New England Archivist Quarterly Board Meeting Minutes
January 19, 2005, WGBH Brighton Landing Conference Room 2nd Floor, Brighton, MA
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Agenda
10:00-10:15
Call to order and review agenda
Approve Secretary’s October meeting minutes
Accept reports requiring no action: Newsletter Report, Membership Secretary and Listserv Moderator Report, Education Committee, Print Coordinator Report
10:15-10:25
Treasurer’s Report
10:25-11:00
Fall 2004 Final Conference Report
Spring 2005 Conference Program Committee Report
Spring 2005 Conference Local Arrangements Committee Report
Fall 2005 Conference Program Committee Report
Fall 2005 Conference Local Arrangements Committee Report
Development Coordinator Report
11:00-12:00
Outreach Committee Report
• plus April Hagins presentation on MHRAB/Mass Studies and short discussion of Archives Week coordination
Web Committee Report
Public Relations Committee Report
Membership Committee Reports
Distinguished Service Award
Archives Advocacy Award
12:00-12:30
Break to get lunch and continue meeting at 12:30
1:00-1:30
President Report
Vice President Report
Immediate Past President Report
1:30-2:00
Old Business
• EAD – update required?
New Business
• NEA listserv and vendor use, workshop fee structure
• Minority Scholarship/Mentoring proposal from membership
Next meeting date and adjournment
Present: Mary Ide (presiding), Bridget Carr, Karen Adler Abramson, Ann Ostendarp, Jason Wood, Jonathan Penyack, April Hagins, Brenda Lawson, Paul Carnahan, Liz Andrews, Diana Yount, Anne Sauer, Jane Ward, Kelcy Shepherd, Rodney Obien, Elizabeth Slomba
Call to order, Approve minutes, Accept reports requiring no action (Newsletter Report, Membership Secretary and Listserv Moderator Report, Education Committee, Print Coordinator Report
After calling the meeting to order, Mary Ide encouraged board members to read Jeff Marshall’s article in the recent NEA Newsletter. She mentioned that the article was positive and an interesting view on the profession. Mary then clarified that Brenda Lawson is the board liaison to the Haas Award Committee and that Lois Hamill is chair of that committee.
The October 15, 2004 board meeting minutes and Secretary’s report (Appendix A) were presented. Elizabeth Slomba briefly mentioned what was in the Secretary’s report.
It was moved that the October 15, 2004 board meeting minutes and Secretary’s report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
The Newsletter Committee Report (Appendix B), Membership Secretary and Listserv Moderator Report (Appendix C), Education Committee Report (Appendix D), and Print Coordinator Report (Appendix E) were distributed by email and required no action. It was moved that the Newsletter Committee, Membership Secretary and Listserv Moderator, Education Committee, and Print Coordinator reports be accepted. The motion was seconded. All members voted in favor.
Treasurer’s Report
Liz Andrews presented the Treasurer’s Report and handed out copies of the updated 2005 budget, the Fall 2004 meeting financial report and quarterly custom summary report (Appendix F). Then Liz mentioned her preparations for transferring her electronic financial files to the next Treasurer. She discussed how she backs-up files, where she stores them and the need for systemic procedures to transfer electronic files between office-holders. The Board discussed the issues around file-keeping and how Liz was considering the transfer. It was decided that Brenda and Liz would develop procedure for the file transfer and back-up procedures. There was a brief discussion about the financial success of the fall meeting and fall meeting attendees.
It was moved to accept the Treasurer’s report. The motion was seconded. All members voted in favor.Meeting Reports: Fall 2004 Final Conference; Spring 2005 Conference Program Committee; Spring 2005 Conference Local Arrangements Committee; Fall 2005 Conference Program Committee; Fall 2005 Conference Local Arrangements Committee; Development Coordinator Report
Fall 2004 Conference
Anne Ostendarp presented the Fall 2004 Conference final report (Appendix G). The meeting was successful, although there was not a significant number of new members. The Board discussed the meeting costs, perceptions of costs and how attendees feel about costs, possibility of a member survey, whether information that some attendees dislike high costs is useful in meeting planning, and what does the Board want to do about future costs. It was suggested that perhaps NEA could offer alternative events for different audiences; then it was asked what the audience is for the meetings and for whom are they held. Also discussed were possible changes in the meeting structure and the possibility of partnering with other local archival groups. Mary said that she was summarizing the report of the planning initiative from the Fall 2004 meeting for the Newsletter and that there may be new information from the retreat that will be useful for planning future meetings. It was suggested that perhaps future program and local arrangements committees could wait for evaluations from current meetings in order to use the responses in the evaluations for their planning; however it was pointed out that program and local arrangements committees can not wait because so much of the planning needs to take place far in advance of the meeting date. There was a discussion of meeting schedules and future meeting planning issues. The Board ended discussion by noting that planning for future meetings was back on track now with Fall 2005 meeting plans underway and the Spring 2006 location to be determined shortly. The Fall 2005 meeting budget would be presented at the Board meeting held during the Spring 2005 meeting. Then there was a brief discussion concerning the meeting book, who had it now and how to make it more accessible to more than one committee at a time.
