Customers of Dynix, Incorporated

Editor's Note: Please send submissions for the next issue of "CODI News" by August 20, 1999 to Caren Soltysiak, Newsletter Editor, csoltysi@nslslilus.org

Send mailing changes and other pertinent inquiries to: Frances Orton, CODI Membership Services Coordinator, 381 W. 3700 N., Provo, UT 84604. 801-226-6054. codi@uswest.net

• President's Letter "Changing of the Guard"
• New Appointments
• Attention CODI Members !
• CODI Board Meeting Minutes - January 13, 1999
• CODI Board Meeting Minutes - February 10, 1999
• CODI Annual Meeting - Seattle, Washington February 10-12, 1999
• CODI Board Meeting Minutes - March 12, 1999 
• CODI Board Meeting Minutes - April 7, 1999
• ALA Conference, New Orleans, CODI Informational Meeting
• CODI Board of Trustees, July 1998 - June 1999
• Editorial Musings

"CODI, looking toward the future, reminiscing about the past"

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It is a solitary duty, one approached with respect. Not unlike Her Majesty's Royal Guardsmen, the duties sometimes seem only ceremonial. But duties they are -- regular, often long and tedious, and oftentimes a mystery outside a small cadre of fellow colleagues.

One would think that the average librarian has enough stress in their given jobs that they wouldn't have any free time. One would think that the average system administrator for any automation vendor would have more than their hands full of headaches, system crashes, and mysteries of life. One would think that the average Dynix system administrator would have enough to do in training, teaching, installing, logging problems, upgrading equipment and software, and generally keeping their system running smoothly.

Out of these incessant demands on our time, a breed of Dynix user steps forward and offers services of leadership to a little-known group called CODI. The services include long hours unseen to many of their co-workers, and even more invisible to their fellow users around the globe. The services often include considerable in-kind donations of time and overhead, assumed in large part by the user's home institution. The services of this Dynix user often reflect a depth of talent, donated for the cause of leadership to the community at large.

This past year, the CODI Board, elected by our diverse and ever-supportive members at large, bids farewell to individuals in several offices whose terms expire.

We thank Bonnie Schuster, our Board secretary, for transcriptions of voluminous meeting notes, and for forging into the future with summaries of chat room logs as we experimented away from standard phone conference call meetings. Bonnie served as a very effective secretary and also was a very helpful source for me in parliamentary issues.

We thank Ann Tenglund, who may or may not be back with us next year, as her term of Member-at-Large in Web Services expires. Probably out of all the member-at-large positions that support our organization, the computer and web services continue to grow more complex each year. Ann's efforts to begin to combine publishing with organizational communication will continue to be the legacy of this past term for her.

We thank Thom Hendricks, our Member-at-Large for Regional Services, for filling this position for one year with creative ideas, energy, and a sincere desire to advocate regional concerns throughout the United States to the Board. Thom, your efforts at the Seattle CODI Conference were very well received, and I'm just really sorry more weren't in attendance to receive those door prizes, another example of in-kind institutional support to our group.

And finally, to John Hurley, during a term of perpetual past-presidency that surely must have felt like deja vu, endless thanks for wisdom and grace from all of us who had the privilege to serve with you this year.

So many of our members have served CODI in many ways: participation in Board positions, conference committees and conference presenters, enhancement and JAD committees, regional group discussions and organizations, even as contributors to that wonderful community called Dynix_l. Sometimes in the darkest moments, we wonder if it is all worthwhile. Sometimes, in our greatest moments, we know exactly why IT IS all worthwhile. The problems and solutions of our community cannot be dictated by a single person, nor solved in isolation by even a small group of us. It takes every hand on deck, every creative brainstorm, every willing smile, to bring out the best among us.

As I leave the revolving office chair called the President's position, and pass the baton and the passwords on to Susanne, I want to thank many for making my own term as President a very fulfilling year. Certainly the feedback and communication with individual members around the U.S. continues to make clear our needs and issues as Dynix users. Certainly the cooperation and cohesive determination of this year's Board members to act boldly and grapple with difficult issues has made the year memorable for me, and for the organization. It is clear that no single Board member can ever, ever act alone and expect to achieve anything unless they have the support of the membership and the support of the Board.

