Annual Report (2004)
ARLIS/Montréal-Ottawa-Québec


Executive Committee 2004

Co-presidents: Isabelle Crepéau and Susan Travis

Secretary: Diane Vallée (January – May 2004) and

Mary Louise Gordon (May 2004 – December 2005)

Treasurer: Kathryn Kollar

Membership Secretary: Janice Anderson (resigned, December 2004)

Editor of MOQDOC: Catherine Carlyle

Professional Development Awards Committee:

Renatta Guttman, Danielle Léger, Irena Murray (January to September) and Judy Silverman (September to present)

Nominating Committee: Vacant

Fundraising Committee: Francesca Maniaci and Felicity Tayler

Past co-presidents: Francesca Maniaci and Ginette Bujold

ARLIS/Canada Representative: Jonathan Franklin

 

Executive Committee Meetings

In 2004, the executive committee held five meetings:

January - Discussion of 2004 agenda

March - Discussion of spring meeting agenda

June - Discussion of letter received by Pierre Boisvert and Wolfgang Noethlichs

September - Discussion of survey results

October - Discussion of fall meeting agenda

 

Membership 2004

33 Members

Efforts were made to increase membership.  Membership secretary Janice Anderson contacted former members.  A listserv was created to facilitate contact with members.  A survey was conducted to ask members to contribute ideas to increase membership.  Co-president Susan Travis presented information about ARLIS/MOQ to graduate students of library and information science at McGill University in Montreal in October.

 

Finances 2004

At the end of 2004, treasurer Kathryn Kollar reported that the account balance for ARLIS/MOQ was $3,795.06CD

 

MOQDOC ARLIS/MOQ Publication (two issues per year)

MOQDOC Vol.13 No. 2 was published and distributed in July 2004

MOQDOC Vol. 14 No. 1 was published and distributed in January 2005

Catherine Carlyle was an excellent editor of MOQDOC, assisted by Peter Trepanier, Frances Smith and Françoise Roux.  Sylvie Alix was responsible for graphics.

Professional Development Awards Committee 2004

Dr Irena Murray and Francesca Maniaci each received an $800.00 CD travel award to attend the ARLIS/NA conference in New York.

 

ARLIS/MOQ Spring Meeting 2004

Rare Books, Archaeology in Israel

Friday, 30 April

Université de Montréal, Claire McNicoll Building, room Z-305

2900, Chemin de la Tour Montréal, Québec

Presentation: Geometria Deutsch: histoire d'une restauration peu banale et fort délicate d'un incunable de la collection du CCA.
Marie Trottier, CCA

Presentation: Archéologie de la ville de Gezer, Israël: histoire et résultats de 90 années de fouilles archéologiques.
Isabelle Crépeau, CCA

Tour of the new Rare Books and Special Collections Library, Pavillon Samuel-Bronfman

 

ARLIS/MOQ Fall Meeting 2004

The Future of ARLIS/MOQ

Friday, 19 November

Canadian Centre for Architecture
1920 rue Baile Montréal, Québec

Presentation by Denise Dolbec: The French Version of the Art and Architecture Thesaurus

Results and Open Discussion of the ARLIS/MOQ Survey

Tours (French and English) The 60s: Montréal Thinks Big

Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal, Québec

Fundraiser: Works of Art (silent auction) $282.00 CD

 

ARLIS/MOQ Executive Committee 2005

President: Renata Guttman

Vice-president: Vacant

Secretary: Mary Gordon

Treasurer: Kathryn Kollar

Membership Secretary: Paul Chénier

ARLIS/Canada Representative: Isabelle Crépeau

MOQDOC Editor: Philip Dombowsky

Professional Development Committee:

Melinda Reinhardt, Judy Silverman and Danielle Léger

ARLIS/MOQ

FINANCIAL REPORT FOR 2004

BALANCE 01-01-2004                                                                                      4,451.93

 

DEPOSITS

 

10-02-2004             Memberships 2004                                                                              295.00

