Meeting Minutes for 11/10/2020

Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Demo & Pricing (Thomas Cook, Dow Jones)
Presentation Recording

• eReader that allows you to download a PDF version of the newspaper 
  • The digital version works very well with small screen devices
• Search defaults to searching the last 90 days of articles 
• Access includes digital versions of print editions, the WSJ magazine, profiles, financials, and research & ratings of thousands of companies.
• Statistical month-to-month reports are available
• It is a one-year minimum agreement, but a three-year option is also available.
• This is for on-premise as well as off-premise access to the WSJ for public libraries.

Q & A Section

• Q: It looks like you work with academic libraries as well. Would you like to provide pricing and authentication information for us?
• A: Thomas is just working with public libraries and school libraries at this time. He will send the information for the academic contact to Marmot.
• Q: Is there pricing for K - 12 High schools as well?
• A: Yes, Thomas would be the contact person for schools.
• Q: Why is the WSJ partnering with libraries now?
• A: The WSJ got pulled in with libraries telling them they could not get the physical copies delivered
• Q: When would the subscription begin?
• A: WSJ asks that the agreement gets signed as soon as possible. The quote is good until January 1, 2021. Thomas will work with us on when the subscription will begin.
• Q: Can students access the WSJ off-premise?
• A: Thomas is not the contact for the academics, so he cannot answer that question. When the academic representative is shared with Marmot, that person can answer that question. Adam mentioned that it would be good for Thomas to relay that IP authentication is the cornerstone for what is needed for a successful relationship with libraries. Thomas will contact their IT department to let them know that libraries are asking for this type of authentication.
• Q: Do you currently have Clever integration?
• A: Thomas responded that they do not have Clever integration, but will add that to the list for future development. 

Creativebug Update (Ashley)

• Ashley is working with Creativebug to get everyone’s domains
• Once the Marmot libraries have signed your Creativebug agreements, and you have a Creativebug domain, please contact Ashley at [email protected] with your domain. She will also need to know when your collection is going live. 
• Domain/URL examples for Creativebug 
  • https://www.creativebug.com/lib/prlibrary
  • Base URL: https://www.creativebug.com/lib/steamboatlibrary
  • Proxy Server URL: https://login.proxy.marmot.org/login?qurl=https://www.creativebug.com/lib/steamboatlibrary
• If you authenticate using EZProxy, a proxy wrapper needs to be put around your URL. Ashley just needs to know if you are using EZProxy.
• Ashley will have the shared collection working for the December release for Pika. 
  • Anyone using the old Creative Bug records will be replaced with the new Creativebug shared recordset.
  • The Creativebug collection should be updated three times a year. The company will never delete titles and will only include additions.

Vendor Relationship Discussion (Adam)

• Create “ground rules” on behavior when looking at competing packages
• eBook Vendor Requirements (former ECC document)
  • Adam thinks this document is valuable to update with more modern requirements
• Since Marmot is taking on a larger eContent role it would be great if everyone could answer three questions
  • What do the Marmot eContent members expect of their colleagues in this committee?
  • What do the Marmot eContent members expect of Marmot staff?
  • What do the Marmot staff expect from members of this committee?
  • What do we think is a good process to answer all these questions?
• It was suggested that it could be good to do a quarterly check-in on resources that libraries may be interested in purchasing to try to negotiate prices. 
• It was also suggested that library staff can identify formats or tools that are appropriate on a consortial level versus all those that library staff knows is best acquired independently.
• The group agreed that it would be helpful to add to the monthly agenda time to talk about vendor purchase suggestions for consortial purchasing. Please also include any vendor contacts that you have spoken with when suggesting content.
• Our vendor documentation should include talking points on how to approach vendors about a consortial deal
  • Do you have MARC records?
  • Do you have an API?
  • What is your authentication process?
  • Do you have an app?
  • How is your app authenticated?
  • Do we have to create a username and password?
  • Add a section for everyone to comment on the following questions as well
    • What do the Marmot eContent members expect of their colleagues in this committee?
    • What do the Marmot eContent members expect of Marmot staff during negotiations?
    • What do the Marmot staff expect from members of this committee?
    • Members would also like to know what happens after they sign a contract with a vendor
• Action Item: Tammy will create a Google document so everyone can share their ideas to ask vendors

Other Topics

• Wall Street Journal (WSJ) authentication (Sean)
  • Sean reported that WSL does not work with EZProxy 
  • Sean was talking with some of the Pika team, Pascal and Chris,  they think they can do authentication very easily through Pika
  • Sean is assuming that the idea is that each library would get a unique URL 
    • Marmot has some easy to implement ideas to do authentication on their end
• Steam Gaming Platform (Sean)
  • One of the barriers to gaming in libraries is licensing 
    • Most licenses are account-based, and sharing that account is against the license agreements
    • It is very difficult to buy a platform where you are not needing to force the patron to buy the game
• Steam has something called PC Cafe
  • It is set up specifically for buying licenses in bulk and allowing people to use them with their own accounts.
  • Steam is mostly used on PCs, some games are compatible with MACs and Linux.
  • Steam might not work with a VPN because it will scan within a particular network subnet.
    • Sean will try to see if he can get away with not needing to have a content cache at each location to be able to use a VPN.
  • People could create their own Steam accounts to access games.
  • It looks like a shared collection similar to OverDrive where we could have the licenses pooled at a Marmot level and shared amongst anyone participating.  
  • Members could buy a bulk of licenses of a certain game that is usable on library-owned computers or if a patron brought in their own laptop with their own Steam account  
  • The group could divvy up the licenses.
  • If all the licenses are in use, a patron would have to wait for someone to log off.
  • Collection management is available.
  • The unfortunate limitation is that it would have to be at the library only.
    • You would set up licensing or content PC servers at the location where someone connects and it scans the local network.
• Marmot members who are not on Marmot IT can also take advantage of this platform.
• Sean thinks it is worth exploring as a group since there would be more buying power and discounts when purchasing a larger amount of licenses.
• The publishers choose whether or not they participate in this level, so not all games will be accessible.  
• Liz mentioned Discord as an option for a gamer program.
  • Some libraries use it to connect with the kids to do virtual gaming programs.
  • Ashley suggested that a Discord server could be set up for a library and have different channels.
    • Discord has voice chat and full-text options 
  • Sean mentioned that they have good community Discord resources and recently added streaming.
• Action Item: Sean will look into the Steam PC Cafe Program to see if he can bring more information to the committee.

The next meeting is on December 8th at 1 p.m.