One does not need to bear the burden alone. One has ample support to share it, and for that sharing, one needs to remember only that the achievements of the past year come largely as a result of the continuing support from the community as a whole: the Board, and the CODI members.

To all these people, I say thank you. Thanks for sharing some of the best and worst moments of the past year with me. Thanks for contributing to our organization. Thanks for your personal and caring touches in email, phone calls, and chocolate!

To the membership at large, I personally thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you. We have, together, accomplished a great deal this year on your behalf. The world has grown a little smaller, a little friendlier, a little more trusting. Our product continues to grow, and our liaison with Ameritech continues to flourish.

Have a great summer, everyone!
Susan Johns suzyq@mail.pittstate.edu

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Replacing Eileen Kontrovitz as Chair of the By-laws Committee is Bob Gale, Head of Technical Services and Automation System Administrator of the Newark, OH Public Library System. Bob's term will run through December 1999. We thank Eileen for her pioneering efforts in getting the By-laws Committee up and running this year.

Replacing Thom Hendricks as Board Member-at-Large for Regional representation is Angela Cisco, System Administrator at the Municipal Library Consortium of Saint Louis County, University City, MO. Angela will finish out Thom's term, which ends in June 2000. We thank Thom for his vigorous and positive contributions to regional representation this past year.

Finally we say goodbye to Bruce Heimburger, who has been editor of CODI News this past year. Bruce, like Thom, will continue blazing "happy trails" as Horizon customers this next year. We thank Bruce and Thom for leading the cavalry charge as Dynix pioneers in the client-server world, and thank Bruce for his editorial efforts on behalf of CODI.

Bruce will be replaced by Caren Soltysiak Head of Technical Services at the Vernon Area Public Library District, Lincolnshire, IL, who begins her illustrious career as CODI News Editor with this edition. Welcome, Caren!

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Ballots for new officers have been mailed to all members in good standing (i.e., have paid their dues).

We urge you to return the ballots, surveys, and by-law documents at your earliest convenience
to the address listed on these documents.

Ballots and associated mailing material must be postmarked by June 10, 1999
in order to be counted in the election and tallies.

Present: Susan Johns, Thom Hendricks, Susanne Woodford, John Hurley, Ann Tenglund, Ginger Olson, Gretchen Freeman, Bonnie Schuster. Minutes of December meeting approved as distributed.

Schappert had previously distributed Treasurer's report. Woodford had contacted Cathy about difference in conference expenses on conference vs. general reports (Conference Budget is a subcategory of the General Budget), and revised report had been distributed. Report approved.

General Budget:
YTD Inflows = $143,430.75
YTD Expenses = $29,347.27

Conference Budget:
YTD Income = $109,482,65
YTD Expenses = $10,733.81

Gretchen reported ALS would have a prototype of the Good Ideas database ready for CODI, and hoped to be able to demo it for the Board at ALA. Several ideas for how to present it for the membership at CODI were discussed. Final decision to be left for Marge Freeman to work out in conjunction with ALS as the project progresses.

Susanne had previously distributed her report to the board. The Board approved the recommendation to raise the on-site conference registration fee by $25, to compensate for the extra work needed for late registrations. Motion by Hurley; Olson second; approved by the board. Woodford will post immediate notice to Dynix_l so people will be aware before the February 1 deadline. The Board discussed locations to have a demo location for the CODI web site; Board members will be available during breaks both to show the web site and be available to meet the membership; Board recommend Susanne make the final determination on best location. Susanne reported we had surpassed our room count, and should realize some savings that can be used to reduce the conference planner budget. Schedule for CODI board members presentations during leadership and other sessions during CODI was reviewed. Susanne also briefed the board on additional conference happenings, such as the Thursday noon CODI 10-year birthday party. Johns requested input on when to schedule a meeting with the Horizon board members that are planning to attend CODI; she will get back to the Horizon president to confirm times. She will be appointing a committee, to include non-board members, to work through the numerous issues that a future joint conference with Horizon would entail. Susanne agreed to chair the committee, and Ginger will also participate.

