MARS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

Monday January 27, 2003

Pennsylvania Convention Center, Room 204B

 

MINUTES

 

PRESENT:

Executive Committee Members:

LeiLani Freund, Chair; George Porter, Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect;  William McHugh, Past Chair; Naomi Lederer; Alesia McManus; Mary Pagliero Popp; Doris Ann Sweet; Pat Riesenman; Helen Subbio

 

Committee and Task Force Chairs and Representatives:

Denise Bennett; Mary Mintz; Lori Morse; Lisa Horowitz; Kate Todd; Rick Hart; Kathleen Kern; Jennifer Wright; Michael Pelikan; Danise Hoover; Carolyn Larson; Nancy Portnow; Kelley Lawton; Julie Borden; Vicki Mills; Debbie Bezanson; Marcella Stark; Nancy Bodner; Linda Friend

 

Chair LeiLani Freund called the meeting to order at 9:40 am.   She announced that a report from the Preconference 2003 Committee would be given tomorrow and that the Publications Committee Report might also need to be deferred.

 

  1. Announcements from the RUSA Board Meeting
    1. Section Reorganization (LeiLani Freund and Denise Bennett) – LeiLani reported on an open session to determine the future of MOUSS.  Carol Tobin is the chair of the RUSA Organizational Structure Task Force to look at the organizational structure of the whole section.  Nancy Portnow is on the task force. Denise Bennett is the chair of the RUSA Organization Committee and will replace Natalie McDonough on the task force.  Denise noted that a new Resource Sharing Section is being created that will cover interlibrary loan, copyright, document delivery and licensing.  It is proposed that MOUSS be renamed and reconstituted as a general reference or frontline section, with management as a component, but not represented in the name.  Questions about MARS have come up in the MOUSS discussions.  Some people believe all reference is machine-assisted now, and ask why both sections are needed.  LeiLani noted that MARS may be asked to look at our committee structure. Denise stated that a good example of the need to make a distinction between what should be general reference and what should be machine reference is virtual reference, claimed by MARS and now claimed as a basic service.
    2. LeiLani reported that a lengthy report on RUSA Professional Competencies for Reference and User Services Librarians has been approved and will be published in the spring issue of the RUSA Quarterly.
    3. The RUSA Board passed a plan to create a subcommittee on web policies.  The subcommittee will no doubt discuss web site archival issues of concern to MARS.
    4. LeiLani announced that a recommendation to establish a policy to accept vendor sponsorship on RUSA web pages was not passed, and was sent back to the RUSA Publications Committee.  There were too many questions still unanswered.
    5. RUSA Organization Committee (Denise Bennett) – Denise reported that the Committee is also looking at overlap and redundancy in committees that are both at the RUSA division level and at the section level (for example, a committee like RUSA Membership vs. the MARS Outreach Task Force) to make sure that the redundancy is appropriate, with a goal of streamlining where necessary.  A questionnaire for committees is planned.

 

