SWAN Board,
This attached press release goes out on Monday from SirsiDynix. If you suggest any changes, please let me know tomorrow/Friday and I will pass them on to SirsiDynix.
Aaron Skog
SWAN Executive Director
125 Tower Drive
Burr Ridge, IL 60527
Phone: 630.734.5122
Fax: 630.734.5056
aaron.skog(a)railslibraries.info<mailto:aaron.skog@railslibraries.info>
http://support.swanlibraries.net
From: Eric Keith [mailto:Eric.Keith@sirsidynix.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2014 4:29 PM
To: Aaron Skog
Subject: SWAN press release
Aaron,
We incorporate your comments and language, along with a few additions of our own. See what you think. Rather than sending it out on a Friday, we may wait until Monday to distribute worldwide.
Thanks!
Eric Keith
VP Global Marketing, Communications & Strategic Alliances
eric.keith(a)sirsidynix.com<mailto:eric.keith@sirsidynix.com>
w 801.223.5361
m 801.361.3432
[cid:image001.png@01CF5A31.DF04E110]<http://www.sirsidynix.com/>
SWAN Board,
At the RAILS Consortia Committee yesterday, Paul Mills from Fountaindale/Pinnacle noted that Leslie Bednar from Heartland wrote a message to the SHARE group about the Polaris acquisition by Innovative. SHARE is running on Polaris so they needed to provide some message to their libraries.
Aaron Skog
SWAN Executive Director
125 Tower Drive
Burr Ridge, IL 60527
Phone: 630.734.5122
Fax: 630.734.5056
aaron.skog(a)railslibraries.info<mailto:aaron.skog@railslibraries.info>
http://support.swanlibraries.nethttp://www.illinoisheartland.org/?q=content/article/moving-forward-together…
April 4, 2014
An open letter to IHLS members
The spring winds brought news of change in the library software world. Polaris Library Systems was acquired by Innovative Interfaces Inc. on April 1. As the integrated library software (ILS) platform for the SHARE Consortium, this news was troubling to some members and curious to others. IHLS signed a solid, 7-year contract with Polaris in June 2012, and that contract remains intact. We intend to honor this contract fully and expect Innovative Interfaces Inc. to do the same. In fact, the president of Innovative, Kim Massana, acknowledged there are no plans to sunset the Polaris platform.
The news of the merger reminds me that I am grateful the strength of our IHLS organization lies in our relationships with each other, our members' deep commitments to resource sharing and serving patrons in our service area, and the accuracy of data within the SHARE LLSAP database. Our core values are shared by our stakeholders--IHLS member libraries, the Illinois State Library, the Illinois library community and library patrons in the southern half of our state. We are an organization built on collaboration and the delivery of innovative and accessible library services.
Software vendors will wax and wane, and the services they offer will evolve. In our several decades of shared library automation in Illinois the true constant is our desire to provide improved resource discovery services to patrons and support to the member libraries who serve them. As library systems in Illinois reach their 50th anniversary in 2015, the automation opportunities for libraries are robust and varied.
Alphonse Kaar wrote "The more things change, the more they stay the same." An apt sentiment for reflection as we move happily toward an enlarged SHARE organization.
Polaris press release: http://www.polarislibrary.com/news/innovative-acquires-polaris-library-syst…
III press release: http://www.iii.com/pr-iii-polaris
Hi all,
Attached are the board self-evaluation document and the director evaluation form. The goal for these two documents is:
* For you to complete the Board Self-Evaluation document and send it back to me by no later than Monday, May 5th so that I may compile the results and have them ready for the board packet to go out that Thursday.
* For you to review the director evaluation and propose any suggested edits (Aaron's review isn't until October, though we'll need to have it on the agenda a month or two before so that everyone can weigh in and he can prepare his self-evaluation). If we're able to redline any changes for next board meeting, I'd need it by Monday May 5th, or for the following month, I'd need it by Friday June 13th. No rush on this one.
Thank you all!
Brande Redfield
SWAN Office Manager
125 Tower Drive
Burr Ridge, IL 60527
Phone: 630.734.5164
Fax: 630.734.5056
brande.redfield(a)railslibraries.info<mailto:brande.redfield@railslibraries.info>
http://support.swanlibraries.net
Hi All,
This is just a suggestion-- why don't we let the finance committee meet and go over the audit proposals and then make a recommendation to the board. This would save a lot of time and energy.
