Minitex, like most organizations, is assembled together by several departments (or “ingredients”, if you will, for this example) using clever acronyms as their titles. Unfortunately, many outside of the organization do not know what these acronyms mean. Let’s dive in and decipher a few of them:
C+OS: No, this is not C3PO’s early model. This stands for Communications & Organizational Support. They manage communications, public relations, marketing, social media, graphic design, travel support, event planning and MANY other important things for Minitex and the larger library community.
CPERS: Cooperative Purchasing & Electronic Resources Services. Together with over 40 vendors, they offer discounted pricing on subscriptions/purchasing of a wide variety of electronic resources and products. They also educate libraries on emerging technologies and products for libraries.
DIME: (Insert 10-cent joke here) Digital Initiatives & Metadata Education.This unit manages the Minnesota Digital Library program of Minitex. They also provide training and consultation pertaining to metadata standards, linked data, digitization and digital preservation.
MLAC: Minnesota Library Access Center. Housed in a very large storage facility with items from Minnesota academic, public and governmental libraries. They sit 82-feet underneath Andersen Library, holding over 1.5 million items in their caverns! Thanks to MLAC, all of these items are accessible to anyone in the state.
RPA: Referral Processing Area. They process all requested inter-library loan books, movies, CDs, etc, (known as referrals to Resource Sharing staff) for Minitex. They handle each returnable item before sending it to the borrower, and again before sending it back to the lender.
These are just a few of the several essential “ingredients” that make up the delicious Minitex Alphabet Soup that we all have a hand in preparing each and every day!
