GODORT Business Meeting
Diane Garner, Presiding
Smittie Bolner, Recording
1996 ALA Annual Conference, New York City
July 8, 1996: 8:00 p.m. - 10:01 p.m.
Sheridan New York Hotel, Riverside Ballroom

Diane Garner, Chair, called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m. She introduced the executive officers and the parliamentarian: Andrea Sevetson, Chair-Elect; Judy Horn, Treasurer; Smittie Bolner, Secretary; and Edward Swanson, Parliamentarian.

Announcements
Garner commended Mary Alice Baish for her efforts on behalf of GODORT and other library organizations in responding to the GPO Transition Plan over the past year. Garner pointed out that Mary Alice not only drafted letters to various members of Congress and Congressional Committees, she also hand-delivered them.

Garner welcomed Patricia Muir, ALA Liaison in the Washington office, and expressed appreciation for the fine job which Patricia does for GODORT.

Approval of the Minutes
The minutes of the Midwinter Business Meeting were approved as written.

Approval of the Agenda
The Agenda was approved following a friendly amendment to insert the Treasurer's report before the reports from the task forces.

Treasurer's Report
Judy Horn gave the Treasure's report, noting that the 1995/96 report which she distributed reflected the figures submitted by ALA as of April 30, 1996. She indicated that there had been a flurry of expenditures and income since April, but the organization was doing quite well budget wise. She pointed out that the budget for 1997/98, which had been approved by the Steering Committee at the Midwinter Conference, was included in the report which she distributed. She moved that the budget be accepted. At this point, it was asked if it were possible to add the $2000 from the fund donated by Jack Sulzer to the budget. Horn said that a line could be added in revenues for the donation, with a corresponding line in expenditures for staff development, thus balancing the amount and not affecting the bottom line.

Gary Cornwell moved that the budget be amended to add $2000 as a gift in the revenue line and subtract that amount for staff development in an expenditure line. The motion was seconded. There was no further discussion, and the motion carried. The motion to approve the budget as amended carried.

Garner presented a check for $2000 to Horn along with a royalty check.

Reports from Task Forces and Committees

Federal Documents Task Force--no report.

International Documents Task Force-- no report.

State and Local Documents Task Force--no report.

Awards Committee--no report.

Budget Committee--no report.

Bylaws Committee--no report.

Cataloging Committee--no report.

Education Committee--Arlene Weible reported on the results of a joint meeting of the Education and GITCO Committees to discuss plans for using the $2000 donated by Jack Sulzer. She said that they had identified individuals who are interested in working on the project and that a joint work group comprised of members from both committees had been formed. The Chairs of the Education and GITCO committees will draft a charge for the work group. They planned to adopt the concept outlined in Sulzer's letter and would have proposals ready for the Midwinter meeting. Weible also expressed satisfaction over the pre-conference workshop. She indicated that the workshop had accomplished its goal of attracting a wider audience than documents librarians and that she had received positive feedback from the general reference librarians who attended. She would like to continue to build on this effort with the Sulzer project.

GITCO--no report.

Membership Committee--Sandra da Conturbia reported that Susan Tulis had found a hotel in Washington for the Midwinter Conference and information was available on a handout available in the back of the room.

Nominating Committee--Tom Anderson announced the winners in the 1996 elections and thanked all those who had run for office.

Program Committee--no report.

Publications Committee--Tim Byrne said that the Committee had selected a new editor for DttP to replace Jim Walsh, whose term as editor ends as of December 31, 1996. The appointment still had to be approved by the Steering Committee, and an announcement would be made following Steering Committee approval.

Ad Hoc Committee on the Follow-up to the Chicago Conference--Garner announced that she had received the final report of the Committee and that copies would be distributed to Steering Committee members at its meeting on Tuesday. It will also be published in DttP. Maurie Kelly confirmed that the work of the committee was ended and that the Committee was now dissolved.

Ad Hoc Committee on GODORT Organization--Dan Barkley reported for Sandy Peterson that the Committee had identified concerns, some of which have been incorporated in the ALA revision of its reorganization plan. The Committee is still in the preliminary stages of its discussions on the possibility of a merger with ASCLA.

Reports from Liaisons--Andrea Sevetson reported for the Round Table Coordinating Committee. She said that the reflector was now in place and the work of the Committee was progressing. Barbara Ford, ALA President-Elect, attended the Committee meeting and indicated a willingness to work with the Committee to address its concerns.

