Final Minutes
RASD/MARS Executive Committee
Tuesday, February 7, 1995
Convention Center 108A
Committee Members: Karen Diaz, Denise Bennett, Peggy
Seiden, Elliot Kantor, Laine Farley,
Bernie Pasqualini
Visitors: Paige Weston, Nancy B. Crane, Becki Whitaker, Pat
Hawthorne, Cindy Cunningham, Nancy Bodner, Pat
Riesenman, Janice Simmons-Welburn, Marcella Stark,
Lise Dyckman
1. MARS/LITA Liason - Paige Weston
The Human/Machine Interest Group will cosponsor the
following programs at Annual 1995:
- with Artificial Intelligence Interest Group: Beyond
Boolean
- with Telecommunications Interest Group: Internet, GUI,
Access
- Other program ideas included:
Standards for Interface Design
Usability Testing
Internet resources with the OPAC
Supporting remote access
How to help users select databases
Paige will post times and places for these forums on MARS-L.
LAMA and LITA are considering a joint program for 1996
on planning for new technologies.
2. Local Systems and Services - Cindy Cunningham
Committee decided to proceed with their idea of
recommendations for those putting information on the
Web. They will create a bibliography immediately,
and will find out what else has been done. They will
write an article to lead readers to the URL they create
as a model. Much of their work and communication will
be done on the homepage they create.
3. Subcommittee on Organization - Nancy Crane
This committee was asked to investigate the merging of
bylaws of divisions and sections and are recommending not
to do so. The committee has not yet been dissolved, but
hoped to be later in the day.
4. RASD Publications - Pat Hawthorne
- The User Access to Services document was approved. The
document should go to ALA by March for sale at Annual.
- The electronic publishing statement is going to the RASD
Board.
- Anything needing the attention of MARS Publications
should go to Pat before Annual as they will only meet
once.
- A question arose about standards and guidelines. Pat
said one rule of thumb she has heard, is that if it will stand
for 7 years, it should go before the Standards and Guidelines
Committee. If not, it can go to RQ. Committees themselves
should determine if what they are working on are standards.
5. Education and Training - Marcella Stark
- The electronic resources log is on its way to RASD. ALA
will not distribute the forms on disk as requested as this
would drive up the cost and would create copyright
problems. Also, the committee was told not to make the
forms available via FTP. It was recommended by MARS
ExCom that the committee might consider doing so once
the books sell out.
- Their next project will likely involve training information
on Internet searching. It was suggested they contact CNIDER.
Their thought is to publish this information in RQ.
6. 1996 Program Planning - Janice Simmons-Welburn
About 6 members of the committee met and discussed the
following themes:
- Staff training on Internet tools
- Adaptive Technologies from a service perspective
- Reference Perspectives on Distance Education,
including remote services, using partnerships to
meet needs. There was large support by ExCom
for this topic
The theme for the 1996 ALA President's Program is
Equity on the Information Highway.
7. RASD Organization - Elliot Kanter
- The question of whether or not to continue the Council
of State and Regional groups, was not coming from the
council itself. Thus, the committee will conduct a review,
but will not necessarily look to its dissolution.
- MARS's turn for review by the division is in 1997.
Procedures for this should be done at Midwinter 1997 and
the report done at Annual 1997.
- A new Planning and Finance Committee was approved.
- The document from RASD Publications was sent back to
the committee to resolve some issues of subtlety.
- There was discussion of making committee descriptions
available in machine readable format.
8. RASD Planning and Finance - Peggy Seiden
-ALA Goals 2000 was discussed. It will be implied on the
ballot that the dues increase is to support this.
-An RASD endowment of $10,000 is being proposed.
50% of the interest would be RASD income, and 50%
would go back into the endowment. This will not be
a lot of money early on.
-Cathleen Bourdon mentioned that some sections are
putting all committee meetings in one large room at the
same time. This has saved 70 meeting rooms. MARS
should consider for the future.
9. RASD Board - Peggy Seiden
-ALA Organizational study is looking at the representation
of councilors. There are currently 100 councilors, that are
at-large. A proposal would have 40 councilors
representing types of libraries, and 42 representing
divisions.
-There are a growing number of competing meetings.
Groups should be looking to co-sponsor more and limit
business meetings. (MARS has already agreed to have just
one program.)
-A self appointed group called Librarians for Change are
looking at the need for divisions.
-There is a moratorium on all new awards.
-A study done by RQ on it's readership indicates that we
are an aging group, with people who have supervisory
experience and whose average salary is $40,000. It also
indicates that 75% of the readers have belonged to RASD
for 12 years or less, and that 19% have never attended
ALA. Peggy will mail these results to members of ExCom.
A discussion can take place at annual for what the section
wants to know about it's members.
10. Bernie will be working on a reception for the My Favorite
Martian award and will contact a vendor for sponsorship.
11. The MARS roster will be put on the ALA Gopher.
The meeting was adjourned.