NOTSL

Registration is now open for NOTSL’s Spring Conference. Click here to see the full program details.

Register for the event using Eventbrite.

Applications for the 2024 Northern Ohio Technical Services Librarians (NOTSL) Scholarships are now being accepted. Scholarship(s) will be awarded at the discretion of the NOTSL Scholarship Committee, not to exceed $1500, depending upon need and number of applicants.

Applicants must either be currently working in an Ohio library in a professional, paraprofessional, or support position in a technical services area, or be students (residing or studying in Ohio) currently taking coursework in librarianship. The content of the proposed educational activity must relate to technical services, cataloging, serials, acquisitions, preservation, processing or management of technical services. Typically, funded activities can include costs for workshops, conferences, coursework, and professional meetings, but not training required by an employer. Applicants must specify dates, the nature and the cost of the proposed activity in order for the NOTSL Scholarship Committee to properly determine eligibility and the allocation of funds.

Scholarship funds should be spent one year from the date they are received. Once the educational activity is complete, scholarship winners will submit a brief summary of their activities, which will be posted on the NOTSL web page. The deadline for submissions is January 16, 2024, and recipients will receive notification no later than February 29, 2024. For more information and to apply, please use the submission form.

Please send questions to Jody Perkins, Scholarship Committee Chair, at perkintj@miamioh.edu

The Northern Ohio Technical Services Librarians’ virtual Fall meeting will be held on December 1, 2023 via Zoom. Our featured speaker will be Treshani Perera, Head of Fine Arts Technical Services, Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library, University of Kentucky Libraries. The theme of the meeting will be creating a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Toolkit for Technical Services.

Migration in Motion: Managing Expectations

Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) Corporate College East
4400 Richmond Rd. | Warrensville Heights, OH 44128
Friday, May 19, 2023
9:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Registration deadline was Friday, May 12, 2023. If you have questions regarding your registration, please contact NOTSL’s Treasurer Laura Maidens at lmaidens@rockhall.org.

This meeting will be recorded, but as it is our first return to in-person meetings since 2019 and the first time we will be recording an in-person meeting, we will not be making the recording available to non-attendees at this time. Please check our website at NOTSL.org and keep an eye out for new information through our listserv on the possible release of a recording some time after our meeting in May. If you are not already on our listserv, reach out to notslboard2020@gmail.com with a request to join. As always, we will be sharing each presenter’s presentation slides on the Programs tab on our website, typically within the week following the meeting.

Please find a detailed agenda, including important documents for review before the meeting, here.

NOTSL is pleased to welcome the following speakers and their presentations.

Managing Futures: Working Towards the Future You Need
Jennifer M. Eustis, Metadata Librarian at University of Massachusetts Amherst

Migrating to a new library service platform can be a daunting project. It involves stakeholders inside and outside the organization. It could potentially involve consortia activities and add another layer of stakeholders. One could conclude that a library migration involves almost every aspect of a library’s activities. It certainly requires a significant amount of change where views may differ on the need for a migration or the role that technical services play. Those views are most likely associated with widely held expectations. Hence, measuring the success of a migration relies on not just the completion of technical tasks but also if that migration met the community of users’ expectations. This begs the question of how it is possible to manage expectations that are met by stakeholders. In this presentation, the presenter will cover concepts on managing expectations and highlight examples of both successful and unsuccessful strategies at all stages of a migration. 

Jennifer Eustis is a metadata librarian at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She coordinates batch loading activities for UMass and the Five Colleges Consortium. Before UMass Amherst, she was the metadiscovery librarian at the University of Connecticut. She has over 10 years of experience in technical services.

Migration, Reimagining Your Library
Lori Thorrat, Catalog and Processing Manager at Cuyahoga County Public Library

Nothing says change like migration. Migration touches on all levels of staff and causes you to examine all policies and procedures. Whether you are a single branch library or a large multi-branch system, migration can be a key to reimagining your library and how you serve your customers. The Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL) is currently migrating from Innovative Interface’s Sierra ILS and Encore discovery to the open source ILS, Koha and open source discovery layer, Aspen. Having assisted with two other migrations, Lori was a natural fit to help the Core Team at CCPL identify, plan, map, and implement Koha and Aspen. Lori will discuss how the project is being managed, identify some of the unique things public libraries need to consider as they migrate, and share what she’s learned from her previous migration experiences at both an academic and special library. 