30-03-2004            Memberships 2004                                                                              135.00

27-05-2004            Memberships / Conference April 2004                                            393.00

22-12-2004            Memberships & Conference (silent auction) November 2004    753.80

 

TOTAL DEPOSITS                                                                                                  1,576.80

 

WITHDRAWALS

 

12-01-2004            Postage charges (cheque)                                                                          16.57

06-02-2004            Travel award – Francesca Maniaci (cheque)                                                800.00

81-03-2004            Travel award – Irena Murray (cheque)                                               800.00

28-04-2004            Conference April 2004 – petty cash                                                        70.00

10-05-2004            Gifts for Conference April 2004 (cheque)                                               167.25

15-07-2004            MOQDOC (cheque)                                                                              90.84

12-08-2004            MOQDOC mailing (cheque)                                                                          44.01

15-11-2004            Conference November 2004 – petty cash                                         200.00

 

Bank fees (3.75 month)                                                                   45.00

 

TOTAL WITHDRAWALS                                                                                       2,233.67

________________________________________________________________________

BALANCE 31-12-2004                                                                                       3,795.06

__________________________________

Kathryn L. Kollar, Treasurer

31-01-2005

   

Arlis/MOQ Minutes

Spring Business Meeting held at the Université de Montréal (Pavillon Claire McNicoll) on Friday April 30th, 2004.  Isabelle Crépeau and Susan Travis presiding. Approved

 

Welcome

Opening of the meeting. Isabelle welcomed everyone. Presentation of the Executive. Thanks were given to the different collaborators of the day, including Luce Payette (absent), Geneviève Bazin for the visit to the new facilities of the rare books department, Marie Trottier, speaker, and Carole Urbain, director of libraries. 

Adoption of the agenda

Susan Travis proposed the adoption of the agenda that had already been sent to the members. Her motion was supported by Kathryn Kollar, seconded by Pierre Boisvert. Adopted unanimously.  

Adoption of the minutes of the 21 November 2003 meeting.

No modifications. Susan proposed the adoption of the minutes. Her motion was supported by Ginette Bujold, seconded by Pierre Boisvert. The adoption of the minutes was unanimous. 

Committee Reports

 Membership Representative (Janice Anderson)

Thirty-two members have renewed their memberships in ARLIS/MOQ so far for 2004. This number indicates a decline from last year, when there were a total of forty-four renewals. Additional memberships are still coming in, however, so the numbers will rise before the final tally has been made.*

The executive decided that in order to save paper and mailing costs the invitations to the spring meeting would be sent by e-mail. To this end Janice updated the e-mail list, ensuring that all members who had renewed for 2002, 2003, and 2004 were on the list. She did this by comparing the existing list on Yahoo Groups with the information on the membership database. Since future communications will be sent this way it is important for members to keep their e-mail addresses up to date. Please send any changes to Janice at janicea@vax2.concordia.ca.

Several of those present expressed concern regarding the low number of memberships and, in particular, the absence of representation from the cultural institutions of Québec City. The opinion was expressed that extra effort should be made to recruit members from Québec, and that organizing meetings outside of Montréal would be an interesting means of doing so. Jonathan Franklin suggested beginning meetings later in the morning. Marilyn Berger suggested that the Spring Meeting take place in May. Isabelle and Susan noted these suggestions. In response to a question from Brigitte Lafond (Museum of Civilization, Hull) on institutional membership, it was agreed to send membership forms to Brigitte so that she might distribute them to employees of the Museum. This might bring in some new members.