Have a good weekend.
Rich
Sent from my iPad
> On Apr 10, 2014, at 5:54 PM, "Aaron Skog" <aaron.skog(a)railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
> SWAN Board members:
>
> I have some brief impressions from RAILS Finance Director Jim Kregor about the proposals received in response to the SWAN audit bid. I can share those at the Monday meeting but after I review these proposals myself. Since these bids were received in a quick turnaround, we had the deadline on Wednesday this week and we meet on Monday, Jim didn’t have time to read them over in great detail.
>
> Aaron Skog
> SWAN Executive Director
> 125 Tower Drive
> Burr Ridge, IL 60527
> Phone: 630.734.5122
> Fax: 630.734.5056
> aaron.skog(a)railslibraries.info<mailto:aaron.skog@railslibraries.info>
> http://support.swanlibraries.net
> From: swanboard-bounces(a)list.swanlibraries.net [mailto:swanboard-bounces@list.swanlibraries.net] On Behalf Of Brande Redfield
> Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2014 4:17 PM
> To: swanboard(a)list.swanlibraries.net
> Subject: [SWANboard] SWAN Board 4/14/14 Meeting Packet Posted
>
> SWAN Board Members:
>
> The Monday 4/14/14 meeting packet is now available for you:
> http://support.swanlibraries.net/sites/default/files/meeting/2014-04-14/pac…
>
> The packet is 183 pages long (sorry). A bulk of the document are the requested auditor bids from our RFP process. Since this is an after-lunch meeting, hopefully no food will need to be provided for dinner! J
>
> See you on Monday,
>
> Brande Redfield
> SWAN Office Manager
> 125 Tower Drive
> Burr Ridge, IL 60527
> Phone: 630.734.5164
> Fax: 630.734.5056
> brande.redfield(a)railslibraries.info<mailto:brande.redfield@railslibraries.info>
> http://support.swanlibraries.net
SWAN Board Members:
The Monday 4/14/14 meeting packet is now available for you:
http://support.swanlibraries.net/sites/default/files/meeting/2014-04-14/pac…
The packet is 183 pages long (sorry). A bulk of the document are the requested auditor bids from our RFP process. Since this is an after-lunch meeting, hopefully no food will need to be provided for dinner! :)
See you on Monday,
Brande Redfield
SWAN Office Manager
125 Tower Drive
Burr Ridge, IL 60527
Phone: 630.734.5164
Fax: 630.734.5056
brande.redfield(a)railslibraries.info<mailto:brande.redfield@railslibraries.info>
http://support.swanlibraries.net
SWAN Board Members:
Take a look at the best photo of the 4 we took today. I cropped it and tweaked the image just a bit. I suggested to Brad Whittle at SirsiDynix that we both work on a press release and that I would need to send out an announcement to the SWAN libraries first.
Aaron Skog
SWAN Executive Director
125 Tower Drive
Burr Ridge, IL 60527
Phone: 630.734.5122
Fax: 630.734.5056
aaron.skog(a)railslibraries.info<mailto:aaron.skog@railslibraries.info>
http://support.swanlibraries.net
SWAN Board,
This seemed like an April 1st joke at first but its not.
Aaron
Sent by my Nexus mobile phone
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kim Massana <pr(a)iii.com>
Date: Apr 1, 2014 10:19 AM
Subject: Innovative Acquires Polaris Library Systems
To: Aaron Skog <aaron.skog(a)railslibraries.info>
Cc:
[http://www.swiftpage5.com/CampResource/2X0XVSQBIDME64AS/bio/open_image.jpg]
Innovative Acquires Polaris Library Systems
Dear Friends and Valued Customers:
[http://www.Swiftpage5.com/CampResource/2X0XVSQBIDPLMAWO/bio/kim_and_bill_sh… am very pleased to announce that Innovative has acquired Polaris Library Systems, a leading provider of public library systems in the U.S.
We are excited about the combination of Innovative and Polaris – two companies that have the pulse of the public library market. We have appreciated and respected Polaris’ focus on service and support, especially to public libraries, and we look forward to combining two great organizations and learning from each other.
I will lead the combined companies from Innovative’s headquarters in California with Polaris executives joining the Innovative management team in a variety of new roles. Polaris’ Syracuse, New York office will become one of Innovative’s key centers for operations, along with Emeryville, California, Dublin, Ireland, and Noida, India.