It was moved to accept the Fall 2004 Conference report. The motion was seconded. All members voted in favor.Jane Ward was asked if the vendors were pleased by the coffee hour at the Fall meeting; she replied that the vendors thought the coffee hour was a good selling point but added that vendors are realistic and do not expect that such a hour may be scheduled for future meetings.
Spring 2005 Program Committee
Karen Adler Abramson presented the Spring 2005 Program Committee report (Appendix H). The program has come together and the theme is the Future of Archives. Program sessions will cover topics such as cross-disciplinary approaches, partnerships, and archival theory. The committee members noticed that many potential speakers have been asked over and over to speak at NEA meetings so the members went farther afield to find speakers. As a result, they had to offer honoraria to more speakers and so the honoraria budget is higher than originally planned. The Board discussed honoraria and travel reimbursements and inconsistent application of honoraria. It was suggested that the meeting bylaws need to be reviewed and amended to address the honoraria or that perhaps the honoraria budget have a set cap. Then the Board discussed the possibility of a special meeting to discuss meeting procedures and long range planning for meetings. It was recommended that outgoing and incoming Board members be invited to the meeting. It was agreed the Board would address managerial and future organizational issues at a separate board meeting in May and that the Board would invite past Board members with expertise to the meeting. There was a brief discussion about offering honoraria to non-NEA members and about the meeting budget.
It was moved to accept the Spring 2005 Program Committee report. The motion was seconded. All members voted in favor.Spring 2005 Local Arrangements Committee
Jason Wood presented the Spring 2005 Local Arrangements report (Appendix I) and budget and said that the bulk of the budget costs were food costs.
There were specific questions about the budget. Jane asked if the budget included costs for the vendor tables and area. Jason replied that he would find out.
Then Board discussed the food costs for the SAA workshop which were included in the budget, how SAA costs were handled at other workshops, whether the costs should be included and how to reduce the food costs for the break. Jason said he would approach Simmons to see if Simmons would pick up the costs for the workshop food breaks; if Simmons would not pick up the costs, then he would find a way to trim the cost. It was mentioned that how to handle SAA workshop contracts should be included in the meeting procedures book.
The Board then discussed the cost for the Friday reception and suggested that the per person cost be reduced to $25 per person from the budgeted $30. There will be a cash bar for the reception.
Kelcy Shepherd said that the budget line for the New Members breakfast could be deleted since the Membership Committee had received money in their budget to hold and host the breakfast. Then the Board discussed costs for a continental breakfast for meeting attendees. Jason said that such a breakfast would $7 per person. Breakfast costs, the likely number of people, and the benefits of low-balling estimates were discussed. It was proposed that the budget include a line of $1750 for Saturday breakfast, based on an estimate of $7 per person for 250 people. Saturday lunch and reception costs and numbers were then discussed. It was proposed that the budget include the following costs: $3250 for the Saturday lunch, based on an estimate of $13 per person for 250 people; $1000 for the Saturday reception, based on an estimate of $8 per person for 125 people. Jason was asked if the tax and gratuities were included in the costs. He replied that the taxes were not included. He was not sure about the gratuities but that the per person costs included labor costs, which may likely include gratuities.
Diana Yount asked if Simmons would be producing the registration mailer or if the mailer would be going to Inkspot for printing. Jason said that the mailer would need to be sent to Inkspot. Diana suggested that the budget line for printing and mailing would need to be increased to $850 because of those costs.
It was suggested that a budget line of $1000 for contingency costs be included. Jason said that he would send out a revised budget including the discussed revisions. Jane offered to help him with putting together the budget. Jason then added he would send out the revised budget as soon as possible.