Old Business

Bylaws
Dan Barkley, Chair, made the following motions:

1. Move that the amendment to the bylaws to establish a standing committee to be known as the Rare and Endangered Publications Committee, as published in DttP, 23, no. 1 (March, 1996):48, be approved. A question was raised as to the large number of members on the Committee. Barkley explained that this was because the GODORT members had to exceed the number of members (eight) from other groups. Rhonda Marker enquired as to whether or not the Committee will concern itself with electronic documents. Barkley replied that this had not been discussed, but the Committee could bring it up. Garner indicated that the Steering Committee should draw up a charge for the Committee at its next meeting. There being no further discussion, the motion carried.

2. Move that the amendment to the bylaws to dissolve the Statistical Measurement Committee as published in DttP, 23, no. 1 (March, 1996):48, be approved. There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

3. Move that the amendment to the bylaws to change the terms of office of members of the Nominating Committee as published in DttP, 23, no. 1(March, 1996):48, be approved. There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

GITCO
John Shuler requested approval for the formation of a joint task force for the purpose of discussing proposals for continuing education as recommended by Jack Sulzer. Garner indicated that this should be brought before the Steering Committee and that no action was needed at this time.

Federal Documents task Force
Anne Watts, Chair, made the following motions:

1. Move that the Chair of GODORT write a letter to ACE expressing appreciation for developing the U.S. Government Information Internet and Other Electronic Resources and thanking GPO for copying and distributing the text. There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

2. Move that the Chair of GODORT write a letter to Betty Turock expressing appreciation for her continued support of government information activities during the past year. There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

3. Move that the Chair of GODORT write a letter to Michael DiMario expressing appreciation for the work done by GPO staff (DAB and Cataloging) on a variety of electronic services. There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

4. Move that the Chair of GODORT write a letter to Michael DiMario expressing appreciation for having Raeann Dossett and Maggie Farrell work on Internet access during last year. There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

International Documents Task Force
Erminio D'Onofrio, Chair, made the following motion:
Move that the Chair of GODORT write a letter to M. Guida (Directorate Generale X), M. Porto (European Parliament), and other appropriate persons expressing our appreciation for Internet access to the full text of EU documents and expressing our concerns regarding permanent access to these materials. The letter should also express GODORT's willingness to explore, with EU institutions, ways to ensure their access. There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

State and Local Documents Task Force
No action items.

Legislation Committee
Gary Cornwell, Chair, made the following motions:

1. Move that the Chair of GODORT write a letter to ALA Reprographics expressing our thanks for their hard work and continued support. The letter should stress the fact that we need on site personnel as opposed to work that is contracted out which would result in delays. The letter should also acknowledge the work of Ms. Lee Patenaud who retired just prior to the Conference. In the discussion, examples were given of the good service which GODORT has received through the years from the staff of Retro Graphics. Their being no further discussion, the motion carried.

2. Move that travel money in the amount of $750 which had been allocated to the Chair of the Legislation Committee, be given to the Freedom to Read Foundation to support litigation in its defense of intellectual freedom which is being threatened by the Communications Decency Act. In the discussion Bernadine Abbot Hoduski pointed out that a number of other litigants had dropped out, leaving the Freedom to Read Foundation in need of funds. Ridley Kessler indicated that it should be made clear that this transfer of funds was for this year only. Swanson ruled that this was a budget issue and should be voted on by the Steering Committee. Garner asked for a straw vote to get a sense of whether or not the membership approved of such a measure. There was unanimous support.

3. Move that the Chair of GODORT draft a letter of appreciation to be sent to the Senate Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee to thank them for their work in suggesting the GPO study (as opposed to the House proposal to cut the FDLP funding in half last year). There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

4. Move that the Chair of GODORT draft a letter of appreciation to the Senate Rules Committee to express appreciation for holding public hearings on the revision of Title 44 and the Federal Depository Library Program. There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

5. Move that the membership endorse in principle the "Resolution Regarding Federal Agency Compliance with Title 44 U.S. Code." There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

6. Move that the membership endorse in principle the "Resolution on the Principles for Federal Government Information." There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

Cornwell's next item of business concerned the working draft of the revisions to Title 44 that was being worked on by GPO. Cornwell explained that the Senate Rules Committee had requested that GPO draft changes to Title 44, sections 1901, 1902, and 1903. GPO was unable to make revisions to these sections without being able to address subsequent sections. GPO had drafted revisions and was now asking for input from GODORT and from other groups. Federal Documents Task Force had worked on the document as had the joint committee of GODORT Legislation Committee and ALA/Legislative/Government Information Subcommittee (GIS). Both of these groups had made changes to the GPO draft, including changes to Section 1912 dealing with regional libraries.

