August 04, 2025

In This Issue:

• WRLC HQ Transitioning from Zoom to Microsoft Teams by September 1
• Alma Sandbox Refresh
• Shared Print Monographs and Preparing Materials for the SCF
• WRLC Job Listings

WRLC Headquarters will be transitioning from Zoom to Microsoft Teams for all WRLC-hosted virtual meetings, effective September 1.

Why the Change?

While WRLC has provided Zoom accounts to our partners, this shared usage has steadily declined over the past two years. In contrast, usage with HQ remains high. Microsoft Teams is included in the educational Microsoft license package we already subscribe to—unlike Zoom, which incurs additional cost. By making this switch, we’re able to reduce expenses and take advantage of the robust collaboration and integration features built into Teams.

What Does This Mean for You?

This change will be low impact. For virtual meetings hosted by WRLC HQ, you'll be directed to Teams rather than Zoom and you'll likely notice a slight difference in the meeting link and user interface.

If you serve on a WRLC committee, you may receive a Microsoft Teams guest account invitation. These Teams guest accounts will grant you enhanced permissions, improving your ability to participate and collaborate more effectively in the Teams application during the term of your committee service. If you receive such an invitation, please accept it prior to your first Teams-based Committee meeting.

Thank you in advance for your support during this transition. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to reach out.

- Jamie Kutzuba

kutzuba@wrlc.org

Library Systems Supervisor

Twice per year, Ex Libris refreshes all Sandbox environments. A refresh means that all data and configurations are copied from the corresponding production environment to the sandbox; these replace any data and configurations already existing in the sandbox.

Our second refresh of the year is scheduled for Sunday, August 10th, 2025.

WRLC will do its best to recreate all consortial user accounts created in the past six months (login information will be emailed to all applicable users), but if you find that you do not have access to the sandbox after Tuesday, August 12th, you can fill out the WRLC Sandbox Access Request Form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1T8bnevnSiQvSq9AzvhKaELRbDPGJS7CEfrS_Cc2APMU/viewform?edit_requested=true) to request a new sandbox user account.

More information about the WRLC sandboxes can be found in this WRLC Alma Wiki page : https://alma.wrlc.org/books/sandboxes/page/almaprimo-sandboxes

Late last year, the Library Director’s Council made a significant change to the consortium’s shared print MOU which now commits to retaining one copy (instead of two) of each title in the combined collection. Unique titles at the edition level are determined by the NZ MMS ID. This change led to a large analytics project at WRLC to determine which of the existing copies will keep that protected status. Based on consultation with the Coordinated Collections Committee, the item selection coding and batch changes were completed this spring. While there are metadata cleanup activities that will continue as part of the stewardship of shared print, staff can now rely on the retention commitment data fields when selecting materials for deposit in the Shared Collections Facility. If you have any weeding/inventory projects that are already in progress and may include extra non-retention copies, please contact Tammy Hennig and we will help with screening shipments. However, we will no longer accept extra copies as part of any new accessions project and WRLC partners are now responsible for pre-screening accession shipments to ensure that all materials are retention copies.

George Mason University is not included in the shared print MOU due to Virginia state law.

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