  1. Committee and Task Force Reports
    1. Managers in MARS Discussion Group (Katherine Todd) – Kate reported that 8 people (including 2 other public librarians) attended the Discussion Group on Sunday at 4:30.  The topic selected was security and the discussion noted that although many problems have been handled by software and hardware, public services librarians are still concerned about decisions made by Information Technology staff with no input from librarians.  The group does not yet have a topic for the summer discussion, but is concerned about the traditional Sunday 4:30 meeting time because conference goers are tired and attendance is low.  George Porter noted that MARS has three time slots for discussion groups—the Sunday time, Saturday at 4:30 for the Virtual Reference Discussion Group, and the Hot Topics time on Saturday at 11:30.  Discussion about reasons for the low attendance problems ensued.  These reasons included the drawbacks of the scheduled times, need for better publicity, confusion about the name (since MOUSS has a similarly named group and non-management librarians might feel they were not welcome), and the need to develop a very focused discussion.  The group agreed that the Managers in MARS group might approach the MOUSS management group that meets at the same time and suggest a joint meeting.
    2. MARS Representative to the RUSA Access to Information Committee (Marcella Stark) – Marcella reported that the Committee had discussed the resolution on the Patriot Act that is to be considered by the RUSA Board.  The Committee is now drafting a document to publishers and aggregators such as Elsevier to encourage them not to remove research from their databases that has been found suspect, but perhaps to label it as such.  The Committee is sponsoring a program in Toronto that will partly conflict with the MARS Chair’s Program (Sunday at 9:30 am) entitled:  “How Today’s Librarians Should Confront Issues of Information Access and Intellectual Freedom.”  This is the first program the committee has ever sponsored.
    3. User Access to Services Committee (Danise Hoover) – Danise reported on UASC’s discussion forum on Sunday about authentication for electronic access.  The speaker from the State Library of Virginia had to back out at the last minute due to health problems, but sent her remarks to be read.  A representative from a large academic consortium and a Proquest representative were the remaining speakers.  The session had 25 attendees and the evaluations were positive.  UASC did not have a committee meeting because only two members were present at the conference, but will continue to meet virtually.
    4. Local Systems and Services Committee (Julie Borden and Vicki Mills) – Local Systems and Services had two meetings.  They agreed to:  update the committee’s web site and update their selective list of innovative reference web sites from 2000-01, adding new sites, putting in a link to the list of the older web sites with a caveat that the list has not been updated, and adding a new category for Chat Reference/Virtual Reference.  Instead of following the procedures of the last committee and discovering the web sites themselves, the committee will create a web form to allow nominations, including self-nominations.  The Committee needs some help in advertising the site and asked several questions about the deadlines and publication date for the next issue of Messages from MARS.  In addition, the co-chairs asked to either have a public librarian added to the committee membership or for permission to work with the Public Libraries Committee.  Nancy Portnow confirmed that the Publications Committee had approved the plan and the questionnaire.   Julie and Vicki would like to make a small change to the committee’s charge. They would like to change the example that refers to provision of reference services through electronic mail to “provision of electronic reference services” and to update and change some of the other wording, including deletion of wording about local area networks.  Linda Friend noted this is a good time to take a look at committee charges and asked them to send the change to her. 

Vicki announced that they have summarized the program evaluations and will link the summary to the program web site.  The complete document should be maintained for the archives. There was a brief discussion about the need to archive web pages and the need for guidelines on how to archive.

The Local Systems and Services Committee has identified an issue that needs discussion, but would like assistance from another MARS group:  privacy issues and electronic reference, where a name and an email address are linked to a question on individual library computers and on system computers.   This is a good program idea or a good idea for a discussion forum, but the group does not feel it has the expertise to handle it by themselves.  The committee agreed to consult with other groups (Managers in MARS, Hot Topics, and the Virtual Reference Discussion Group) in MARS and to consider bringing a discussion forum proposal for Midwinter 2004 to ExComm by the annual conference.  The topic might also be added to the Martian-to- Martian-Transmissions. 

    1. Planning Committee (Linda Friend) – Linda reported that the new MARS goals for the coming year have been finalized in cooperation with Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect George Porter.  They are:

a.       Address issues raised by the 2001-2002 MARS section review.

1)      revisit focus of MERS with Planning and MERS

b.      Explore possibilities for future RUSA MARS preconferences and encourage committee-sponsored programs that promote the mission of MARS.

c.       Encourage committees to explore publications—both digital and print.

d.      Explore feasibility of a fee-based reference resources “best” list akin to the MARS Best Free Reference Web Sites.

e.       Address issues surrounding disappearance of information from the digital domain

1)      Commercial publishers (Elsevier, Time, Tasini)

2)      Government content and services (PubScience, ERIC)

f.        Nurture nascent MARS Mentoring program through Outreach

g.       Continue to enhance the MARS web site

h.       Continue to enhance the MARS Handbook and to update the MARS Bylaws

The committee is also reviewing the MARS Handbook and each member has been assigned a section to review.  One of the goals of the review is to beef up the sections for committee members.  She asked that ideas be sent to her.

Denise Bennett suggested an additional task for the Planning Committee, based on what we learned from the Section Review:  start a running list of past program titles, speakers, sponsors and attendance.  Perhaps this could be done as a web page/site.

    1. Education, Training and Support Committee (Michael Pelikan for Jody Fagan) -- Michael Pelikan reported that the ETS Committee was reviewing the 1995 set of guidelines entitled:  “Electronic Information Guidelines for Training Sessions.”  The committee has found the structure useful, but notes that it needs updating to take technology training into account.  Nancy Bodner (the MARS representative to the RUSA Standards Committee) noted that, if the ETS Committee believes the guidelines will still be relevant after revision, they should consult the RUSA Standards web site for procedures.