Cornwell made the following motion regarding regional program libraries and revision of Title 44 U. S. C. :

Move that GODORT endorse in principle that any changes to Title 44 U.S. C. Chapter 19 regarding regional depository libraries:

1. Allow and foster interstate regional arrangements;
2. Allow appointment of regional depository libraries on an as needed basis with the total not to exceed the current limit;
3. 3. The Superintendent of Documents will determine the need for appointing regional depository libraries in consultation with program libraries, the state library authority, and senators from the affected states;
4. 4. Regional depository libraries will provide or coordinate the provision of all depository related activities within their service region, including inter-library loan, reference service, assisting other program libraries with administration of program responsibilities, and ensuring permanent information through the Federal Depository Library Program.

In the discussion it was pointed out that the proposed changes in Section 1912 presented a broad look at the principles dealing with regional libraries and would give the Superintendent of Documents more flexibility in assigning regional libraries. In addition, it would make it possible to move to more cooperative arrangements. There was widespread agreement with the principles stated in Section 1912. The motion to endorse carried.

Cornwell then proposed that the membership endorse in principle the working draft of Title 44 with revisions that had been made by the Federal Documents Task Force and by the joint meeting of ALA/Legislation/GIS and GODORT Legislative Committee. Judy Russell pointed out that the language in the final draft presented to the Senate Rules Committee may not be the same as in the draft presented by GODORT, but GPO would use the GODORT draft as a working document. Judy Russell expressed concern that most members had not seen Section 1912, which had been revised by an ad hoc group and had not been looked at by the Federal Documents Task Force. She was concerned that the members be fully apprised of all the elements in the proposed revisions. After a brief discussion, Garner took a straw vote to see if those present would be willing to vote to endorse the draft version of Title 44. There was consensus, and Garner declared a ten-minute recess to give members the opportunity to read over the document.

When the meeting resumed, Cornwell indicated that he would discuss each Section separately and ask the membership to endorse, in principle, each section:

Section 1901: (Definitions) There was general agreement that it was desirable to substitute the term "information" for "publication" and the term "Federal Information Dissemination and Access Program" for "Federal Depository Library Program." The need to maintain the term "Libraries" was discussed as was the importance of stressing the concepts of dissemination and access. The motion to endorse carried.

Section 1903: (Responsibility of components of the Government to notify the Superintendent of Documents of the availability of government information and to provide electronic data) After a brief discussion on the importance of making government information widely available, the motion to endorse carried.

Section 1904: (List of information products available to program libraries) The discussion centered on the need to modernize the list of classes and to annotate the contents of electronic databases. The motion to endorse carried.

Section 1906: (Designation of program libraries) There was no discussion, and the motion to endorse carried.

Section 1909: (Requirements of program libraries) There was a brief discussion expressing agreement, and the motion to endorse carried.

Section 1911: (Provision of Government information products in program libraries) There was a brief discussion in which most agreed with the concept of providing free access to government information in program libraries. The motion to endorse carried.

Section 1912: (Regional program libraries) Discussion on the changes had taken place earlier in the meeting. (See above.) The motion to endorse carried.

Section 1917: (Cataloging and locator services) Dena Hutto said the language did not express the need for "dynamically linking" sites listed in the locator service. Judy Russell pointed out that the legislation was not intended to be specific, but that such ideas could go into the report language. Following this discussion, the motion to endorse carried.

Cornwell moved that the Chair of GODORT draft a letter for the President of ALA that transmits the work of this conference and expresses our appreciation to GPO for the opportunity to contribute to their efforts on revising Chapter 19 of 44 U.S.C. The letter should convey that GODORT is heartened by the direction of the proposed revisions that had the support of ALA policy and hopes that GPO will continue this dialog in the future. There was no discussion, and the motion carried.

At 9:58 p.m. Gary Cornwell moved that the meeting time be extended five minutes. The motion was seconded. The motion carried.

Garner welcomed Larry Romans who indicated that he had no further reports from the ALA Organizational Self-Study Committee.

Garner thanked Anne Watts, Chair of the Federal Documents Task Force, for her work on responding to the GPO Transition Plan.

The meeting adjourned at 10:01 p.m.