Minutes 2001

Special Libraries Association
Social Science Division
Minutes, 2000-2001 Executive Board Meeting
San Antonio, Wednesday, June 13, 2001

Present: Iris Anderson, Hetty Barthel, Cy Behroozi, Terry Dean, Roger Haley, Beth Hansen, Joe Hovish, Michael Kolakowski, Rhonda McGinnis, Lyle Minter, Nancy Minter, Ann Sweeney, Heidi Yacker

Called to order by Chair Hetty Barthel at 7:40 am. She extended thanks to Lyle Minter for his stewardship of the Division over the past year and to Nancy Minter for her fundraising efforts. She then presented them with a small gift. She also expressed thanks for the sponsors of this morning's breakfast, Bell & Howell Information and Learning and InfoCurrent Information Management Staffing.

The agenda for the meeting was read and approved with the addition of an Archives Report by Joe Hovish, a discussion of what to do with the CD-ROMs left over from last year's conference, and a discussion about the David Bender Fund.

San Antonio Conference Report:

Nancy Minter reported that all of our programs had had great attendance. It was apparent that we had hit some winning topics. It was looking like a very successful year conference program-wise. She also noted that Heidi Yacker's program was one of those taped for sale.

Los Angeles Conference Report:

Nancy Minter reported that there were some technical things still up in the air for next year's conference. She noted that, as usual, some of the programs would be held at the Conference Center and some would be held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. However, these two venues were quite some distance apart. Shuttles would probably be needed but this would require some changes in the schedule to accommodate the travel time. Overall conference planners had not yet decided whether to reduce the length of each session or to decrease the number of sessions per day.

Suggestions for post-conference tours and the annual walking tour were discussed. Among the suggestions for the walking tour were visits to and around one of the ethnic neighborhoods such as Chinatown or Little Japan located near the downtown area.

Bulletin. Heidi Yacker and Lyle Minter had a discussion on issues concerning making the Bulletin available on the Web. Among the questions raised were:

It was also announced that Mike Kolakowski had agreed to act as the Feature Editor for the Bulletin.

Archives. Joe Hovish reported that the Division archives were still in a box, but that they would soon be migrating to a filing cabinet. He also reported that SLA HQ were taking responsibility for archiving the entire SLA website, including the Social Science Division's section. There was a brief discussion about whether the Division wanted to maintain a separate electronic archive of its website.

CD-ROMs. Mike Kolakowski reported that, after the conference had ended last year, the Annenberg School had donated 700 copies of theAnnenberg/Pew Archive of Presidential Campaign Discourse CD-ROM, which contains transcripts of speeches, ads, and debates of the U.S. Presidential campaigns from 1952 to 1996. We advertised their availability (at a cost of $10 to cover P&H) in the Bulletin, at SLA HQ, and on the SLA website, and through Library of Congress resources. We have sold 31 copies and have given away 10-12 copies. Mike is now looking for other suggestions for getting rid of them.

Independent Sector. Beth Hansen reported that this year's Independent Sector program went well and that they had received good evaluations. There were about 100-150 people in attendance. The only problem was the sound carrying over from the speaker next door. She also announced that Suzanne Cole, who couldn't attend this meeting, would be acting Chair of the Independent Sector Roundtable for the coming year. Although she will no longer be on the Board in a formal capacity, Beth hopes to attend the meetings next year and give the Division any assistance she could.

International Relations/Peace and Conflict Management. Iris Anderson and Ann Sweeney reported that some 300-350 people had attended their session this year. Not anticipating quite such a large turnout, they ran out of the handouts early. They are looking to do a similar session next year focusing on other regions of the world such as Canada, the Middle East, or Eastern Europe. Other sessions might focus on U.S. relations with Mexico and Latin America or on information related to immigration, both legal and illegal.

There was some discussion over changing our roundtables into sections. It was thought that all we'd need to do was change their names in our Bylaws. Some of the older Board members expressed some doubt about this, citing earlier discussions of this in the context of Bylaw revision.

Murray Wortzel Award. Lyle Minter again congratulated Roger Haley on being the first recipient of the Murray Wortzel Award. He also reiterated how important Division Cabinet considers having awards to recognize the contributions of members.

Terry Dean noted that the nomination/selection guidelines for the Wortzel Award still need to be formalized so that later committees will follow the same procedures. Among the issues to be formalized are how often the award will be given, who will be on the committee, and when/how to make the call for nominations. She also raised the possibility of creating an award to be given to a library science student in the Social Sciences. This award, which could be given every other year (alternating with the Wortzel Award) might help to attract new members to the Division.

Division Website. Lyle Minter agreed to become the new Social Science Division Webmaster. After his experience as Division and Membership Chair, he has some ideas for changes but would welcome suggestions.

Division Cabinet Report. Lyle Minter reported that the Information Technologies and Communications Division voted in the Annual Business Meetings this year to merge the two divisions as there is already a Communications Section in the Information Technologies Division. There was some discussion about the possibility of Social Science Division finding another division to absorb, but none were apparent.

Lyle went on to announce that, at the Association level, the Simplification, Membership, and Conference Planning Committees' strategic initiatives reports have been accepted by the Board. He also reported that Salt Lake City has been selected as the site of the 2010 Annual Conference. Lastly, he noted that the SLA Board had ruled that only members could participate on the Association's discussion list. Several division objected and the Board rescinded their decision.

David Bender Fund. Division Chairs and Chapter Presidents recently received letters requesting their Division/Chapter's support for the David Bender Fund for International Development. This fund will support the Association in its international efforts. There have been three large gifts already, totaling $143,000. Given the Social Science Division's strong interest in international matters, it should consider making a contribution to the Fund. It was decided that the Division was not in a financial position to make such a contribution at this time, but that it should reconsider this decision when matters improve.

Reorganization of the Division's Roundtable Structure. As reported elsewhere, the Division is beginning the process of revitalizing and restructuring its Roundtables to best reflect the interests of its current members and attract new ones. Along with surveying the needs and wants of the current members, it was suggested that the pros and cons of the change be discussed openly on the Division discussion list. Some officers expressed doubts that they were subscribed to the list.

Officers should stay after the meeting for a few minutes in order to have their pictures taken with Roger Haley. These pictures will be posted on the website and will accompany the story in the Bulletin.

Mike Kolakowski reminded everyone to pick up copies of the Presidential Discourse CD-ROMs for take/send to the Division's speakers.