CODI Informational Session for all members will be held Sunday morning, following the ALA breakfast. We will need to change hotels, and our meeting will be directly followed by a Horizon meeting. Ameritech staff will be on the agendas for each group. Board members will also meet later Sunday; a Ameritech will provide a demonstration of the Cataloging workstation at that meeting.

WEB: Ann had to leave the meeting early.

JAD: Ginger has not had good response from her survey of JAD participants. She will continue to work on this.

REGIONAL GROUPS: Thom presented his plans for the meeting of regional groups during the CODI Conference.

AMERITECH: Gretchen had reported on the Good Ideas database earlier in the meeting. She indicated the Ameritech web site would also undergo updating and redesign.

Respectfully submitted,
Bonnie Schuster
CODI Secretary
schuster@selway.umt.edu

February 10, 1999 .

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Guests: Chris Hannan, State Library of Victoria, CODA Enhancements Liaison; Kathryn McKee, St. John's College, Cambridge, DUG Secretary Margareta Nicholas, University of South Australia, Adelaide, CODA President; Leslie Weir, University of Ottawa, CANDU Past President; Marge Freeman, JAD Chair; Bruce Heimburger, Newsletter Editor; Eileen Kontrovitz, Bylaws Committee Chair; ALS Guests for latter part of meeting: Lana Porter, Shelley Neville, Ed Riding.

Susan Johns, CODI President, convened the meeting and introduced the guests. There were no additions to the agenda. Previous minutes were tabled.

Cathy Schappert had previously distributed the Treasurer's Report. Motion approved to move the Conference 2000 expenses to a separate sub-category under the 1999 Conference, Conference Planner item, since the general budget does not contain a Conference 2000 line. Report approved subject to motion.

John Hurley reported that he will be introducing Nomination Committee board candidates at the general session. He currently has one candidate for president, two for secretary, and three for member at large/web issues.

Thom Hendricks reported he would be meeting with regional group representatives later in the day. As door prize incentives he brought 2 books and 1 video from his cataloging problem shelf.

Ann Tenglund reported that her campus had installed a new web server, so she has moved the web site to this new location, and is mirroring it both at the old location and the remote bluemoon site. The new address is easy: codi.sbu.edu. Board members will be available to demo the web site as well as meet with members during all the conference breaks. Who's Done What will be update after the conference.

Ginger Olson reported on the System Administrator Certification. Statistics from ALS were included in the Conference notebook. Most of the expressed concern is with the Security exam. Gretchen discussed ALS concern that it is critical for people to understand all aspects of this subject. It was decided to put this topic at the end of the System Administrator Roundtable agenda on Friday morning, and Susanne will make a general announcement to conference attendees. Gretchen indicated that ALS could per haps then respond to queries via a mailing.

Johns encouraged interested board members who were not participating in the Leadership Workshop to attend as their schedule allowed.

Johns indicated no questions had been developed for the annual membership survey that is included with the election ballot mailing. Board members should submit questions to her, with the March board meeting as the deadline.

There were no additions to the agenda for the Friday General Membership meeting.

Johns reminded board members we would be meeting informally with Horizon board members attending our conference both Wednesday and Friday following the last program session.

Johns announced that Caren Soltysiak, from Vernon Area Public Library in Lincolnshire, Illinois, will be taking over as newsletter editor, following Bruce's resignation as he moves to a Horizon system.

The board approved Johns' recommendation to send John Hurley as CODI representative to CANDU in Toronto, June 16, 1999.

Schappert presented a proposal to raise membership dues from $50 to $75. Dues have not been increased for the past 10 years, but the organization has added several major expenses, such as the Membership Services Coordinator employee and a conference planner. The board approved the proposal as presented. The board also agreed that the next time there was a need to raise dues, some type of tiered strategy should be explored, so that larger sites would contribute more equitably for the benefits they received.. Some of the internationals currently do this by UV license breakdowns. Other alternatives discussed were number of PAC or Circ accounts, or population served. This could be self-monitored; we would not want to encumber the treasurer or membership coordinator with additional verification procedures.

