Present: Nicole Bouché, Steven Arakawa, Sue Crockford-Peters, Tobin Nellhaus, Kalee Sprague, Jim Shetler (recording)

Absent: Rich Richie, Paul Stuehrenberg, Joan Swanekamp

1. Minutes from the previous meeting were approved.

2. Nicole reiterated the committee's charge, shared her thoughts on what the committee is tasked to do in the near and long term, based on conversations with various interested parties in SQIC and otherwise, how the committee relates to other library committees, etc. She also reported on her meeting with Alan Solomon, chair of SQIC, and shared with the group the recommendation that to the extent possible, BAG focus on achieving a few significant accomplishments for the year, which will visibly improve the quality of bibliographic access in the near term.

3. Nicole asked SC-P to share her thoughts and recollections on the reasons why the committee was formed. Sue C-P stated that a venue was required for discussions on various OPAC issues such as:

• Recon cleanup: SCP emphasized, in particular, her interest in seeing BAG play a role in discussions of setting priorities in this area, and in having a voice in discussions of resource allocation for this work
• Ongoing cleanup
• Idiosyncrasies in the catalog, how they will impact Orbis2, etc.
• Co-location and how changes in policy would affect readers browsing at the shelves, virtual browsing on-line and stack management
• How to record replacement and withdrawal decisions in the database in order to best serve both readers and staff

Sue C-P stressed that, ideally, the committee can serve as a springboard for a proactive approach to formulating solutions to OPAC problems.

4. Nicole asked for a list of other library committees that share an interest in or are directly involved in issues C-Ps concerning the OPAC. Committee members provided a list of these committees/groups. These were:

• Circulation Support Group
• Cataloging Coordinating Committee
• Research Services and Collections
• Acquisitions Support Group
• Database Management
• Collection Development Council
• Service Quality Improvement Committee
• The Library Front Door Committee
• Orbis2 Implementation Teams
• Authority Control Group
• Library Management Council
• Library Shelving Facility
• SQIC Reference Services Group [added later]

Sue C-P noted that, at present, no committee exists to represent the Preservation and Preparations divisions.

5. Documentation was distributed for further discussion. This included:

• SQIC flowchart
• Catalog Management Policy for Lost Materials
• Appendix VI from the Orbis Cataloging Manual (system defined form/size designations -- aka stamps)

6. The rest of the meeting was devoted to a preliminary discussion of the Orbis/Voyager locations and stamps problem. Voyager cannot readily accommodate a large number of locations: large numbers of locations significantly complicate overall system management and maintenance. Hence, the realization that it would benefit the entire library to make a close examination of the number of existing Orbis locations and eliminate those that are of no use and/or use |k (stamps) to point readers to locations within a location. However, the |k (stamps) present their own policy and database management problems/issues.

The group reviewed a list of existing stamps, discussed the background of how there got to be so many (over 540, up from the 70 initially authorized for Orbis), and strategies for preventing such an uncontrolled proliferation in future, learning from (apparent) mistakes or oversights in the initial Orbis implementation. Recommendations for how to better manage this process in Orbis2 will be prepared by BAG along with specific recommendations on the current list of |k's.

Respectfully submitted,

Jim Shetler / Nicole Bouché