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We reflected on how we're doing four months into the newly conceived TSI, in particular with regard to the revised aim of Phase 2 to pursue only those collaborative projects and alliances that seem most promising and useful. There seems to be a consensus that apart from those opportunities that are dependent on a shared LMS, the TSI process in several functional areas has started to feel "natural" and "organic." It sometimes "seems like we've been colleagues forever" (Kate)." This comfortable interpersonal climate will should serve us well if and when we implement an LMS together. And without the mandate to integrate, TSI now seems less forced.
We now have ready-made sounding boards for sharing information and ideas and for solving problems of mutual interest, which in turn creates create potential opportunities for further collaboration. Bob Wolven's request that the E-Resources Team investigate slow response time for accessing Serials Solutions titles at Columbia is a good example of this kind of opportunity. This investigation is still ongoing (it's a mysterious problem), but has led to the development of joint WebEx video practices within 2CUl E-resources for demonstrating to vendors real-time performance of systems to the vendors of those their systems.
The Non-MARC Metadata Team finds the model of TSI as initiative a "more natural fit" than integration. The Cataloging Team is engaged in several projects, perhaps most notably a including a small but noteworthy leadership role (as 2CUL) in organizing multi-institutional Zepheira training for the BIBFRAME initiative, an effort that lowered registration rates from $1,500 to under $500 per participant. The Batch Processing Team continues to share information about areas of mutual interest in biweekly phone calls. Alan and Deb are about to begin work with Kate and Jim on a print serials workflow study at both institutions.
Lois Purcell has begun work is working on a tabular inventory of procedures for use by both institutions, in consultation with Irina. We talked some about the proliferation of documentation methods: Columbia Confluence, Cornell Confluence, Google Docs, etc....will invite Lois to the next JSMIN meeting