The newly combined company will provide Polaris customers with a long term partner in Innovative while Innovative's customers will benefit from the pooling of knowledge and expertise of the combined product management and development groups that will bring deep public library expertise under one roof.
But some things won’t change. Innovative is fully committed to supporting all our customers going forward and you should notice no change in our ongoing service and support.
Our vision of Innovative as a global library technology company is based on an active and respectful partnership with our clients and the entire library community and reflects our ongoing commitment to provide the best service possible to library users. We’re excited about having the Polaris team on board and look forward to great things in 2014 and for many years to come.
If you are interested in learning more about the acquisition, please visit our website at www.iii.com/polaris<http://www.Swiftpage5.com/SpeClicks.aspx?X=2X0XVSQBIDPLMAWO00TWW4> or read my latest blog post<http://www.Swiftpage5.com/SpeClicks.aspx?X=2X0XVSQBIDPLMAWO01TWW4>.
If you have any questions or comments, you are welcome to contact your Library Relations Manager or Sales Representative.
Thanks for your ongoing loyalty and support.
Best regards,
Kim
Sent to:aaron.skog@railslibraries.info
If you prefer not to receive
future e-mails of this type,
click here<http://www.Swiftpage5.com/SpeSupIt.aspx?X=2X0XVSQBIDPLMAWO00TWW4&Addr=aaron…>
Sent By:
Innovative Interfaces, Inc
5850 Shellmound Way
Emeryville CA 94608
USA
[http://www.Swiftpage5.com/images/powerdby.gif]<http://www.Swiftpage5.com/PowrdBy1.htm>
To view as a web page click here<https://www.Swiftpage5.com/speasapage.aspx?X=2X0XVSQBIDPLMAWO00TWW4>.
[http://www.Swiftpage5.com/images/Fwd2Friend.gif]<http://www.Swiftpage5.com/SpeForward.aspx?X=2X0XVSQBIDPLMAWO00TWW4>
SWAN Board,
The OMA letter looks good to me. Unless I hear otherwise from any of you, I will give Kathie the go ahead on Monday.
Aaron Skog
SWAN Executive Director
125 Tower Drive
Burr Ridge, IL 60527
Phone: 630.734.5122
Fax: 630.734.5056
aaron.skog(a)railslibraries.info<mailto:aaron.skog@railslibraries.info>
http://support.swanlibraries.net
From: Kathie T. Henn [mailto:KTHenn@KTJLAW.com]
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 1:25 PM
To: Aaron Skog; April Krzeczkowski (limricc.april(a)comcast.net); Judy Hutchinson; Don Myers
Cc: Richard Shurman (rshurman(a)ccs.nsls.lib.il.us); Gerard E. Dempsey
Subject: draft letter to Public Access Counselor
Aaron, April, Judy and Don:
Attached is a letter we prepared on behalf of CCS seeking an advisory opinion from the Public Access Counselor ("PAC") with respect to OMA and FOIA. I have spoken to some of you about this issue and wanted to send you the draft letter so that you can see what we would like to send to the PAC. I know this issue is of interest to all of you. If the PAC decides that OMA and FOIA do not apply, your board could always decide to comply with either or both statutes. I believe that many of your boards may continue to comply with OMA, at least for governing board meetings, but that they would be interested in dropping the FOIA requirement.
We submitted a similar letter on behalf of LIMRiCC in 2010. At that time, the feedback the PAC provided was that this question was not of general importance and did not impact enough entities for them to provide an advisory opinion. That is the reason why we felt it would be helpful to seek to include a number of intergovernmental entities to illustrate to the PAC that there are many such entities in the state of Illinois.
Please let me know if you are interested in participating in the submission of this request. Also, let me know if you want to present it at a board meeting for discussion and the date that your board meeting will take place. I would be happy to discuss this by telephone with you, but I thought it might be beneficial to provide you with a copy of the letter and allow you an opportunity to review it before we discuss the issues.
Please contact me with any comments or questions.
Thanks,
Kathie Henn
Klein, Thorpe and Jenkins, Ltd.
20 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 1660
Chicago, Illinois 60606
telephone: 312.984.6424
fax: 312.984.6444
The letter looks good to me and I think we should have her draft a letter for us.
Rich
Sent from my iPad
> On Mar 28, 2014, at 5:17 PM, "Aaron Skog" <aaron.skog(a)railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
> SWAN Board,
> The OMA letter looks good to me. Unless I hear otherwise from any of you, I will give Kathie the go ahead on Monday.
