LITA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2006 Midwinter Meeting
Minutes

First session

Saturday, January 21, 2006 , 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center (HCB) Room 211

Present: Pat Mullin, Bonnie Postlethwaite, Colby Riggs, Maribeth Manoff, Michelle Frisque (9:45), Karen Schneider, Mark Beatty, Amira Aaron, Andrew Pace, Kristin Antelman, Mary Taylor

Absent: Jennie McKee

Staff: Rob Carlson, Valerie Edmonds-Merritt

Guests: Janet Swan Hill, ALA Executive Board Liaison; Susan Logue, Regional Institutes Committee Chair; Dave Bretthauer, Program Planning Committee Chair; Tara Dirst, Education Committee Chair; Pat Ensor, blogger

President Mullin brought the meeting to order at 9:39 a.m.                                                                    

Meeting Agenda: Mullin called for additions to the agenda for Monday afternoon. There were none.

Consent agenda: Confirmation of email votes taken since the last Board meeting:

• Approved Nominating Committee appointments (2006MW-1)
• Approved Sponsorship Relations Task Force charge (2006MW-2)
• Approved Annual Conference 2005 minutes (2006MW-3)
• Approved PPC motion to cosponsor ASCLA program “Scanning the Future @ Your Library”(2006MW-17)
• Approved PPC motion to offer the DLTIG program “Future Directions for Digital
• Library Initiatives: Addressing the Challenges of Collaboration and Sustainability” (2006MW-18)
• Approved resolution honoring Patricia Harris on her service as NISO Executive Director (2006MW-13)
• Approved revised slate for the spring 2006 election (2006MW-14)

Accept the following reports:

• Executive Director’s Report (2006MW-4)
• Vice President’s Report (2006MW-11)
• FY2005 Budget Report (2006MW-5)
• FY2006 Budget   Report (2006MW-6)
• Review of draft FY2007 budget (2006MW-7)

No one asked for any item to be removed from the consent agenda and dealt with separately. Schneider moved to approve the consent agenda. Aaron seconded. The motion passed 9 yea, 0 nay, 1 absent.

President’s Report: Mullin reported that, given the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans, the LITA 40 th Anniversary Task Force has decided on a more low-key celebration at Annual Conference in New Orleans this summer.

Mullin reported that he and Mary Taylor and Pat Stevens, Interim Executive Director of NISO had discussed partnering between LITA and NISO, possibly including joint workshops or other educational offerings. Andrew Pace commented on his experience with the fall NISO workshops.

Mullin thanked Pat Ensor and the other members of the 2006 Nominating Committee for their extra effort in finding candidates to run for the Board of Directors following the resignations of two board members and the cancellations of other candidates for office.

Janet Swan Hill – ALA Executive Board Liaison: Janet Swan Hill visited the board to urge their support for the proposed dues increase and to solicit the board’s input on any issue they might have to send to the ALA Executive Board. There was general agreement that the proposed dues increase was too small, and that the staggered approach (increasing by $10 per year for three years) would not provide needed funds fast enough. There was also a strong message that the board would like to see a significant amount of the dues increase go to fund technological development at ALA HQ. The board encouraged ALA to plan for what to do in case the dues increase does not pass, and to prepare messages for members about what will not or no longer happen if the dues increase fails.

Hill opened a discussion of New Orleans by saying that keeping Annual Conference there was the least expensive option. The board urged ALA to have a plan for dealing with unannounced meeting and program cancellations, as happened quite a bit in Toronto.

Issues discussion – Strategic Plan and Education: Dave Bretthauer, Chair of the Program Planning Committee, Tara Dirst, Chair of the Education Committee, and Susan Logue, chair of the Regional Institutes Committee joined the group for a discussion of LITA’s education efforts as they relate to the recently-adopted strategic plan. The group agreed that LITA needs to speed up its efforts to offer online courses. They needn’t be all-day affairs, as are the current regional institutes. Look to other organizations for effective models. Better marketing of licensing regional institutes might help – groups that think they can’t afford to license an institute might band together to bring a RI in for a local group or groups. Better coordination between PPC, RIC, and Education could help foster cross-fertilization, and could lead to publications development as well.

Mullin thanked everyone for a spirited and fruitful discussion, and encouraged everyone to participate in the facilitated discussion of LITA’s education efforts at the Town Meeting on Monday morning.

Web and Standards Coordinators Recommendations: Mullin reported that the Executive Committee, several Board members, and some guests (Michelle Frisque, Rob Carlson, and Yan Han) had met with three of the four candidates for the Standards Coordinator position and for the Web Coordinator position the previous afternoon. The Executive Committee had would pursue two appointments and would be checking references.

RFID Guidelines: Mullin reported that the Executive Committee had discussed the proposed RFID guidelines, and had concerns about the document. Mullin asked Aimee Fifarek, chair of the Technology and Access Committee, to monitor comments regarding the guidelines and to express LITA’s concerns where appropriate.