Eileen Kontrovitz presented a preliminary Bylaws report to the board. The first recommendation of the committee is that a standing Bylaws Committee should be maintained. With the ongoing changes in the Ameritech corporate structure and the various ALS products, and the increase in international participation, we need to provide for ongoing review of the bylaws. The board concurred with this recommendation. The preliminary report was tabled pending a final report to the board. Schuster recommended the elimination of the requirement to distribute the actual agenda for the general membership meeting a specified number of days before the meeting. Historical wisdom on the board was that the original intent for this, to promote attendance, was no longer valid. The committee will add this to their discussion.

Susanne Woodford reported there were 544 conference registrations. This is second high, after St. Paul. Conference changes added to the conference binders will be done on yellow paper to make them easily identifiable. Discussion of a joint conference committee was tabled.

Marge Freeman reported that the Good Ideas database had officially started running the previous day. It is not quite ready to go live, but she had several screen prints to show how the database will work. Ideas logged this way will be immediately available for searching by all customers as well as ALS development. ALS staff will respond directly for each idea submitted, and customers will be able to comment on all ideas. The product its proposed used by ALS seem extremely promising.

Gretchen Freeman, along with Lana Porter and other ALS guests, addressed the questions the board had addressed to ALS earlier this year. Some of the concerns, such as when the new Product Plan would be available, System Administrator Certification issues , Good Ideas database, have been or are in process of being addressed. The Dynix customer base continues to grow, with 55 new sites added this past year. ALS has addressed board concerns about customer support issues, Dynix to Horizon migration paths, etc. The board will continue to advise ALS of problem areas that come to us from the membership.

In addition to the international representatives joining us at the board meeting, there are 16 Canadians in attendance at CODI. Each of the international reps reported from their section of the globe.

Margareta Nicholas, CODA President, University of South Australia, Adelaide, reported that the biggest concern for Australians was communication from Ameritech. When she left to attend CODI, the Product Plan had not yet been distributed there. CODA includes Scholar and Horizon sites. Some Scholar schools are facing platforms migrations because of Year 2000 hardware limitations, which has forced some customers to leave ALS for PC-based software products. The Australian national bibliographic utility is also undergoing changes which is adding to changes and costs that all libraries there are needing to make.

Chris Hannan, CODA Enhancements Liaison, State Library of Victoria, recommended that more long term information from Ameritech would be helpful. The Product Plan only covers the ensuing 12 months in detail, and many of us need to plan further in advance than that. He would appreciate most cost data for long-term planning. He highly recommends more functionality for the Horizon product for libraries who would like to move as soon as the Dynix functionality can be matched. He expressed great concern for more user input into the enhancement process, and was pleased to have just learned about the new Good Ideas database. He also encouraged product development that is sensitive to all Internet standards, such as broadcast search.

Kathryn McKee, DUG Secretary, St. John's College, Cambridge, felt communication was improving in the UK. The open exchange between CODI and DUG members has had influence on the corporate side, and she had received the new Product Plan before coming to CODI. In the UK, the Horizon users group is a separate entity, but they do meet jointly with DUG. She also was delighted to hear about Good Ideas. She felt there may be a need to mirror the site in the UK, because all UK academic sites are now being charged for international internet access. She explained that in the UK all libraries are required by law to go out for tender when selecting a new product; she also encouraged Horizon development to accommodate such needs.

Leslie Wier, CANDU Past President, University of Ottawa, added another vote for Horizon development. She also discussed the impact of the North American support model from the Canadian viewpoint. A bilingual site such as her library has felt the loss of specific team leads that knew their unique needs. Canadians are also needing to clarify the issue of who to turn to Provo or the Canadian office President when issues need to be escalated.

Gretchen Freeman reported on the Ameritech web redesign, and reviewed the improvements that will be made in Log Express as part of this project. Another feature will be the provision for links between all of the international offices. Marge Freeman provided the board with a preview of the Good Ideas database, including screen captures of the various features.