Lori Thorrat is a technical services professional with over 30 years of experience at academic, public, and special libraries. She has been the Catalog and Processing Manager at the Cuyahoga County Public Library for the last 10 years. She also worked at the Ingalls Library at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the University of Rochester, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Lori’s specialty is cataloging, but she also has experience with selection, acquisitions, serials, circulation, and even a little bit of reference.

Advocating for TS Before and During a Migration
Mike Monaco, Coordinator, Cataloging Services at the University of Akron

System migration is inevitable. But we don’t have to meet it with despair or resignation! Technical services can and should be involved in the process from the beginning — before the migration is even a twinkle in your administrators’ eyes. OhioLINK is currently reviewing proposals from various vendors, and by the time NOTSL meets in May could be at the beginning of a migration of 117 libraries in 88 institutions. While it’s too early in the process to know whether we’ll migrate and where, we can look at how DIAD, OhioLINK’s technical services interest group, advocated for TS interests in the requests for information, call for proposals, and bid review process for OhioLINK’s current exploration. Migration has a big impact on TS operations and we’ll look at how UA’s TS department is advocating for itself within the University of Akron Libraries, planning for the impact of the potential migration on staff and TS workflow. Whatever the outcome of the current process, there are lessons to be learned about advocating for TS.

Mike Monaco is Coordinator, Cataloging Services and Associate Professor of Bibliography at The University of Akron University Libraries. He has worked as a cataloger in public and academic libraries for over twenty years, his previous position being Senior Catalog Librarian at the Cleveland Public Library. He is currently serving as Coordinator of the Ohio Library Council Technical Services Division, and vice chair of the OhioLINK Database Improvement and Accessibility policy team.

Managing an ILS Migration Project Using Microsoft Teams
Robin Buser, Supervisor, Acquisitions & Metadata Services at Columbus State Community College

This past January, the Columbus State library began using Microsoft Teams to manage library projects. A brief description will be provided including how the process and tools were introduced and how project management has been used so far. The ILS migration project will be managed internally with this process. The project management tools for the ILS migration project have been put into place and those tools will be demonstrated. In addition to the tools, every staff member will need to be involved, and a description of roles and subteams will be provided. There will also be a discussion of how these same tools could be managed in a similar way using Google instead of Microsoft Teams.

Robin Buser has over 35 years of experience as a librarian in academic, public, and special libraries. She became interested in project management while working at OCLC. After earning Project Manager Professional certification, Robin has spoken about product management at many professional library meetings and has co-authored the book “Project Management for Libraries: A Practical Approach”. She also leads projects in her current position as Supervisor of Acquisitions & Metadata Services at Columbus State Community College.

NOTSL In-Person Spring Meeting will take place Friday, May 19, 2023

The Northern Ohio Technical Services Librarians’ Spring 2023 Meeting, Migration in Motion: Managing Expectations, will be held on Friday, May 19, 2023, at Cuyahoga Community College (aka Tri-C) Corporate College Conference Center East, 4400 Richmond Rd, Warrensville Heights, OH 44128. Registration fee, which includes continental breakfast and boxed lunch, will be $60 or $30 for students and retirees. Please stay tuned for a link to register through Eventbrite.

This is truly an occasion to celebrate as we have not gathered in-person to share conversation and fellowship since our fall meeting in 2019. It has been too long! On behalf of the NOTSL Board and myself, welcome back and we look forward to seeing you this May!

Our featured speakers will be:

• Jennifer Eustis, Metadata Librarian, UMass Amherst Libraries
• Lori Ann Thorrat, Manager Catalog / Processing, Cuyahoga County Public Library
• Mike Monaco, Coordinator, Cataloging Services, University of Akron
• Robin Buser, Supervisor, Acquisitions & Metadata Services, Columbus State Community College

This will be a continuation of our Fall meeting’s look into system migration, Migration Station: Tips & Tricks to Manage Your Data, which focused on the data side of ILS migrations. Now we turn our attention to the people side as our speakers explore departmental advocacy, project management, and collaboration during large-scale system migrations.

Migration Station: Tips & Tricks to Manage Your Data
Virtual meeting via Zoom
Program: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
(Zoom will open a few minutes early to allow for troubleshooting)
Friday, December 16, 2022 

Deadline to register was December 9.

