Thinking of Joining Minerva? Consider the Following
The Minerva Users Council is a statewide, multi-type consortium of libraries that work collaboratively to provide its patrons with expanded library services and resources through common policies and purposes. The Minerva Users Council is recognized by both the Maine State Library (MSL) and Maine InfoNet (MIN) as a formal partner in the support and utilization of the integrated library management system, currently called Minerva. Included in the system are automated circulation, cataloging, public access catalog, acquisitions, and serials functions. It is also a key collection in MaineCat – a statewide catalog that includes URSUS, SOLAR, and other systems.
Joining Minerva means being willing to give up some local practices in favor of standardization that is a critical component of a shared consortium, and the group has voted to institute for the good of the group and service to the public.
When assessing the appropriateness of choosing the Minerva environment for your library, you need to review:
and consider the impact on your staff, budget, and facilities that being a full participating member of the Minerva Users Council would mean. There is also an Application Checklist available to help guide you through the various steps of the application process.
Application Process:
To join the Minerva Users Council, your library needs to complete the Application Form and an implementation plan that addresses how your library will meet the basic commitments and requirements that follow and submit them to the Chair of the Minerva Executive Committee. Applications and implementation plans will be reviewed and candidates will be notified of the Committee’s determination.
General Qualifications :
All perspective members must show that they have:
- regular, permanent staff with a least one member comfortable and committed to establishing an automated library with some experience with electronic database software, such as, Athena, Follett, Lotus Notes, MS Access, Innovative Millennium (such as SOLAR), etc.,
- regular, permanent staff with a comfort level and basic understanding of cataloging procedures and the need for standards critical to a shared environment with different library types: public, academic, school and special.
- a history of stable budgets with the necessary funds in place for first year dues and start up costs.
- all necessary local hardware sufficient to run the Innovative Interfaces software utilized by Minerva and Internet access with sufficient bandwidth to support the Innovative software, or demonstrated plan to meet the technological requirements of Minerva.
- records of one's holdings either in an automated database or in a print catalog that were created by a trained cataloger or obtained through a recognized cataloging utility (e.g. Marcive, Baker & Taylor, OCLC, etc.). If not, you must be financially able to undertake the cost of retrospective conversion of the collection so that it meets Minerva cataloging standards.
- a process in place to confirm the identity of your current patrons and to identify non-current patrons.
- a timeline that is no longer than 12 months from the date of receipt of the letter of acceptance until beginning to use the circulation function in Minerva.
Specific Requirements:
1) Overall Member Particiption Requirements:
All members must:
- appoint an official representative to the MINERVA Users Council to attend full Users Council meetings and who is empowered to vote on behalf of their library.
- require at least one staff member to participate in each Minerva-L and MinervaCats email lists.
- appoint staff to attend on a regular basis the circulation and cataloging users group meetings.
- train a staff member in the use of Minerva statistical reports.
- continue to maintain regular collection development and acquisitions to ensure that the library has resources to share with other members of Minerva. Any unanticipated reversals of support in this area need to be discussed with the Minerva Executive Committee and Maine Info Net staff.
2) Cataloging Requirements:
All members must:
- send staff to at least 50% of the Catalogers' User Meetings. These meetings will be made available through ATM sites
- have at least one staff member who is capable of identifying acceptable catalog records before loading records into the shared catalog.
- operate under the level of cataloging permissions granted by the Minerva, dependent upon a staff person’s knowledge, skills, and ability
- adhere to a formal manual of cataloging guidelines developed by the Cataloging Standards Committee.
- have at least one member who is responsible for monitoring the MinervaCats discussion list and implementing any new standards posted there by the Cataloging Standards Committee.
- be part of a mentoring system and work under the supervision of their “buddy library” for six months.
- adhere to Minerva standards for old and new records and agree that all incomplete records containing only author and title will be suppressed in the OPAC.
3) Circulation Requirements:
All members must:
- observe full participation in Minerva’s open-lending policy
- adhere to Minerva (system-wide) borrowing policies rather than local policies in cases of conflict
- pay for at least one day of delivery van service per week.
- send staff to mentor training for circulation functions at a nearby Minerva library.
- use codabar 14-digit barcode for materials and patrons
- be willing to use no more than [2] patron types
