Minutes, 2005 Annual Social Science Division Board Meeting
Toronto, Ontario - Canada
Monday, June 6, 2005

Present: Iris Anderson, David Bair, Laura Bender, Elana Broch, Megan Comey, Jan Combopiano, Marjan Farahbaksh, Mary Galneder, Khalilah Gambrell, Elisabeth Green, Beth Hansen, Margaret Hayes, Sally Henderson, Sharon Henry, Terry Hill, Joe Hovish, David McQuillan, Lyle Minter, Nancy Minter, Tara Murray, Greta Ober, Pam Osborne, Daille Pettit, Fred Rascoe, Linda Richer, Vanette Schwartz, Marsha Selmer, Ann Sweeney, Phyllis Tabusa, Jan Watterworth, etc., etc., SLA Proctor: Lynne McCay

The meeting was called to order at 7:40am by Chair Nancy Minter. She welcomed everyone and introduced our SLA Proctor, Lynne McCay.

Treasurer’s Report: Nancy Minter presented the Treasurer’s Report for Treasurer Heidi Yacker. As of this date, there was $15,085.40 in the treasury. Our non-conference expenses for the past year included printing costs for the Geography & Map newsletter, the bulletin for those who prefer a print copy, and a new brochure for the division, as well as the G&M donation for the Maps in Transition Conference and the membership dues for two of our twins. Expenses for this year’s conference will be approximately $5,000 more than our income from sponsors and co-sponsorships. Expenses for 2006 will include the Baltimore conference, membership dues for the third twin and the continuing education grant for the 2006 conference. The budget as proposed will leave our treasury lower than it is currently, but even through the expenses will exceed our income, they will benefit the Division and SLA membership. However, to avoid letting our balance drop too low, we should attempt to get more sponsorships for next year’s conference and, if possible, increase our membership. There was no further discussion, and the agenda was approved.

Committee Reports
Membership: Linda Richer reported that we have 452 members, a 5% decrease from last year. Of these, 69 are student memberships and 32 are retired members. The Geography and Map section is the largest with 111 members, the International and Nonprofit sections each have 60, and the Public Policy section has 62. Welcome e-mails or letters were sent to all new members last year, and invitations to join the division were sent to unaffiliated SLA members.
Fund-Raising: Nancy Minter reported for Hetty Barthel, who is no longer an active member of SLA, and noted that she and Sabah Eltarab had been successful in acquiring sponsorships for many of our programs for this conference.
Toronto Conference: Conference Planner Iris Anderson described our programs this year and mentioned that Library Journal had selected Terry Hill’s program on Collection Building as one of their highlighted programs. Iris thanked each of the Section Chairs for their hard work and noted that there is a lot of competition this year, with so few programming slots available. Programs include the fifth session in the One Dot Shopping series, Collection Issues, Librarians in War Zones, Taking the Sting Out of Statistics, Spotlight: Urban Sprawl (a session on community resources and evaluation), and several geographic programs, including the Mary Murphy Contributed Papers and sessions on government mapping and Geographic Information Systems. As usual, we have the International Reception and the Open House with Education and Museum, Arts, and Humanities. Iris also reminded everyone of last minute room changes for two of our programs.
Baltimore Conference: Conference Planner Terry Hill reported on plans for 2006 programming at the Baltimore conference. We already have a proposal for a half-day continuing education course on Geographic Information Systems, co-sponsored by the Government Information Division. Other possibilities include marketing in libraries and technological issues. SLA has suggested partnering with divisions that we don’t usually work with (“horizon programming”) and we may partner with Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics on a program about juggling work and family and with Leadership & Management on a panel presentation on new librarians. Terry reminded everyone to continue to submit any ideas on programming to him.