Then the Board discussed the parking concerns for the Spring meeting, how much the costs would be, and how the parking costs would be included in the registration costs. Jason said that the parking costs would be $15 for parking at the Landmark Garage and that Simmons would need to validate the parking because of the contact the institution has with the garage. Mary mentioned that it would be very important to promote public transportation in the registration mailer. A question was asked about the validation process and whether Simmons would have enough help to validate parking. Jason said that they had plenty of help and that Jeannette has no problem recruiting student volunteers. Bridget Carr then asked if special arrangements were planned for attendees with disabilities in light of there being no transportation between the garage and Simmons; Jason responded that he knew that there are at least 15 handicapped spots at Simmons and that NEA may be able to use them. The Board agreed that some if not all of these spots should be set aside for people who have physical challenges. Mary suggested that Board table discussion about the parking costs and wait for the revised budget information.
Based on the revised meeting costs, the revised budget has a total cost of $13,700 for the meeting. Attendance is estimated at 250 people. Based on this estimated attendance and budget, the registration fee per person for the Spring 2005 meeting would be $54.80 per person. Jane said that she was not sure of the vendor income yet but it may be $3000 based on previous meeting income. The budget for the meeting would then be $10,700 and the registration fee per person $42.80.
The Board then discussed when to take the vote on the registration fee and agreed that the vote would need to take place after the revised budget was reviewed. There was a discussion of when the registration mailer needed to be sent out and how much turn-around time Diana needed. Mary then requested that Jason send out the revised budget to the Board for review before Wednesday January 26 so that the Board could vote on the budget and registration fee before the end of January. Jason will also start putting together the registration mailer.
It was moved to accept the Spring 2005 Local Arrangements Committee report. The motion was seconded. All members voted in favor.Fall 2005 Program and Local Arrangements Committees
Paul Carnahan presented the Fall 2005 Program (Appendix J) and Local Arrangements (Appendix K) reports. Jeff Marshall, chair of the Program Committee, reported that that the theme of the meeting will be “Big House, Little House, Backhouse, Barn” and will emphasize the connectedness of archival solutions for all institutions. They are planning sessions so that people from like organizations will have a chance to talk together. The Archives in the Classroom session has been dropped. Chris Burns, chair of Local Arrangements, reported that he has increased the number of hotel rooms, the hotel contract has been signed and that the University of Vermont contract is in the works.
It was moved to accept the Fall 2005 Program and Local Arrangements Committees reports. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
Development coordinator
Jane presented the Development Coordinator’s report (Appendix L). She is starting to call vendors now and will update the Board. There was a discussion about the ads in the January newsletter, how vendors use the ads, and less interest from vendors in placing ads. Ads generally appear in the newsletters around the time of the meetings and ad revenue is reported as miscellaneous income. Jane added that she is still researching vendor costs; although some vendors say that NEA costs are too high, she says that she is not sure if the costs have affected vendor’s attendance at NEA meetings.
It was moved to accept the Development Coordinator report. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
Outreach Report, Web Report, Public Relations Report, Membership Committee Report, Hale Award, Haas Award, Distinguished Service Award, Archives Advocacy Award
Outreach Committee
Anne presented the Outreach report (Appendix M). She went over the proposed revisions to the committee duties to reflect current committee operations and bring the Outreach description into line with the other committees. They will be dropping the Speaker’s Bureau since there has been no activity and that Archives on the Road seems to be filling the Bureau’s role. It was suggested that there be a liaison to the Web Committee. There was discussion regarding Outreach’s web use, how the committee could use the web for its activities, and how to get information about Archives on the Road out. There will be an article on Archives on the Road in an upcoming newsletter and there was discussion about an ad in the newsletter regarding the program. It was suggested that job duties include creating publicity in the media, including the website and the NEA listserv.
It was moved to accept the Outreach report. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
It was moved to accept the job responsibilities for the Outreach committee members with three revisions. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
April Hagins then presented on the Massachusetts Historical Records Advisory Board (MHRAB), Massachusetts Study Project (MSP) Documentary Heritage Grant, and grant funding for preservation brochures for MSP programs. The Board discussed that NEA would not paying for these brochures and that MHRAB would provide the money to create the brochures while NEA would have editorial oversight over the brochures. Also mentioned were where the preservation information came from and any potential copyright issues regarding the republishing of the information. April addressed a question about liability by reporting that MHRAB was aware of legal issues but the grant focused on planning and development; the proposal will be vetted by lawyers and the workshop component had been dropped. It was urged that the brochures and grant information include information about archivists and how archivists handle large amounts of material, not just single item collections. The Board went on to discuss the content of Archives on the Road programs, misperceptions of the profession when people make presentations that emphasize item level access and descriptions of single items instead of whole collections, the progress of the grant and the timeline, difficulties of the grant not associated with one institution, expectations in the grant of hiring a consultant who would be expected to address concerns, and the roles of NEA, historical societies and pilot projects. Mary suggested that April submit the final draft of the grant proposal to the Board and that she draft a letter of support from NEA and circulate it to the Board. April replied that grant was due February 11 and that there would likely be revisions. The Outreach Committee agreed to provide volunteers for staffing MSP events.
