SUNY Office of Library and Information Services
Report to SUNY Librarians Association
John Schumacher (john.schumacher@suny.edu)
March 10, 2017
SUNYConnect Library Services Platform
• Shannon Pritting, SUNY Poly and OLIS have agreed to a 50% release time arrangement that allows for Shannon to serve as SUNY’s LSP Project Director;
• The Request for Proposals for a new SUNYConnect Library Services Platform has been released; thanks to Shannon Pritting (SUNY Poly), Maureen Zajkowski (OLIS) and System Administration colleagues in the contracts office for their work on the RFP;
• Questions from responding vendors are receiving responses; final proposals are due by March 6, 2017;
• A meeting is being scheduled in March to review those responses; Evaluation Team for reviewing the RFP responses is Katherine Brent (Cobleskill), Jennifer Devito (Stony Brook), Michelle Eichelberger (Genesee), Pat Maxwell (Brockport), Jenn Murray (Buffalo), Gail Pawlowski (OLIS), Shannon Pritting (SUNY Poly), David Schuster (Binghamton), Wendy West (Albany) and Maureen Zajkowski (OLIS, ex officio).
Electronic Resources
• If your campus has not responded regarding the current offer for The Chronicle of Higher Education, please do so;
• Similarly for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) offer; let me hear from you/your library;
• Gale Cengage has provided pricing for some ebook / virtual reference library additions; details on that are coming soon;
• Scopus license is good through February 2018; SUNY has an optional two more years available if it so chooses;
• Cold calls and related inquiries – Does your library have (purchasing) interest in newpapers.com? Also heard from colleagues …so I’d be particularly in those considering becoming customers of bepress, Alexander Street Press (streaming video) or Films on Demand; Credo Reference Information Literacy modules.
Open Educational Resources
• Carey Hatch and Mark McBride met with SUNY OER Services executive director, Alexis McMillan-Clifton, Geneseo Library Director Ben Rawlins and with Geneseo administration; this meeting occurred February 27, 2017.
Collaborations
• SUNY Libraries Consortium (SLC) transition team is presenting initial documents/models (financial and governance) to the SLC Board; the initial Board of Directors meeting occurred March 3, 2017;
• SLC Board of Directors – Patrick Callahan (Chair, Purchase), Timothy Arnold (Jamestown), Carey Hatch (OLIS), Holly Heller-Ross (Plattsburgh), Curtis Kendrick (Binghamton), Evangela Oates (Sullivan), Christine Rudecoff (Morrisville);
• SLC transition team is Katie Bram (Maritime), Randy Gadikian (Fredonia), Karen Gelles (Farmingdale), Brenda Hazard (HVCC), Connie Holberg (Jefferson), Rosanne Humes (Nassau), Curtis Kendrick (Binghamton), Eunkyung Lee (Oneonta), Susan Lieberthal (Suffolk), Charles Lyons (Buffalo), Heath Martin (Stony Brook), Mark McBride (OLIS), Sarah Morehouse (Empire), Rebecca Mugridge (Albany), Joe Petrick (Alfred), Cristina Pope (Upstate), Werner Sbaschnik (Old Westbury), Mark Smith (Ceramics).
OLIS / SUNY News
• SUNY’s Office of Library and Information Services is seeking two project managers from within SUNY; this would be a two-year release time arrangement working on the LSP migration; see addendum 1 for more information;
• SUNY OLIS has also advertised for applicants within SUNY for a one-year (possibly more) assignment as an Aleph support specialist; see addendum 2 for details;
• Congratulations to Stony Brook for passing an open access policy.
SUNYConnect Information / Resources
• For additional information about SUNYConnect, see our updated web site -
http://www.SUNYConnect.suny.edu/• OLIS’ Footprints Service Request System
http://service.sunyconnect.suny.edu/footprints/help.html • OLIS Support Portal
http://wiki.sunyconnect.suny.edu/display/OLIS/Support+Portal • SUNYConnect union catalog
http://search.sunyconnect.suny.edu/ Links (in this document)
http://wiki.sunyconnect.suny.edu/download/attachments/5112822/Chronicle+2017.xlsx http://www.chronicle.com/page/get-unlimited-access-with-a/50http://wiki.sunyconnect.suny.edu/download/attachments/5112822/JAMA+2017.xlsxhttp://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama https://www.newspapers.com/https://www.bepress.com/http://alexanderstreet.com/products/academic-video-onlinehttp://www.films.com/Academic_Collectionshttp://corp.credoreference.com/product-services/infolit-modules.html http://textbooks.opensuny.org/suny-oer-services/http://library.stonybrook.edu/openaccess/policy/ Addendum 1
Project Manager - Library Services Platform (LSP) Implementation
The SUNY Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS), in conjunction with the SUNY Libraries Consortium (SLC), seek internal SUNY applications via release time for two Project Managers who will join a Project Management team responsible for helping SUNY campuses to implement a library services platform (LSP) that will replace the current Aleph/Discovery systems. The project managers will be responsible for helping to coordinate project activities, track the progress of work, communicate status updates to campuses, the SLC, and the OLIS, as well as to report and help address issues impacting the overall schedule. The Project Management team will be composed of a Project Director, the Project Managers, the SLC’s LSP Task Force, and chairs of LSP working groups. The Project Management team will develop recommendations on policies, workflow, and best practices for campuses working in a shared data environment. The Project Manager positions will report to the Project Director of the LSP Implementation.