Conflict of Interest Statement: Bonnie Postlethwaite presented the proposed LITA conflict of interest statement. It had been reviewed by the Executive Committee, who suggested it be added to the appointment acceptance process. It was agreed that the statement should be presented to the joint Committee and IG chairs meeting at each conference.

Schneider moved and Frisque seconded a motion to adopt the statement. It passed unanimously.

The meeting adjourned at 12:25 p.m.

LITA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
2006 Midwinter Meeting
Minutes

Second session

Monday, January 23, 2006 , 1:00 – 4:30 p.m.
HCB, room 002A

(Committees and Interest Groups bringing action items to the Board will be included.)

Present: Pat Mullin, Bonnie Postlethwaite, Colby Riggs, Maribeth Manoff, Michelle Frisque, Karen Schneider, Mark Beatty, Amira Aaron, Andrew Pace, Kristin Antelman, Mary Taylor

Staff: Rob Carlson, Valerie Edmonds-Merritt

Guests: John Webb, Nancy Colyar, Bill Crowe, Holly Mercer (for PPC), Aaron Dobbs, Loriene Roy

President Mullin called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m.

Issues Discussion—ITAL & Open Access: There is a recommendation from the ITAL Editorial Board to “put ITAL up on the Web for members and subscribers only simultaneously with publication of the print; and open to all six months after publication (e.g., issue no. 1 would become freely available when issue no. 3 is published).” Older full issues would be available to all through the LITA website. The board and guests discussed options and concerns related to this proposal. Beatty suggested the board plan periodic reviews of the proposal if implemented, to assess continued viability.

Coming as a recommendation from the Publications Committee, the motion to approve the proposal required no second. Approval passed unanimously.

Annual Conference Programs and Preconferences: Holly Mercer presented the slate of programs and preconferences proposed for New Orleans.

Coming as a recommendation from the Program Planning Committee, the motion to approve the program slate required no second. Approval passed unanimously.

ALA Presidency: Candidate William Crowe: Bill Crowe addressed the board and asked for their support in the upcoming election.

ALA Council: Councilor Schneider briefed the board on Council actions. A broadband resolution from the Washington Office was endorsed in principle. The board’s concerns about the dues increase (above) were expressed to Council.

Schneider moved and Postlethwaite seconded a LITA Board endorsement in principle the memorial resolution commemorating the life and contributions of Gerald Hodges, Associate Executive Director for Marketing and Communications, who passed away on January 10 th. The motion passed unanimously.

Bylaws and Organization: Manhoff reported that the review of committee charges will continue until Annual Conference. Most will not require changes

Dale Poulter will review scholarship procedures with LITA office staff.

The board will review all available data (activity reports, minutes, etc.) relating to IG renewals for the time being. If the board decides it is being inundated with paper, they will ask B&O to filter and recommend.

The group discussed the use of Survey Monkey to survey “virtual” members. Frisque and Carlson (speaking as the incoming web development manager at ALA) agreed that there would be no problem using Survey Monkey.

Coming as a recommendation from the Bylaws & Organization Committee, the motion to mount a survey of virtual members using Survey Monkey required no motion or second. Approval passed unanimously.

Manoff reported that Bylaws & Organization will now be responsible for updating the LITA Manual online.

TOPIC: 2006 National Forum: Mullin reported that 76 program proposals for the 2006 Forum in Nashville had been evaluated at meetings in San Antonio. Thirty-two proposals for concurrent sessions and 12 poster sessions were agreed upon. Two preconferences had been selected, and one more was proposed.

Engaging Public Libraries Task Force Final Report: The board discussed the final report of the Engaging Public Libraries Task Force. Riggs suggested we once again have a PLA liaison to the Program Planning Committee. Antelman suggested LITA attempt to sponsor programs at the PLA National Conference. Frisque suggested Pace contact the public libraries he works with to write articles.. Postlethwaite suggested forming a Public Library Technology Interest Group.

ALA Presidency: Candidate Loriene Roy: Loriene Roy addressed the board about her candidacy for the ALA presidency.

Board Liaisons’ item requiring Action from Committees: Riggs brought forth a recommendation from the Publications Committee to appoint Martin Kalfatovec as the next editor of Technology Electronic Reviews.

Coming as a recommendation from the Publications Committee, the motion required no second. The motion passed unanimously.

Other business:

Amira Aaron reported on the activities of the sponsorship task force. They are trying to create a “menu” of sponsorship opportunities for LITA. Task Force members are interviewing vendors.

Schneider updated the board on the RFID guidelines before Council. The ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee would like our help with phrasing these guidelines. Schneider proposed that this would be a good bridge between LITA and public libraries, as public libraries are the primary audience for these guidelines.

Mullin reported that the topic for his president’s program in New Orleans will likely be Internet Culture.

Frisque reported that the Web Policy Task Force has recommended that the Web Coordinating Committee create and maintain a web manual. Taylor recommended it be made a chapter in the LITA Manual, similar to the PPC section.

Mullin thanked Rob Carlson for his service to LITA and presented him a card from the Board and a magic wand that should come in handy as he transitions to web development manager at ALA.

The meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

(he said, waiving his wand in the air…)

Rob Carlson