New England Archivists - Minutes

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NEA Executive Board Meeting Minutes

Baker Library Treasure Room, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, N.H., May 4, 2001

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order by President Aimee Felker at 1:00 p.m. Present were Kathryn Hammond Baker, Diana Barnard, Jean Berry, MaryAnn Campbell, Dan Daily, Glynn Edwards, Aimee Felker, Martha Foley, Diane Kaplan, Mollie Keller, Joan Krizack, Daniel McCormack, Anne Ostendarp, Peter Parker, Bill Ross, Susan von Salis, Diana Smith, Rick Stattler, Jane Ward, Leah Weisse, and Rutherford Witthus.

Felker announced that discussion of the job descriptions would take place at the summer board meeting, and suggested that discussions of the job descriptions be done via email between the meetings.

MOTION: On a motion by Representative-at-Large Joan Krizack, seconded by Immediate Past President Jean Berry, the Board voted to approve the agenda.
Secretary's Report (Appendix A):

Secretary Diana Smith reported that the NEA Board voted on two issues via email between the January and May Board meetings:

a) To approve the January Board meeting minutes.
b) To set up an NEA email group using Yahoo! Groups in order to facilitate Board communication.

Smith reported that she had revised each of the job descriptions according to the notes of the last Board meeting, and had passed them on to Felker for review and clarification.
Immediate Past President's Report (Appendix B):

Immediate Past President and Chair of the Nominating Committee Jean Berry announced the winners of the 2001 NEA election of officers:

Joan Krizack, Vice-President, President-elect
Liz Andrews, Treasurer
Paul Carnahan, Representative-at-Large
Peter Parker, Representative-at-Large

She stated that of the 469 ballots mailed, 200 (about 42%) were returned, an indication of a strong slate. She mentioned that one candidate wrote her to say that losing did not lessen her belief in contested elections. Berry thanked nominating committee members Sean Fisher, Janet Roberts, and Patty Stark for their help in assembling the slate.
Outreach Committee Report (Appendix C):

Outreach Committee Chair Susan von Salis stated that she had nothing to add to her report, which listed the following Outreach Committee activities: Jess Steytler gave a talk at the Arisia Science Fiction show in January, and Rick Stattler and Jennifer Lyons spoke at the Massachusetts State Archives on "Caring for Your Family Papers and Photographs" in March, an event arranged through the Speaker's Bureau. She also reported that the "Archives Sideshow" subcommittee will run a "sideshow" at the Lower Mills branch library in May, and will be looking for other venues for further sideshows.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Representative-at-Large Kathryn Hammond Baker, the Board approved Anthony Reed as a new member to the Outreach Committee.
Archival Advocacy Award:

Felker stated that since the last meeting, this award had been investigated. She found that when Gregor Trinkaus-Randall was President the Outreach Committee had been charged with writing a draft, but that it had never been written. It was conceived as a way of supporting positive behavior in those outside of the archival profession, rather than serving as an organization which only criticizes negative behavior. Representative-at-Large Rick Stattler volunteered to investigate other organizations which have similar awards and give a report at the July Board meeting.
Web Committee Report (Appendix D):

Glynn Edwards, Co-Webmaster, reported that Web Coordinator Debbie Richards will be leaving the Web Committee to take over as Membership Secretary in July, to be replaced by Pat Perreault.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Berry, the Board approved Pat Perreault as a new member to the Web Committee.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Baker, the Board voted to formally recognize the contributions of Debbie Richards as Web Coordinator, as she moves on to other duties within NEA.

Edwards discussed registering a domain name for NEA, noting that the web site won't move off of the UMass web site but that the domain name would also carry the front page, and all the links would point to the UMass site. This domain name is meant to make it easier for people to find the NEA web site. von Salis expressed her support for this proposal.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Baker, the Board approved the purchase of the domain name www.newenglandarchivists.org and to pay for it using funds in the Outreach budget.