Presenters’ slides available through the links in the brief agenda below.

NOTSL is pleased to welcome the following speakers and their presentations.

Getting Ready for the Big Move
Presented by Kyle Bannerjee, Senior Implementation Consultant, EBSCO FOLIO Services

Libraries move to new systems to deliver better services to users. But what does that mean for purposes of preparing to migrate? The whole point of adopting a new system is that it works differently than the old one, and your current system uses and structures data differently than the new one. As a result, preparing your data is more than a matter of ensuring each field is transmitted faithfully. Learn what kinds of things you need to think about and what tools and methods you can use to prepare your data to ensure a smooth transition for staff and users alike.

Originally a cataloger by training, Kyle played many roles during the 25 years he served in academic, government, consortial, and special library environments before joining EBSCO. He has extensive knowledge of library operations and systems, and he’s published five books and many articles about technology, metadata, migrations, and resource sharing, as well as other topics. Kyle believes that successful migrations are all about understanding people and what they’re trying to do. 

A Marathon, Not a Sprint: The OhioLINK RFP Process
Presented by Theda Schwing, Associate Director, Discovery and Delivery, OhioLINK

At many libraries, the Integrated Library System (ILS) provides an infrastructure that helps the library offer a variety of services to its patrons. But, from time to time, that infrastructure needs to be reevaluated – and potentially replaced – to continue to allow the library to complete its mission. The OhioLINK consortium is now in the middle of such a process, with a Request for Proposal (RFP) underway to evaluate and select an ILS for all 117 member libraries. This presentation will discuss the background for why OhioLINK libraries began the RFP process, how the consortium created the RFP document, the timeline for the RFP, and the complexities involved in considering a change of the ILS on the consortial scale. 

Theda Schwing is the Associate Director of Discovery and Delivery for OhioLINK. Schwing leads OhioLINK-member technology integration, OhioLINK’s member support site, and shared library services, including the OhioLINK central library catalogs, authentication, document delivery, and discovery services. Her responsibilities also include managing operations with library vendors.

Lessons Learned from a Decade of System Migrations
Presented by Wes Osborn, Executive Director, Central Library Consortium

Wes has been a part of a dozen system migrations while working in ILS System Administration. He’ll share suggestions on what data to keep and what to get rid of. When is the best time to perform a data migration? What data should you keep from your old system? Who should be a part of your data migration team? And tools you should consider using to help make the migration process go smoother.

Wes has worked for the Central Library Consortium (CLC) since 2001. While at CLC, Wes helped grow the organization from 8 to 17 member libraries. With over 20 million in annual circulation, CLC has one of the busiest Polaris Library Software installations in the world. Wes has worked in libraries since high school. He met his wife (Laura) while they were both working at the library. They share the same passion for the critical role that libraries play in providing equal access to information for all and are also supporters of the performing arts.

NOTSL Virtual Fall Meeting will take place Friday, December 16, 2022

The Northern Ohio Technical Services Librarians’ virtual Fall meeting, Migration Station: Tips & Tricks to Manage Your Data, will be held December 16, 2022, via Zoom. Kyle Banerjee, Senior Implementation Consultant at EBSCO FOLIO Services and author of The Data Wrangler’s Handbook, will present about metadata maintenance and cleanup. Theda Schwing, Associate Director of Discovery and Delivery at OhioLINK, will give an overview of OhioLINK’s ILS RFP (request for proposal). Wes Osborne, Executive Director of Technology at the Central Library Consortium, will discuss the public library ILS migration experience and perspective.

A Dive into Data: Using COUNTER and Tableau
Virtual meeting via Zoom
Program: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
(Zoom will open fifteen minutes early to allow for troubleshooting.)
Monday, June 6, 2022 

Deadline to register was May 31, 2022.

Links to presenters’ slides here.

NOTSL is pleased to welcome the following speakers and their presentations.

Creating a Tableau Dashboard to Analyze Descriptive Data
Presented by Nathan Putnam, Director of Data Quality and Governance at OCLC

Has someone in your organization come to you to ask how many DVDs your library owns? Have you needed to tell the story of what your library collection holds in terms of formats, languages, or other details locked in MARC records? While you could look up answers on a case-by-case basis, wouldn’t it be great to have a single source that addresses questions like this?