ETS also will submit a program proposal for the 2004 Orlando Annual Conference on the topic of public and academic library efforts to support online and distance education.  The program will cover subject or course content through course management software, orientation of users toward online resources, bibliographic instruction in a distance education setting, and issues of administration and infrastructure, such as staff buy-in, instructor/faculty buy-in, technical support, and training librarians to work in the online course-specific and subject-specific environment.   Michael asked for suggestions for cosponsors, good programs to profile, especially Canadian programs, and names of public libraries involved in distance education.  Suggestions for cosponsors included the ACRL Instruction and Distance Learning Sections and the Public Library Association.  Topics for public library involvement were suggested including career counseling, civil service exams, citizenship classes, and English as a Second Language.  Libraries in Orange County Florida (Orlando) and Toronto were suggested. 

    1. Products and Services Committee (Debbie Bezanson) – Debbie reported on the Committee’s Sunday Discussion Forum entitled “One Stop Searching:  Effects on Information Literacy, Research and the Learning Process.”  There was a good turnout, about 120 participants, and a fair return of evaluations.  Most heard about the Forum through a listserv.  100 people signed the attendance sheet.  The content of the session went well, although the vendors came late.  The vendors did not understand the concept of information literacy and did not use the word “portal.”  Debbie recommends talking a little about what a discussion forum is and what to expect when sending information out on listservs.  She noted that the committee will put the materials from the session up on the web and advertise the URL.  They will include the results of their survey of vendors on features in their products that contribute to information literacy as well.  Debbie also mentioned that many people from her committee were not coming to Toronto. 
    2. Digital Reference Guidelines Ad Hoc Committee  (Kathleen Kern) – The group met in person for the first time, although much work has been done on email.  They are reviewing a draft at the Midwinter Conference.  The RUSA Standards and Guidelines Committee has provided good feedback and the draft is being prepared for public discussion.  The discussion will be announced on MARS-L in March and the document will be posted on the MARS web site.  The committee will set up a listserv for feedback and a special email account.  An open forum will be held at the annual conference in Toronto, but the committee does not have a meeting slot.  Lisa Horowitz agreed to work with Kathleen to set up a non-standard time for the Virtual Reference Discussion Group and use part of it to discuss the guidelines.  Kathleen asked how to get two midterm replacements for people who had to leave the committee and was told to contact LeiLani.
    3. MARS Representative to RUSA Standards and Guidelines Committee (Nancy Bodner) – Nancy commended Kathleen for the stellar job her committee has done on the Digital Reference Guidelines.  She noted that, in addition to the guideline the Education, Training and Support Committee is now reviewing, the group will need to review the “Guidelines for Introduction of Electronic Information Resources to Users” in 2004.  Nancy asked everyone to think of the various guidelines as tools and suggested that everyone should take a look at the Standards and Guidelines Committee web site. 

Nancy is also chair of the RUSA Membership Committee.  She asked whether the MARS brochure was being revised.  Kelley Lawton, chair of the Outreach Committee, responded that the committee is discussing the revision.  Nancy asked that Kelley make certain we have enough copies for the Annual Conference. 

    1. Publications Committee (Nancy Portnow) – Nancy began with praise for Jian Liu and the ExComm decision to select him as the Interim Web Coordinator when Daisy Benson had to step down.  The committee recommends that Jian be officially appointed to complete Daisy’s term through June 2004.  LeiLani noted that Jian had already indicated his willingness to stay on should ExComm approve this appointment. 

A discussion of the planned revision of the ALA Web site was begun and many questions arose.  The first was whether the MARS address would stay the same.  LeiLani agreed to ask Donavan Vicha from RUSA for more information.  Nancy described the plans for the new web site.  We need to have made decisions about our content and how it will fit into the new ALA design by March 31.  Jian has asked for a place to post past program and preconference pages.  A place in the Publications section has been found and the Publications Committee has agreed that it will be useful to keep such information for 5 years, and then archive it.  The Publications Committee recommends that each committee should follow a similar plan for its own program information.  A five-year archive will provide a showcase for MARS and will also allow appropriate data to be available for the section review.   The Publications Committee will conduct a brief web survey of both committee members and regular members of the section to cull information that will be useful to Jian as we revise the new site.

