Present: Iris Anderson, Hetty Barthel, Laura Bender, Debbie Bogenschutz, Wei Chang, Joann Donatello, Sabah Eltareb, Beth Hansen, Joe Hovish, Michael Kolakowski, Shannon Loane, Lynne McCay, Rhonda McGinnis, Cybele Merrick, Lyle Minter, Nancy Minter, Takako Nagumo, Daille Pettit, Linda Richer, Ann Sweeney, Heidi Yacker, Lynn Berard—Board Liaison and R. Duke Blackwood--Speaker.
The Annual Business Meeting was called to order by Chair, Hetty Barthel, at 11:45 am. She recognized and thanked Gale Group for their generous support of the Lunch. She then introduced the Luncheon Speeker, R. Duke Blackwood of the Reagan Presidential Library and welcomed the SLA Board Representative, Lynn Berard.
The agenda for the meeting was presented and approved as were the minutes from the Annual Business Meeting of June 11, 2001.
The Treasurer’s Report was given by Rhonda McGinnis. The Social Science Division balance as of May 31, 2002 was $10,499.69. The proposed budget for 2002-2003 is $15,400. There were no questions or comments and the budget was approved as presented. Hetty Barthel thanked Ms. McGinnis for her 4 years of service in this position and presented her with a small token of appreciation.
Ann Sweeney reported that for allotment purposes the Division had 345 members as of the end of December 2001. As of March 21, 2002, however, the Division had 313 members. She reported that she sent each of the year’s 34 new members a revised welcome letter, which included the survey that had been sent to the existing members. As a result several of the new members volunteered to hold Division offices. She also wrote an article describing the Division and sent it to all of the SLA chapter bulletin/newsletter editors, webmasters and/or presidents. Several responded positively, stating that the article would appear in the chapter’s next published issue.
International Relations Roundtable: Iris Anderson reported that so far the Roundtable’s programs have been very successful. Earlier this morning “One Dot Shopping”, co-sponsored with the Business & Finance Division, had a large turnout. She thanked Dialog for sponsoring the program and acknowledged the speakers: Hal Kirkwood, Rita Costello, and Greta Ober-Beauchesne. Monday’s program, “The Euro Has Landed”, also went very well. This program, co-sponsored with the Business & Finance Division and the European Chapter, featured Moreno Bertoldi of the EU—European Commission Delegation and Angus McKay the U.K.’s Vice Consul. She thanked Elsevier for is support of the program. Monday evening’s International Reception, cosponsored with the European Chapter and SLA’s International Relations Committee, was also very well attended with many people staying until well after 7:00. Factiva’s generous support of this event was gratefully acknowledged.
Los Angeles Conference Planning: Nancy Minter reported that the Division was sponsoring or co-sponsoring more than 12 programs at this year’s Annual Conference. She also stated that, although many of the Division’s programs had already occurred, there were still several excellent programs to come. These upcoming programs include “ Let Us Entertain You”, the walking tour of L.A.’s Downtown skyline, and the Division’s Open House with the Education Division and the Museum, Arts & Humanities Division. Ms. Minter also gratefully acknowledged the financial support of the Division’s Vendor Sponsors. She encouraged all members to visit them in the Info-Expo and personally thank them for their donations.
Fundraising Committee: Hetty Barthel announced that she will focus on fundraising next year. She’s already started compiling a list of potential candidates and will contact them early next year to seek their support.
Nominating Committee and Election of Officers: Lynne McCay announced that this year there were two vacant positions on the Executive Board. For the first position, Chair-Elect, the Committee nominated Beth Hansen. She read a brief biography of Ms. Hansen including the fact that she currently serves as the Chair of the Division’s Independent Sector Roundtable. For the second position, Secretary-Treasurer, the Committee nominated Heidi Yacker. Again she read her biographical sketch highlighting the fact that she is currently the Division’s Bulletin Editor. The floor was opened for additional nominations. Hearing none, a motion to elect the Nominating Committee’s slate was made, seconded and passed with no one opposed and no abstentions. Beth and Heidi were congratulated.
Social Science Division Discussion List: Linda Richer introduced herself as the new moderator of the Division’s Electronic Discussion List. She announced that she would be populating the list with all Division members. In the initial message she would provide instructions for unsubscribing from the list or for subscribing to it under a different email address.
Gale Group Murray Wortzel Award: Beth Hansen announced that the procedures for the Gale Group Murray Wortzel Award have been approved by the Division Executive Board. She briefly described the award and described who is eligible and the nominating procedures. She directed the attention of the meeting attendees to the copies of the formal report provided at the tables for further information on the award and its procedures including the January 1st deadline for nominations for the 2003 award.
Report from the DSOC Executive Board: Hetty Barthel described the Division’s efforts to restructure itself to make it more attractive to new and existing members. She stated that no formal decision had been taken by the Executive Board about changes to the roundtables or their structure. This a project that will need to continue into the next year. She also described the dialogue that occurred over the past year between the Social Science Division and the Education Division about the possibility for a merger between the two divisions. No formal action has been taken on this issue but the discussions will cautiously continue.
Mike Kolakowski announced that in 2000 the Division received 700 copies of the Annenberg/Pew Archive of Presidential Campaign Discourse CD-ROM & Instruction Booklets. The Division sold 31 copies at $10 and distributed an additional 278 copies free to colleges and universities. There are still 391 copies still on hand that the Division would like to see go to persons or organizations who are truly interested in the information provided on the disk. To request a copy or make suggestions for their distribution please contact Mr. Kolakowski.
Ann Sweeney first acknowledged that she was a bit scared to taken on the responsibility for the Division but would rely on the Executive Board and the membership for help and support. She intends to focus on increasing the Division’s membership. In support of this she will continue the dialogues with the Education Division as well as another division that has expressed interest in a merger. She would also like to move the Division from a roundtable structure to one with sections because individual sections are listed under the Division on the SLA website while roundtables are not. The three sections would reflect the types of libraries that employ the majority of the Division’s members. These sections would thus be:
1) Educational,
2) International/Governmental, and
3) Nonprofit Institutions.
There is a provision in the by-laws for adding sections provided there are 15 signatories on the petition to start a particular section. Ms. Sweeney also announced that another goal is to revitalize the Division’s website and increase the use of the Division’s electronic discussion list. To this end, she thanked Lyle Minter and Linda Richer in advance for their efforts in this project.
In the discussion following these remarks, Daille Pettit suggested that the Division shouldn’t just try to get current SLA members but should try to attract totally new members to the Association and Division. It was also suggested that we should play up the advantages and low additional cost of membership in more than one SLA division.
Hetty Barthel thanked all of the officers and members of the Social Science Division for there help over the past year and stated that she had thoroughly enjoyed her term as Chair of the Division.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:20.
Respectfully submitted,
Rhonda J. McGinnis
Secretary