Edwards reported that the Web Coordinator had drafted a calendar for her position, to be discussed at the next Board meeting during discussion of job descriptions, had created an email list at YahooGroups for the Board to facilitate communication, and had created a database to track contacts made regarding acquiring photographs for the NEA website. The Webmaster created a new page to archive the previous "Internet Tidbit" articles.
Vice President's Report (Appendix E):

Vice President Bill Ross reported on arrangements for future meetings. The Spring 2002 meeting in Newport is scheduled for March 22-23, 2002 at the Newport Marriott Hotel. Ross expressed his concern over planning for local arrangements and the program for the meeting, as nothing had happened with local arrangements since last year, and the current head of the program committee has left her position. Ross will work with incoming Vice-President Krizack to amend the situation.

In contrast, the planning is going smoothly for the Fall 2002 joint meeting with MARAC in Poughkeepsie, with 15 members from both organizations on the program committee, and Christine Crawford Oppenheimer of the Culinary Institute and Brian Keough, State University of NY at Albany as co-chairs of the local arrangements committee. The Spring 2003 meeting at New Bedford is now in question, as the local arrangements chair is no longer in New Bedford. Ross will work with Krizack to find another local arrangements chair and program chair, and look into another location in Southern Massachusetts.
Spring 2001 Program Committee Report (Appendix F):

Diana Barnard, Program Committee Co-Chair, reported a change in a session chair, and expressed her thanks to Registrar Julie Blain for her work in resolving problems with meeting packets.
Spring 2001 Local Arrangements Committee Report (Appendix G):

Anne Ostendarp, Co-Chair of the Local Arrangements Committee, reported that there were 126 registrants for the meeting and 21 attendees for the workshop. She suggested that the Friday reception and membership table be added to the local arrangements job description, and that it should be a requirement that a member of the previous committee be a member of the next committee, to avoid duplicating errors.
Fall 2001 Program Committee Report (Appendix H):

Rutherford Witthus, Program Committee Co-Chair, reported that the theme of the meeting would be "Reflections: Looking Back, Looking Forward" and that there would be two keynote speakers: Gaddis Smith, who has written a history of Yale and is a user of archives, and Steve Hensen, who will be SAA President at the time of the meeting. He pointed out that the schedule includes a vendor showcase as well as session times for the vendors to present a product. Development Coordinator Jane Ward stated that this is a good selling point in getting vendors to come to the meeting.
Print Coordinator's Report (Appendix I):

Felker presented Print Coordinator Diana Yount's report, which stated that 469 ballots were mailed March 16-18 at a cost of $613.76.
Task Force on Organizational Efficiency Report (Appendix J):

Susan von Salis, Chair of the Task Force on Organizational Efficiency, first noted that her written report bears the wrong name of the committee. The committee met in April, examined the budget and discussed topics to investigate, such as reducing the cost of the newsletter, the relationship between workshop expenses and income, setting meeting costs at a fixed amount, accepting credit cards for registration, and the creation of an email distribution list. The Committee will investigate these and other topics and will have a set of recommendations for the Board at the fall meeting.
Treasurer's Report (Appendix K):

Treasurer MaryAnn Campbell reported that the Board needs to consider consolidating the two Hale Award accounts now that the campaign is over, and transfer NEA's contribution of $5,000 to the Hale Award CD. The Board suggested getting a recommendation from the accountant and the financial advisor as to which account (mutual funds, checking account) to take this money from by the July Board meeting. Campbell also reported that the NOW account balance is $15,664.95. The mutual funds experienced a loss in the first quarter, and the current mutual fund balance is now $15,111.35.
Development Coordinator's Report (Appendix L):

Development Coordinator Jane Ward reported that four vendors accepted the package offered for the Spring meeting, given that there was no vendor showcase: a set of mailing labels, a ¼ page ad in the newsletter and the chance to have something distributed at the spring meeting for a donation of $100. Two of the ads will appear in the July issue, as they were received too late for the April newsletter. For the fall 2001 meeting, she has tentative agreements from six vendors and is hoping to line up more. She pointed out that for the joint meeting with MARAC, the vendors might be asked to pay more than the usual amount given that they will be reaching a larger audience.
Education Committee Report (Appendix M):