It was moved to support the MSP Documentary Heritage Grant with a letter of support, and a commitment to develop a brochure on preservation and to staff events as much as possible. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted in favor.
Anne suggested that Outreach committee discuss the timing of Archives Week in New England and the involvement of State Historical Records Advisory Boards and report back to the Board. The Board agreed.
Web Committee
Mary mentioned the new updated look and other features of the NEA website. Jonathan Penyack then gave the Web committee report (Appendix N). In response to the Board request to restructure the committee, Jonathan presented revised job descriptions for the Web committee. The new structure of the committee will keep the web coordinator position, eliminate the webmaster position since it is no longer needed, and add the three positions: Newsletter liaison, Outreach/PR/Education liaison, and Job/Membership liaison. Jonathan said that he had a positive experience working with Skybuilders and that all links are fixed, although he still needs to work on the Newsletter section. And he is willing to do continue as Web Coordinator. Liz said that the Web Coordinator needs to develop a budget and submit requests by September 15. Jonathan also added that the Web Coordinator will also serve as the Board liaison. Kelcy mentioned that the Membership committee will work with the new Membership liaison to plan and oversee the move of the NEA listserv to the Skybuilders site.
It was moved to accept the Web report.It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
It was moved to accept the Web committee job descriptions as written, not revised. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
It was moved to appoint Jonathan Penyack as Web Coordinator to a three year term. It was seconded. It was suggested that his term run from October 2004 to October 2007 so that all the Web committee members would not be up for reappointment or replacement at the same time. It was moved to appoint Jonathan Penyack as Web Coordinator to a three year term to run October 2004 to October 2007. All members voted in favor.
Public Relations Coordinators
Mary presented Tara Hurt and Tracy Messer’s report (Appendix O). She added that she had mentioned to them that NEA was not on SAA’s list of archival organizations and that they contacted SAA about it. Mary continued by saying that committees should look at the master list of PR contacts. It was agreed that the Outreach, Membership and Education committees should look at the list. The Board briefly discussed the PR list. Tracy, Mary, and Anne had a conference call regarding developing a sample press release for Archives on the Road programs and other PR initiatives.
It was moved to accept the Public Relations Coordinators’ report.It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Membership Committee
Kelcy presented the Membership committee report (Appendix P). Jennifer Lyons will be coordinating the New Member Breakfast to be held April 30, 8:30-9:30. Kelcy asked that board members attend the breakfast since it will be an opportunity for new members to meet with board and committee members.
Mary acknowledged the work Kelcy and Rodney Obien did on the website logo and commented on the nice look of the logo and the uplifting and updated look for the organization. Kelcy said she expects the brochure proof soon and the new brochure in a few weeks. WGBH, Rodney Obien, and April Hagins of the Outreach Committee provided some images for brochure. Mary also discussed getting releases for photographs for use in the brochure and in future projects. There was a brief discussion on how to circulate brochures to those who need them, such as Outreach and Education, numbers of brochures to hand out, that this is the temporary brochure until branding committee creates a graphic identity for NEA, how long this batch of brochures will last, inclusion of brochures in a PR press kit and developing an electronic version for the website. In the past the Membership Secretary distributed the most brochures. Other possibilities for distribution would be through state Archives and SHRABs and there will be lots of brochures at the Spring meeting. Mary added that she was thinking of membership recruitment with the brochure.
It was moved to accept the Membership Committee Report. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Mary then mentioned the transfer of the membership database to the web and creation of an online membership directory. Kelcy said that the Membership committee will discuss the transfer and membership directory with Jonathan. She added that the committee will need to send notice to members and determine whether they wish to be included in the online directory. The committee plans to write a letter discussing issues of the online directory, plans for privacy protection, and so forth. The Board discussed that Membership should be in contact with Skybuilders before drafting the message, the importance of collecting member emails to encourage use of NEADiscuss listserv, the possible usage of the directory by vendors and sending of mailing labels. Kelcy added that Membership will be sending member info to members for revision, will be using NEA stationery, has money for the mailing, and will put notice in the newsletter editions. There was a discussion of the NEA official address, of when to include information about the online directory in the Newsletter, and that members must opt out of directory. Bridget will discuss with Newsletter to correct the official address for NEA.
Hale Award
Bridget presented the Hale Award report (Appendix Q) and mentioned when the announcements and ads were posted. She discussed the deadline for application.
