TUG Statistics and Reports Group Meeting

Minutes

February 14, 2003 - 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon – UW Porter Library Room 428

1. Minutes of November 21, 2002
   The minutes of November 21, 2002 were accepted as drafted. They will be added to the TUG Statistics and Reports (TSR) area on the TUG staff web.

2. Security consultations with TUG Managers
   Gail and Bill have held security consultation meetings with the Acquisitions, Collections/IR, User/Access Services, and Cataloguing managers. The next step will be to send the attendees and the TSR group a revised security spreadsheet as a record of the meetings. They will also be sent a worksheet, with a request to identify staff who should have a logon for the Cognos web server and the user class(es) to be assigned to each user. This will be done in consultation with other managers as needed. The security requirements of the UW and UG affiliated libraries will be reviewed.

   To do: Gail will send the spreadsheet and worksheet to the managers who attended the consultation sessions, with a request that replies be received by the end of February. Bill will review security requirements with Humber College. Gail will consult with the UW affiliated libraries.

3. TUG Cognos staff training team
   Ron obtained an estimate for on-site training from Tim Gale at PowerUsers and will ask for additional estimates from other training vendors and request references for follow-up. It would appear that bringing a trainer on-site should be the most cost effective way of training the training team. The value of a trainer who would also provide TUG customized manuals was also stressed. This should save staff time, allow the training team to get moving more quickly and provide materials of a higher quality.

   It is important that the trainer we hire be able to train in the new version (series 7, version 2) that should be received shortly.

   Gail noted that the latest issue of Cognos’ Supportlink magazine features elearning. Ron will ask Alan Gale for his evaluation of the Cognos training CDROMs he is using. The TSR group agreed that electronic training resources might be used to supplement other training but that it should not replace live training in an interactive group setting.

   Options for a training timeline were discussed. Preferred timeline is:

   • mid-March 2003 - training team appointed
   • May 2003 - training team training in the PowerPlay desktop and Web (including Upfront) client
   • Summer 2003 - preparation of the TUG training program and materials
   • Fall 2003 – conduct training program for managers and selected staff

   It was suggested that training in Impromptu report building might wait until early 2004.

   The memo Joanne drafted to invite staff to apply for training team membership will be reviewed and revised. Managers in each Library will be informed about the memo by an appropriate local communication path and encouraged to promote participation by likely candidates. The memo will be sent by email to all TUG staff around March 1^st, with a March 14^th deadline for responses. Ron, Joanne and Linda will pre-interview applicants before the next TSR meeting.

   To do: Ron will request training estimates from additional training vendors. Joanne will send the training memo draft to TSR for review and revise the memo as needed. Joanne, Linda and Ron will ensure local managers are fore-warned about the call for training team volunteers.

4. Timeline review / TUG Statistics and Reports Cognos Project
   The group started to review the timeline prepared by the TUG Statistics and Reports Cognos Project group. It will be updated to reflect work accomplished and revised goals for the remaining tasks. (see appended timeline below) 

5. Budget 2003/04
   Ron has been asked to submit a report and budget proposal for the next ULs’ meeting. He will present the training proposal for approval and give a general timeline for the next year.

   The group agreed that TSR’s only planned expenditure in 2003/04 would be for training for the training team and for Gail and Bill, the system administrators. A total of $15,000 was recommended ($12,000 for the training team and $3,000 for the system administrators).

   No expenditures for hardware, software or maintenance are anticipated.

   Staff support by Gail and Bill is expected to be the same as in the current year. 

   To do: Ron will draft a budget proposal and brief report for the ULs.

6. Agenda planning / next meeting
   We will try to meet monthly, at mid-month for the next few months.

   The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on March 14^th. It will be held at WLU if a room is available. If WLU is not possible, the meeting will be held at UW.

    

   Revised Reports Timeline

   Completion goal	Task
   Completed	Implement a TUG Stats and Reports [management] group Establish Cognos Access Manager on PCs of selected staff Complete upgrade of Cognos software on all staff PCs (version 6) Upgrade Impromptu 5 reports & catalogues to Impromptu 6 Review Project Charter with managers/Approve Distribute upgraded (5 to 6) Impromptu reports & catalogues to all staff Develop UpFront portal organization & customization
   Nearing completion	Clean up files from “tug-repts” area on UG server Complete Impromptu reports documentation & link to database Upgrade rewritten Impromptu 6 reports based on Architect model catalogues to EPS7 Complete testing of web reports test server
   Dropped	Fill UpFront design position Continue writing Impromptu reports to use EPS7 catalogues (ongoing)
   End of March 2003	Appoint training team
   End of April 2003	Complete security model (to do: complete consults, review results with TUG Managers & TOMG) Develop archiving procedure (testing completed) Confirm cube archiving schedule with functional managers Test with TOMG impact of cube rebuilds on servers Negotiate with TOMG weekly rebuild schedule (implement May 1/03)
   End of May 2003	Draft guidelines/procedures for request form & database Demo request form & database to managers & reports users Subscribe TUG Managers to reports listserv Announce reports listserv to TUG staff
   	Tasks from TUG Cognos Project report not yet reviewed
   End of Sept. 2002	Train staff in basics of Impromptu reports Complete set up & install of web reports production server (O/S done, reports & cubes not yet ported from test to production server) Review documentation content with reports users Review & improve documentation template Complete initial review of all cubes Review options for establishing priorities with managers, etc.
   End of Dec. 2002	Complete testing of web reports production server Develop guidelines for cube review Identify groups responsible for cube review Establish method for setting priorities Rewrite Impromptu reports using EPS7 catalogues
   End of March 2003	Train staff in Cognos web clients for Impromptu & PowerPlay Upgrade selected staff PCs to Cognos Enterprise Series 7