Although the greatest part of the Board’s discussion was held via BOARD-L, issues of management services were discussed in a private list composed only of Executive Board members [BOARD LITE]. Much discussion was conducted concerning the timing of issuing an RFP. Ultimately, and after a conference call of Board members only on Sept. 1, the Board agreed to continue with OMG through June 1999 at a prorated charge, while proceeding with the search for a solution to membership dissatisfaction with management services. The Board agreed to sit in on the Museum Computer Network (MCN) interviews of management firms (Graham and Wayne), issue an RFP, and interview firms in Vancouver. Penney de Pas was replaced by Ashley Prather as Executive Director at the request of the Board. President Graham issued a statement to the membership informing them of our plans to issue an RFP. August-Sept. 1998
VRA posted a membership recruitment message on ARLIS-L; the Board suggested that the VRA Executive Board be contacted about a reciprocal posting for ARLIS/NA on the VRA list. 8/98
Web manager Sorensen reported on several changes he made to the ARLIS/NA Web Site (AWS) including background color and layout. 8/98
Berger reported on progress toward charitable status for ARLIS/NA from Revenue Canada, and the additional information that would be required. 8/98
DePas reported on accounts receivable still outstanding from Philadelphia. One company in particular still owes a considerable sum, causing the Society to experience a severe financial imbalance. A portion of their total owed was received mid-August. 8/98
The Board discussed the desirability of attracting more students to local chapters, suggesting that regional reps work with their chapters on various approaches. 9/98
Motion 23: Unanimously approved that ARLIS/NA change its fiscal year from October 1 – September 30 to January 1 – December 31. Passed via email September 11, 1998. Last consent form received 10-28-98.
At the mid-year Board meeting it was reported that Art Documentation was significantly over budget. In the course of following up with the editors post mid-year (Graham) and with the Publications Committee concerning ways to increase revenue (Brown), it was brought to the Board’s attention that Executive Director DePas had not provided the editors with data needed to determine the target number of pages per issue, nor had she in her role as production manager moved to limit cost overruns. The editors of Art Documentation were concerned that the issue of fiscal responsibility for the production of the journal be clearly identified. It was noted that production budget is $5500 per issue, and that the overrun figure reported at mid-year was in error. 9/98
Indemnification of ARLIS/NA officers, both national and chapter was discussed. The issue was deferred to allow time to investigate costs for various levels of coverage and feasibility of incorporating the expense into our budget. De Pas asked Prather to obtain insurance premium quotes. 9/98
Motion 24: Unanimously approved OMG’s selection of a certified public accountant for the end-of-year review and authorize the President (Mary Graham) and Treasurer (Kitty Chibnik) to sign the Society’s 1998 tax return. Passed via email September 23, 1998. Last consent form received 11-9-98.
Advisability of the Board documents web site being passworded was discussed. The “low tech” alternative of a private, unlinked URL was accepted. 9/98
A conference call was placed Sept. 29th with the following agenda: approval of the 1999 conference (including a $10 increase in conference registration fees) and short fiscal year budget, approval of authorized signatures (ARLIS/NA designated officers and OMG authorized signatures), and supplemental honorarium for Art Documentation copy editor to correct mid-year error. Minutes were taken by Prather.