Seattle CODI Conference

February 12, 1999

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• She welcomed the International Representatives to the meeting:
  Chris Hannan, CODA Enhancements Liaison, State Library of Victoria
  Kathryn McKee, DUG Secretary, St. John's College, Cambridge
  Margareta Nicholas, CODA President, University of South Australia, Adelaide
  Leslie Weir, CANDU Past President, University of Ottawa
• Susan also welcomed the Horizon board members attending:
  John Opgard, Horizon President
  Susan Way, Horizon Secretary
  Mark Harris, Horizon Enhancements Coordinator.

Susan reviewed the CODI initiatives undertaken during the past year. She appointed a bylaws committee, chaired by Eileen Kontrovitz. Changes proposed by this committee will be in the April election mailing. A motion to raise the CODI dues from $50 to $75 will also be in the ballot; this is the first time in 10 years of organization that a dues increase has been proposed. The joint conference with Horizon proposal that Ameritech had proposed for 2000 had not allowed enough time for both boards to consider the implications and requirements for each organization. The boards have begun talking about these issues amongst themselves as well as each other, and will continue to solicit input from their general memberships as the process evolves.

Susanne Woodford summarized the Seattle conference, thanking all of the conference committees and chairs, the conference web site, and the conference planner. She recommended consideration of a conference seed money process for future conferences. She also indicated that changes Ameritech implemented for handling of automation skills' credit used for the CODI Conference had greatly improved the way CODI could handle this type of payment.

Cathy Schappert had provided a detailed Treasurer's Report in the conference binder. She explained ways the board continues to work on cost containment, such as moving to alternate month electronic board room meetings which are saving $600 per meeting.

Thom Hendricks, Board Liaison for Regional Groups, reported 16 people from 11 regional groups had been at the regional session during the conference. They will continue to post agendas and minutes of their regional meetings on Dynix_l for the benefit of others.

Ginger Olson, Board Liaison for JAD, reported that her survey of JAD participants is still underway, and encouraged those who have not yet done so to get her their responses. She discussed some of the issues that have come up with SA Certification also. Marge Freeman, JAD Coordinator, has been working with Ameritech to develop the Good Ideas database for submitting enhancement requests, and the prototype was available the previous Monday for her to review. Marge will be coordinating the review of the old CODI-ED logs to determine which should be moved to the new database.

Ann Tenglund, Board Web Liaison, encouraged CODI presenters to get their papers to her for posting on the web site. The new web page is: codi.sbu.edu and this is an additional site. The older sites will continue as backups. "Who's Done What" will be updated this spring. The CODI web site was set up by Ann and demonstrated by board members during all conference breaks.

Susan Johns reviewed the International activities of the year. Marge Freeman attended CANDU, and John Hurley will be attending this coming year. Susan attended DUG and CODA. Steve Thomas, University of Adelaide, has generously set up a listserv for all board members from all international groups. Lively discussion has begun on the list, as CODI continues to look for better ways to formally work with all of the international groups.

John Hurley, Past President and Chair of the Nominating Committee, introduced the candidates for offices this year and each candidate spoke briefly to their qualifications. For members not able to attend the conference, statements will be included with the ballots.

And the candidates are:
Vice-President/President-Elect: Eileen Kontrovitz
Secretary: Donna Cranmer; Barbara Lowry; Jennie Magasova
Member at Large, Web Liaison: Erin Noll, Scott Rinehart, Ann Tenglund

March 12, 1999

Conference Call

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In the absence of Secretary Bonnie Schuster, Ann Tenglund and Ginger Olson took minutes.

Midwinter Informational Summary has not been received from Bonnie yet. This will be on the April agenda.

Comments on the ALS Breakfast Meeting will be done by ALS and included as a summary in the newsletter. Some items will be put on the secure side of the ALS web site. 

Bruce's newsletter deadline is now March 15, and he would prefer the information by this Friday. He is working with Caren, the new newsletter editor. Ginger will be including a blurb on system administrator information.  

ACCEPTANCE OF BOARD MINUTES 

Susan noted that when we hold a membership meeting, we don't approve the minutes from the previous year. We don't do this anymore because we don't vote there. So this is something that only the board approves.

Voting was tabled until a quorum was reached.

