Present: Tom Bolze (recording), Daniel Lovins (chair), Youn Noh, Britta Santamauro, Becky Slitt.
Meeting began at 2:10 p.m. in Room 410.

Note: Action items in boldface green

Endeca ProFind

Daniel reported that, as a member of the Public Interfaces Committee (PIC), he will be speaking later this afternoon with representatives from North Carolina State University regarding their adoption of Endeca's ProFind faceted navigation tool for use with their SirsiDynix Unicorn OPAC. PIC is looking into whether a similar adoption of ProFind at Yale would help to make Orbis more user-friendly. Discussion followed regarding Endeca’s capabilities, particularly questions of whether Endeca has truly, as claimed, implemented elements of FRBR and whether Endeca is capable of handling the various complexities of digital library collections. Daniel will report on this conversation at the next meeting.

University of California (UC) & Digital Library Federation (DLF) Reports

Two reports, “Rethinking How We Provide Bibliographic Services for the University of California” (executive summary ) and the DLF's “MODS Implementation Guidelines for Cultural Heritage Materials,” were briefly discussed. Not everyone had read the extensive DLF report, which, as a more technical document, was set aside for future reference, i.e., after the group has moved into more hands-on project-oriented work.

The UC report was discussed both for its practical recommendations--such as that users should always receive some kind of result from their search (i.e., even if only in the form of a suggested alternative a la Google or Amazon: "Did you mean .....?")--and for certain technical jargon that seemed geared more toward a systems than cataloging audience.

Digital Libraries

Tom summarized the presentation given earlier that day at the Catalog Librarians meeting by Rebekah Irwin, who discussed metadata workflows at the Beinecke’s digital library. Daniel noted that he will be attending the code4lib conference next week, which may provide ideas for future investigations or digital library projects. (Daniel will report back on this.) Britta commented that the Beinecke’s system seems to be a “dead-end” because of its home-grown nature, but Daniel noted that FEDORA may help to resolve that problem. Britta volunteered to research various software possibilities, such as Greenstone, for the mounting of digital libraries at Yale; this research could be helpful for the potential GLBTQ dust jackets and other demonstration projects that may not be large enough to warrant the involvement of Yale’s digital consulting services. A brief discussion ensued regarding what other potential electronic projects might occupy a transformed Catalog Dept.; one suggestion was archiving professors’ websites, but it was noted that this may need to occur in consultation with the library’s Manuscripts & Archives department.

Meeting adjourned at 3:05 p.m.

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