Document#07-05

 

 

Director’s Report

January 2007

 

 

Audit

 

The audit has been completed and reviewed by myself and Elisa.  I expect to have it for you at the January meeting.

 

E-Rate

 

I have, for your approval, a three year agreement to purchase our long distance services from Primus Inc.  Primus is our current provider and the only one to respond to our request for quotes.  Please see the rate comparison below (cpm is cents per minute).

Current:

Outbound Interstate (state-to-state):  5.0 cpm

Outbound Intrastate (within NJ): 5.6 cpm

No international calling

 

Toll-free Inbound Interstate (state-to-state): 5.0 cpm

Toll-free Inbound Intrastate (within NJ): 8.9 cpm

 

Proposed with a 3 yr contract with a monthly commitment of $15:

 

Outbound Interstate (state-to-state):  2.9 cpm

Outbound Intrastate (within NJ): 3.9 cpm

 

Toll-free Inbound Interstate (state-to-state): 2.9 cpm

Toll-free Inbound Intrastate (within NJ): 3.9 cpm

 

I hope also to have a Verizon contract for your approval.  I would like to develop a three year, co-terminus, contract that covers all of our circuits.  Thus far, while assuring me this can be done, Verizon has not yet provided a draft contract.

 

 

 

 

GL 3.1 Upgrade

 

The Sirsi upgrade was successfully completed last month.  LMxAC staff did a terrific job in completing the upgrade in a timely manner.  Ann Macdonald and Mei He worked especially long hours the weekend of December 16th and are to be commended for their excellent work.

 

ListenNJ

 

Thanks to the ListenNJ selection committee members for their assistance in selecting our titles for 2007.  Special thanks go to Elisabeth Oliu from MCC, Betty Lau from Monroe and Godha Raghavan from Piscataway for their assistance in the final cut!

 

Job Descriptions

 

I have met with all staff that report directly to me and finalized job descriptions and 6 month goals/objectives.  I expect the process will be completed for all staff by the end of the month.  I will be providing the Board with copies of all new job descriptions.  This is an important part of the process of assuring that LMxAC is adequately staffed to meet the needs of our members.

 

Software Upgrades and Enhancements

 

We are now working on implementing the Comprise SAM 8.5 upgrade.  Mike Bagileo will take the lead on this project.

 

Verizon Router

 

I have been informed by Rob Zangara that Verizon has, at long last, agreed to provide us with a higher level router than the 2600 series router they wanted to give us for the T3 circuit to the state.  Once that router is received we will use it to replace the aging 7507 router.  I am grateful to Rob for interceding so effectively on our behalf.

 

Activity Report

 

In December we made 32 troubleshooting visits to 17 different libraries.  Elisa Bash and Steve Rossa completed an update of our equipment inventory, which now includes all the SirsiDynix hardware.  Ruth Ronen worked with LTI to provide a copy of our database to assist the Dunellen Library in loading their records into our database.  Other measures of activity include:

 

New Items Added                                             18,696

Bib Records Added by LMxAC                           2,790

New Bib Records Added (Total)                         4,418

New User Records Added                                  2,747

 

During the Unicorn upgrade the system was down from 5:00 PM on December 16th until 10:00 AM on December 17, 2006.  Post upgrade reports ran until 9:00 PM on December 18, 2006.  During that time libraries had access to circulation functions, did not have access to cataloging and item maintenance, but were able to search the database with the understanding that some search results would be incomplete or inaccurate.

                       

Piscataway-Kennedy library was down due to a circuit failure from 10:15 AM Saturday January 6th until noon on Monday, January 8, 2007.   This incident has prompted a review of our procedures for troubleshooting problems, especially on the weekends.

 

Meetings

 

In the last month I have participated in the following meetings:

           

            Verizon Conference Call                                          Dec. 7

            Meet with Anne Roman                                            Dec. 8

            Visit to NJ State Library                                           Dec. 11

            Visit to Dunellen                                                        Dec. 12

            Meet with Fraser Bros. rep.                         Dec. 12

            Visit to Spotswood                                                   Dec. 13

            Visit to Old Bridge                                                    Dec. 13

            Visit to Middlesex Public                                          Dec. 13

            Membership Meeting                                               Dec. 15

            Visit to Perth Amboy                                     Dec. 20

            Meet with Consortia Directors                                 Dec. 20

            Meet with representative of ATX                             Jan. 4

            Verizon Conference Call                                          Jan. 4

           

 

 

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Eileen M. Palmer

Executive Director