REIMBURSEMENT POLICY 

Susan asked if whether the newsletter editor and JAD coordinator receive a stipend if they do not attend the meeting. Cathy did not think that they did. Gretchen confirmed that it is not an honorarium for the position, but a travel allowance.  

Cathy said that we had asked Eileen to be at the meeting, but committee chairs were not in the reimbursement policy that we had approved before. The policy should be revised to reimburse other persons if their presence has been requested in advance.  

Susan asked if we needed additional money for the international trips. Cathy said that we stayed under budget this year, but we need to look at increasing it for next year because of committee chairs, etc. Susan suggested revisiting this in the summer when the next budget is created.  

John joined the meeting at 3:10 and a quorum was reached.

Susanne asked if there was something written up about the regional representative's travel. Susan said that it is in his job description, but there is not an actual amount.  

ACCEPTANCE OF PRIOR MINUTES 

Ann moved, John seconded, to approve prior minutes in mass, including Gretchen's addendum. Approved unanimously. The midwinter meeting will be voted on in April.  

TREASURER'S REPORT 

Cathy asked for this to be tabled, because her report has not been reconciled with Susanne and Pia. John moved, Susanne seconded, to move to table the report. Approved unanimously.

As of 2/28 checking account balance was $51,654.92

The 2 five month CDs which mature this month. Because the conference is a year away and we will most likely increase dues, Cathy recommended that the CDs should be put into a 12-month CD, with rates range from 3.25% and 4.8%. Cathy asked Zion Bank if the re were interest-bearing checking accounts, but we are not eligible for the high rate ones as an organization. After looking at Susanne's conference report, Cathy felt there would be a surplus. We might want that to go into a CD as well.  

Susan noted that for the Mesa conference, we took out $10,000 which was never put back, and this needs to be put back if we can. Susanne suggested that these ideas be taken up in April regarding the conference proceeds. John moved, Ann seconded, to put $10,000 in a 12-month CD. Carried unanimously.

John said that he sent out the request for the statements and agreement to serve for the nominations.

 The Board discussed the Bylaws revisions received from the Bylaws Committee. There were a variety of questions and concerns regarding the suggestions concerning committees. The Board decided to take action on the ones that had no controversy. The Boar d voted to tables Articles VI, VII, and XI. Cathy moved, Johns seconded, to endorse Article VII and forward it to the membership for voting.

There was extended discussion of the best way to define a Dynix software customer in Article II. One question was whether NetConnect would qualify. Gretchen indicated that products such as this are bundles marketed by ALS, but they do not have unique software that would be covered by our escrow. She suggested that the lowest common denominator of software would probably be cataloging, as you need this module to run anything. Ann moved, Cathy seconded, to change the bylaw to "A Dynix User shall mean the entity which holds the license to use the Dynix core software. Carried unanimously.  

Susan asked Susanne to send this back to Eileen, and if she sees a problem, we will revisit it.

John said that he anticipated that internationals would be concerned about their prerogative to maintain their user groups. They are afraid that we define ourselves too broadly, while other times there are those who want to be members of two. Sometimes they see it as an advantage, but at other times, they feel overwhelmed by the size of the US.  

Susanne said that both her narrative and Pia's report have been sent out. Not everyone had received Susanne's fax, so it was decided to table it. This will also allow time to revise the budget figures too.

JAD LIAISON 

Ginger and Marge will be dividing up the old database and see what had been done, and what still needs to be looked at. These will be put into "Good Ideas." Ginger and Marge will do this, possibly with Donna Cranmer who was an enhancement's person for quite awhile in the past. Gretchen said that they have asked the LSAs to input things too. Susan will get the information from D-custom also.

Gretchen said that JAD opened a PC Reliance, and will be launching a Sunrise Acq soon.

Ginger felt that the membership is satisfied with the System Administrator Certification program. She had a request for a summary to Dynix_l, and she will do this for the newsletter as well.  

Susan said that honoring the graduates was a good way of showing success, and it should be done again next year.  