The Board discussed the wording of a congratulatory message to individual chapters on the occasion of their 25th anniversaries. There was some question whether individual messages on exact dates or recognition at the annual convocation was preferred. 9/98
The revision of the membership form was discussed. A subgroup of the Board (Graham, Chibnik, Brown, and Lawson) made specific recommendations. The most crucial revision was to bring the form into agreement with the previous year’s by-laws and dues structure amendments. 9/98
A revision of Sections M and C of the Policy Manual were posted, and comments called for. Sept.-Oct. 1998
Ann Lally, chair of Professional Development Committee, asked the Board to review its decision at the mid-year meeting that criteria for the internship should be determined before the award was publicized. Lally pointed out that if that was required, the award timetable could not be met. In the interest of getting the Internship started this year the Board agreed that the criteria could be developed concurrently. Sept-Oct. 1998
Issues such as the timing of the 1999 Conference Planning Advisory Committee and mid-year Board meetings, date for the issuance of half-yearly checks given the new calendar, and how to identify all the documents that need to be changed following Board actions were raised. 10/98
H.W. Wilson contacted the Society about including Art Documentation in their full-text Library Literature product. The Board was generally positive, but referred the question to the Publications Committee. Also referred to the Publications Committee was the issue of having Art Documentation published by a commercial publisher. The Committee discussed these issues and reported to the Board what they considered additional questions that needed to be resolved before a decision was reached. President Graham agreed to contact Publications Committee chair Linda McRae and charge the chair and ED Prather with the investigation necessary to answer the questions raised by the Publications Committee. 10/98
The Board reviewed the Visual Resources Professional Status Survey, suggested some revisions, raised questions about some items on the survey, and ultimately approved the joint issuance of the survey. Motion 25: unanimously approved that the Board support the VRA ARLIS/NA Professional Status Survey, to be sent to VR professionals of both associations, with the results published jointly. Passed via email November 9, 1998. Last consent form received 12-10-98. The Board also considered modifying the survey for more general application, but decided against doing so at this time.
The ARLIS/NA election ballots were issued without postage. Prather was unaware of this system. The Board noted that response rate did improve with stamped ballots, which is why the Society went to pre-stamped return ballots. ARLIS-L was used to encourage members to vote. 10/98
A paraprofessional introductory membership rate was suggested as a possibility. The Board suggested that since this would take a bylaws revision, the Membership Committee review the entire bylaws section on membership in light of this suggestions as well as changes that have been made with recent bylaws amendments. 10/98
There was discussion on job postings on the AWS and in Update, the need for some institutions for a print job ad, the revenue possibilities, the job postings on ARLIS-L, etc. No action was taken. 10/98
The Special Libraries Association wrote to ARLIS/NA offering the opportunity to co-sponsor the Global 2000 conference “the second worldwide conference on special librarianship.” The Board was positive, although additional information on what is involved with co-sponsorship was requested (specifically, does “an opportunity to create, develop and conduct a program” mean that such a program is required?). 11/98 It was subsequently determined that there is no financial expectation. The President will write accepting the invitation to co-sponsor. 1/99
New Executive Board members were announced, to take office at the Vancouver conference: Karen McKenzie, Vice-President/President-Elect; Peter Blank, Secretary; Debbie Kempe, NE Representative; Pat Lynagh, South Representative; and Louis Adrean, Midwest Representative. 12/98
The Board discussed the concerns of ARLIS/NA visual resources professionals, as expressed on VRISSUES-L, concerning representation on the ARLIS/NA Board and adequate programming at the annual conference. President Graham responded on VRISSUES-L expressing the Board’s concern and responding to the points that were raised. 12/98
The publication Visual Resources contacted ARLIS/NA about listing ARLIS/NA on their stationary. The Board declined since there is no official connection between the Society and the publication. 12/98
Motion 26: Unanimously approved Policy C as amended by the Board, specifically Policy C Committee Guidelines sections C20-C31, C36, C38-45 and the deletion of C35 and C37. Passed via email December 2, 1998. Last consent form received Jan. 6, 1999
The process for the Strategic Plan revision was discussed. It was decided that a task force would be best. Vice-President Wayne announced that Katherine Martinez and Jane Carlin had agreed to co-chair the 3rd Strategic Planning Task Force. Motion 28: Approved that an ARLIS/NA Strategic Planning Task Force be formed for the purpose of developing a strategic plan for 2000-2002. Passed via email December 22, 1998. Vote: 8 yes, 0 no, 1 not voting. Last consent form received March 25, 1999.