Treasurer’s report (Kathryn Kollar)

Kathryn presented the budget. She reported that there is less money this year in comparison to last, however, ARLIS/MOQ awarded two travel awards to Irena Murray and Francesca Maniaci for the conference in New York. Funds were also needed for the publication of MOQDOC. Isabelle reminded us that this year our chapter did not contribute to the cocktail party at the New York conference. A recommendation to do so will be made at the fall meeting. We should expect to donate between $100 to $200 U.S. for this activity next year at Houston. To rebuild our coffers we should think seriously about a fund raising event for the next meeting. Last year the bazaar raised $200. 
MOQDOC (Catherine Carlyle)

Catherine Carlyle is the current editor of MOQDOC, having taken over from Peter Trepanier. Catherine just finished a work co-op in Collections Development at the National Gallery of Canada, Library and Archives and is returning to full-time studies to finish her library degree at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.

Catherine thanked the members for their contributions to the forthcoming spring issue of MOQDOC. Sylvie Alix is in the process of completing the layout for this issue and the members will receive their copies of the spring issue by mail. Janice Anderson is in charge of the mailing of MOQDOC.

Catherine is looking for a co-editor to aid with the fall issue of MOQDOC. Please contact her via email to discuss this opportunity. She also needs contributions for the fall issue. The due date for submissions for the fall issue of is August 15th , 2004. Please contact Catherine via email at: ccarlyle@uwo.ca.  She will also post her email address and any further information about the fall issue of MOQDOC on the ARLIS/MOQ listserv. 

Secretary (Diane Vallée)

Diane stated that her mandate was ended and that she had enjoyed her work as secretary. She described the mandate and duties of the position of Secretary. 
New Secretary / Election committee

Mary Gordon (CCA) accepted the position of secretary and was unanimously elected. Isabelle noted the importance of a representative on the elections committee because there are numerous positions to fill in the coming year. She will be recruiting candidates from the membership to form this committee. 

Report ARLIS/NA (Jonathan Franklin)

Jonathan reported on the success of the New York conference. Not to be missed in February 2005 is the installation in Central Park by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The next ARLIS/NA Conference will take place in March 2005 in Houston. He mentioned the need for Canadian members to begin considering how they can help out with the Banff conference in 2006. He reminded MOQ members of the May 31st deadline for special project funding ($500 U.S.). An application form can be found on the ARLIS/NA website. He also raised the issue of ARLIS NA/Chapter relations, concerning liability, insurance, taxes, bylaws and trademarks. Further information on this topic will be forthcoming . 

Letter concerning the CCA : final decision

Isabelle recounted the events. The letters (in English and French), drafted by Daphne Dufresne and Françoise Roux, were finally received in March 2004. Isabelle commented on the high quality of the writing and the relevance of the document. However, she expressed her opinion that it was much too late to send the letters. As well, she felt uncomfortable and in a position of conflict of interest because she works at the CCA, as does the spouse of the Co-President. For these reasons, the letter will not be made public. If individuals wish to transmit the letter on their own behalf, she has no objections. The participants at the meeting realized that it was too late to react to the events of last year. Pierre Boisvert expressed that it was time to question the chapter’s mandate. Is it only a social club or does it take a stand on political issues? Diane Vallée mentioned the importance of acting in concertation with more politcally engaged (“revendicatrices”) or more structured associations such as CORPO or ASTED when events happen that require a rapid response. Wolfgang Noethlichs asked for an Estates General on the question and moved that it be put on the agenda for the November meeting. The motion was seconded by Pierre Boisvert. Adopted unanimously. In the meantime, it was suggested that the debate continue in the pages of the next issue of MOQDOC. The due date for submissions for the fall issue of is August 15th, 2004 . 

Varia

Listserv update

Isabelle noted that the work had been done. Corrections have been made. 

New membership form

It was suggested that we redo the graphics on our membership form. Isabelle asked for volunteers. Kathryn will ask John Latour if he can do it. To follow. 

End of meeting

Susan proposed the end of the meeting. Seconded by Marilyn Berger. The meeting ended at 10h30. 
 
Diane Vallée

* There was some discussion among members present in which some expressed the opinion that the incoming memberships would not have a significant impact on the total.

Copy of LETTER sent to ARLIS/MOQ Co-presidents in May, 2004 (in French):

Compte rendu de la réunion entre Pierre Boisvert et Wolfgang Noethlichs

École nationale de théâtre du Canada

31 mai 2004

«L’avenir d’ARLIS/MOQ»

 

Constat :

Les statistiques concernant le nombre total de membres d’ARLIS/MOQ par rapport au nombre de participants aux deux réunions annuelles entre 2000 et 2004 (généralement 20 personnes environ)  montrent un affaiblissement de notre association.

Les problèmes suivants ont été observé lors des dernières assemblées :

le manque de participation et un mutisme grandissant de nos membres actifs aux réunions en général.

la répartition inégale des membres entre Montréal (majorité), Ottawa (minorité), et Québec (zéro membre depuis des années).

des membres qui délaissent de plus en plus l’association.

la difficulté de recruter des jeunes professionnels pour ARLIS.

l’incapacité d’ARLIS/MOQ de réagir adéquatement et rapidement à des évènements qui nous concernent tous dans le milieu :

Ex. :     - la lettre rédigée à la suite des coupures au CCA et jamais envoyée à cause de retards considérables.

-         absence de réaction à la fermeture au public ou aux coupures de postes dans certaines

bibliothèques de musées (MBAM et Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec).

- indifférence relative face aux dangers qui guettent le centre de documentation de la Cinémathèque québécoise, etc, etc, etc

Proposition :

À cause des points soulevés plus haut, Pierre et moi composons une lettre (à être proposée et acceptée par le comité exécutif d’ARLIS MOQ) et un questionnaire s’adressant à tous les membres, les invitant tous et toutes à participer physiquement et activement à une discussion avec le titre

 

«L’avenir d’ARLIS/MOQ»

Nous proposons que cette discussion ait lieu lors de notre prochaine réunion d’automne et qu’elle prenne tout le temps nécessaire. C’est pourquoi nous proposons aussi de ne pas planifier de conférencier ou d’atelier pour cette conférence mais que la réunion dure toute la journée en forme d’«États généraux » afin de permettre à tous les membres présents d’exprimer librement et ouvertement leur opinion concernant les causes de la crise actuelle qui secoue notre association ainsi que de proposer des actions à prendre.

Chaque membre est prié de se poser la question si ARLIS MOQ répond (encore) à ses besoins et attentes, s’il est prêt à participer activement dans les tâches administratives de l’association , et nous invitons chacun à participer avec un œil critique à une éventuelle remise en question de certains fonctionnements et procédures de l’association puis de proposer des démarches concrètes afin de la revitaliser.

Si, lors de cette réunion, le nombre de participants était de nouveau très faible ou si la participation à la discussion s’avérait insuffisante pour conclure que les membres actifs et présents ont un intérêt réel au relancement d’ARLIS MOQ, nous proposons un vote sur l’avenir de l’association.  

 

November 13, 2004 ARLIS/MOQ Fall Meeting Highlights

(*Note: This is a draft and not yet approved by ARLIS/MOQ members)

 

Isabelle Crepéau suggested that ARLIS/MOQ act in concert with larger associations such as the Corporation des bibliothécaires prefessionnels du Québec (CORPO). Isabelle reported that she has written to the President of the CORPO, Régine Horinstein earlier this year. Mme Horinstein has said that she would be happy to have a group like ARLIS/MOQ join with the CORPO in expressing an opinion when necessary. In particular, Mme Horinstein is in the process of drafting a letter regarding the new Cultural Policy of the City of Montréal. This policy is still being discussed. Mme Horinstein will let ARLIS/MOQ know when her letter is ready. 

Isabelle noted that, at the last meeting, Marilyn Berger mentioned that the Chapter should contribute to a cocktail to be held at ARLIS/NA (US$100.-$150.). Claire asked whether it would be preferable to use this money to have more people attend the ARLIS/NA Conference. Renata pointed out that ARLIS/NA will be contributing to the meeting held in Banff in 2006.  