There is not any specific target date for a having a joint conference with Horizon. Gretchen said that there is a lot of benefit, and the users are starting to see the benefits. Susanne said that the most popular session was Dynix to Horizon. There were also several comments from the membership that we need to move forward to learn more about Horizon products. Susan noted that one issue is the fact that when we have the product plan at the conference, it sets the tone for the conference and gives us future things to talk about. When you have a conference in the fall, like Horizon, you don't have this advantage.

Susan asked Gretchen for copies of the Horizon plan when it is published. Susan said that one of the other things to put in the budget next year is how many Board members will go to the Horizon conference in Kansas City.  

Gretchen indicated that Horizon has changed their conference to come back to Salt Lake City in 2000. ALS recommended we consider Salt Lake as the conference venue for 2001. ALS is able to give much more support and representation when it is held locally. Susan expressed concern that costs can not go any higher than Seattle. We would need to have Pia explore the pre-Olympics costs in Salt Lake City.  

NOMINATION REPORT 

John Hurley reported that six nominees attended the conference. Requests for bios and statements from them have gone out with a response needed by March 15^th. The ballot will be sent to the Board when available, and sent to the membership by May 5 (as per Bylaw ), and ballots need to be back by June 15. We will have to have a camera ready copy to Frances the day following our next meeting.

ALA/ CODI

The ALA/CODI meeting is scheduled for 8:30 am on Tuesday. Location will not be available until June. It will be demos and discussion rather than a formal meeting. Susanne will post to list serve.

Ann is exploring the possibility to purchase our own domain. There is a tremendous back log to establish this. The cost is $70-$100 for a 2-year purchase. www.codi.org would take you direct to SBU. There is a fair amount of paperwork for registration and renewal. It would provide consistency and be helpful for conferences to have same URL yearly. Ann will report back.

Survey question suggestions need to be sent to Susan to compile prior to the next Board meeting, so that we can discuss them at that time. 

Cathy sent the Membership dues ballot wording to the board yesterday. The Board discussed and approved the draft she had prepared.  

CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT 

This would be very convenient for members. Cathy had sent the cost outline sent via email. Increases revenue for business, does not increase attendance or revenue relative to cost and work involved. Cost will go up April 1, those outlined originally are minimum costs. Minimum charge would probably be $30 per month. It could be used for membership dues and for conference registration. Service fees need to be added on to fees or CODI can absorb these costs. 100 people used their credit cards for conference registration so an estimated cost would be $500 per year. The board decided to check with each of our state groups for costs for use of credit cards and continue the discussion next month.

ALS LIAISON 

Gretchen reported that compiling the Q and A document that ALS distributed at CODI had been a beneficial exercise. ALS appreciated being able to work with the CODI Board in advance on these issues. The Board felt the document was helpful for the members hip and addressed questions that board members had been receiving throughout the year.  

(Based on notes from Ann Tenglund and Ginger Olson)

April 7, 1999

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Present: Susanne Woodford, Ann Tenglund, Cathy Schappert, Ginger Olson,
Conference Call: Gretchen Freeman, Thom Hendricks, Bonnie Schuster.  

Meeting was chaired by Vice President Susanne Woodford.

March minutes were postponed until Bonnie received all contributions and was able to compile them.

Cathy reported that she and Susanne are close to reconciling the conference budget with the Treasurers report.
The preliminary treasurers report for March shows
YTD Inflows: $181.342.60
YTD Outflows: $149,284.13

The preliminary March and the February treasurers report were approved. Cathy reported she had been able to get an 18- month CD rate of 5% for a 12 month CD, plus the CD would allow partial withdrawals. Because of this, the entire $10,000 was invested into one CD. 

SEATTLE CONFERENCE  

Susanne had previously distributed her conference report and Pia's report to all board members. Total registration for the conference was very successful, with 545 attendees. Pia's expertise with catering details, exhibits and A/V equipment, plus conference chair savings in the speaker fees and printing, resulted in a surplus of $26,000. The increase in registrations and keeping to original budget estimates were the reasons for the surplus. This enables CODI to re-establish a cushion that was needed during the Arizona conference. Susanne's report included attachments from the various committee chairs. Board members may submit their comments on the report. They will be appended to it. 

