Service Quality Improvement Council

Minutes
May 12, 1999

Present: Suzanne Eggleston, Emily Horning, Kenny Marone, Fred Martz, Danuta Nitecki, Sandy Peterson, Rich Richie, Andy Shimp, Martha Smalley, Paul Stuehrenberg, Joan Swanekamp

Absent: Sue Crockford-Peters

I. Paul Stuehrenberg opened the meeting by calling for announcements.

II. "Problem patrons"

Council members reviewed Scott Bennett's memorandum of [date] on this issue. Paul Stuehrenberg suggested writing up a library policy based on the guidelines set forth in the memorandum.

Danuta Nitecki raised the point that it is important to make staff aware that they should not have to tolerate abusive behavior from patrons. Staff should report cases of abusive behavior to Danuta or Scott who will then take appropriate measures to address the problem. For instance, abusive students may be referred to their colleges for disciplinary action.

Sandy Peterson volunteered the Staffing Issues Group to take on the task of developing a policy.

Joan Swanekamp asked whether the same policy guidelines would apply to abusive "internal customers" (i.e., other library staff). Danuta suggested that Diane Turner be consulted on this matter.

III. Kim Parker's memorandum of 4-19-99 on remote use was discussed.

Danuta noted that the memo triggered a couple of issues -

• How do we provide services in support of remote users (what kind of support do we offer)?

and

• What is it that our readers need (does the new electronic environment demand a reevaluation of the services we provide)?

Kenny Marone pointed out that the Medical Library has already had to deal with the issue of regularly providing reference information to remote users. It has become clear from Medical Library staff experiences that such assistance is time-consuming and requires a different skill set from more traditional types of expertise. Kenny also noted that patrons do not distinguish between libraries; a collective understanding of our service program obligations with regard to remote use is needed.

Other questions raised by the discussion-

• Joan asked whether any collection of statistics exists to better understand what kind of help/expertise is needed when addressing the non-present user.

• Is it clear on the Web where patrons can get reference help? [The Reference Group has been looking into this question.]

• What is the nature of the library's relationship with ITS? Martha Smalley noted that the Medical Library's "closer" relationship with the Medical School's ITS is reflected in the services it is able to offer to remote users.

Charles Greenberg will be asked to work with the SQI Council on an investigation of the topic of remote use. It was agreed that Danuta and Kenny will brief Charles and invite him to a future discussion of this topic.

IV. Sandy brought up the issue of printing support. The amount of printing seems to be increasing. The Library Systems Office is researching the possibility of extending the printing arrangement with ITS that is currently in use in SML's periodical reading room (ITS is responsible for all printing support there). ITS has university-wide requirements for volume of print-outs that the library must meet before installation of the appropriate software can take place. It must also be determined whether the Macs and IBMs in the nave are compatible for use with this printing system. It was agreed to ask the Research Workstation Group to present their conclusions on the library's printing policy to the SQI Council by the end of June.

V. The next meeting of the SQI Council will be held on 2 June. Any agenda items should be emailed to Paul Stuehrenberg.