Renata continued, saying that Cyndie Campbell had been chair of the Professional Development Committee. Renata and Danielle Léger were also members of the committee. Irena Murray had succeeded Cyndie but has since taken a position in London. Danielle has asked Judy Silverman to be on the committee (there are supposed to be 3 people). They have $1000 available. $100 is allotted to a membership bursary; $700 is allotted to a travel award for the annual conference of ARLIS/NA; $200 is allotted for a special travel award. No applications have been received yet. Last year $800 was allotted to the travel award for the ARLIS/NA conference. Renata said that the amounts have not yet been posted. Susan noted that the decision was made before the silent auction was held. [A silent auction held on the morning of Nov. 19th, 2004 raised $282 for ARLIS/MOQ].  

Jonathan suggested that the next meeting focus on fundraising for travel awards. He noted that Houston is far and that attending the conference in Banff will be expensive. He asked if we needed to vote? Renata said that she thought that the Executive decides in a case like this.  

 

Representative, ARLIS/Canada: Jonathan reminded everyone of the ARLIS/NA Conference to be held in Houston, Texas, Mar. 31-Apr. 6, 2005. He is planning to attend. There will be a “break out session” for chapters. If anyone has questions or issues that they want him to bring up at this session they are invited to let him know. The ARLIS/NA Board is looking at liability insurance and incorporation of chapters. Jonathan asked whether ARLIS/MOQ is incorporated. ARLIS/MOQ is not incorporated. He asked whether ARLIS/MOQ has liability insurance. It does not. He also wanted to mention the Melva J. Dwyer Award. As Canadian Representative of ARLIS/NA, he administers the award. The jury consists of Paul Chenier, Nicole Gjertsen and Ilga Leja. Nominations should be submitted to Jonathan and the deadline is the end of December. Finally, Jonathan noted that the Canadian War Museum will be opening in May 2005 and that if ARLIS/MOQ would like to plan a meeting in Ottawa at this time and plan a visit to the museum, he would be willing to participate in the organization process.

 

Presentation: Denise Dolbec, “French Language Version of the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT)” 

Denise, a documentation specialist working on the Répertoire de vedettes matière (RVM) at Université Laval, gave an overview of the recent history of the RVM and its relationship to the AAT. There are 133, 000 descriptors in the AAT and, to date, 11,000 have been translated into French. She explained that these headings are being integrated into the RVM. She described some of the problems that the project encounters: e.g. the AAT does not publish a list of revised headings, so it is difficult to have the French-language version reflect recent changes to the original thesaurus. She explained that integrating the AAT into the RVM permits the RVM to have a greater degree of precision than is found in the headings derived from Library of Congress Subject Headings alone.  

 

Presentation of ARLIS/MOQ 2004 Survey and Results

 

Isabelle, Janice, and Kathryn presented the results of the survey. Questions and answers follow:

 

Q1. How many ARLIS/MOQ meetings have you attended in the last 5 years?  Average of 4 meetings

Q2. When you did not attend, what was/were the reason(s)                                      

No time off 21%                                                

Other commitments in other organizations 16%

Other (distance, new member, not available, no longer interested) 5%

Q3. Would you prefere there be one meeting of two per year?

A.Two meeting 63%

Q4. How long have you been a member of ARLIS/MOQ

2 years or less 15%

3-6 years 29%

7-10 years 15%

Q5. Are you thinking of renewing you membership? 

88% yes

8% maybe

4% no

Q6. If not, why?

Not a welcoming organization/xenophobic

I don’t work in an art library

Q7.  How would you suggest we recruit new members?

Visit art history departments in academic environments

Send out an e-mail to the internal e-mail system of library schools

Reach out to library technicians and other interested parties (not just professionals

Advertise on the ARLIS/NA listserv

University students should be approached in classes

Invite students and faculty that are not members from the institution that is hosting the meeting

Regularly contact librarians at various institutions

Establish relationships with all art institutions

Recruit outside of Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec

Offer more internships or scholarship awards as incentives

Offer travel bursaries

Inactive members should be contacted

Consider how current membership might be maintained

The membership secretary must actively recriut new members more often

Meetings should present more interesting or technical information

Q8. Do you read MOQDOC?