Chibnik suggested that a room be reserved at the Vancouver conference for informal meetings between the Board and members. The Board agreed that this would be an effective way of sounding the membership for issues of concern. Although it was recognized that time at conference is in short supply for both members and Board, it was felt that with the revision of the Strategic Plan upcoming we could not neglect this opportunity. Chibnik proposed a schedule and a theme question for each hour session. Themes include: the society’s structure: are the divisions, sections, round tables, and committees successful?; dues: what do you want for your money?; grassroots onward: developing local, national, and international initiatives; kissing cousins: strengthening ties with VRA; the strategic plan: what’s do-able for 2005?; the conference: dead or alive? Two Board volunteers will be available for each session. Chibnik also suggested various ways of publicizing the informal talk sessions, including posting to ARLIS-L, mounting on the AWS, having an insert in the program, and signage. Dec. 1998 – March 1999
The issue of honoraria was discussed. At issue is the fact that it continues to require an expanding part of the budget and that it is seen more as a salary than an honorarium. In-kind reward in the form of a membership or conference registration was suggested as a possible replacement for cash honoraria. No action was taken. 12/98
Motion 27: Approved the amendments to C-29, Standing Committee Guidelines – Publications Committee, as submitted by the Publications Committee, and revised by the Executive Board. Passed via email December 22, 1998. Vote: 8 yes, 0 no, 1 not voting. Last consent form received March 25, 1999.
Charge: To provide oversight for the Society's publications program; to
create a forum for communication among the Society's editorial staff; to
make recommendations to the Executive Board concerning the Society's
publication policies and procedures; and to serve as the search committee
for vacant editorial positions.
Committee Structure: In addition to the board liaison, the committee
consists of all editors of Society publications, web site manager,
and three at-large members of which one shall also serve as Chair.
Term of Office: At-large members serve one year, renewable.
The Chair submits mid-year and annual reports to the board; maintains the
committee handbook, files, archives, correspondence, and email
distribution list; and drafts correspondence, letters, recommendations,
etc. on behalf of the committee.
The Board discussed Policy C-2: Elections – Notification of Candidates. The current chair of the Nominations Committee suggested that C-2 be revised to state that the Society President notify candidates of the results by phone, and that the chair of the Nominating committee notify them in writing (the opposite of what the policy currently reads, but what is actually happening). No action was taken. 12/98
Prather posted draft minutes from the Tucson mid-year meeting and the Sept. 29th conference call. Revisions and corrections were suggested by the Board. 1/99
At the request of the chairs of the Technology Relations Committee and the Technology Education Committee, the Board discussed combining the two committees and creating a single charge. Motion 29: Unanimously approved the merger of the Technology Education and Technology Relations Committees (ad hoc) to form the Technology Committee (ad hoc), with the new charge [below], and modification of the Policy Manual to include the deletion of C-42 and C-43, as they stand, and issuing the Technology Committee charge as C-42. Passed by email vote Feb.4. Last consent form received Feb. 17, 1999.
Charge: To support the interests of the ARLIS/NA membership in obtaining
access to and broad knowledge of technologies and networked resources which
enhance visual arts information. To support these functions the committee
shall:
1) Maintain liaisons with professional societies, associations, and
foundations active in technology developments (e.g. NINCH) and act as an
advocate for the Society with these groups; monitor the technology
activities of the liaison groups to identify developments with potential
to>affect visual arts information and to report these to the
ARLIS/NA>membership through the Society's publications, conference
programming, ARLIS-L, etc.;
2) Monitor developments in networked systems capabilities and disseminate
information to the membership on computer products and network services
through the Society's publications, conference programming, ARLIS-L, etc.;
3) Collaborate with management staff, chapters, committees, divisions,
sections, roundtables, and the Executive Board, to enhance productivity and
communication through the use of technology and networked resources.
