New England Archivists Quarterly Board Meeting Minutes
June 17, 2004, Northeast Document Conservation Center, Andover, MA
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Agenda
10:00-10:15
Call to order, introductions and review agenda
Approve Secretary’s Spring Meeting minutes
Accept four reports, requiring no action: Membership Secretary; Membership Committee, Print Coordinator, and Outreach’s reports
10:15-10:25
Treasurer’s Report
10:25-11:15
Spring 2004 Program/Local Arrangements Final Report
Michael Rush – EAD Consortium Collaboration
Fall 2004 Program Committee Report
Fall 2004 Local Arrangements Report
11:15-12:00
Newsletter Committee Report
Education Committee Report
Outreach Committee Report
Web Committee Report
12:00-1:15
President Report
Vice President Report
Immediate Past President Report
Development Coordinator Report
1:15-2:00
Old Business – SAA Conference, A*Census
New Business – NEA Archives Advocacy Award; Board voting procedures
Next meeting date and adjournment
In Attendance: April Hagins, Michael Rush, Leah Weisse, Susan von Salis, Rutherford Witthus, Anne Sauer, Liz Andrews, Bridget Carr, Meg Moughan, Jane Ward, Lois Hamill, Rodney Gorme Obien, Tom Hyry, Paul Carnahan, Brenda Lawson, Mary Ide, Dan McCormick, Elizabeth Slomba
Call to Order, Introductions, Review Agenda/Procedures
Meeting was called to order by Mary Ide at 10:00 am. Members attending introduced themselves.
Mary reviewed the agenda and procedures for motions. A motion would be made, then seconded; discussion would be held with voting to follow.
Membership Secretary, Membership Committee, Print Coordinator, Outreach Committee Reports
The Membership Secretary (Appendix A), Membership Committee (Appendix B), Print Coordinator (Appendix C) and Outreach Committee (Appendix D) reports were distributed by email. It was moved that the Membership Secretary, Membership Committee, Print Coordinator, and Outreach Committee reports be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
Secretary’s Spring Meeting minutes and Secretary’s Report
The March 26, 2004 board meeting minutes, annual business meeting minutes and Secretary’s Report (Appendix E) were presented. Two corrections were suggested for the board meeting minutes Membership Committee report section: “5 members terns” should be “5 members terms” and the spelling of Kelcy Shepherd’s name corrected.
It was moved that the March 26, 2004 board meeting minutes, the annual business meeting minutes and Secretary’s report be accepted. The motion was seconded. All members voted in favor.
Treasurer’s Report
Liz Andrews presented the Treasurer’s Report (Appendix F). She mentioned that the NEA contribution to SAA for its Boston conference will be coming out of this year’s budget and that planning for future expenditures will need to take this expense into account. Also the budget accounted for income from 580 members, but Liz learned that the actual membership was 487 members (September 2003 number) so the projected income would fall short for this year’s budget. Attendees discussed the possible income short fall, about increasing the NEA membership, possible expected income from non-members attendance fees at events, use of the NEA listserv to issue dues renewal notices, and new expenditures that should be included in the fall budget discussions. Liz mentioned that current expenses are in line with previous expenses and that NEA had not yet spent the budgeted amounts on the website, membership brochures, newsletters and bookmarks. Overall, NEA is in good financial shape but that we need to pay attention to budget planning in the fall. Liz said that she paid $480.00 to the University of New England for the Fall 2004 meeting.
Liz ended her presentation by urging that everyone get their budget requests and items to her by September 15. All budget information and requests must be submitted to her by this date the information can go to the board and the general membership.
It was moved that the Treasurer’s report be approved. The motion was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
EAD Consortium
Michael Rush presented a Proposal for New England EAD Collaboration Working Meeting. He outlined the history of the proposal, how it sprung from discussions among interested NEA members at the Spring 2004 Worcester meeting, and the desire to bring together representatives from NEA, regional EAD institutions, NELINET, granting agencies and other interested parties to discuss the feasibility of EAD collaboration in New England and to explore issues common or not common to institutions. This discussion may address concerns about adopting EAD, possibly create a Union list of collections, and assist small institutions in making available their EAD finding aids to the public. The group requested that NEA fund the coffee and lunch costs of their meeting to be held in September or October.
