MINUTES
MARS Executive Committee
Monday, June 26, 1995
Marriott -- Denver Room
Present:
Members: Karen Diaz, Denise Bennett, Peggy Seiden, Louis Drummond,
Amy Tracy Wells, Pat Riesenman, Elliot Kanter, Laine Farley, Bernie
Pasqualini
Visitors: Sandra Ballasch, Ann Jensen, Marcella Stark, Cindy Cunningham,
Lori Morse, Nancy Crane, Nancy Bodner, Becki Whitaker
Peggy Seiden called the meeting to order at 9:30.
A. Announcements
1. Karen Diaz will not be at midwinter, need volunteer to do
the minutes. Amy volunteered to do so.
2. The 20th anniversary of MARS will take place at annual
next year. It was suggested that the past chair (Peggy) organize a
party for Sunday evening. Peggy is hoping committees will
volunteer to throw their $50 into the pot for funding. Peggy
will check with Cathleen to see how this will work.
3. Peggy suggested at the RASD board meeting that chairs, past
chairs and chair-elects of the various sections get together for
lunch before RASD Board first meets. This will begin taking place
on Saturday, 12-2.
B. Reports of Officers
1. RASD Board -- Peggy Seiden
Panel Study
Peggy found out that the panel study was in fact a random sample of
members (about 12% or 600 people) and asked if those people would
be willing to participate in a panel, being asked questions from time-
to-time. Of those, 169 agreed to do so.
On the topic of regional conferences, respondents were asked what
topics they would be interested in having such a session on:
(yes indicates strong interest, no indicates little or no interest,
half indicates that about half of the respondents were interested.)
Genealogy - no
New Reference sources (any format) - yes
Internet resources - yes
How to use the internet for beginners - no
How to use the internet advanced - yes
ILL/Document Delivery - half
Research Methods - yes
Research statistics - half
New products - yes
How to do book reviews - half
WWW - yes
Setting up a home page - yes
Setting up a gopher site - no
Writing av/multimedia reviews - no
Administration and management of reference - yes
Development and management of ref. collections - yes
User instruction in using information resources - half
Info. retrieval techniques in specific subjects - half
Case study descriptions - no
Reports of research - no
Tours of libraries - no
Meal events with "talk tables" - no
Panel discussions - no
Meal with keynote speaker - no
James Sweetland indicated he could do a quick survey on
attitudes about the reorganization issue. Peggy thought we
could get our questions about basic equipment availability on
that survey also.
Reorganization
RASD has advised RASD rep to ALA council (Gayle _____) to
vote no on the concepts in the reorganization document, but if
it is just a matter of voting to accept the document for
consideration that is OK. If the document is accepted for
consideration, then the OSSC (Organization Self Study
Committee) will disband and a new Structure Revision
Task Force will be implemented.
The big debate in RASD was the inappropriateness of dividing
into 4 societies. Another concern was what publications would
continue, how they would be funded, and what publications
would the members receive?
The RASD ALA councilor was the only one representing a
functional division that was opposed to the restructure.
There has been no talk of this issue going before the whole
ALA membership. Council II meets this afternoon. Nancy
Bodner agreed to attend and report back what was discussed.
Concern: we need to know a clear reason for doing this. It's a
lot of effort, is it necessary? Some things could be done within
the current setup, for example, having an ALA program
committee.
Question: Is there an assumption that all four societies would
be the same size? Many "specialized" belong to organizations
such as SLA. Sense that this reorganization is meant to create
more competition for attracting such members.
Question: How are the centers financed? Out of a central fund.
Centers are not divisions, but speak only for the issue they
exist for.
Benefit of current number of committees is that it gives greater
avenues for people to become involved, but this does lead to
duplication. ALA could ease the current structure for making
joint projects possible.
