Newsgroups: bit.listserv.notis-l
Date:         Wed, 19 Aug 1992 07:28:14 CST
From:         "Pat Ramage" <URAMAGE@USOUTHAL.BITNET>
Subject:      Circulation SIG Minutes, June 26, 1992
Comments: To: circ1@maillist.BITNET, notcirc1@maillist.BITNET,
              NOTIS/DOBIS discussion group list <NOTIS-L@TCSVM.BITNET>

NOTIS CIRCULATION SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP MEETING
ALA JUNE 26, 1992   MINUTES

 AGENDA:
1.  Introductions
2.  SIG  Elections
3.  By-Laws for Circulation SIG
4.  Circ SIG Rewrite Oversight Task Force--report and discussion
5.  General discussion
6.  NUGM report

1.  Introductions:  Gayle Grantham from Vanderbilt University, chaired the
meeting and introduced the SIG Steering Committee and Circ. Rewrite Task Force.
Steering committee members include Bruce Hulse of the Washington Research Lib-
rary Consortium, Susan Currie of Cornell University, and Pat Ramage
(chair) from the University of South Alabama.  The Rewrite Task Force
members include Bruce Hulse, Tom Schneiter of Indiana University and Ed
Moeller of Dekalb County Public Library in Decatur, Ga.  Gayle also
introduced John Kolman and Maribeth Ward, representatives of NOTIS, Inc.
Pat Ramage was not present for most of the meeting because she had to
attend the NUGM planning meeting at another hotel.

2.  SIG Elections:  Ballots for electing a new chair and chair elect will be
sent to each site.  One ballot to each circ1.  We hope to conclude elections by
the end of August.

3.  Bylaws:  Rick Cooley and Susan Currie have agreed to work on finishing
the by-laws, hopefully by NUGM in October.

4.  Circulation Rewrite Oversight Task Force--Report & Discussion:  Bruce Hulse
reported on recent activities of the task force.  The Task Force met with NOTIS
representatives to identify issues and look at requirements for the rewrite.
The 1991 enhancement request lists were used as starting points for needed
improvements.  Any new requests were incorporated into the 1991 enhance-
ment list.
There were 6 categories outlined in the 1991 enhancement list to which 3 new
improvement requests were added--batch jobs(notices), charge/discharge screens
& patron charge index structure.  The patron charge index structure enhancement
would make the patron charge index screen look more like a bill & fine screen.
That is, a code would appear in front of each title, prompting staff to renew,
to bill, etc. The August 1991 list of top 10 changes/enhancements to the circu-
lation module is the guideline for establishing priorities.  Representatives
from NOTIS have met with the Task Force and have consistent contact and
communication throughout the rewrite process.
     Location based security is another new issue.  Some sites have asked about
changing location based security to terminal ID security due to the trend in
 moving away from hardwired, location based security.  Instead, there is some
 discussion of using operater identification based on a specifically outlined
protocol. The protocol would require an operator to identify the terminal as
being at a specific service unit before the operator uses an operator ID to
 sign on.  Several SIG members expressed concern over security in the circula-
tion module but Bruce said this was still in the early discussion stage. Bruce
opened the floor for questions about the rewrite process

Question:  Is this a complete rewrite of the circulation module or simply an
improvement to the existing moduel?
Answer:  John Kolman and Maribeth Ward both reported on the rewrite process.
Last summer's announcement that circulation would be completely rewritten was
somewhat hasty as the process for doing so had not yet been established. This
is the first time NOTIS, Inc. has actively involved users so directly in the
process of improving a particualr module and it is an evolving situation. NOTIS
has also investigated what programming language to use: C, Assembler or possibly
using UNIX. Using C is a problem for some sites as it requires hardwire/soft-
ware upgrades which can be costly.  John briefly outlined the pros and cons of
the various languages and said that Assembler would most likely be used
for the rewrite but that the use of C will still be studied.

Question:  How do members of the SIG provide feedback to the Rewrite Task Force
 members?
Answer:  As the SIG identifies particular issues, the Task Force will gather
information, contact the SIG for feedback and establish a deadline by which the
Task Force should be contacted. At this point, Tom Schneiter outlined how some
of the identified categories of needed improvements have been divided among the
Task Force members. The improvements are divided by functional area:
     Batch, Hold/Recalls--Ed Moeller
     Charge/Discharge, Course Reserve--Bruce Hulse
     Patron Charge index, Bill & Fien--Tom Schneiter
Bruce reminded SIG members that 5.0.2 does fix some of the problems encountered
 in earlier releases.  He also corrected his e-mail address.  The correct
address is HULSE@WRLCVM.Bitnet.

 Question:  There is concern over the use of operator ID security for circula-
tion. What will NOTIS do to preserve terminal identification for circulation?
Answer:  NOTIS has had feedback from users that software based on location/
terminal ID is going to be difficult to maintain but realizes that preserving
terminal level security is important.  They will be trying to define a protocol
that will identify terminal location. Something similar is being developed for
the new serials module and may be the same sort of procedure used for circula-
tion.

5.  General Business:  Sue Dietl from the University of Notre Dame outlined an
enhancement request from the Serials SIG.  The enhancement request is for how
NOTIS handles analytics.  The enhancement requests that NOTIS develop capabili-
ties for circulation and bibliographic control of analytics(in all formats),
especially items bound together and serials for which some volumes have distinc
tive titles (partially analyzed).  This would allow all relevant titles to be
charged by scanning a single barcode; patrons whould have access to bibliogra-
phic/circulation information on each record for each analytic title. The re-
 quest also would allow the system to generate one overdue notice (recall,etc)
per volume but list all titles within the volume.  It also would generate re-
ports that identify linkages between item and its associated analytic records
and allow easy maintenance.  Also requested is built-in security and validation
checkpoints.  The Serials SIG would like support from the Circulation SIG on
this request.  There was strong agreement that this is needed.

6.  NUGM:  Pat Ramage reported that there is no change to the NUGM '92 program
plan for this year.

As there was no new business, the meeting was adjourned.
  Submitted by Susan Currie
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU