LITA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2004 Annual Conference Orlando
President Tom Wilson, presiding
First session

Saturday, June 26, 2004, 9:30 am -- 12:30 pm, OCC-221 D

Roles: Facilitator: Tom Wilson; Scribe: Rob Carlson; Timekeeper: Patrick Mullin

The meeting was called to order at 9:34 by president Tom Wilson.

Board members present: Kristen Antelman, Mark Beatty, Karen Cook (departed at 10:30), Colleen Cuddy, Pat Ensor, Barbra Higginbotham, Jim Kennedy (arrived at 11:25 a.m.), Jennie McKee, Pat Mullin, Bonnie Postlethwaite, Colby Riggs, Mary Taylor, and Tom Wilson

Staff present: Rob Carlson and Valerie Edmonds-Merritt

Guests present: Michael Leach, Andrew Pace, Lynne Lysiak, Flo Wilson

 

TOPIC: Call to order, announcements, introduction of guests

Taylor announced that Tel Aviv Barbee had announced her intention to retire, effective July 16, 2004. She would be bringing forward a congratulatory resolution at Tuesday's meeting.

Taylor informed the Board that former LITA president Pat Earnest would be working for ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels as special assistant for strategic planning.

Wilson announced that two task forces, Web Policy and Engaging Public Librarians, had asked for and received extensions through Annual 2006.

 

TOPIC: Meeting Agenda

Wilson asked that the agenda be changed to move the discussion of the FY 05 budget ahead of the dues increase discussion. He further added an action item regarding filling the Board position vacated by Pat Mullin's election as president-elect.

 

TOPIC: Consent agenda

Confirmation of email votes taken since the last Board meeting:

• Approved Midwinter Meeting 2004 minutes (2004AC-1);
• Approved John Webb appointment as ITAL Editor as submitted by the Publications Committee;
• Approved the revised Awards' and Scholarships' Committees' charges as submitted by the Bylaws Committee (2004AC-2)

Accept the following reports:

• President's Report (2004AC-3)
• Executive Director's Report (2004AC-5)
• FY2004 Budget Report (2004AC-6)

It was moved and seconded that the consent agenda be approved. The motion passed 11 for, 1 absent.

Colby Riggs delivered her Vice President's Report. Appointments are almost complete; she thanked everyone for their help with the process. She is changing the day and time of the president's program in Chicago to Sunday from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.. She is hoping to capitalize on the high attendance for Top Technology Trends and avoid the competition for attendees on Monday afternoon. The new schedule for Sunday afternoon is Top Technology Trends from 1:30 to 3:00, LITA awards and reception from 3:00 to 4:00, then the president's program from 4:00 to 5:30. Her program will likely focus on some aspect of the work of Top Tech Trends.

 

TOPIC: FY05 Budget

Ensor reported that the draft 2005 budget was prepared with the dues increase (next item) in mind. It is otherwise very conservative. ALA will begin charging divisions for bank service fees in 2005. Other new charge backs are possible; details are still being worked out. One bright spot is that licensed regional institutes will be charged only 50% of the regular rate of ALA overhead.

Approval of the draft budget was moved and seconded. The motion passed 11 for and 1 absent.

 

TOPIC: LITA Dues

Ensor began the discussion by pointing out that the proposal is for a $15 increase for personal and organizational members to go into effect September 2004. The student rate would not change, and $10 first-year reduction would be eliminated.

She pointed out that LITA dues haven't increased in ten years, and that inflation has outstripped a $15 increase already. LITA has reached the point where the budget is stretched as tightly as it can be. We can't fund the development of new projects intended to increase revenues. Ensor feels that if we are to begin to meet what is expected of us, and to attract and retain members, we need to be able to afford new things. She suggested that the Board may want to revisit the issue of dues increases more frequently in the future, to keep from falling behind and to possibly reduce the size of future increases.

Riggs pointed out that the technological innovations members are asking of us are expensive, and that the increase might enable us to do more of the things people want us to do. We will always still need sponsorships and other sources of funding, but this increase will afford us new and improved ways to serve members. She pointed out that several IG chairs have talked about the LITA office taking on more web responsibilities, something that just isn't possible at this point, but might be with more resources.

Higginbotham added that even if we just wanted to keep doing "business as usual," this increase was necessary. LITA is too dependent on the Forum and sponsorship revenues; we shouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security by the regularity of these revenues. We need not only to fund new initiatives, but to secure our ability to continue to do what we're doing now as well.

Wilson noted that revenue from dues does not actually cover the costs of membership activities. Revenues from the Forum and sponsorships help balance the budget. Wilson also addressed the issue of LITA's reserve funds. ALA strongly encourages the divisions to keep in reserve four to six months of operating expenses, and while our reserve looks like a lot of money, it is not intended to solve everyday budgetary shortfalls. A portion of the proposed dues increase will be used to recoup cuts that have been made over the years -- for example, pages that were cut from ITAL to reduce expenses. The LITA publications process has also been cut back. LITA used to receive revenues of $70,000 from publishing, whereas now it's about $17,000. He believes everything that can be done to reduce expenses has been done, and that it's now time to not only revitalize some current activities, but also to invest in new things - things that might not pay off immediately (improved Committee and IG communications, for example). He wrapped up his comments by pointing out that LITA's 40th anniversary is coming up, and that it would be good to be able to do some special things to celebrate.

Riggs commended Mary Taylor and the LITA staff for cost savings, saying we're much smarter about our spending than we used to be. Ensor agreed, but pointed out that there will undoubtedly be those who disagree, and cautioned the group to expect some membership loss when renewals come due. If we continue to under fund ourselves, she pointed out, we become an "in-between" organization that dwindles and dies. She then asked the Board for their help in putting together a communications plan for after conference.

Beatty raised the issue of the size of the dues increase. $15 is a lot, he feels, so the communications plan will need to address what members can expect for their money. He stressed the importance of assuring people that new things will be done, not that we're thinking about doing new things.

Cook pointed out that some new technology activities, streaming Forum content for example, may require an "off-site" fee. Many could see that as preferable to the costs of Forum attendance.

In response to a question from Antelman, Wilson said we should expect an 8% drop in membership following the dues increase. Taylor pointed out that this was an association-industry standard.

Mullin suggested that 40th anniversary activities could be used to increase membership. Also, funds for membership recruitment should be increased to counteract the loss. Ensor pointed out that while we don't want to lose 8% of our members, we could lose more than that gradually each year if we don't start doing some of the things members are asking for.

Higginbotham spoke against a gradual implementation of the dues increase. It's better to do it all at once, count the losses, and move on, she said. Ensor agreed, adding that it becomes more difficult to increase existing services or introduce new ones if the increases are gradual. Mullin pointed out that if dues were increased $5 per year for three years, the first year's increase would barely cover this year's deficit.

Guest Michelle Frisque was recognized by Wilson. She pointed out that we now have an easier time of putting members-only content on the website, and suggested some publications, such as ITAL, could be "embargoed" to members only for the first year (or some agreed-upon period) to provide an incentive to join LITA. Many on the Board agreed.

The motion from the Budget Review Committee for a $15 dues increase for regular and organizational members, and the elimination of the $10 first-year reduction, passed 11 for, 1 absent.

 

TOPIC: Slate for spring 2005 election

Lynne Lysiak address the Board regarding the slate of candidates for the 2005 election. Candidates for Vice President are Bonnie Postlethwaite and Joan Kuklinsky. Candidates for the LITA Board are Amira Aaron, George Rickerson, Peter Murray, and Michelle Frisque. Lysiak thanked her committee members for their hard work in creating the slate.

The motion from the Nominating Committee to approve the slate of candidates for the spring 2005 election passed 10 for, 1 absent, and 1 (Postlethwaite) abstaining.

 

There was a break from 10:20 to 10:35, during which time Cook departed.

 

NEW TOPIC: Board vacancy

Wilson pointed out that Mullin's election as Vice-President has left a vacancy for the coming year on the Board. The LITA Bylaws are unclear on an exact procedure for what to do in the case of a vacancy, other than to wait for the next election. Wilson feels the Board is already small, and that a vacancy would increase everyone's workload and cause doubling up on liaison responsibilities. As there appears to be no prohibition on filling the vacancy, so the Executive Committee recommends that the Board reach into the pool of available past presidents and ask someone to serve a one-year term. A past president will know the workings of the Board and be able to start in right away. There was then a discussion on whether or not this needed to be referred to Bylaws & Organization for a recommended change in the bylaws.

It was moved and seconded that the Board approve filling the one-year vacancy on the LITA Board by asking a past president of LITA to serve out Mullin's term, and further ask that B&O review the Bylaws to see if any changes are needed. The motion passed 10 for, two absent.

 

TOPIC: Vision Statement

Wilson opened the floor for discussion of the draft vision statement. The group held a wide-ranging discussion of possible edits to the statement.

It was moved and seconded that the following Vision Statement be adopted:

As the center of expertise about information technology, the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) leads in exploring and enabling new technologies to empower libraries. LITA members use the promise of technology to deliver dynamic library collections and services.

The motion passed 9 in favor, three (Ensor had briefly left the room) absent.

 

TOPIC: ALA Nominations

Flo Wilson, a member of the ALA Nominating Committee, asked for the Board's help in identifying good people to run for ALA offices in 2006. Higginbotham suggested past PLA president Christine Lind Hage.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

LITA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2004 Annual Conference Orlando
President Tom Wilson, presiding
Second session

Tuesday, June 29, 2004, 1:00 - 4:30 pm, OCC-221 D

Board members present: Kristin Antelman, Mark Beatty (departed 4:30), Colleen Cuddy (departed 4:30), Pat Ensor, Barbra Higginbotham, James Kennedy, Jennie McKee, Pat Mullin, Bonnie Postlethwaite, Colby Riggs, Mary Taylor, and Tom Wilson.

Board members absent: Karen Cook

Staff present: Rob Carlson, Valerie Edmonds-Merritt

Guests: John Webb, Diane Bisom, Peter Murray

 

TOPIC: Announcements, introduction of guests

Tom Wilson brought the meeting to order at 1:13. He announced that ALA would be giving the Lippincott Award to Clifford Lynch that evening, and encouraged all present to come and show their support

 

TOPIC: LITA Bylaws and Organization

Cuddy's first item was a revised Publications Committee charge. A new charge had been proposed at Midwinter in San Diego, but the Board requested that it be further revised.

The Bylaws and Organization Committee moved that a revised charge for the Publications Committee be adopted.

It was moved that the last sentence be changed to read "...individual members may be called upon by the editors to assist..." The motion passed 11 for, 1 absent.

The Board then approved the new Publications Committee charge 11 for, 1 absent.

Cuddy presented a recommendation from B&O to approve a proposed program for ongoing Committee review. Every LITA Committee would be reviewed every three years. At first, however, there would be a need to balance the workload, so some committees might go longer than three years. They would eventually be put into the rotation with all committees, however.

The Board approved the recommendation 11 for, 1 absent.

Cuddy's third item was a recommendation from B&O for revised awards procedures. Based on input from the Board at previous meetings, B&O had reordered the checklist and included text that encouraged awards committee members to seek out and nominate awardees themselves, and not rely on nominations from outside the committee. There was considerable discussion about whether the Board and award sponsors reviewed or approved award recipients. The general consensus was that the Board and award sponsors reviewed award committees' decisions before the winners were announced, but did not have veto power over the work of the committees. If the award sponsors had objections to the recipients (say, someone from a competing company), it should come up through their participation in the work of the award committee

The group discussed the timing of award committees' work, and thought the procedures should shorten the timetable to indicate that award committees should have their work done by the close of the Midwinter Meeting. This put the checklist out of order.

Mullin proposed that Cuddy and Taylor go over the procedures one more time, in light of this conversation, and bring revised procedures to Midwinter in Boston. The Board agreed, and the recommendation was tabled.

Cuddy then moved to B&O's next recommendation, the approval of the renewals of four IGs: Electronic Publishing/Electronic Journals, Heads of Library Technology, Imagineering, and MARC Formats

The IG renewals were approved 11 for, 1 absent.

Cuddy then presented a B&O proposal for an online IG renewal form, to be implemented by Midwinter and assessed at Annual 2006. She indicated that she had discussed this with Michelle Frisque, chair of the Web Coordinating Committee, who agreed that most of what is being proposed could be completed by Midwinter.

The proposal was approved 11 for, 1 absent.

Cuddy then presented a proposal to include in the LITA Manual wording proposed by Ensor regarding the need for LITA to maintain a six-month fund reserve.

The addition was approved 11 for, 1 absent

Cuddy then presented the Bylaws and Organization Committee's proposed wording for an amendment to the Bylaws to deal with vacancies on the Board. B&O recommends the new wording be placed on the ballot for 2005.

The Board approved placing the amendment on the 2005 ballot 11 for, 1 absent.

 

TOPIC: ALA Council

Higginbotham gave her final report on ALA Council issues and activities. ALA revenues are down 2 % overall, due in large part to lower sales of publications. $1.5 million of the Future Fund will be used as a down payment to purchase condominium-type office space for the Washington Office. The ALA Board believes payments on the mortgage will be less than what we currently pay in rent.

ALA has been holding focus group meetings on the strategic plan. Major challenges to ALA that have been highlighted by these meetings are: budgetary challenges; a decline in the number of professionals available to fill vacant positions; the impact on ALA of continuing membership (where retired members who have had 25 years of continuous membership can continue to receive membership benefits without paying dues) over the next decade; technology and technology training costs; the increasing use of paraprofessionals; misunderstanding of librarian roles by public officials; the need for advocacy and funding; and the continuing relevance of the profession and ALA. ALA governance was also considered cumbersome and ineffective.

The Constitution & Bylaws committee is developing recommended rules for conducting Council meetings. Issues include the placement of microphones and the length of time allowed each person who rises to address an issue on the floor.

Membership numbers for ALA are good, up 2% overall. Organizational and corporate memberships are up 4%.

The section of the ALA website devoted to information on how libraries' budgets are being cut will be updated. Forty-two states' library budgets are down.

ALA is looking to purchase and implement virtual community software early in FY 2005.

A task force on rural school, public, and tribal libraries asked for $40,000 for advocacy efforts. Their proposal was referred to BARC.

Council had reviewed a film about public relations efforts for all types of libraries. It was to be made available for purchase after Conference.

There is some concern on Council about the amount of time Council spends on ALA-APA business, and the long-term viability of joint or mirrored ALA and ALA-APA committees. An ALA-APA certification program committee was approved, with a charge to promote and encourage the development of certificate programs across the United States. They will also look at evaluation methods for certification programs. There was lengthy discussion of conflicts of interest experienced by government workers who want to work with or on ALA/APA committees. The ALA-APA director is to prepare a paper on these issues. Council reviewed a video entitled "For Love or Money" on salaries of library workers. There was much discussion about the lack of representation for various constituent groups such as systems people and rural librarians. Higginbotham had risen to protest the film's treatment of systems people especially, who were presented as financially better off than "regular" library workers. Higginbotham was not optimistic that any changes would be made to the film in consideration of Councilors' reactions.

Back to ALA-only issues, the ALA budget had passed, though everyone believed that revenue figures might be overly optimistic. There was discussion of the ALA Handbook of Organization. Some expressed concern over ALA's plan to produce the Handbook only online. Keith Michael Fiels agreed to continue to produce and distribute the paper version of the Handbook.

The statement of the profession's core values developed by the Core Values Task Force was passed by Council. It points to values embedded in ALA policies and other documents. Some thought it lacked external usefulness and was too heavy with library jargon.

The Task Force on Library School Closings made an interim report and asked for an extension through June of 2005, which they received.

The Committee on Diversity gave a short report. It gave rise to a resolution that wording be added to "Libraries: An American Value" about recruiting librarians from diverse backgrounds. The proposal was referred to the Intellectual Freedom Committee. There was also a resolution that ALA put in place formal processes for gathering information about diversity in the profession, which was referred to BARC for financial considerations.

It was reported that registration for Orlando was 19,475 at last report, down about 1600 from Atlanta (21,130). Toronto's low attendance of 17,570 was considered an anomaly.

There would be a report on the Supreme Courts recent COPA decision, which Higginbotham would share with the Board via email after Conference. She would update the Board on all issues coming before Council III by email.

Ending her final Councilor's report to the Board, Higginbotham recommended that future LITA Councilors report only on issues of importance to LITA. Most of the content of her reports could be read elsewhere, she thought.

 

TOPIC: 2004 National Forum

Wilson recognized Diane Bisom, chair of the 2004 Forum Committee for her report. She reported that the mailed brochure had gone out, and that registrations were being accepted via the website. There are 29 unique concurrent sessions over six slots, so some presenters would be asked to repeat their sessions (as has happened at past Forums). There will be three half-day preconferences. Robert Rydell, who has written extensively on world's fairs, would be the Friday keynote speaker, discussion "Globalization and its Discontents: A Preview from 1904. On Saturday, Susan Dumais of Microsoft Research will present "Stuff I've Seen: Personal information management and use." Clifford Lynch has been asked to close the Forum with Sunday's keynote session (he subsequently agreed). There are 11 confirmed poster sessions. One slot is being held for an international presenter. Sponsorships are in pretty good shape; Innovative Interfaces has agreed to sponsor the Friday night reception. Innovative and MOBIUS are cooperating on canvas bags to be given to each attendee who completes an evaluation form. Handouts for all sessions will be put up on the LITA website for potential downloading via wireless connections in the Forum meeting rooms. George Rickerson of MOBIUS would work on a handout for presenters and attendees regarding availability of wireless in the meeting rooms. Diane planned to ask Deb Shapiro to create some guidelines to provide poster session presenters.

 

The meeting recessed at 2:30 for 15 minutes.

 

TOPIC: LITA Director at Large selected to serve on Executive Committee next year

Riggs nominated Bonnie Postlethwaite to serve as director at large on the Executive Committee for the coming year. Her selection was approved 10 for, 1 absent, and 1 (Postlethwaite) abstaining.

Wilson also reported that Flo Wilson had agreed to fill the one-year vacancy created by Mullin's election as vice president.

TOPIC: Board liaisons' reports on Committees

• Mark Beatty: Top Technology Trends
• Tom Wilson: International Relations
• Kristin Antelman: Awards Committees
• Karen Cook: Membership/Development
• Patrick Mullin: Program Planning
• James Kennedy: Publications
• Pat Ensor: Regional Institutes
• Jennie McKee: Technology and Access
• Colby Riggs: Education
• Bonnie Postlethwaite: Web Coordinating

Beatty reported that there is no meeting of the Top Tech Trends Committee at annual, but that their program was very good, and very well attended. David Ward would be overseeing updates to the TTT website.

Riggs reported that she was unable to meet with the Education Committee, but she had talked with Catherine Wilkinson, the chair. She will report to the Board by email.

Wilson reported that the International Relations Committee had had a very active and productive meeting. They have developed guidelines on LITA representation at international meetings, which the Board reviewed. The IRC had used these guidelines to solicit candidates for an ALA representative to IFLA's information technology section and they are proposing Michelle Newberry. Her selection was approved 11 for, 1 absent. The IRC also worked on selecting the international guest for the October Forum. This was made more difficult by the government's decision to cease providing permission for educational and humanitarian travel from Cuba. The IRC also looked at developing closer ties with the Ontario Library and Information Technology Association (OLITA), and the possibility of conducting LITA Regional Institutes at border cities.

 

Board Liaison reports were suspended to hear from scheduled visitors.

 

TOPIC: ALA Washington Office Update

Sheketoff started off by informing the Board that Rick Weingarten, Director of the Office for Information Technology Policy, had been called back to Washington and would not be able to make his scheduled report to the LITA Board. She would attempt to cover his issues.

Sheketoff reported that OITP's eBook Task Force had disbanded. As had been reported at several meetings, the task force members felt that eBook issues had moved from policy to implementation, making OITP an inappropriate home for their efforts

The Washington Office is watching the rise in concerns about radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Sheketoff urged LITA to work with the Public Library Association (PLA) and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) to do programming on RFID implementation guidelines.

Sheketoff projected a very busy year for telecommunications issues in the upcoming congress, with the Telecommunications Act, E-Rate, Wireless, and Voice-over-IP (VoIP) issues dominating. No one knows where any of this will eventually end up, but OITP is watching and working. She urged LITA members to share with OITP what they know and see happening to their constituents. They need lots of voices to attest to the impact new laws and regulations have on library users.

Anthony Wilhelm is the new director of the Technology Opportunities Program (TOP). TOP provides grants to organizations to improve their technology. He has noted that few libraries are applying, and suggested ALA co-sponsor a program to help librarians know why they should apply for these grants and how to apply effectively. She asked if LITA would be interested in working with the Washington Office on sponsoring such a program. The LITA Board agreed. Pat Mullin agreed to follow up with the Program Planning Committee to determine the best way to accomplish this.

Sheketoff concluded her report with an update on a study of the impact of Patriot Act activities, or fears of such activities, on libraries. The Carnegie Foundation has given the Washington Office a planning grant to get the study going, but we still need to raise $250,000.

 

TOPIC: ALA Executive Board Liaison to LITA

Michael Gorman gave the LITA Board an update on issues before the ALA Executive Board. His role as liaison to LITA would end the following day, with his assumption of the duties of ALA Vice-President. LITA's new liaison will be Janet Swan Hill or Nan Blaine Hilliard.

Gorman reported on ALA strategic planning activities. There will be a retreat in Chicago in the fall, with a goal of having a draft plan to present to Council at Annual Conference in 2005.

ALA is coordinating association-wide CIPA activities, and attempting to assess the impact on libraries. Right now these activities consist primarily of dissemination of information.

The Marsh Affinity Group has been chosen to manage a health-care plan for uninsured ALA members. State regulations vary widely, but they hope to have the ability to offer coverage to members in all states eventually.

Members were generally pleased with electronic balloting, which was introduced with the 2004 election. ALA staff are looking at ways to ensure that electronic balloting and other web-based services are available to visually impaired members.

Gorman reported on the controversy surrounding ALA's partnership with Walgreen's to provide information to senior citizens regarding their options with the recently-enacted Medicare prescription benefit. Some on Council have raised concerns that these activities are carrying out the policies of the current administration. Others, he said, simply oppose all such relationships. Gorman's conclusion is that ALA needs revenues to carry out its activities, and that more relationships such as this are inevitable.

Gorman reported that ALA is working on installing new discussion list management software.

Gorman reiterated the discussion reported on by Councilor Higginbotham regarding the film "For Love or Money."

Gorman concluded his remarks by reporting on his presidential initiatives. His plan is to build on previous efforts of the Congresses on Library Education; strengthen accreditation; work to develop a core library education curriculum (and with it a possible relationship with the Association of Library School Educators (ALISE)); increase efforts to recruit new librarians to the profession, especially minorities; and foster the work of the ALA-APA to improve librarians' salaries. He feels these are all interrelated issues, and would be looking to create a mechanism for forwarding his efforts through a standing ALA/ALISE committee he hoped to create.

James Kennedy reported that he had heard some people were upset that ALA had chosen to show "Fahrenheit 9/11" at the Conference, because equal time was not provided to Republicans. Gorman replied that people were welcome to create events to air opposing viewpoints, but that no one had. Kennedy also asked Gorman if ALA would be looking into the case of a Connecticut librarian who had returned to Canada and now was not being let back into the U.S. Gorman thought ALA could do so only if she were an ALA member, but he would investigate.