The attendees discussed the proposal. Michael was queried about whom from small institutions would be invited. He suggested that American Textile History Museum and/or the City of Boston Archives representatives would be asked. Concern about collaborating with digital initiatives in state libraries was expressed. Michael responded that the group would involve state libraries and would invite representatives. Attendees continued to discuss the role of NEA in the future plans for EAD collaboration, the need for dedicated funding for and hosting of a regional EAD database, and the desire that NEA have a role with such a database and collaboration.
It was moved that NEA allocate $600 for lunch and coffee for New England EAD collaboration working meeting. It was seconded. The board discussed the proposal and requested that the EAD collaboration group look at the sustainability of the project and develop goals and define what needs to be accomplished. Michael added that the group would develop goals and create a small group to develop initiatives, to set future aims and to create procedures for submission and access. All members voted in favor.
Spring 2004 Program/Local Arrangements Final Report
Lois Hamill presented the final report of the Spring 2004 Program/Local Arrangements Committees (Appendix G, parts 1, 2, 3, 4). Lois gave the registrations to Liz and the evaluations will go to Betsy Pittman.
Lois began a discussion on 2 day meetings by summarizing the results of the spring meeting evaluations. Members were willing to come on Friday and/or Saturday. There were some questions about the schedule of events, with some mentioning that the days did not seem filled with sessions. Some responded that they did not want to come for two days, only one; they preferred to pay for one day and so did not come because the meeting fee was for two days. Since these responses were mentioned directly to the planners, these responses would not be reflected in the evaluations. The attendees discussed that NEA learned that members will attend meetings on Fridays and that it might be worthwhile to explore alternating days for future meetings and that days, program, locations and other meeting elements affect attendance. It was discussed that vendors were not happy with the traffic on Friday, that the vendor space was problematical at the spring meeting, that there is a preference from vendors for either a Friday or a Saturday, that it has to be worthwhile for the vendors to come and that vendors like to be stationed near the coffee. Lois was asked if meeting attendees were confused about the dual locations; there were comments on signs but no response on the two locations. Lois ended by recommending that for future meetings NEA try to attract people from other archival and related organizations.
Attendees then discussed the inclusion of personal information on meeting attendee lists that are distributed in registration packets at meetings. The Spring 2004 meeting list included minimal information about meeting attendees and there were comments about the lack of contact information for attendees. It was suggested that for future meetings the registration form include a check-off box to indicate if a member prefers to not include personal information on list of meeting attendees. Attendees discussed preferences for lists to include personal information, the possible of effects of the proposed online membership directory on meeting attendee lists and the preferences of vendors for lists with contact information. Since the form of the meeting attendee list changes from meeting to meeting, guidelines for what is included on the list may need to be set. The Fall 2004 Local Arrangements Committee was asked to include a check-off box regarding personal information on the fall meeting registration form.
It was moved that Spring 2004 Local Arrangements and Program Committees report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
Fall 2004 Program Committee Report
Elizabeth Slomba presented the Fall 2004 Program Committee Report (Appendix H). She went over the proposed sessions and Friday programming. She was asked about the honoraria to be given to speakers; she did not have the numbers and would need to talk to the committee about the likely honoraria amount. Mary added that new Public Relations co-chairs Tara Hurt and Tracey Messer are planning the publicity for the Fall meeting.
It was moved that Fall 2004 Program Committee report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
Fall 2004 Local Arrangements Committee Report
Mary announced that Chris Beam would be stepping down as chair of the Fall 2004 Local Arrangements Committee and would be registrar for the meeting. Cally Gurley agreed to serve as the new chair. It was moved that Cally Gurley be approved as the new chair of the Fall 2004 Local Arrangements Committee. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
Leah Weisse presented the Fall 2004 Local Arrangements Committee Report (Appendix I). She mentioned the schedule for the registration table, which would be open longer then had been mentioned earlier. The room costs for the Education Committee workshops were discussed; the Education Committee will be charged $200 for the rooms for the workshops and the board understands that the Education Committee might run a deficit for the fall workshops because of these additional costs.
