| Steering Group 6 May 2004 |
Steering Group Meeting Minutes
Notes from the meeting held at SOASPresent: Robert Hall (Chair), Nick Bevan, Graham Bulpitt, Margaret Coutts, Mary Davies, Doug Dodds, Suzanne Enright (Secretary), Maire Lanigan, Maureen Wade, Christine Wise, Jean Yeoh
Fiona O'Brien was in attendance for item 4 It was noted that a meeting of Chairs of Working Groups had been held prior to this meeting and that the Secretary will circulate the notes in due course. Apologies: Di Martin, Brian MurphyJohn, Wolstenholme 1. Minutes1.1 The Minutes of Steering Group held meeting held 3 March 2004 were approved 1.2 Matters arising 1.2.1 ULC bids: It was noted that RSLG-related bids for the Vice-Chancellor Fund from the University of London Libraries Committee have been submitted and details circulated to Members. It has just been announced that bids 1 (collaborative collection mapping) and 2 (collaborative journals store) have been partly funded if they fit into the restructuring plans of ULL/SAS libraries; bid 3 (online training in research methods has been rejected as SAS has been allocated money to do this); a separate Special Collections bid was successful subject to rewriting and resubmission). It was noted that Clare Jenkins (Imperial College) has been asked to present on these developments at the June Consortium meeting. It was further noted that a replacement for the Secretary is needed to represent the Consortium in the planning group (chaired by Jean Sykes, LSE) Action RH 2. Mutual Support AgreementChristine Wise gave an oral update. Christine has almost completed revision of the paper and will circulate to SG and Members for further comment prior to the final version being presented at the June Consortium meeting. Action CW 3. Regional issues3.1 Fiona O’Brien presented her report on LLDA and related issues. It was noted that LLDA will bid to LASER for further development of WILL; the M25 logo will be restored to the London Libraries website as it was a funding partner; better marketing and monitoring of LLiL is proving a challenge – the idea of a passport scheme was mooted – and better subject indexing is required, linked to information on access rights. Interviews for the post of Director of LLDA will take place on 8 June. It was noted that Fiona will present a further update at the June Consortium meeting. 4.2 London Signpost Project: It was noted that plans are in hand to extend AIM25 (the on-line searchable database of archive holdings in HEIs within the M25 region) by means of a £1M bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. This would expand the scope of the database to include a range of new partners and archives from other sectors across the region. 4. M25 System teamThe Chair presented a report and proposal on staffing from the Chair of Resource Discovery Working Group to help settle staffing issues in the M25 Systems Team in the light of the current secondment from Greenwich University ending at the end of July this year. The proposed package aims to ensure any action taken in respect of the vacant post will give M25 work requirements over the next two years (2004/2005 and 2005/2006) the consistency and continuity required. There are obviously some difficult tensions here and many unknowns, including how the nature of the M25 requirements may develop over the period but the package seeks to maintains the spirit of the recent M25 agreement to fund the Systems Team for these two years in respect of the M25 aspects of their work, but not to underwrite the overall cost of the team in respect of other project work. It also aims to keep some flexibility to be able to respond to a broader range of skills requirements than those that might be handled by a single person. After discussion the SG agreed to uphold its agreed commitment to two years funding for 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 on the basis that
This issue will be revisited in summer 2005 when the Resource Discovery Working Group and M25 Systems Team would hope to have a better idea of forward requirements and will obviously know what the calls on funding for other purposes have been in the intervening year. The Steering Group expressed its thanks to Fraser Nicolaides for his work on InforM25 over the past five years. 5. Financial and constitutional issues5.1 Finances 2003/4:
5.1.1 The review of the accounts for the past two years is now complete and they have been audited and are ready for submission to the Charity Commissioners subject to minor revision in light of VAT advice (see below).
5.1.2 The Treasurer reported on a recent meeting seeking professional advice on the Consortium's potential VAT liability (the current VAT threshold is £58K), including the implications of rolling subscriptions together. It agreed to continue to have the different strands of associated business kept separate as they have distinct identities. However, it was noted that our accounting practices and website must reflect this more clearly. 5.1.3 A proposal for a formal reserves policy, based on clearly defined needs, was discussed. There was more discussion of current risks and, based on this, it was agreed that the level of reserves should be broadly in line with SCONUL, equivalent to 100-120% of the current year's general subscriptions. 5.1.4 It was agreed the Treasurer should investigate internet banking if felt appropriate. 5.2 Budget 2004/5:
5.2.1 The proposed activity budget for 2004/5 was discussed and will be revised in view of issues raised at the earlier meeting of Chairs of Working Groups.