>
> Aaron Skog
> SWAN Executive Director
> 125 Tower Drive
> Burr Ridge, IL 60527
> Phone: 630.734.5122
> Fax: 630.734.5056
> aaron.skog(a)railslibraries.info<mailto:aaron.skog@railslibraries.info>
> http://support.swanlibraries.net
> From: Kathie T. Henn [mailto:KTHenn@KTJLAW.com]
> Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 1:25 PM
> To: Aaron Skog; April Krzeczkowski (limricc.april(a)comcast.net); Judy Hutchinson; Don Myers
> Cc: Richard Shurman (rshurman(a)ccs.nsls.lib.il.us); Gerard E. Dempsey
> Subject: draft letter to Public Access Counselor
>
> Aaron, April, Judy and Don:
>
> Attached is a letter we prepared on behalf of CCS seeking an advisory opinion from the Public Access Counselor ("PAC") with respect to OMA and FOIA. I have spoken to some of you about this issue and wanted to send you the draft letter so that you can see what we would like to send to the PAC. I know this issue is of interest to all of you. If the PAC decides that OMA and FOIA do not apply, your board could always decide to comply with either or both statutes. I believe that many of your boards may continue to comply with OMA, at least for governing board meetings, but that they would be interested in dropping the FOIA requirement.
>
> We submitted a similar letter on behalf of LIMRiCC in 2010. At that time, the feedback the PAC provided was that this question was not of general importance and did not impact enough entities for them to provide an advisory opinion. That is the reason why we felt it would be helpful to seek to include a number of intergovernmental entities to illustrate to the PAC that there are many such entities in the state of Illinois.
>
> Please let me know if you are interested in participating in the submission of this request. Also, let me know if you want to present it at a board meeting for discussion and the date that your board meeting will take place. I would be happy to discuss this by telephone with you, but I thought it might be beneficial to provide you with a copy of the letter and allow you an opportunity to review it before we discuss the issues.
>
> Please contact me with any comments or questions.
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> Kathie Henn
> Klein, Thorpe and Jenkins, Ltd.
> 20 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 1660
> Chicago, Illinois 60606
> telephone: 312.984.6424
> fax: 312.984.6444
>
>
>
>
> <325807_1.pdf>
SWAN Board:
I had an interesting discussion yesterday with the SWAN attorney Kathie Henn with Klein Thorpe Jenkins (KTJ). There is some background to this discussion that I will detail for you, but the gist of this is that Kathie would like to contact consortia which formed as an Illinois Intergovernmental Instrumentality (let me abbreviate this as an "I3" as we have taken to doing within RAILS). She is seeking clarification from the Illinois Attorney General Office if the Open Meetings Act applies to I3. The implications of this are important as Kathie noted it will determine how FOIA works for us.
Background:
This question came up when LIMRiCC was forming as a new entity. I believe it was determined that OMA applied to that entity.
Then recently this question arose from a new group that was formed as an insurance pool for libraries, called LIRA (Libraries of Illinois Risk Agency). During the incorporation of this group, the law office Ancel Glink gave the opinion that OMA does not apply to I3.
This is LIRA.
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs122/1102339694985/archive/111542681797…
CCS also had received some affirmation of this *non-OMA* status from Jerry Dempsey at KTJ, but this was some time back. News to me. I had heard from Su Bochenski (CCS Treasurer) recently that CCS had difficulty with its executive committee achieving a quorum and the revelation of CCS and OMA came to light. She emailed me asking if SWAN followed OMA, to which my answer was "of course, we were told we had to!"
Kathie has noted that the Attorney General Office, "Public Access Counselor" (PAC) was approached to assist with providing clarification for LIRA, but has not received a response. Kathie believes that if several I3 organizations other than LIRA were to lend their support for seeking this clarification, the PAC would respond in a more timely manner (months, rather than not at all).
I gave Kathie the go ahead for SWAN. I suggested she reach out to Carol Dawe at LINC, but that I would let Don Myers (MAGIC) and Judy Hutchinson (PrairieCat) know first of the situation, which I have done.
Aaron Skog
SWAN Executive Director
125 Tower Drive
Burr Ridge, IL 60527
Phone: 630.734.5122
Fax: 630.734.5056
aaron.skog(a)railslibraries.info<mailto:aaron.skog@railslibraries.info>
http://support.swanlibraries.net