Next, the attendees discussed whether members attending the planning retreat would pay for attending the retreat. Mary said that she arranged the planning retreat so that members would have the option of attending the retreat, the sessions and workshops. Because the meeting fee covers costs such as meeting rooms and meals and members have options about participation, members need to pay a meeting fee. It was suggested the information about the planning retreat and the obligation for members to attend be included in the registration information and publicity. It was mentioned that attendance of the planning retreat, especially by younger members of the profession, be promoted in the publicity.
The honoraria line in the budget is a projection, based on previous budgets.
The discussion of mailing information to Maine Archives and Museum Association and Maine Libraries Association compared the cost of mailing to these groups as well as additional print costs to the likelihood of increased attendance by members of these organizations. Other publicity methods, such as using listservs, were suggested as alternatives to mailing. Mary suggested that the Public Relations co-chairs would work on ways to get in touch with additional local organizations.
The Program Committee in their report had made suggestions on a fee structure for the meeting and that the meeting fee be kept low and not higher than $40. The attendees discussed the suggested split fees, commenting on the issues raised in the earlier discussion on the Spring 2004 meeting. The advantages and disadvantages of member and non-member fees were discussed when the possibility of eliminating the non-member fee was brought up; points raised included whether lower fees really attract a non-traditional audience. The non-member fee was included so that people would learn about NEA through membership benefits and be likely to remain as members. Although, not charging a non-member fee would bring the costs of attending down for non-members and may encourage non-member attendance. A short discussion then ensued about the benefits and difficulties in charging late fees for late registrations. In general it was felt that late fees encouraged members to register on time; otherwise, late or onsite registrations could affect local arrangements committees’ ability to adequately plan for meeting space and food counts.
It was moved that that the Fall 2004 meeting registration fee be $40 for members and non-members, $20 for students, with an option of joining or renewing membership. It was seconded. A friendly amendment concerning a higher on-site registration fee was suggested and accepted.It was moved that the Fall 2004 meeting registration fee be $40 for members and non-members, $20 for students, with an option of joining or renewing membership, and $55 for on-site registration. This motion was seconded. There was a brief discussion about the change in the meeting fees. It is hoped that the lower fees would encourage non-members to join NEA and to encourage NEA members to attend planning sessions. It was also suggested that the Fall 2004 Local Arrangements collect registration statistics so that board could see if the lower fees did have the intended effect. All members voted in favor.
Then, it was moved to accept the Fall 2004 Local Arrangements Committee report. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
NEA Listserv
It was briefly mentioned that Debbie Richards maintains the NEABoard Listserv and Rodney Obein discussed the maintainance for the other listservs.
Newsletter Report
Meg Moughan presented the Newsletter Report (Appendix J). Meg went over the articles included in the newsletter coming out in July. Ellen Doon’s last issue is the July one and the committee needs a replacement for replacement for Chris Burns, who will be leaving the committee in October.
The NEA Executive Board thanks Ellen Doon for her excellent work on the newsletter.
It was moved that Sheila Spaulding, City of Boston Archives, be approved as Inside NEA Editor with a term of three years (Oct. 2004-Oct. 2007) to replace Chris Burns. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
It was moved that the Newsletter Committee report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
Education Committee Report
Brenda Lawson presented the Education Committee Report (Appendix K). No action was required since the board voted on the mailing labels for SAA prior to the meeting.
It was moved that the Education Committee report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Web Committee Report
Anne Sauer presented the Web Committee Report (Appendix L). Anne went over briefly the information in the report regarding the personnel turnover in the web committee and the new updating procedures for the website.
