Submitted by Sheryl Knab, Chair
The ASCLA Consortium Management Interest Group met at ALA on Sunday, June 30, 2013. This special interest group provides a forum for sharing of ideas and news among same-type and multi-type consortia. The group typically meets at the ALA Annual Conference. Over 25 people attended and heard four different speakers provide updates and information on what is new at their consortium.
Aaron Skog, SWAN Executive Director in Illinois (http://mls.lib.il.us/swan) spoke on their consortium’s experience in selecting the next generation ILS that will run its large network and the challenges they face in finding an appropriate vendor platform. Dr. Anne Norman, State Librarian and Director, Delaware Division of Libraries, presented on how the Delaware libraries (www.delawarelibraries.org) are using the data they are collecting from their members to improve services, streamline efficiencies, and leverage limited funds. Kristy Eklund from DALNET (Detroit Area Library Network) demonstrated a different approach to creating a shared digital collection by harnessing free online resources from Youtube and other resources. She talked about how they select the collections they want to promote access to and the creation of records for these collections (see www.dalnet.org/elibrary) which are freely available. Sheryl Knab, Executive Director, Western New York Library Resources Council (WNYLRC), Buffalo, NY, provided an overview of I2NY – the year-long investigation conducted by the NY 3Rs Association, Inc. (of which WNYLRC is a member) on the feasibility of creating a state-wide information infrastructure. The full report is available at www.ny3rs.org. Copies of all four presentations (PDF) are available through the ALA conference scheduler.
The group also discussed ALA Annual 2014 in Las Vegas. Sheryl Knab will continue as chair for 2014 and will call for program ideas in late fall through ALA Connect, the ASLCA listserv, the ICAN listserv, and NYLINE. Additionally, Sheryl recommended hosting a listserv at WNYLRC to facilitate communication among those consortia interested in sharing program ideas and news between meetings called CMDsig@wnylrc.org. To participate on the list, send an email to Sheryl directly at sknab@wnylrc.org.