TO: FLICC Executive Board Members

FROM: Susan M. Tarr, Executive Director, FLICC

Subject: Minutes of the July 15, 1999 FEB Meeting

FEB Members	Agency	Present	Absent
Winston Tabb	LC		X
Maxine Brown	PTO	X
Joan Buntzen	Navy		X
Carol Bursik	Geological Survey	X
Blane Dessy	NLE	X
Jay Farris	US Attorney's Ofc	X
Dorothy Fisher-Weed	Labor	X
Suzanne Grefsheim	NIH	X
Becky Lyon	NLM	X
Kurt Molholm	DTIC		X
Laurie Stackpole	NRL		X
Elizabeth Yeates	NRC		X
Susan M. Tarr	FLICC	X
Joseph Banks	FEDLINK	X
Anna Bohlin	FLICC	X
Milton MeGee	FEDLINK		X
Irene Kost	FLICC	X

AGENDA

2. FLICC Working Groups (short reports):

• Awards -- Elizabeth Yeates (NRC)
• Budget and Finance -- Carol Bursik (Geological Survey)
• Education -- Becky Lyon (NLM)
• Information Technology -- Joan Buntzen (Navy)
• LC Bicentennial -- Dorothy Fisher Weed (Labor)
• Membership and Governance -- Laurie Stackpole (NRL)
  • Renewal of FLICC Authorization
• Nominating -- Elizabeth Yeates
  • 2000 elections to FLICC, FEB and FAC
• Personnel -- Suzanne Grefsheim (NIH)
• Policy -- Kurt Molholm (DTIC)
• Preservation and Binding -- Jay Farris (US Attorney's Office)
• Survey -- Laurie Stackpole
• FEDLINK Advisory Council (FAC) -- Maxine Brown (PTO)

3. LC-Report -- Winston Tabb:

• Misc. reports

4. FLICC Report -- Susan Tarr:

• Knowledge Management - Role of Libraries
• Focus for September 16 FLICC Quarterly Membership Meeting
• Suggestion for 2000 FLICC Forum topic
• Plans for Federal General Counsels' Forum II 7/29/99
• FLICC listserv and other communications

5. FEDLINK Short Reports

• FEDLINK Network Operations -- Milton MeGee
• FEDLINK Fiscal Operations -- Joseph Banks