5.2.2 The Treasurer will circulate proposed subscriptions for 2004/5 in the light of these discussions. It was agreed that any increase must be capped to a level of 5%.
5.3 Constitutional status: It was noted that the Chair has completed the new application to the Charity Commission and this will be finalized in the light of advice on VAT (see above). The issue of company status will be reviewed after this process is complete. 5.4 Membership issues: 5.4.1 It was noted that an informal approach from another region around possible strategic partnership had been received and it was agreed, in principle, to discuss this further, as and when a formal approach was received. 5.4.2 It was noted that Jan Wilkinson (Head of HE Marketing at the British Library) has been nominated as their new representative. The Steering Group expressed its thanks to Geoff Smith for his work over the past few years, which had culminated in the BL joining the Consortium as a full member. 6. Development Plan
6.1 The Secretary reported that the current plan is under revision and a draft Annual Report will be circulated for discussion at the June Consortium meeting. Input from all SG members is required. 6.2 Caroline Lloyd presented an oral report on progress with reintroducing the M25 access and borrowing scheme for staff and researchers outwith SCONUL Research Extra. The scheme will be enlivened on 1 June 2004 and will be based on a new M25 card (which will expire on a rolling year basis). To reduce the administrative burden further, we will seek to line up procedures with SRX as far as possible and statistics will only be kept by those libraries (8) sending users to other Consortium libraries. CL will discuss issues in relation to ULL/SAS with Christine Wise and issues in relation to Visit a Library with John Gilby. CL was again thanked for her work in this matter. 7. June 2004 meeting
7.1 The agenda and programme were confirmed (theme around disaster planning support with launch of website, and around regional issues with an update from LLDA and ALM London). Key issues for the AGM itself include mutual support agreement, financial report, annual report and business plan. The proposed exhibition of assistive technology will be deferred as not linked to this theme; potential exhibitors in relation to disaster support will be contacted.
7.2 An updated Development Plan will be circulated for discussion at the June Consortium meeting. Input from all SG members is required. 8. Items for report only8.1. Advocacy Working Group: Report from Suzanne Enright noted. 8.2. Collaboration and Partnership: Report from Mary Davis noted. It was reported that SE has been invited to join the new Routes to Knowledge Steering Group in a personal capacity. 8.3. CPD25: Report from Jean Yeoh noted.
8.4. Creative Arts Working Group: Oral report from Doug Dodds received. It was noted that the group is finding it difficult to engage in activities not adequately covered buy other subject interest groups nationally. DD will consult with the group and with appropriate Members as to interest in the future of the group and advise the SG accordingly. 8.5. Disabled and Special Needs Support Working Group: Report from Margaret Coutts noted. 8.6. Disaster Management Working Group: Report from Christine Wise noted. 8.7. LHL/M25: No report received 8.8. Quality: Report from Maureen Wade noted. 8.9. Resource Discovery Working Group: No report received (and see above item 5). 8.10. Student Centred Services Working Group: Report from Graham Bulpitt noted. 9. Any other businessIt was noted that this was the last SG meeting for both Brian Murphy and Suzanne Enright. The Chair expressed warm thanks to both – to Brian for his steadfast support for the Consortium since its inception, including a period as Chair of the Consortium, and more recently for his significant input to regional developments, working with ALCL, LLDA and LMAL; and to Suzanne for her support over many years (starting with the old Staff Development Group), and specifically for her work as Secretary over the past four years. In response, the Secretary thanked the SG for their hard work and support –without which her job would have been far more difficult – and she wished the SG well for the future. 10. Programme of meetings for 2003/04 was confirmed:10.1 Chairs of Working Groups: will normally be held before each SG meeting starting at 12.30with a working lunch. The next one will be in September 2004. 10.2 Steering Group: all at 2.30pm (some venue tbc)
10.3 Full Consortium membership meetings: all at 10am, all day meeting with a mixture of keynote speakers and interactive sessions.
Suzanne Enright Secretary 7 December 2003 |
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