Hi folks,

It’s been an unusual week for me. I started out in Seattle at the ALA Midwinter Conference, which was busier than usual for me, with discussions of combining divisions and structural review of ALA. After some challenges getting a flight, I returned to the deep freeze in Chicago, which pretty much shut down the city, and have my kids at at home and haven’t been able to get to work. I haven’t heard from any particular group about pressing agenda items, so I don’t have an agenda yet for tomorrow, but I thought I could at least offer a written update on a few things that are going on.

First, last week at the Product Council we had a discussion about forming an “App Interaction” SIG. Martina Schildt has organized a meeting with SIG conveners and product owners around interactions between ERM, Acquisitions, Inventory, and eHoldings, and we agreed that getting the group formally on the books would aid with transparency and documentation of discussion. Other product owners felt like a new SIG wasn’t quite the best fit, as so far discussions have revolved around resource management, so we are creating a new “App Interaction” Group under the Resource Management SIG. The group will focus on reviewing interactions and workflows that cross between the different apps. Discussion items that would change the trajectory of FOLIO development or need more input will be taken back to the respective SIGs. Martina will be setting up a wiki page for the group, with members, the charge, meeting times, and minutes. Like other FOLIO groups, meetings will be open if others want to join in, but hopefully the minutes and communication will keep everyone in the loop.

Secondly, we’ve been having some conversations about the role and relationship of the Resource Management SIG and its subgroups. Given the size and complexity of Resource Management, we started to break up the work into smaller chunks early on through the formation of subgroups.  I’m still waiting for some clarification of some of subgroups from the respective POs, but should have a document to share soon. As you know, different POs have taken different approaches to working different parts of FOLIO resource management. The Acquisitions Small Group has kept a deliberately small set of dedicated members, with all recommendations reported and discussed through the main RM SIG. The ERM Group has been large and open, and the details of managing electronic resources are discussed and determined at the group’s Wednesday meeting. I expect the larger interactions between the different areas and aspects of Resource Management will continue to flow to the large group for discussion on Friday’s meetings.

Thanks for everyone’s participation in the Resource Management SIG!

Kristin

Kristin E. Martin

Director of Technical Services

The University of Chicago Library

773-834-2702

kmarti@uchicago.edu