2025-08-25 Resource Access Meeting Notes

Date: Aug 25, 2025 

Recordings

NOTE: RESOURCE ACCESS SIG USES EITHER ZOOM’S AI NOTES FUNCTIONALITY OR MICROSOFT COPILOT TO PROCESS THE TRANSCRIPT. If you would prefer that we do not use AI any session you attend, we are happy to! Please alert the convener at the start of the meeting.

Find all recordings here: https://recordings.openlibraryfoundation.org/folio/resource-access-sig/ (pw: folio-lsp)

Zoom

https://zoom.us/j/337279319 (pw: folio-lsp)

Attendees

@Cornelia Awenius

@David Bottorff

@Susan Kimball

@Marie Widigson

@Erin Weller

@Mark Canney

@Robert Heaton

@Thomas Trutt

@Tobi Hines

@Claire Hoag

@Anja Kakau

@Laurence Mini

@Olga Kalachinskaya

@Tobias Gostomsky

Discussion Items:

Meeting Notes

AI Minutes (buyer beware)

📄 Discussion Points
00:04:25–00:05:18 — Administrative Updates & WolfCon Planning
• The meeting began with logistical updates and a brief discussion about WolfCon planning.
• [[ David Bottorff (person) ]] was asked to present first, followed by WolfCon session planning.
• Hybrid format was confirmed, with some members attending in person and others virtually.
• [[ Cornelia Awenius (person) ]] and [[ David Bottorff (person) ]] discussed potential scheduling conflicts with remote storage meetings overlapping RA SIG sessions.
• [[ Thomas Trutt (person) ]] humorously suggested pitching in for Powerball tickets and mentioned “WOLFcan,” which was well received.
00:08:32–00:33:32 — Recall Behavior and Expiration Dates
• [[ David Bottorff (person) ]] raised concerns about how recalls interact with patron expiration dates.
• In Folio, due dates are truncated to the expiration date, which can result in items being immediately aged to lost if the expiration date is in the past.
• This behavior confuses both staff and patrons, especially when items are recalled for course reserves.
• [[ Olga (person) ]] and [[ Marie Widigson (person) ]] shared their institutions’ manual workarounds and concerns about automatic truncation.
• [[ Lawrence (person) ]] clarified how the “minimum guaranteed loan period” interacts with recall settings.
• The group debated whether recalls should override expiration dates and how notices are triggered.
• [[ David Bottorff (person) ]] agreed to draft a JIRA ticket documenting the issue, though he noted it may take time due to training gaps.
00:33:39–00:41:51 — Closed Library Due Date Management
• [[ David Bottorff (person) ]] described a second issue: recalls inheriting closed library due date management from standard loans.
• This causes problems when branch libraries are closed on fixed due dates, leading to recalls being due during closures.
• The workaround involves manipulating calendar data to “lie” about branch openings.
• The group agreed this is a documentation issue rather than a bug, but it should be noted for future configuration.
00:42:09–00:43:04 — Proxy Relationship Bug
• [[ David Bottorff (person) ]] flagged a bug where expired proxy relationships prevent due date edits, even if both patrons are active.
• The system fails silently, offering no error message.
• He committed to writing up the issue for future resolution.
00:43:38–01:02:21 — WolfCon Session Planning & SIG Roadmap
• The group brainstormed ideas for the upcoming WolfCon session.
• [[ Tobias (person) ]] suggested a survey to gather data on how libraries use title-level requests and other features.
• [[ Tom (person) ]] proposed developing a roadmap for access services priorities over the next year.
• Topics included notices, title-level requests, equipment reservations, and room reservations.
• [[ David Bottorff (person) ]] emphasized the need for umbrella JIRA tickets to better represent related issues.
• The group discussed the lack of active development teams in certain modules and how to advocate for feature development.
01:02:21–01:02:18 — Development Updates
• [[ Tom (person) ]] explained that Vega is currently focused on contractual obligations for the Library of Congress, including new modules and deprecating PubSub.
• Kafka is being adopted as a more reliable communication protocol.
• [[ David Bottorff (person) ]] asked about the implications of Circulation BFF and PubSub deprecation.
• [[ Tom (person) ]] clarified that Circulation BFF was built specifically for Library of Congress’s ECS setup and that Kafka will eventually replace PubSub across circulation modules.

✅ Decisions Made
• [[ David Bottorff (person) ]] will draft a JIRA ticket documenting the recall behavior issue related to expiration dates.
• The group agreed that closed library due date management inheritance should be documented for clarity.
• WolfCon session will focus on SIG roadmap planning and possibly survey development.
• PubSub deprecation and Kafka transition will be monitored but not prioritized for immediate SIG action.

📄 Action Items
• [[ David Bottorff (person) ]] – Draft JIRA ticket on recall behavior and expiration dates.
• [[ Tom (person) ]] – Continue monitoring Vega’s development priorities and PubSub deprecation timeline.
• [[ Tobias (person) ]] – Begin outlining survey questions for library usage patterns.
• [[ Cornelia Awenius (person) ]] – Coordinate hybrid meeting logistics for WolfCon session.
• Deadline for JIRA draft: Before next ticket review meeting (Sept 4).

📄 Data & Insights
• Folio’s current logic hard-codes expiration dates into due date calculations, leading to confusing recall outcomes.
• Recalls inherit loan policy settings, including closed library due date management, which can cause unintended due dates during closures.
• Kafka offers a more reliable alternative to PubSub, which has caused communication issues in circulation modules.

📄 Follow-Up
• Next meeting: Thursday, Sept 4 – Ticket review focused on Valeris tickets.
• WolfCon session: One month away – planning to continue in upcoming meetings.
• Survey development and roadmap planning to be revisited post-WolfCon.

📄 JIRAs
• Recall Behavior vs Expiration Date – Type: Bug (to be drafted by [[ David Bottorff (person) ]])
• Proxy Relationship Due Date Edit Failure – Type: Bug (to be drafted)
• PubSub Communication Failures – Type: Spike (ongoing, related to Kafka transition)
• Circulation BFF Implementation – Type: Feature (specific to Library of Congress ECS setup)