BYLAWS  

The extensive March board discussion of the bylaws had not been totally reviewed by the Bylaws committee. Since the annual election ballot mailing would need to be sent before all the issues could be resolved, the board approved the recommendations for Article II, Dynix user definition, completing the recommendation to read "...the entity which holds the license to use the Dynix core software (i.e., must have at least cataloging functionality)", and Article VII,5,e, JAD Coordinator, so that these articles could be sent to the membership to vote on. The remaining issues will need further discussion and will not be able to be included in this spring ballot packet.

DOMAIN PURCHASE  

Ann is exploring the requirements for CODI to purchase a domain name. Motion to authorize Ann to spend up to $100 for purchase was unanimously approved. She will report back at the next board meeting.  

The board had an extensive working list of membership survey questions. In order to make the survey more workable, it was decided to concentrate the CODI survey on specific membership and conference issues. The board accepted Gretchen's offer to work jointly with Ameritech to develop survey questions to best analyze product development and customer support issues. Ann, Ginger, and Susan were recommended by the board to continue work on this survey.

Credit card payment for the CODI Conference had worked well and been well received. Board solicitation from state associations using credit cards for additional payments also indicate this as worthwhile. While some costs are involved, it frequently permits advance conference payment from exhibitors. This greatly reduces our personnel time to deal with these issues, plus eliminating the costs for CODI to carry these costs for several months. The Board determined it would be beneficial to explore and try credit card acceptance. Cathy will continue to explore the best options for CODI, and we will hope to have this in place in time for use for dues payment this year.

The geographical rotation of CODI conferences was discussed. Ameritech recommended that returning to Salt Lake City in 2002 would not be a good choice, since many large conventions were planning to go there following the Olympics. With 1999 on the West Coast and 2000 on the East Coast, the Board approved asking Pia to explore the options for returning to Salt Lake City in 2001. If there is a favorable option for that, then perhaps we could return to the Midwest in 2002. Further discussion will be needed as we get more information. 

JAD LIAISON REPORT  

Ginger and Marge Freeman plan to jointly work on evaluating old CODI-ED enhancements and recommending those to be carried over to Good Ideas. 

Ann is updating conference presentations as she receives these reports. She will be exploring the domain name purchase.

Thom reported no changes in regional group representatives. Many of the groups are scheduling spring meetings, and making active use of Dynix_l to post agendas and minutes.

NOMINATION REPORT  

John reported that the ballots and biographical information is being compiled. Along with the membership survey and bylaw ballots, the mailing should be ready on schedule.

Gretchen updated the board on the Good Ideas database. Ameritech has been incorporating internal suggestions from Support personnel into the database, as well as fine tuning the product. It is about to be opened for customer use. There is also a general mailing about to go out to all customers.

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Tuesday, June 29, 1999 8:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. 

Omni Royal Hotel
ROOM: Center Salon
612 St. Louis Street
New Orleans, LA 70140

CODI Informational meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 29^th from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. We will begin with an update on projects like JAD and Good Ideas database plus basic information about CODI. Following this session, ALS representatives will present on Dynix software development, as well as a discussion and demo of the new Sunrise modules.

Hope to see many of you there with your concerns, questions and suggestions on how CODI can make a difference.

Susanne Woodford
Vice President/ President Elect 1998-2001
King County Library System
Seattle, WA
susannew@kcls.org

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Our former editor was Bruce Heimburger from the Richland County Public Library in Columbia, SC. Bruce left the position (unwillingly I'm sure) because he is now a Horizon user. I'm sorry to see him leave the CODI group and wish him well in all his future endeavors. Pulling together a newsletter shouldn't be difficult because Bruce made it look easy. He has been a great source of help and inspiration.

I hope you will call, fax or email me with any news you might have that we can share with our members. Regional Groups can send their meeting highlights as well as any other information they care to share. Individuals can pass along any helpful hints they encounter. And don't forget to send some humorous stories too! This is our newsletter and we can all benefit if we contribute our ideas.

Keep in touch.

Caren Soltysiak
Vernon Area Public Library District
300 Olde Half Day Road
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
Voice: 847-634-3650 X140
Fax: 847-634-9174
csoltysi@nslsilus.org