A great option is to create a Tableau dashboard to supply an at-a-glance view of your catalog data. This session will: 

• Provide an overview of Tableau Desktop and introduce some Tableau lingo.
• Create multiple worksheets that aggregate, count, and show the common format-related data.
• Create a single dashboard that combines the worksheets to be used interactively or statically in presentations and documents.

Viewers can focus on the presentation or try using Tableau during the session. If you do not have access to the desktop version of Tableau, closer to the session date, you can download a free 14-day trial from https://www.tableau.com/products/trial.  

Nathan Putnam is the Director of Data Quality and Governance at OCLC leading a team of specialists focused on data quality, policies, and standards for WorldCat data assets. He has 20 years of cataloging and metadata experience working in multiple U.S. academic libraries as a cataloger and manager and enjoys discussing cataloging trends and issues with the wider metadata community.

Tableau in Action: Enhancing Discovery and Complementing Decision-Making
Presented by Stephanie Church, Acquisitions Librarian, Case Western Reserve University

This presentation will focus on Tableau dashboards using Sierra data, COUNTER5 reports, and vendor supplied reports. Additionally, this presentation will include the discoveries and collection decisions made because of these visualizations. Example dashboards include print circulation trends, Journal Access Denied COUNTER reports to identify research needs, and OhioLINK borrowing trends. 

Stephanie Church has been with Case Western Reserve University for over 13 years as an Acquisitions Librarian. Her primary responsibilities include monograph purchases, managing and implementing user-driven initiatives, and collection assessment. 

Understanding and Using COUNTER in Collection Analysis
Presented by Greg Edwards, Cataloging and Metadata Librarian, Lehigh University;
Phil Hewitt, Senior Engineering and Electronic Collections Librarian, Lehigh University; and
Scarlet Galvan, Area Lead for Assessment and Planning, and Collection Strategist Librarian, Grand Valley State University Libraries

This presentation will provide a comprehensive introduction to COUNTER; what it is, how to interpret it, and when to use it. First, we will explain the COUNTER initiative, the importance of a standardized usage report, and what the metrics mean; providing a breakdown of all the components of a report. Following this introduction, we’ll cover methods and suggestions for retrieving reports, storing them in electronic management systems, and what options are available for presenting them to stakeholders. This will include an explanation of automated retrieval via SUSHI, and a brief overview of some ERM systems such as CORAL and EBSCOadmin. 

Then, we will focus on how to interpret, filter, and analyze usage reports for use in collection analysis and decision making. Calculating cost-per-use, understanding usage numbers, making use of metrics, and making it all understandable to other librarians will all be explained. We’ll wrap up with a case study from Lehigh University, illustrating what a use-case scenario looks like.

Greg Edwards is the Cataloging and Metadata Librarian at Lehigh University. Beyond regular cataloging duties and maintenance, he has worked with the Senior Engineering and Electronic Collections Librarian on a workflow to collect, report, and analyze usage statistics as part of the Library’s renewal and subscription cycle. In addition to his work with electronic resource management, he has also worked with the open source library platform: FOLIO.

Phil Hewitt is the Senior Engineering and Electronic Collections Librarian at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Phil seeks to use a broad understanding of academic library work to produce data-informed, holistic, and sustainable approaches to building engaging library collections. Phil uses data and his work as an instruction and reference librarian to examine assumptions around library collections. Over the last five years, Phil led work to save more than $1 million per year in subscription costs. He’s excited to explore new ways to use collection funds to more broadly support research, teaching and learning.

Scarlet Galvan is the Area Lead for Assessment and Planning, and Collection Strategist Librarian at Grand Valley State University Libraries. At GVSU she develops and leads efforts toward a more sustainable, open collection. Her research focuses on the sociopolitical aspects of library services platforms and scholarly communications. Her recent work includes keynotes at Electronic Resources and Libraries 2022, and Electronic Resources Minnesota 2022. Scarlet serves as a member of Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition’s (SPARC) Executive Steering Committee. When not doing library work, she writes science fiction and makes soap.

Registration will open soon!

The Northern Ohio Technical Services Librarians’ virtual Spring meeting A Dive into Data: Using Counter and Tableau will be held on Monday, June 6, 2022 via Zoom. Our speakers will describe COUNTER and Tableau and discuss their use as tools in electronic resource management, acquisitions, collection development, and discovery.