Section Reports
Geography and Map Section: Chair Vanette Schwartz reported on the G&M programs for the conference and thanked the Division for its contribution in support of the Cartographic Conference in May. She noted that they already have ideas for programming in Baltimore in 2006.
International Relations. Nancy Minter reported on Karen Shaines’ behalf and noted that Ann Sweeney will substitute for Karen as moderator for the session, Librarians in War Zones.
Nonprofit Sector Section: Liz Green stressed the importance of getting the word out to SLA members that this section exists, as there are many nonprofit librarians in the association who are trying to find their niche. She noted that the program on urban sprawl, “Hold Back the Don” was being done in collaboration with the Transportation division.
Public Policy: Nancy Minter reported that Elana Broch is the new chair for the Public Policy section and that the program this year is “Taking the Sting out of Statistics.”
Academic Section Organization Effort: Daille Pettit reported on efforts to develop and Academic section. She noted there has been some response from her notice on the listserv and requested that those who are interested meet with her after the meeting to discuss the possibility further.

Website: Greta Ober thanked everyone for the opportunity of working on the division website. She noted that the first year was really a learning experience and that the second year had moved much more smoothly. At this point, the third year should be a breeze, except that she will be resigning from this position. She will continue to search for a replacement. She noted that reports from the conference should go up on the website before the end of the summer.
Bulletin: Nancy Minter reported for Heidi Yacker. There were three issues of the bulletin this year, and print copies were sent to those who preferred them to the online edition.
Discussion List: Tara Murray is our new discussion list owner as of May. She reminded everyone that SPAM filters may cause problems and to let her know if anyone is experiencing difficulty. As of May 17, there were 402 people subscribed to the list.
Public Relations: Ann Sweeney said that Iris Anderson will partner with her next year in this endeavor. A new division brochure was developed this year and will be available at all sessions. She reminded everyone that biographies of our three twins from Africa are available in the spring bulletin, and announced that the SLA Public Relations Committee, of which both she and Nancy Minter are members, has produced a new PR tool kit, which the Social Science Division will pilot test in the coming year.
Awards: Lyle Minter presented the 2005 Thomson-Gale Murray Wortzel Award for chair Susan Berg, who was unable to attend. This year’s recipient was Terry Dean. Lyle’s report included remarks about Murray’s many contributions to the division and the purpose of the award. He spoke of the work Terry has done for the division over the years, positions she has held, and her contribution to the division’s 75th anniversary in 1998. He noted that she is now retired and was unable to attend the conference in person this year, but that a display with photographs was set up near the entrance to the room.

Linda Richer reported on this year’s inaugural continuing education pre-conference course stipend and presented the award to Pamela Osborne from Mercy Corps for her essay on the value of attending the workshop on Building Knowledge.
Report of the 2005-2006 Nominating Committee: Beth Hansen, Nominating Committee co-chair, introduced the slate of officers for 2005-2006. The nomination for Chair-Elect is Greta Ober. Although Greta has been a member of the division for only two years, she has done a wonderful job serving as webmaster for the division. In addition, Greta has admirable experience serving on the board of the Washington D.C. chapter. There were no nominations from the floor, and Greta was unanimously elected.

Old Business:
Beth Hansen reported on the DSOC Recommended Practices Documents. Additional corrections have been made and they should be in finished form soon. It is hoped they will be completed and can go up on the web site by the end of the summer.
Announcements:
Nancy reminded everyone of the yellow and green cards on the tables to be used to submit programming and sponsorship ideas, and urged everyone to attend the SLA Business Meeting at 5:15 on Tuesday evening when the subject of bylaws changes will be addressed. She thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve the division as chair then turned the meeting over to incoming chair Linda Richer.

Remarks of the Incoming Chair
Linda began her remarks by reminding everyone of the interests that hold the division together. There are many libraries that don’t always fit well with their geographic chapters but can find their niche in DSOC. During her year as chair, she will focus on communication and sharing, and she asked us to think if there are opportunities to support each other in ways we haven’t used yet. This includes building our sections and relying on them to be catalysts in programming and recruitment. Geography and Map, with its history of division accomplishment, can be a wonderful example and resource for the other sections. She spoke of our programs as good promotion for the division and mentioned the possibility of recording them as a further means to communicate. She also advised everyone of SLA’s new online learning program called Click University and encouraged them to stop by and see the demonstration at the conference. She made a final call for volunteers to get involved and take on some of the “fun” positions that are available, as we all work together to grow the division.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40am.
Respectfully submitted by Beth Hansen for Heidi Yacker, secretary/treasurer