Prather announced that Cheryl Weisz had resigned from her position as conference Manager and was leaving OMG. Her replacement is Holly Marquardt. 1-12-99
The Board reaffirmed its decision not to formally participate in the IFLA 2001 National Organizing Committee, since this would require sending the ED or President to four quarterly meetings each year. 1/99
Prather reported a problem with the ARLIS/NA database maintained by OMG that resulted in up to 243 members having been sent second notices after already paying this year’s dues. Apparently when a member changed dues categories, the system did not update the database correctly. 1/99
Judy Dyki was unable to complete the conference proceedings from the Philadelphia conference. However she did send files for what was completed, which Sorensen mounted on the AWS. 1/99
A Strategic Planning Survey to be sent to members was posted and discussed, with some revisions being made. Means of distributing the survey were also discussed, and include the AWS, and insert in Update, at the informal meetings with Board members at the conference, and possibly at the conference membership meeting or in the registration packet. 1/99
Wayne suggested that Digital Futures Coalition Liaison be added in Policy C-28 under Special Appointments. The Board felt this could be done without a motion. 1/99
Brown reported on the results of the proposed Bylaws amendment to change Section 2A of the Society’s Bylaws to strike the parenthetical “(limited to members in Canada, Mexico, United States)”: the amendment passed with 155 voting yes, 3 voting no, and 2 submitting a ballot with no vote indicated. An additional 58 invalid ballots were received (no member name was indicated, invalidating the ballot) – however these were also overwhelmingly in favor of the amendment. Brown noted that the Bylaws should be revised on the AWS and in the Handbook, and that the membership form should be revised to reflect the change. 2/99
Chibnik posted the allocation of travel money for Board travel. The change in the fiscal year posed problems with the allocations for regional reps, since in the Jan. – June period some reps would be coming on the Board and some going off. Chibnik’s proposed solution was accepted. 2/99
Lawson’s draft of revisions to Policy Manual Section M was posted to the AWS for review by the Board. Motion 30: Unanimously approved that the ARLIS/NA Executive Board ratify the changes to Policy M of the Society's manual, and that the web administrator mount the changes in an expedient manner. Passed via email 2/19/99. Last consent form received March 16, 1999.
The following were posted for information, and possible comment: the Strategic Planning Task Force Timeline 1999 – 2000; Board liaison assignments to committees and their responsibilities as liaisons; membership meeting agenda; and pre-conference Board meeting agenda. Jan. – Feb. 1999
Using BOARD-LITE, the Board discussed the results of our RFP for management services, derived a short list to interview at Vancouver, drafted questions to ask at the interviews, assigned board members to call references and report on them to the rest of the Board, discussed a rating system to evaluate applicants, shared responses from the membership to the query for feedback on what we what from management services, and discussed the changing needs of the Society. Feb.– March 1999
Sorensen’s retirement from the position of AWS manager was announced. A search committee will be formed. The Board was asked to think about potential candidates. 2/99
Motion 31: Unanimously approved Jane Dunwoodie as co-chair of local arrangements for the Pittsburgh Conference in 2000. Passed via email March 3, 1999. Last consent form received March 17, 1999.
Several conference issues were discussed, including the inadvisability of committee chairs changing the meeting time from what has been listed; the possibility of using a digital camera to document the conference; and the consent forms that the Canadian filmmaker must obtain to tape the Kiss and Tell session. Feb. – March 1999
Carlin announced the members of the Strategic Planning Task Force: Ross Day, Carol Graney, Ann Whiteside, Rosemary Haddad, and Lynette Korenic. 3/99
The Board discussed a proposal to recognize ARLIS/NA charter members. It was agreed that a charter members ribbon would be provided for the Vancouver conference. The possibility of a special presentation at the Pittsburgh 2000 conference was also discussed. 3/99
Motion 33: unanimously approved ratifying the 1999-2000 General Budget and leadership budget as presented by the Treasurer to the Board. Passed via email March 5, 1999. Last consent form received March 25, 1999.
Motion 32: unanimously approved the proposed bylaws changes for ARLIS/NC, ARLIS/WNY,
ARLIS/NY, and ARLIS/NE. Passed via email March 15, 1999. Last consent form received March 25, 1999.
Jeanne Brown, Secretary
March 25, 1999