            The Publications Committee also reviewed the Management of Electronic Reference Services Committee (MERS) checklist for planning and designing reference web pages.  The committee recommends MERS conduct a thorough review of their plans and, if they want to publish an occasional paper, make some revisions in the content.  Naomi Lederer reported that MERS is currently discussing whether to pursue their publication plans.  The User Access to Services Committee subcommittee work on an occasional paper about user studies is moving forward and the group hopes to have a draft for ExComm before Toronto. 

            Nancy reported that the RUSA Publications Committee (for which she is the MARS liaison) struggled with a statement of policy for free and fee parts of the RUSA web site.  They will continue the discussion at the Annual Conference.  She also stated that the editors of the RUSA Quarterly asked the RUSA Publications Committee to review the effectiveness of the 8-page RUSA Update.  They felt they have lost pages from the journal, were unsure whether the update information is timely and useful, and recommended that the RUSA Update be dropped at the end of the current volume.  After vigorous discussion, the RUSA Publications Committee agreed and the matter will go to the RUSA Board.  Both George and LeiLani expressed concern about the loss of a newsletter mechanism, despite the fact that the MARS Publications Committee plans to send email notices to the membership when a new issue goes up on the web site.

    1.  MARS Representative to the RUSA Organizational Structure Task Force (Nancy Portnow) – LeiLani noted that the issue had been discussed earlier in today’s meeting.  Nancy added that MOUSS is moving into a redesigned state as “Frontline Reference.”  This name is a placeholder; the group wants a name that is a clearer indication of what the group does.  The proposed new section on Resource Sharing is generating great interest.
    2. Outreach Committee (Kelley Lawton) – Kelley Lawton reported that 31 people attended the MARS Happy Hour.  Only 6 of these were not MARS members.  The committee wants to find more new members and will advertise the Happy Hour on the NMRT listserv.  They will also ask each MARS Committee to send a representative to the Toronto Happy Hour.  The MARS mentoring project has been placed on hold because RUSA is discussing mentoring at the division level.  More information and discussion will take place in Toronto. 

The Outreach Committee plans a “Welcome to MARS” email for new MARS members.  The committee plans to send it out monthly to new members who have joined in the previous month.  Kathleen Kern suggested also sending out a message to MARS members who are not active.  Kelley noted that the group had considered sending a note to everyone who dropped MARS membership, but decided not to do so after learning that most who do not renew are either retiring or leaving the profession.

Kelley talked about the revision of the MARS brochure and stated that information about MARS Best, virtual membership, and the new Virtual Reference Discussion Group will be added.  She was asked to share the draft with the Publications Committee.

    1. Virtual Reference Discussion Group (Lisa Horowitz) – Lisa reported that the new discussion group had met for the first time on Saturday.  Despite the fact that the room was changed at the last minute, 120 people attended.  The evaluations were excellent, although many people asked for a longer session.  The group plans for a bigger room in Toronto.  Lisa also noted that they need a vice-chair.
    2. MARS Representative to RUSA Professional Development Committee (Rick Hart) – Rick reported that the RUSA Board would like to get more mileage from RUSA programs.  The committee discussed both print and web options.  They liked our MARS programs, especially the Virtual Reference preconference.  MOUSS is doing a preconference in Toronto about marketing virtual reference that is also of interest to the group.  The committee recommended that the content of both these programs be made available to RUSA members.
    3. Public Libraries Committee (Jennifer Wright) – Jennifer talked about the committee’s planned program on the Fading Line Between Public and Academic Libraries.  The program will be discussion-based, but they still need speakers; many people don’t plan to come to Toronto.  Issues to be covered include:  public library service to distance learners and collaboration between public and academic libraries.  Several suggestions were made, including mention of the new San Jose public and state university shared library.
    4. Scheduling Officer (Helen Subbio) – Helen thanked everyone for their patience and asked all committee chairs to continue to communicate with her about their scheduling needs.  LeiLani stated that Helen had done a marvelous job in working with the schedule, despite the fact that ALA changed the procedures as she took over.

 


The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Pagliero Popp

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