 

NEW TOPIC: Regional Institutes Committee Report

Peter Murray reported that he and Rob Carlson had discussed with Eric Lease Morgan the difficulties we have experienced scheduling his Open Source Systems regional institute. It has been offered twice since it was developed, and both times too few people signed up to make the workshop viable. Beatty commented that a half-day version of the workshop had filled to capacity at the 2003 Forum in Norfolk. Murray noted that every site is different and has its own factors to consider.

Murray presented a proposed operating procedure on two-presenter institutes that the RIC had discussed and agreed upon. In essence, the RIC chair and staff will deal with two-presenter regional institutes on a case-by-case basis, but they are not the preferred method for delivery of regional institutes because of costs and coordination issues.

Murray concluded his report with information on three new regional institutes in the works, two under development (Metasearch; Handheld Services) and one under consideration (XML applications from Ron Gilmour). He also reported that the RIC had passed a resolution of appreciation to Ron Gilmour for his work in creating and delivering the very successful "XML and Libraries" institute, and for stepping out of "retirement" to help when we experienced our own "border crisis" with Art Rhyno in February.

 

Board Liaison reports continued

Antelman reported that there was not much to say about the awards committees she works with. Awards were given.

Karen Cook's report on the Membership Development Committee would be sent to Board members after the Conference.

Mullin reported that Dave Bretthauer is the new chair of the Program Planning Committee. Hannah Walker had stepped in for a year after John Forys resigned, but was ineligible for reappointment. There were proposals for two preconferences in Chicago 2005, Shibboleth and RFID. The RFID preconference is being proposed off-site, at Chicago State University's new state-of-the-art library. There were proposals for six other sessions in 2005. Riggs expressed concern that so few program proposals had been received, and reported that she had heard some expressions of confusion as to how people were supposed to propose programs.

Kennedy reported that the Publications Committee (PC) had decided to drop three titles from the LITA catalog, which leaves us with seven active publications. The committee also proposed using the LITA logo on merchandise to raise money. There was also discussion of how to encourage authors to write monographs. The PC needs to submit the acquisitions editor position description and then recruit for a new editor.

Kennedy ended by noting that the Publications Committee is also interested in knowing about LITA members who belong to other divisions, and why. Wilson expressed concern that both this and the question of LITA merchandising were issues for the Membership Development Committee, not Publications. Kennedy replied that the Publications Committee is concerned about raising revenues, but is charged to do it through publications.

Wilson reported that Sharon Rankin's report from the TER Editorial Board would be sent by email.

McKee reported that she was unable to meet with the chair of her committee, Technology & Access. She would prepare a report to send to the Board by email after conference.

Postlethwaite reported that Web Coordinating Chair Michelle Frisque had been appointed as chair of the ALA Website Advisory Committee. The WCC had discussed ALA's search for a new website search engine and the push to purchase online communities software. The WCC has been expanded, and many of the new members had volunteered to work on various areas of the LITA website. They will be focusing on getting archival materials put up. The Web Policy TF had discussed the issue of members-only content, and what areas of the current site were good candidates for restriction (possibly temporary) to members only. Publications, online training materials, membership/directory information, LITA financial information, and conference presentations were all suggested. The WPTF will report at Midwinter. Riggs asked what other divisions were doing, and Postlethwaite reported that Frisque had investigated this and reported that most of them put this and more content on their regular pages to let people know it's there, but signify on the page that access requires membership.

Wilson asked the Board about next year's liaison responsibilities. Riggs suggested that liaisons be hammered out after conference via email. The group agreed. Riggs will work online to establish a task force for LITA's 40th anniversary.

 

TOPIC: Appreciation and recognition

Riggs read a motion of appreciation for Tel Aviv Barbee on the occasion of her retirement. It was approved by acclamation.

Ensor read a motion of tribute to Dan Marmion for his many years as editor of ITAL. It was approved by acclamation

Wilson provided parting gifts to Kennedy, Higginbotham, and Ensor, whose terms were ending at this meeting. He then passed the gavel to Riggs.

Riggs presented gifts of appreciation to Ensor, Higginbotham, and Kennedy.

Wilson thanked everyone for a good year as President.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m.