ACRL New England Chapter News Online
Winter 2001, No. 92

Judy Montgomery
Bowdoin College

Meeting of May 19, 2000
Tisch Library, Tufts University

The spring Board meeting traditionally has been the time when incoming and outgoing Board members have an opportunity to meet together to discuss Chapter business and present annual reports. This year was no exception. After introductions of all attendees, Past Past President Doris Ann Sweet reported on her continued progress towards Chapter incorporation. Past President Laura Walters distributed new pages for the Board manuals and requested that funds be put aside to have the manual converted to electronic format. Laura noted that she had chosen to explore ways to increase voting participation in Chapter elections as her special Past President project. Laura and other Board members thanked those people leaving the Board this year including Doris Ann Sweet, Dave McChesney, and Maggie Bartley.

Incoming President Harvey Varnet reported that the annual salary survey was underway and that this year the list of institutional participants was expanded to include several colleges not previously surveyed. Harvey led a discussion on whether SIG members should be required to join ACRL/NEC. Board sentiment was that SIGs have played an important role in increasing Chapter membership, and that the current policy, which does not require SIG members to join the Chapter, should remain in place. Harvey presented the Treasurer's report showing a balance of $12,933.67, of which $5,000 was invested in CDs.

In her report, Louise Buckley, Member-at-Large, noted that she had continued to contact library schools to foster student participation in Chapter activities. She reported that the member listserv, launched this year, was seeing increased usage, the majority of which was job or events announcements. Louise reminded Board members that no attachments should be sent to the list in consideration of those members who are unable to open them. Board members agreed that annual reports would be posted on the Chapter web site. Louise also reported that the Chapter would co-sponsor a fall program with the NELA academic section on managing electronic resources.

Maggie Bartley, outgoing chair of Publications and Newsletter, reviewed her work to transition the newsletter from a print to a web-only publication. The last print edition was published in Winter 2000. Maggie introduced Kathleen Sheehan, who will serve as the new newsletter editor. The Board offered special thanks to Maggie for her efforts on this important project.

Membership continues to climb. Chapter members totaled 1,195 with 237 local members, 887 national members and 17 students. Laura Walters reported that Laurie Sabol, Membership chair, will continue her efforts to increase this number.

Under new business, Dawn Thistle raised a concern regarding possible conflicts in scheduling SIG meetings and programs and Chapter conferences. Laura Walters noted that spring is always loaded with programs and that we must be careful not to compete with one another. Harvey asked that SIG chairs and the Board be prepared to discuss this further at a future meeting.

The meeting continued with summaries of annual reports by standing committees and Chapter SIGs.

Highlights of November 3, 2000 Meeting
O'Neill Library, Boston College

President Harvey Varnet opened the meeting with his report on a variety of important issues and updates on works-in-progress. Harvey presented the Treasurer's report showing a balance of $14,705.13, with $5,000 invested in CDs. He announced that Janice Wilbur and Ed Oberholtzer had agreed to serve as the Chapter's legislative representatives, monitoring legislative issues of interest and reporting back to the Board. He announced that the salary survey was complete and the results, which incorporated several new institutions, were in the mail. In addition, Harvey reported that the Chapter was now incorporated thanks to the efforts of Doris Ann Sweet. As a next step, Laura Walters agreed to look into getting liability insurance for Board members. Andrew White notified the Board that he would be unable to carry out his responsibilities as webmaster past the end of this year. Maryann Hight at Bates College agreed to take on this responsibility.

Ellen Royalty presented a proposal to form the new Access Services SIG. Possible topics of interest to the SIG include: reserves, copyright, customer service, student employment, building safety and security, role of circulation/access services in a changing environment, patron empowerment. The Board unanimously passed a motion to this effect.

The use of the member listserv for job postings and announcements of conferences outside of New England was another topic of concern. Louise Buckley noted that 80% of the postings to the listserv in October 2000 were job ads, up from 65% in May 2000. Board members felt that the postings should be eliminated and a new job listserv should be created. In addition, Board members felt that only job announcements for academic library positions in New England requiring a bachelor's degree or higher were appropriate for the list.

Dawn Thistle, Vice President/President Elect, described planning for the Fall Conference entitled "Opening the Gates: Developing Our Information Communities." Dawn gave special praise to the program committee members for their outstanding work. She reported that the Spring Conference on cultural preservation tentatively was scheduled for mid to late April at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Conference Center at Foxboro.

In her report, Louise Buckley, Member-at-Large, described the recent NELA Annual Conference program entitled "Crossing the Line: Technical Services and Public Services Collaborate to Manage Electronic Journals," which was jointly sponsored by the NELA academic section and the ACRL New England Chapter. The session was well attended and received positive evaluations. Louise led discussion on the guidelines for postings on the member listserv. Board members agreed that the member listserv should continue to be a mailing list and not a discussion list. They also agreed that it would be appropriate to link web-based job sites to the Chapter website.

Reports were received from other standing committees and special interest groups. The next Board meeting was scheduled for January 26, 2001, at the O'Neill Library at Boston College.