These are two-year temporary release time positions. Release time means that the appointed Project Manager would be freed from all duties at their home campus while working 100% on the LSP implementation. The Project Manager’s salary would continue to be paid by the home campus. The OLIS would compensate the home campus for the Project Manager’s salary; this would be by transfer of funds for State-Operated campuses, and a credit for services for Community College campuses. Nominations as well as individual applications are welcomed. Hiring is contingent on campus approval.
Required Qualifications
• Bachelor of Science degree in information systems, computer science, or equivalent
• Demonstrated project management experience
• Demonstrated ability to manage several complex tasks concurrently while meeting deadlines
• Ability to motivate campus staff and working group members without direct reporting responsibility/authority
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to present technical and functional library systems concepts effectively to campus staff with various responsibilities and skill sets
• Proactive, well-organized team player skills, as well as the ability to work independently and efficiently
• Strong problem solving skills
• Flexibility and experience in taking the initiative
• Willingness to travel
Preferred Qualifications
• Familiarity with library operations and practices
• Experience with Project Management tools and methodologies
• Experience in developing documentation for campus library staff of varying levels of expertise
Application Procedures
Interested candidates are requested to submit a resume and a cover letter that addresses qualifications for the position. Please submit these documents to Nina Santiago at Nina.Santiago@suny.edu. The deadline for submission of applications is March 24, 2017.
Addendum 2
Aleph and Pre-Migration Support Specialist
The SUNY Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS) seeks internal SUNY applications via release time for an Aleph and Pre-Migration Support Specialist to join the OLIS team that provides Aleph support as well as work collaboratively on projects that will aid the eventual migration from Aleph to a Library Services Platform (LSP). The OLIS staff works with library staff across the SUNY; information professionals at the SUNY Information Technology Exchange Center; and technology vendors. As part of migration planning, the candidate may be asked to help on LSP working groups as either a member or to help pull data from the Aleph system in support of working group activities; and depending on need or skills may help with data extraction activities for the migration. This position reports to the SUNYConnect Program Manager.
This is a one year release time position (with options for renewal) to work 50% with the OLIS while working the other 50% on campus responsibilities. Release time means that the appointed Aleph and Pre-Migration Support Specialist would be freed from duties at their home campus while working 50% on Aleph related activities for the OLIS. The Support Specialist’s salary would continue to be paid by the home campus. The OLIS would compensate the home campus for 50% of the Support Specialist’s salary; this would be by transfer of funds for State-Operated campuses, and a credit for services for Community College campuses. Nominations as well as individual applications are welcomed. Hiring is contingent on campus approval.
Qualifications
• Bachelor of Science degree in information systems, information science, computer science, or equivalent
• Strong problem solving skills
• Experience working with the Aleph application structure and table relationships including report generation, troubleshooting, table configurations, and working with Aleph documentation from both the vendor and the OLIS
• Experience using the OLIS provided Sandbox/Dropbox web interface for table updates and other Aleph related activities
• Experience working with the Aleph GUI client including navigating among the modules, using its services, and the task manager functions
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to work with and explain technical/functional concepts to staff with various responsibilities and skill sets
• Proactive, well-organized team player skills, as well as the ability to work independently and efficiently
• Ability to learn new software and technologies
Preferred Qualifications
• Have programming skills to help script activities
• Experience with the Unix structure and various Unix editing tools
• Knowledge of HTML, XML, Oracle, z39.50
• Experience with using SQL for report generation and data manipulation
Application Procedures
Interested candidates are requested to submit a resume and a cover letter that addresses qualifications for the position. Please submit these documents to Nina Santiago at Nina.Santiago@suny.edu. The deadline for submission of applications is March 24, 2017.
