Members present: Sherrie Antonowicz, Russell Bailey, Phil Blank, Carol Cramer, Jeanne Crisp, David Durant, David Fergusson, Michele Hayslett, Susan Herzog, Esther Ogirri, Jeri Oltman, Mark Pumphrey, Lisa Roberts, Linda Stone, Carol Tobin and Vicki Weavil. Special guest Kem Ellis of High Point Public Library was present.

Absent: Josh Boyer and Robert Burgin

Meeting was called to order by Jeanne Crisp at 10:00 am.

Introductions and Updates from Members with Current Projects
During introductions, Esther Ogirri from Wake Technical Community College was welcomed as a new member of the Advisory Committee. Kem Ellis joined as a guest from the High Point Public Library. Members whose institutions are currently offering virtual reference updated the committee on the growth of their traffic, relations with vendors and library staff enthusiasm. Kem Ellis reported about High Point Public Library's struggle to implement their new service with QuestionPoint.

Review of Next Fiscal Year's LSTA Grant Application
Jeanne Crisp presented the committee with the 2003-2004 LSTA grant application and explained the main differences from the 2002-2003 plan.

Procurement
Jeanne reported that we have been able to secure 24/7 as the vendor for the project.

Partner Invitation
Jeanne reported that she hopes to release the invitation to libraries to apply to become partners in the project within about a month. The invitation will be distributed, in hard-copy and electronically, as widely as possible to public and academic (community colleges, independent and UNC system) libraries.

Report of the Meeting with Carol Bonnefil of 24/7; Formation of a Sub-Committee on Profiles
Jeanne Crisp, Linda Stone, Susan Herzog and Michele Hayslett summarized their meeting with Carol Bonnefil of 24/7 on April 9, 2003. A number of activities that must precede the service launch were identified, including choosing a name for the service, formatting the screens, and creating partner library profiles (including all libraries regardless of whether they're partners). Sherrie Antonowicz, Esther Ogirri and Linda Stone volunteered for the sub-committee on profiles. They will become experts on how the profiles are compiled and will suggest best approaches for keeping profiles up-to-date, especially of non-participating libraries.

Project Name and Formation of a Sub-Committee for Artistic Interpretation
The committee reviewed web sites for various other virtual reference projects and lists of suggested names to brainstorm possible names for this project. The list was narrowed to the two most popular choices and committee members were encouraged to test them with their libraries' staff and patrons. Jeanne Crisp will initiate the process of registering both domain names for the project's web site. Phil Blank and Jeri Oltman volunteered to come up with test "looks" for the names.

Mechanics of the Referring Page Layout and Formation of that Sub-Committee
The committee reviewed once again the web sites for various other virtual reference projects to understand which elements are customizable on the page which refers patrons to the chat service. Carol Cramer reminded the committee of the previously agreed-upon elements for an entry survey. Vicki Weavil, Carol Tobin, Susan Herzog, Phil Blank and Dave Fergusson volunteered to work out the details of the screen layout which will be used on the project's main page as well as by any partner libraries that choose not to customize their own. This sub-committee will draft information to post about our North Carolina project to replace the generic information about the larger 24/7 project. The subcommittee will also make recommendations to the Advisory Committee about whether to link to or list the individual North Carolina partner libraries, what Frequently Asked Questions to address, information to list for what to do in case of technical difficulty, etc. A privacy policy will be included. The possibility of a non-frame version was discussed but is not possible with the current 24/7 system. Although this means the real-time chat service will not be ADA-compliant, the disabled may access the service via email. Committee members recommended encouraging 24/7 to offer broader Spanish-language coverage and will encourage Spanish-speaking librarians to participate in our project.

Next Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for June 4 at the Chapel Hill Public Library.

Notes by: Michele Hayslett