6. Old Business:

7. New Business:

• A demo of FEDLINK's digital scanning equipment LAVA and OCR

2. FLICC Working Groups (short reports):

• Awards -- Tarr said that the Awards Working Group reviewed comments concerning the 1998 FLICC awards and suggested ways of refining the eligibility requirements, nomination criteria, and selection process for nominating and selecting future award recipients. Tarr reminded FEB members that award winners are not able to apply for future awards for three years. The program will also require that all pertinent statements and attachments accompany each application. Tarr also said that point counts were provided on the librarian award instructions to alert nominators that each competency will be carefully reviewed by the Awards Working Group. Instructions for nominating candidates will be distributed in both a print version and a Web version.
• Budget and Finance -- Tarr said that the voting on the FEDLINK FY2000 budget is very slow. To date, staff has recorded only six ballots when a quorum is required to approve the budget.
• Education -- Becky Lyon (NLM) said that Denise Lomax is still working on the Handbook of Librarianship. Tarr said that Sandy Morton-Schwalb, management analyst at GPO and a member of the Education Working Group, agreed to chair the working group. Tarr said that the working group will initiate communication among the members via its listserv and encourage members to offer suggestions for future program topics.
• Information Technology -- Tarr reported on the progress of the two-day automation institute which FLICC subcontracted with the OCLC Institute. The institute will be held July 27 and 28 and will explore and quantify current technology trends and their impact on federal libraries. David Penniman, and Anne Woodsworth, both management consultants, will speak about strategic planning in a time of rapid technological change and ways of applying strategic planning skills to managing automation in federal libraries. The working group is also working on a series of trips to libraries which already use innovative technology skills in their libraries.
• LC Bicentennial -- Weed opened a discussion on the merits and weaknesses of the two renderings of the FLICC Bicentennial poster for federal libraries. This poster will be the centerpiece of the FLICC/LC Bicentennial tool kit. The purpose of the poster is to visually represent the "federalness" of the Bicentennial, the concepts of democracy, knowledge, humanity, and the global nature of the federal libraries. FEB members offered their comments and suggestions on how to change and improve on certain aesthetic aspects of the poster. A consensus on the final color version of the Bicentennial poster should be completed by the end of August.
• Membership and Governance -- Tarr was happy to report that Dr. Billington signed the amended version of the FLICC Authorization. There was no requirement to include a reference to the Economy Act in the form. Tarr will move forward on incorporating the approved authorization document into FLICC materials. Copies of the signed authorization were distributed in the meeting packets, and the revised document will be posted on the FLICC Web site.
• Nominating -- Tarr reported that Gail Henderson-Green will be the new chair of the Nominating Working Group, replacing Maria Pisa. Henderson is currently the library director of the IRS Chief Counsels Office.
• Personnel -- Suzanne Grefsheim (NIH) said that the Personnel Working Group has not met recently. She said that Steve Perloff has not responded to letters requesting changes in eliminating the OPM administered tests used to qualify candidates for librarian positions. Tad Downing, the Chair of the FLICC Personnel Work Group, will schedule a meeting with Perloff to discuss personnel matters. Tarr reported that two new members joined the Personnel Working Group: Anne Parham (Army) and Sara Mikel (National Defense University). The Department of the Army is also interested in how the Department of Labor defines criteria for the position of a "librarian."
• Policy -- No report.
• Preservation and Binding -- Jay Farris (U.S. Attorney's Office) said that the Preservation and Binding Working Group will be co-chaired by Robert Schnare (Navy) and Dolores Fairbanks (State), replacing Amparo Torres. Approximately 300 federal libraries and information centers are involved with some form of preservation activity, according to the 1994 survey of federal libraries. The working group will also cooperate with the LC Bicentennial Working Group, especially in the area of digitization.
• Survey -- Tarr reported that NCES has submitted its FY2001 appropriation which includes a request for funds to initiate another survey of federal librarians. If approved, the survey will encompass FY2000 data and will be conducted in 2001. The working group will start its activities in the year 2000.
• FEDLINK Advisory Council (FAC) -- Maxine Brown (PTO) reported on a FAC meeting conducted electronically in June. One of the topics covered was Marcia Talley's report on the OCLC Users Council and also the question whether FEDLINK has any input into OCLC price structures. The results of the Customer Service Initiative report, initiated by Ruby Thomas, were also discussed at the FAC meeting. A suggestion was made to initiate interagency cataloging consulting contracts to supplement FEDLINK's cataloging expertise, especially after Patti Field's retirement at the end of August. Brown said the April FAC minutes were approved by the FAC, and the next FAC meeting is scheduled for the end of July.

4. FLICC Report -- Susan M. Tarr

• Knowledge Management/Role of Libraries -- Tarr reported that the concept of knowledge management is now being used more often in federal government agencies. Linda Tague (NLE) invited Tarr to the monthly meetings of the Knowledge Management Training Consulting Network to address issues relevant to federal libraries. The Navy CIO and Shereen Remez, who is now Chief Knowledge Officer for GSA, are participants in this network. Tarr said that LC also uses the term "intellectual capital" when referring to knowledge management. Another term used is "knowledge mapping," a technique used to identify where organizational knowledge is and how it is stored and organized. Tarr said that businesses and the software industry now agree that the biggest asset in a corporation or an organization is what knowledge people possess in their heads. Librarians are better positioned to understand knowledge management concepts, since they are most directly involved in how people share and access knowledge. Organizations will need to find out in what ways knowledge is communicated and rewarded.

  Grefsheim said that in 1988 John Hopkins University established a knowledge management Welch Medical Library Llaboratory. Now there are a number of agencies, such as DTIC, which already have worked out successful knowledge management techniques. Weed said that the Labor Department Policy Office is sponsoring knowledge management seminars and is interested in assembling a thesaurus of knowledge management terms. Labor is also interested in establishing a framework for managing knowledge management. Grefsheim said that it is important to obtain support and appreciation from top management on how library resources and effective knowledge management can improve their agencies.

