the FAC Chairperson be elected from current members with corporate knowledge and experience with FAC operations. The three FAC members whose terms will end are: Lida Churchville, Robert Updegrove, and Susan Whitmore. Continuing members are: Fred Rettenmaier, Doria Grimes, Janet Wright, Lee Porter, Denise Lomax and Bonnie Klein. 3. FEDLINK Mission Statement: Final Discussions. Susan Tarr opened the discussion to finalize the FEDLINK mission statement. In preparation for this meeting, FAC members were asked to return in advance their suggestions and comments on two draft statements: 1) To support federal libraries and information centers as FLICC's business cooperative. 2) To serve as the business cooperative for federal libraries and information centers. In Tarr's discussions with FEDLINK staff, they had problems with the "b-word" - business - and suggested the following words better reflected FEDLINK functions: consortium, purchasing, resource-sharing, training. The FAC voted to replace the phrase "business cooperative" with "purchasing and resource-sharing." In further discussion, the FAC refined the statement, voted and approved the following: To serve federal libraries and information centers as their purchasing, resource-sharing and training consortium. Tarr said she would first present the statement to the FLICC Executive Board (FEB) and announce it at the November 12, 1997, FLICC Meeting. 4. FLICC/FEDLINK Update. Susan Tarr then reported on FLICC Working Group activities. The FEB formed an ad-hoc working group to investigate awards and to determine: 1) what awards federal libraries are eligible for and the nomination process for these, and 2) whether FLICC and LC should sponsor awards and criteria for a Federal Librarian of the Year Award and a Federal Library or Information Center of the Year Award. The Information Technology Working Group Task Force is investigating consortia purchasing of electronic journals sold directly by publishers. This could serve as a new purchasing model in which FEDLINK members would pool their monies to obtain greater discounts and more favorable licensing terms rather than placing orders individually against Serials Basic Ordering Agreements (BOAs). Tarr then discussed FEDLINK issues surfaced at staff meeting and the need to re-look at the fee structure in relation to: 1) The differences in labor and systems overhead costs for the various services. 2) The base cost just to set-up and maintain an account. 3) The point at which there are no additional costs for large competitions and accounts. 4) The continuing imbalance between Direct and Transfer Pay accounts. 5) The $300K windfall in FY97 and projection for another in FY98. 6) The growing competition and the need for competitive pricing. Tarr announced that she would issue an alert to the membership that Joan McCoy is acting in place of Shirley Portney who left for a non-government position. FEDLINK has a contract for Ms. Portney's continued service as a consultant. Tarr then turned the discussion to the FEDLINK Services Directory that lists vendors and summarizes their offerings. The FY98 edition is ready for publication, but printing costs are high. The question is whether hard copy is a good expenditure since the web version is updated regularly and is kept current. As a measure of impact, FEDLINK plans to publish a mailback form in TechNotes for members to request hard copy. Another alternative to hard copy is a to provide the Directory on computer diskette. Tarr said FEDLINK is considering hosting vendor presentations at FEDLINK offices. Last year FEDLINK alerted members to vendor participation at association meetings. Fred Rettenmaier recommended that FEDLINK continue to ask vendors to send their exhibit schedules for publishing in TechNotes and on the FEDLINK web site. Milton MeGee reported the following: Steve Kerchoff is in Sri Lanka through April 1998. Cathy Marion, a senior OCLC Specialist, is leaving November 21, 1997. FEDLINK exhibited at the DTIC Annual Conference, November 3-5, 1997. Erik Delfino conducted training sessions at the U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) MoraleWelfare and Recreation (MWR) Expo. FEDLINK continues to work with CAPCON for training support; 225 FEDLINK members have participated in cooperative training with other networks. The 1998 FEDLINK Membership meeting dates are: Spring, April 30, 1998; Fall, October 28, 1998. Joseph Banks reported that FEDLINK is getting registrations in faster than before and has commitments to meet half of the FEDLINK budget. His staff is busy processing IAGs and working the '93 close-out. $127 million in services were provided to members through '97 contracts, the largest amount ever. 5. Committee Reports. Fred Rettenmaier reported that the Education Working Group will work with the Personnel Working Group to look at core competencies for federal librarians. Susan Tarr announced that the 1998 FLICC Forum is scheduled for March 19, 1998. The theme is "Adapting to Re-invention." The program will look at legislative initiatives. Vice President Gore has been invited to be the keynote speaker. 6. New Business. No new business was discussed other than a reminder about the next meeting on December 11, 1997.