Yes (selectively) 88%

Q9. If no, why not?

Not receiving MOQDOC

No professional relevance

Q10. How many times a year do you think MOQDOC should be published?

Two times per year 64%

Q11. Which format?

Electronic 66%

Print 33%

Both 1%

Q12. What should be the future of ARLIS/MOQ?

Include alll art professional

Outreach other art associations

Less bureaucratic/structure

Network for art librarians

More communication

Totle disillusion/no future

More involvement from Ottawa and Quebec

Split up into two chapters

Q13. Would you accept to become more actively involved (i.e. accept positions in the executive committte and in MOQDOC?

No 52%

Yes 20%

Already involved 20%

No response 8%

Q14. In order of priority, list five important issues for ARLIS/MOQ.

Communication

Issues regarding the library community

Involvement

Raison d’etre

Membership decrease

Q15. Other issues you would like to be taken into account?

Two day meeting

When organizing a meeting, consider travel time of members coming from Ottawa and Quebec

New Project

Greater collaboration for newsletter

Welcoming committee

Crisis management (closing of art libraries, layoffs)

 

Discussion of the Results of the Survey  

This is not a verbatim transcript. Following each speaker’s name you will find a selection/summary of the individual’s comments.  

Wolfgang: thanked Susan and Isabelle for answering his and Pierre’s invitation to set things in motion at ARLIS/MOQ. At the last meeting at the Université de Montréal he and Pierre had discussed with some of those present at the meeting the need to review certain problems. He and Pierre subsequently met to draft a set of propositions. Susan and Isabelle responded by conducting the survey and the results are now in and one can see certain contradictions therein, e.g., a majority of members show a preference for meeting twice a year but 58% say that they have not attended meetings because they are too busy at work. He noted the number of members present. He expressed the opinion that things have not changed very much since the last meeting and the raison d’être of this special meeting is confirmed once more. ARLIS was created many years ago for valid reasons and that those reasons are still valid.  

Jonathan: a comment about numbers; attendance is fairly strong. ARLIS/Ontario, which has 44 members, had 18 members present at its last meeting. With 27 out of 36 active members present, ARLIS/MOQ has a good basis for going forward. 

Susan: during her year as president she expected more response from the members. An organization should include everyone and not just the executive committee.  

Renata: people respond when solicited. She thought that there was a pretty good response to the questionnaire and that the suggestions for the membership were very good.  

Susan: we have these ideas, but no one wants to go out and do anything. 

Isabelle: it’s important to establish priorities because we can’t do everything. We should choose an objective and try to fulfill it well. Otherwise it’s discouraging.  

Renata: there was a project to launch the Chapter—the Directory of Vertical Files. Perhaps it’s time for another such project. One possible project would be to put the vertical file directory online in an updated version (it was a bestseller). This might be an interesting project if people would like to participate. With the possibility we have to work now at a distance, electronically, perhaps it would be easier. 

Denise: speaking as a member from outside Montréal, it might be easier for people like her to participate if there were just one meeting per year. When she wants institutional support to attend a meeting it has to be approved by a committee at the university. One big meeting with a substantial program would be easier for people from outside Montréal. 

Patricia: described herself as a member of long date; initially very active, later less so. These days continuing education obliges us to be absent from work more and more. She has heard people in the past say that ARLIS/MOQ is too social. She also raised the question whether it would be preferable to have one meeting per year only. Perhaps hire someone from outside to offer some kind of “formation”. She commented that she had met very interesting people through ARLIS, and knew a lot of resource people because of it. Perhaps it would be interesting to broaden the organization by bringing in another discipline like music or dance. She added that a common project does solidify a group. 

