JSMIN / Working Group Leads meeting, Oct. 21, 2014
Attending: Gary Branch, Adam Chandler, Sarah Elman, Kate Harcourt, Irina Kandarasheva, Jesse Koennecke, Jason Kovari, Jim LeBlanc, Lisa Maybury, Joyce McDonough, Dave Motson, Alan Schaplowsky, Barb Tarbox, Melanie Wacker, Deb Warfield, Mark Wilson
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 should serve us well if and when we implement an LMS together. And without the mandate to integrate, TSI 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 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 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, including a small but noteworthy leadership role (as Cornell/Columbia) in organizing multi-institutional Zepheira training for the BIBFRAME initiative, an effort that led to a reduced 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 have begun work with Kate and Jim on a print serials workflow study at both institutions.
Lois Purcell is working on a tabular inventory of procedures for use by both institutions and has chatted with Irina about platforms for documentation. There is a tension related to the question of flexibility in documentation methods with the need to archive TSI project information centrally. We will invite Lois to the next JSMIN meeting (on Nov. 13th) to discuss further the state of our plans for documentation.
Joyce suggested the creation of a central location for recording issues under investigation at Columbia, Cornell, and TSI. We will continue discussion of this idea at the next JSMIN meeting as well.
We talked a bit about whether the need for measurement and assessment, especially through empirical methods, has changed since our change in perspective on TSI. The answer seems generally to be no; we still want to be careful not to pursue collaborative work that yields no clear net value for the 2CUL institutions, apart from the "intangibles" we stand to gain through relationship-building during the project period.
The Phase 2 functional working group charges, which date back to last spring, are starting to become out of date as we move forward with TSI as initiative. We should probably review them systematically in the new year. In the meantime, working groups should feel free to flip their charges – that is, to let their progress with the new TSI model generate their goals rather than vice versa. Since we see our current work as more "natural" and fluid, as well as experimental, working groups should feel comfortable engaging in this kind of tinkering.