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ONLINE AUDIOVISUAL CATALOGERS
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
OLAC CONFERENCE
Mesa, Arizona
Thursday, October 26, 2006


  1. Welcome, Introductions
    The meeting was called to order at 4:25 p.m. Board members present: Vicki Toy Smith, Rebecca Lubas, Katherine Rankin, Robert Bothmann, Jain Fletcher. Visitors: Sue Neumeister, Debbie Benrubi.

  2. Conference Planning Manual
    With the draft of the Conference Planning Manual under discussion, the Board agreed the draft appears nearly ready to finalize. However, the idea arose that the planners of the current Conference might have more to add to it from their experiences this year, so the draft will also be sent to them for review.

  3. Update on Status of OLAC Archives
    Forms were not signed in the right place or the right boxes checked in order to have a gift to support the archives and buy boxes, but that has now been taken care of. Since the OLAC Archivist (Iris Wolley) will be at Midwinter, the Board will plan a more thorough discussion about the Archives in January.

  4. Secretary’s Report (K. Rankin)
    The minutes from the Board meeting at ALA Annual held in New Orleans in June 2006 were published in the September issue of the OLAC Newsletter. They can be found at: <http://www.olacinc.org/newsletters/sept06/boardmin.html>.

  5. Treasurer’s Report (R. Bothmann)
    Bobby reported that, as of September 30, 2006, OLAC has a balance of $7,546. Over 100 people joined as new members for this Conference. There was discussion about whether people who sign up as new members to take advantage of the lower membership rates for Conference registration should receive all their membership benefits (including Newsletters) during the same calendar year in which they join, or if OLAC should retain the other option that was put into effect a few years ago: starting their full membership benefits in the year following the Conference. The answer to this may or may not be related to OLAC’s declining membership numbers; on that note, Bobby informed the Board that there have been many retirements lately, which has affected membership numbers considerably. The Board discussed possible ways to recruit new members.

  6. Newsletter Editor’s Report (J. Fletcher)
    After some discussion of methods to reduce the dual burdens of editing and production/mailing that currently challenge the Newsletter Editor, a proposal was put forth to create a position of Assistant Editor to deal with the production/mailing portion. In addition, there was discussion of ways to reduce Newsletter costs in which, once again, the idea of making the Newsletter "online only" was proposed and discussed. The Board agreed that it is probably time to take another straw poll of the members to find out how many of them would be willing to accept the Newsletter in online version only. The discussion included the Board’s appreciation that there will always be some members who want a print version and it remains committed to finding sustainable ways to accommodate that wish. Raising membership dues was also discussed, but the idea was rejected because it is still too close to OLAC’s last dues increase, not to mention ALA’s and MAGERT’s more recent dues increases.

  7. CAPC Report (R. Lubas for K. McGrath)
    The only item on the agenda that might result in an action item is an update on the Non-Human Entities White Paper.

  8. Revamped OLAC Brochure (update) (R. Lubas)
    Bobby brought print copies of the new OLAC Brochure to the meeting and the Board agreed that they had come out very nicely. The Board assigned Debbie Benrubi (OLAC’s Outreach Coordinator) the responsibility of deciding how best to use them. Some of the possible ideas discussed were to give brochures to AV cataloging workshop trainers, as well as sending them to library schools and to OCLC regional networks. Anyone teaching a AV cataloging workshop or who can think of other appropriate opportunities to distribute brochures should contact Debbie Benrubi <benrubi@usfca.edu>.

  9. Discussion on 2008 Biennial Conference
    Several expressions of interest have been made for hosting the next OLAC Conference. The Conference site needs to have easy air access and convenient transportation from the airport to the Conference site. Formal proposals that address these and other practical considerations should be sent to the Board before Midwinter.

  10. Electronic Voting
    The Board decided to look into the possibility of having electronic voting.

  11. Discussion of How to Handle Accommodations Such as Sign Language Interpreters at Future Conferences
    The Board decided to put language in the Conference Planning Manual with respect to making reasonable accommodations for attendees with disabilities. One idea that arose was to raise Conference registration fees to have enough money to pay for sign language interpreters. However, since the price of the Conference needs to be kept at a moderate level to attract as many attendees as possible, it would be quite a challenge to find a equitable balance.

  12. Closed Session
    A closed session was held to discuss appointments.

  13. Adjournment
    The meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Katherine L. Rankin
OLAC Secretary

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Last updated: December 21, 2006
http://www.olacinc.org/newsletters/dec06/board.html
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