Then Anne went over quotes from vendors regarding the NEA website. She discussed with vendors NEA’s need for increased functionality, such as a members-only area, on-line registrations and so forth. In her initial discussions, contacted vendors mentioned low/no-cost hosting for the website but no support for creating functionality. Services for design and content development can cost from a low rate of $45 per hour through higher rates of $150 per hour. Through these discussions the Web Committee concluded that NEA volunteers can design web pages and develop content and what NEA needed help in was creating website functionality. Anne described one vendor, SkyBuilders. SkyBuilders focuses on web community building and offers web hosting and works primarily with non-profits. The vendor charges $200 a month to create functionality, maintain listservs and provides dedicated email addresses, technical and design support and web hosting. There was a general discussion of the company and what it offers for training. Anne said that NEA volunteers could use their own tools to edit and update pages; the company also offers its own web-based tools for creating webpages. Next there was a discussion of how long a commitment NEA should make to the project; it was suggested that NEA negotiate six-month contract to set up the first steps of the NEA web project and that Anne Sauer would negotiate on behalf of NEA with the vendor. Anne said that she did not have a written quote but according to the verbal quote, $200 per month would cover what the NEA board wanted and that she did not expect additional costs. There was a discussion of possible functions and content for website. SkyBuilders could include a feature so that the website could accept credit card payments for NEA through SkyBuilders; credit card payments might be a complicated feature and could be included on the site later. For the members-only parts of the NEA site, SkyBuilders could distribute passwords by batch importing members email addresses and then their system would email the passwords to NEA members. The system can also manage listservs and is secure and the vendor can set-up multiple specific areas. The discussion turned to on-going costs for the website and whether the money was in the budget. A comparison between costs for the website for costs for typesetter for the newsletter was made and it was mentioned that perhaps with an improved NEA website that newsletter print costs will decline as more members opt to read content on the NEA site.
It was moved that Anne Sauer be authorized to contract with SkyBuilders to host the NEA website and related services, at a cost not to exceed $1200. It was seconded. A friendly amendment was proposed to include a time limit; the amendment was accepted. It was moved that Anne Sauer be authorized to negotiate for a six-month contract with Skybuilders to host the NEA website and related services, at a cost not to exceed $1200. Anne clarified that the contract would not include web design and expected to hear shortly from the vendor. She asked if the NEA president and treasurer both sign the contract. It was noted that the president signs the contract. There was discussion about how to maintain costs for web hosting, about reallocating funds throughout NEA to reflect the organization’s changing needs, about the budget process, how to plan consistently for costs, the fluidity of incomes and outgoes and possibility of a five-year budgeting processing. Discussion ended with agreeing that discussion of the budget process would be part of the fall planning retreat and with a mention of how a vibrant web community can increase NEA membership. It was agreed that the website should have similar policies and structure of the newsletter in regards to planning, professionalism, deadlines, and so forth. All members voted to accept.
It was moved that the Web Committee report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Public Relations Committee Report
Dan McCormack presented his report (Appendix M). He mentioned the conference call with the incoming co-chairs, Tara Hurt and Tracey Messer, and Mary and himself regarding past and current activities. He added that the report included thoughts on future public relations activities. There was a brief discussion of current public relations activities and Dan said that he had compiled his list of contacts and mailing lists and copies of past press releases and sent the information to Tracey. The Public Relations committee does not have a board liaison and Tara and Tracey will be proposing a budget. Although Dan did not have a budget for his activities, he kept estimates about the costs; he estimated that it was about $490 in costs per year. Previous to Dan’s chairship, the committee had had a budget line. Tracey prefers electronic communication so the costs may be lessened.
The NEA Executive Board thanks Dan McCormack for his excellent work on the Public Relations committee.
It was moved that the Public Relations Committee report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
President's Report
Mary referred to her ideas for Archives Week mentioned in her report (Appendix N). She suggested developing a list of most important articles/items in the 6 New England state archives, using the format of the September 22, 2003 U.S. News and World Report’s profile of “100 Documents That Define the Nation.” She received some feedback from Gregory Sanford on the idea. NEA would ask all six state archivists to select what they believe to be the 10 or so most important documents in their collections. The NEA Public Relations Committee would then work with each of the state archives to help promote and publicize these materials as part of the Archives Week celebration. In addition, NEA could potentially create an exhibit of this material on the website. The Outreach Committee expressed interest in developing and carrying out the project.
Next, she discussed the location of the Spring 2005 meeting. Suggested places were expensive but the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science was free and the staff is willing to host the meeting. Mary will be looking for a program chair and the meeting would need to be scheduled April 29-30.