C. Action Items
1. Planning -- Louis Drummond
MOTION:
Require MARS committees and discussion groups to hold
meetings during the following times:
ANNUAL MIDWINTER
COMMITTEES Sat. 9:30-11:30 Sat. 9:30-11:30
Sat. 2-4 Sun. 2-4
Sun. 2-4 Mon. 2-4
(choose up to 2) (choose up to 2)
DISCUSSION Sat. 4:30-5:30 Sun. 9:30-11
GROUPS Sun. 4:30-5:30 Sun. 11-12:30
(not at the same time) (same room back to back)
COMMITTEE Sat. 11:30-12:30 Sat. 11:30-12:30
DISCUSSION
FORUMS
This proposal still leaves the option for several committees
to meet in one large room open.
Bernie seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED.
D. Reports of Standing and Ad Hoc Committees and Discussion Groups
1. Managers in MARS -- Ann Jensen
About 20 attendees yesterday on the topic of Internet Proficiencies.
It was a good discussion.
On Scheduling -- everything seems to be running smoothly
2. Products and Services -- Sandra Ballasch
The committee is largely made up of new members, and needs
some information on the history of the committee. Pat Riesenman
will supply information. Two ideas were suggested by ExComm:
Customer Service and Vendor Interfaces.
3. Planning -- Louis Drummond
Planning cycle -- a simple form was devised by planning. Committee
chairs will be required to fill it out and leave it at ExComm Monday
or Tuesday before leaving the conference. This will go to the
Planning Chair (the secretary will forward to this person if they
are not at the
Tuesday meeting). Planning will update the Goal, Objectives and
Strategies document based on these reports, inserting information
on what committees are meeting which objectives. Since the form
is not ready for this meeting, Louis will distribute it via
e-mail and get electronic responses.
Legislation -- looked at what we need for members. We do not
need reporting at conferences, but throughout the year as action
items arise. Patty Ianuzzi has agreed to monitor ALAWON and
send notices to MARS-L as they affect the membership, and when
action is being requested. This is still unofficial, so no
changes are yet needed to the bylaws. Patty will not be required
to attend Ex Comm.
The committee did a quick run through of the handbook. A
subcommittee will be meeting in October to revise it.
One bylaw change will be required -- the discussion group chairs
should be elected, not appointed to fit with ALA and RASD
guidelines. This will be handled later.
The scheduling coordinator (Ann) should send out a memo to
all chairs informing them of the motion which just passed on the
new meeting times for committees.
4. Publications -- A. Wells
Will be adding the MARS roster to the ALA gopher. It will include
names and e-mail addresses only.
COMMITTEE MOTION:
Move to make MARS-L a moderated discussion list which will be used
specifically to address section concerns, projects, and
legislative issues.
Amy will continue to serve as an editor for what gets posted. MOTION
PASSED. Peggy will take this to RASD Board.
--- BREAK ---
5. Local Systems and Services -- Cindy Cunningham
Cindy circulated print copies of what the committee home page looks
like. The committee is working on a brief article about the
history of the home page and the issues addressed on it. The
committee still needs to decide how long the home page will last.
They are considering removing it next July. The committee meets
again this afternoon and Elliot will report at ExComm on Tuesday.
E Old Business
1. 1996 Pre-Conference -- Cindy Cunningham
The working title of the preconference is: "Creating a Digital
Presence: Designing, Organizing, Executing an Electronic Page."
Issues which will be addressed include: considerations of market,
expertise needed, design tips, copyright, electronic implications,
evaluative elements, and instructional components. They plan on
2 - 4 speakers, and are now thinking of having one computer
projected on a screen, rather than a lab layout. There would still
be an attempt to make the session interactive and engage the audience.
Question: Has the committee considered the cost? New York will
already be an expensive conference. It was noted that RASD has
already approved some funding, and vendor support is being sought.
Anyone with ideas can contact Cindy. Also, Laine will be setting
up a list for those involved in the planning. Contact her if you'd
like to be one that list.
--- Meeting was adjourned at 11:10 am. ---