Renata: the idea about music is worth pursuing. We’ve had a member from dance before. “Formation” of a certain kind is also interesting. We should start having meetings in Ottawa or in Québec. Social is good. It enables us to get to know one another . She is opposed to having only one meeting per year. Perhaps it’s time to start having travel awards to attend our own meetings. In the beginning we alternated meetings in Montréal with meetings in Québec or Ottawa. It’s true that sometimes people didn’t want to travel, but still the survey results show that a fair number of people managed to attend.  

Claire asked what about one 2-day meeting per year? 

Patricia noted that this particular meeting coincided with the Salon du livre.  

Isabelle responded, it’s difficult to choose a date; the Executive Committee didn’t realize that it was the same day as the Salon when choosing a date for today’s meeting. 

Susan: ARLIS/NE wanted to have a joint meeting with ARLIS/MOQ this year. In the end it was impossible but they are interested in having a joint meeting next year.  

Renata: the problem of not responding quickly enough when something happens is not insurmountable. 

Ginette: it’s not always necessary that it be a member of the professional staff that attends a meeting; it could be a technician. 

Isabelle: re: recruitment: recruiting among students: students are concerned with finding jobs. What do we have to offer to new members? Becoming a member as a working librarian, her interests were different. She wanted to know what was happening, particularly in the “milieu des arts”. How can we reach the younger librarians? 

Melinda: one way this has been done in the past is through a mentoring program. 

Susan mentioned internship. 

Melinda: internship is something different than mentoring.  

Susan: she went to McGill to talk to library students about ARLIS/MOQ. Four students expressed an interest in joining; 2 gave her their names.  

Melinda: a mentoring program is something you want to think through. She can’t promise anything for these people right away. 

Wolfgang: would be willing to invite one of them to his library, to introduce him/her at a meeting, try to help the person feel welcomed, not like outsiders.  

Isabelle: the will to get involved with ARLIS/MOQ has to come from the students themselves—e.g. don’t ask a new member immediately to become the secretary. It’s important to go slowly. 

Wolfgang: will take one student. 

Melinda: will take the other. 

Pierre: there is a need to houseclean “nettoyer” our structures. An issue is raised at one meeting, and decisions get put off to the next meeting. We don’t act. Next year, Montréal will be the City of the Book and even though we are an organization of librarians/information professionals, no one will hear from us. He would like to see ARLIS/MOQ take action. 

Isabelle: it is important to establish priorities and advance in small steps. Otherwise the task is overwhelming. 

A discussion concerning the 2-year term of the president ensued. 

Wolfgang: some people are only interested in being president for one year. 

Isabelle: if the meeting is being held outside of the city where the president resides, perhaps there could be someone in the city where the meeting is to be held whose job is to organize the meeting. This would give the president more time to attend to the business of the chapter. 

Patricia: this used to be the way that it was done. 

Pierre: in our bylaws, is it possible for an individual to continue beyond 2 years as president if (s)he so wishes? 

Susan: in the ARLIS/NA Bylaws for chapters, you only need a president and a secretary-treasurer; some people say that there is too much bureaucracy in ARLIS/MOQ; it’s possible to have an executive committee with only 2 people 

Wolfgang: you need implication, people actively involved in an organization, people doing things 

Melinda: on an ongoing basis 

Wolfgang: if others contribute it will enhance his own inspiration 

Josée: [possible subject for the Chapter to address in a meeting]: how to deal with the new job market. What kind of expertise does one find in ARLIS? 

There was further discussion about ways to publicize and share the expertise of the membership. It was observed that e-mail, the listserv could be used for this purpose. It was suggested that each member could write down her/his own areas of expertise and they could be put in a sort of “pool”. 

Pierre: the listserv is underutilized 

Susan: how do you explain the fact that no one responds to a call for nominations for an executive committee? 

Isabelle intervened saying that there were only a few minutes left. 

After some further discussion, an ad-hoc brainstorming committee was formed. The members who volunteered to serve on this committee were: 

Pierre Boisvert

Josée Corriveau

Patricia Black

Wolfgang Noethlichs

Ginette Bujold