  Bursik said that various offices in the U.S. Geological Survey are creating data bases of scientific expertise, since more emphasis will be placed on working on projects.

  Dessy suggested that FLICC should include discussions on different aspects of knowledge management in the FLICC Newsletter and on the FLICC Web site to show the connection between the work of the libraries and knowledge management.

  Tarr said that more emphasis should be placed on content and on in-depth discussions among federal librarians. Grefsheim suggested that libraries should organize information in such a way as to provide easy access to the user, and to explore knowledge management concepts in more detail.

• Focus for September 16 FLICC Quarterly Membership Meeting -- Tarr asked FEB members to offer suggestions on possible speakers for the FLICC Quarterly Meeting in September. Tarr mentioned that Joanne Marshall, Dean of the University of North Carolina, specializes in knowledge management and outcome issues and could be considered as a possible guest speaker at the September FLICC meeting.

• Suggestions for 2000 FLICC Forum topics -- Joan Buntzen, via her memo, proposed a discussion of knowledge management concepts and policy issues as timely topics for the FLICC Forum 2000. Tarr suggested a dialogue to assess what policies are currently in place, such as OMB policies, etc. Weed suggested focusing on the future outlook in managing library services and resources as we enter the Third Millennium . Dessy would like to address the globalization of information and the international perspectives of dealing with information management. Grefsheim proposed a discussion of policy issues which relate to a variety of scientific disciplines, and a summary of future trends. Tarr said that an advisory group will meet and discuss a number of options for FLICC Forum topics. She said that FLICC staff will further consider the suggestion of future forecasting of policy areas for the year 2000 FLICC Forum.

• Plans for Federal General Counsels' Forum II on 7/29/99 -- Tarr said that invitations have been sent to permanent members of FLICC and FEB members. Discussions on copyright and "fair use " issues will continue at this forum.

• FLICC listserv and other communications -- Tarr opened a discussion on ways of using a listserv to facilitate and expedite conversation and communication among FLICC members, liaisons, and observers. The question came up whether all internal FLICC matters should be discussed and commented on by all FLICC members, liaisons, and observers. After some discussion, the board agreed that FLICC staff should implement a FLICC listserv with just members and will give members a choice of discontinuing mailed notices and minutes. A suggestion was made to keep the lists separate and to advise members on when all notices will be received via e-mail.

• FEDLINK Network Operations -- Milton MeGee (report in the meeting packet)
• FEDLINK Fiscal Operations -- Banks briefly spoke about revenue comparisons as of July 12, 1999. He said that there is about a 7 percent short fall in revenues for FY99 in comparison to the same period for FY98. Tarr said that this downward trend in revenue does not bode well for the future financial security of FLICC/FEDLINK. However, FLICC/FEDLINK will not purchase a new financial system so the lower budget will be sufficient for FY99. Tarr said that the operating budget continues to shrink because FEDLINK needs to absorb pay raises. Tarr also mentioned that the Revolving Fund Initiative has not been resolved. The revolving fund proposals were sent to the Senate and House Committees for further advice and clarification.

6. Old Business: No old business.

7. New Business: No new business.

Action Items:

• Tarr encouraged FEB members to promote the 1999 FLICC awards and to give her any suggestions for improving the selection process.
• Tarr asked FEB members to send their votes to Milton MeGee regarding the FY2000 FLICC/FEDLINK Budget.
• Tarr will discuss with FPE the idea of including articles on knowledge management in the FLICC Newsletter, especially how knowledge management relates to libraries, and will consider Web sites for knowledge management links.
• FLICC staff will implement FLICC listserv with just members (not observers and liaisons), and will give members a choice of discontinuing mailed notices and minutes.
• Tarr will contact Joanne Marshall at the University of North Carolina, to talk about knowledge management at the September FLICC meeting.
• The FLICC Forum Advisory Group will review and consider suggestions for the 2000 FLICC Forum.
• Tarr will discuss with Patti Fields and Milton MeGee the suggestion of interagency cataloging consulting to supplement FEDLINK cataloging consulting after Fields' retirement.

Minutes prepared by Irene Kost, FLICC