It was moved to accept the Hale Award Report. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
There was a brief discussion of the Haas Award committee and award.
Distinguished Service Award, Archives Advocacy Award
There was a discussion of nominations for the Distinguished Service Award and the Archives Advocacy Award, when to vote, and nomination applications. The Board will vote on the awards online.
Immediate Past President, Vice President, and President Reports
Immediate Past President’s Report
Mary presented the Immediate Past President report (Appendix R) and discussed slate for upcoming elections. Diana mentioned deadlines for copy. There was a brief discussion of board elections.
It was moved that the Immediate Past President's Report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Vice President's Report
Paul discussed his report (Appendix S). October 14-15 are the dates for the Fall 2005 conference. He is still working on the Spring 2006 meeting. The catering costs for Boston College are being determined. If the costs are reasonable, then Boston College will be the location. There was a discussion regarding handling ballots and member renewals; Rodney said that he saw no difficulty with these issues.
It was moved that the Vice President's Report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
President's Report
Mary presented her report (Appendix T). The Board discussed her letter on behalf of NEA to the Peabody-Essex Museum Letter, the response from the community and advocacy issues. The letter was published in the Salem News but Mary said that she has had no response from the Peabody-Essex trustees.
Mary then mentioned a movement to resurrect the Boston Archives Group (BAG). There was a discussion of the history of BAG, of how to restart the group, maybe an event for BAG centered around the reopening of Schlessinger Library, of creating a mailing list for potentially interested Boston area archivists, and how to contact archives students. Kelcy mentioned that the Membership committee had discussed creating regional NEA activities. Other regional archives groups were mentioned, such New Hampshire Archives Group and Vermont Archives Network. The programming of the Connecticut River Archives Group was described; the programming involved tour of repositories and a meeting/happy hour for networking. Some Board members from Boston expressed interest in setting up a BAG meeting.
Mary then said she was interested in recruiting a Simmons student to possibly help with compiling board and committee handbooks. There was a brief discussion about other institutions with students that might be interested and on how to manage a student undertaking such a project.
It was moved that the President's Report be accepted. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
Old Business, New Business: Branding Committee, Minority Scholarship/Mentoring Proposal, Next Meeting Date
EAD Consortium
Mike Rush reported to Mary that there was no update concerning the EAD Consortium.
Branding committee
Mary opened the discussion about the proposed Branding committee by asking what would the charge for the branding committee be. There was a brief discussion about the branding issue. It was suggested that the Public Relations coordinators review the issues and report on NEA branding issues. The Board then discussed possible dates for the committee, issues, how to promote NEA, and who should be involved. It was suggested that the Public Relations Coordinators start the review; then Membership and Outreach could be brought in after Public Relations put together recommendations. Mary will be in touch with Tracy and Tara.
Minority Scholarships and Mentoring Program
Mark Jones approached Mary concerning a mentoring program and minority scholarships. NEA has never had a mentoring program, but has had discussions about whether or not to have a program sometime ago. The Board discussed mentoring programs elsewhere, citing a Wisconsin program, and the difficulty of organizing a program. Mary described the Association of Moving Image Archivists mentoring breakfast. People interested in participating meet at breakfast after being paired on a few common interests; participants then create their own mentoring program after this networking session. It was suggested that a mentoring program be discussed at New Members Breakfast. There was a brief discussion about the usefulness of the New Members Breakfast in developing contacts, whether there would be a partnering program for long-time NEA members and new members, and how NEA could involve and make new members comfortable. Board members could not recall if minority scholarships had been discussed before. There was a general discussion about minority involvement in the archival professional, SAA programs, student discounts and reimbursements for attending meetings through organizations, library recruitment of minorities to profession, and diversity programs in library and archival programs. Joan Krizack, through her involvement on the SAA Diversity Committee, may have ideas on how to contact interested people and organizations regarding a scholarship. There was a discussion of how to use Archives on the Road programming to reach minority organizations and encourage minorities to join the profession or become involved in NEA activities. Mary will get in touch with Joan Krizack and Mark Jones for further ideas.
Next Meeting
Mary then announced that the next Executive Board meeting will be on April 29, from 1-4:30, at location to be determined at Simmons. Mary will schedule the long range planning meeting possibly in May, at a location to be determined later.
Mary said that she will be completing her report on the Fall 2004 retreat and requested the Board to review report and give input.
It was moved that Board meeting be adjourned. It was seconded; no discussion. All members voted to accept.
The meeting adjourned at 2:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Slomba, Secretary
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