President Felker reported for Maureen Melton, Education Committee Chair. She reported that there will be two workshops at the fall 2001 meeting: the Arrangement and Description workshop, presented by Bruce Stark, and "Planning for EAD in an XML World," a half-day workshop presented by Tim Young.
Public Relations Coordinator's Report (Appendix N):

Public Relations Coordinator Dan McCormack reported that he sent out 197 releases for the Spring 2001 meeting, emailed a short release to 43 other organizations, and posted announcements to 11 listservs. He has worked with the Outreach Committee to supply them with names and addresses for an outreach program in Dorchester in May. He also reported he is gathering publicity for releases on the Distinguished Service Award recipients.
Membership Committee Report (Appendix O):

Leah Weisse, Membership Committee Co-Chair, brought two proposals for the membership brochure, and the Board discussed the different options. Weisse reported that the Archives and Records Management Intern Open House is tentatively scheduled for September 12, 2001 from 12:30-1:30.
Membership Secretary's Report (Appendix P):

President Felker presented Membership Secretary Anne Sauer's report. The membership stands at 556, with 42 new members added since January, 2001. Debbie Richards will become the new Membership Secretary in July.
Newsletter Committee Report (Appendix Q):

Editor Daniel Daily reported for the newsletter, stating that they are searching for a new newsletter editor, as Sarah Demb will complete her term this fall. He announced that Judy Farrar has volunteered to index the newsletter articles from 1997 onwards. The Board requested that an end date be put on the project.
Fall 2001 Local Arrangements Report (Appendix R):

Local Arrangements Co-Chair Diane Kaplan reported that some of the rooms needed are not bookable until the fall. The Board suggested figuring on 150 attendees in calculating the cost for the meeting.

MOTION: On a motion by Krizack, seconded by Ross, the Board approved the local arrangements budget as amended: allowing $1500.00 for lunch, $1200.00 for honoraria, and a 10% contingency fund to cover unexpected expenses.

Kaplan showed some examples of a different style of meeting announcement which Yale's reprographic services could create, and the Board agreed that she should pursue the options. The Board also advised McCormack to advertise the meeting in the New York area.
Haas Award Committee Report (Appendix S):

President Felker presented the report of NEA representative Lois Hamill, which indicated a lack of communication with other Haas Award members. Felker stated that a meeting has been arranged with all of the members, which should resolve the issue.
Hale Award Committee Report:

Hale Award Chair Kathryn Hammond Baker announced that there had been no new applications for the award, and that Cally Gurley is the next committee chair.
President's Report (Appendix T):

Felker thanked the Board for their hard work, and noted each departing Board member's contributions.

MOTION: On a motion by Smith, seconded by Ross, the Board voted to commend four members of the Executive Board whose terms are completed: Kathryn Hammond Baker, Representative-at-Large, MaryAnn Campbell, Treasurer, Jean Berry, Immediate Past President, and Joan Krizack, Representative-at-Large.

Felker stated that both Hal Keiner and Jim O'Toole would receive the Distinguished Service Award at the business meeting the next day. She commended Spring 2001 Meeting Registrar Julie Blain for her work, and noted that she had received several emails and phone calls from people who wished to acknowledge her hard work. She also commended the work of Program Committee Co-Chairs Diana Barnard and Mollie Keller.

Felker reported that she had worked to rectify an overdue filing situation concerning missing 1998 Form PC / MA Charitable Registration forms, and that she worked with Smith to update the job descriptions. She also noted that she had asked several Board members to write letters on behalf of NEA to support the NHPRC in April, when it was in danger of losing much of its funding.

Baker thanked Felker for her work as NEA President.
New Business:

There was no new business.
Next Executive Board meeting:

The next meeting of the Executive Board will be held on Friday July 13, 2001 at the University of New Hampshire.
There being no further business, Felker adjourned the meeting at 4:55 p.m.