It was moved that Jeannette Bastian be appointed chair of the Spring 2004 Local Arrangements Committee. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Mary mentioned a query from a member regarding the NEA endorsement of a SAA letter regarding the process of vetting of the nominee for Archivist of the United States and why the letter/issue was not discussed by membership before the endorsement of the letter. The board felt that the issue was not a question of the qualifications of the nominee. A brief discussion covered concerns about non-profit status and what constitutes “political” statements. Mary would be going to Washington D.C. on June 21 to meet Allen Weinstein at a meeting of archival and other interested organizations arranged by the American History Association; the meeting was suggested by Weinstein.
And Mary then suggested tabling the discussion of the fall planning initiative and its budget to email. The board agreed.
It was moved that the President's report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Vice-President’s Report
Paul Carnahan presented the Vice-President’s Report (Appendix O). He reported that Simmons reception at SAA would be open to NEA members and would be the NEA reception for the SAA conference.
He then said that Spring 2006 meeting would be at Boston College, which volunteered to host the meeting. The meeting dates need to be scheduled around the college’s spring break. For the Fall 2005 meeting, he would like schedule a meeting in Vermont but has some concerns because the attendance numbers have historically been low for Vermont meetings. He is looking at places other than the University of Vermont because their facilities are not quite as nice as other places. He is considering Wyndham Hotel on the waterfront as a possibility but NEA would be paying more because of its location. Last time a meeting was held in Vermont was in 1997 and Paul expressed concern about recruiting archivists for a local arrangement committee. Paul also mentioned that he had received some possible ideas for meeting locations in New Hampshire and possible volunteers for the local arrangements committee; it was suggested that New Hampshire be considered for Fall 2006 or Spring 2007. Attendees discussed advantages and disadvantages of holding a meeting in Vermont, other places in Vermont to hold meetings, such as Brattleboro, possibly holding a meeting in western Massachusetts and the necessity of holding a meeting in western New England for NEA members in that region. After Paul finds a location, he will need to start soliciting program committee members; Paul asked about the program format and was told that he could suggest program events and so forth.
It was moved that the Vice-President's report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Immediate Past-President’s Report
Rutherford Witthus gave an update on the search for candidates for the upcoming NEA elections (Appendix P). He had suggested that NEA select a slate of candidates for the board instead of holding elections for board positions. But since there were divided opinions on the suggestion, he withdrew the suggestion. There was a brief discussion of whether additional people were needed on the nomination committee.
He had a question regarding the Archival Advocacy Award and whether it could be disclosed to a nominee that they had been nominated. It was recommened that discretion should be used in these cases. Mary said that Fall 2004 Local Arrangements committee suggested that Maine State Archivist Jim Henderson might be able to put forward nominees. The board could vote on nominees online when the names were forwarded.
Rutherford mentioned the two nominations received for the Distinguished Service Award. The vote on the nominations was tabled for email discussion and voting.
Then Rutherford announced that he would be retiring from the University of Connecticut on June 30th and would then be moving to Philadelphia. He said that he would be continuing to solicit candidates for NEA and follow through the remaining Immediate Past-President duties.
It was moved that the Immediate Past-President’s report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Liz said that she needed to submit a blurb about NEA for inclusion in SAA conference materials; it was suggested that Liz use information from the NEA bookmarks.
Development Coordinator Report
Jane Ward presented her report (Appendix Q). Jane plans a survey of regional archives groups to see what the industry standard costs are for advertising, tables, and so forth. A vendor had a question about NEA pricing and Jane wants to see how NEA compares to other archives groups.
It was moved that the Development Coordinator's report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Old Business
It was reported that A*Census was still going on but that NEA response to the survey was not that great. Some results, mostly raw data, are expected by the August SAA.
New Business
Mary went over the board email voting procedures: she will send out the proposal; wait five days for discussion; call for vote; wait five days for voting; tally and announce results.
Next Meeting
She announced that next board meeting would be on Oct. 15, 2004, in Biddeford, Maine, from 1 to 4:30.
It was moved that Board meeting be adjourned. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
The meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slomba, Secretary
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