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ONLINE AUDIOVISUAL CATALOGERS
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Boston, Massachusetts
Saturday, January 15, 2005

Minutes


  1. Call to Order, Introductions, Announcements (R. Lubas for R. Freeborn)

    The meeting was called to order at 3:05 p.m. Members present: Rebecca Lubas, Lisa Bodenheimer, Jain Fletcher, Robert Bothmann, Cathy Gerhart, Amy Weiss. Visitors: Pat Riva, Sharon Rankin.

  2. Secretary’s Report (A. Weiss)

    The minutes from the Board meetings held at the OLAC Biennial Conference in Montréal, Canada on Thursday, September 30 and on Sunday, October 3, 2004 were approved.

  3. Treasurer’s Report (R. Bothmann)

    See the full Treasurer’s Report elsewhere in this issue.

    The budgetary situation for OLAC is still tight, but is improving. OLAC is currently operating in the black, even without the addition of funds raised by the Biennial Conference.

    Robert Bothmann will try and send out renewal e-mails as soon as he can.

  4. Newsletter Editor’s Report (J. Fletcher)

    The cost of the December Newsletter was $1738.45. It was printed on different paper, which represents approximately $200 total savings from the cost of equivalent-sized issues in the past. There was not much difference in the costs related to the mailing, but the lighter paper should help keep the weight of each copy below the 3.3 oz. mark (where the price per issue increases), which will help control postage costs.

    Jain wants to keep the Newsletter to around 60 pages to control costs. Some columns in the last issue were heavily edited to help achieve this goal. This includes the Conference reports, which were split into two parts and divided between two issues. Jain explained that, although the second installment will not be seen until the June 2005 issue, the complete Conference reports are available now on the OLAC Website. The overall goal is to try to have a Newsletter that is substantial while trying to be economical. For this reason, there will not be any pictures in the Newsletter for the indefinite future, although there may be pictures online.

  5. Old Business

    1. OhioNet Brochure
      The Board examined a draft brochure for OLAC created in conjunction with OhioNet. It was decided that the brochure created a misleading connection between the two organizations; therefore, the Board decided not to go further with the idea. Robert Freeborn will write to OhioNet and to former Outreach Coordinator, Ian Fairclough, to let them know about this decision.

    2. Outreach Coordinator
      OLAC is still without an Outreach Coordinator. The Board will ask for volunteers at the Membership meeting.

    3. 2004 Conference Wrap-Up
      The Montreal Conference was a great success. All but one respondent on the evaluations found that the Conference met their needs and, in general, the individual workshops were well received. The workshops on E-resources and Videos were the most popular. The mix of American and Canadian presenters also seems to have worked well. Negative comments included lack of coffee breaks, no live Internet at the workshops, not enough space for the round table discussions, need for microphones in some rooms, and not enough space for the poster sessions.

      Formal thank you letters to speakers and presenters have gone out. Copies of handouts, correspondence and other paperwork need to be sent to Archivist Iris Wolley. Robert Bothmann will burn a copy to CD of the Conference Website for the Archives. Robert Freeborn needs to send out thank you letters to the Conference planners, to the BNQ representatives, to the Conference chairs and to McGill University for use of their AV equipment. Letters should be copied to the supervisors of the individuals thanked.

      The OLAC Executive Board urged that the money raised by the Conference be deposited in the OLAC accounts as soon as possible and that the temporary accounts set up for the Conference be closed.

  6. CAPC Report

    See the CAPC meeting minutes elsewhere in this issue.

    The redesign of the CAPC Web page was discussed. Lisa Bodenheimer will send out the URL of the re-designed site so that the Board members can take a vote on it via e-mail. There was also discussion of whether to have a link for "Publications" on the OLAC Website for official OLAC cataloging resources. This would make these documents easier to find than they are in the CAPC page and would also make them easier to catalog. In fact, possibly two areas are needed, one for "Publications" and one for "Working documents". Version statements are also a necessity for these materials. The CAPC Resource Maintenance Task Force is directed to work on this. Sue Neumeister can mock up a sample page so that the Board and the members at large can comment.

  7. New Business
    1. Future of the OLAC Archivist’s Position
      Current OLAC Archivist, Iris Wolley, has wondered about the future utility of her position given that archivists at Mankato State University will be working on the OLAC Archive. However, the Board feels that an OLAC Archivist will still be needed to collect and organize the materials. The materials are held by the Archivist for two years and then sent to Mankato with some level of organization. A Handbook revision may be required to clarify the job of the Archivist, as well as the length of term that the Archivist serves.

  8. Closed Session

    Discussed were CAPC positions (including discussion on Handbook wording on qualifications for Interns and Full members), the location of the 2006 Conference, the OLAC Award, and an elections report.

  9. Adjournment
Respectfully submitted,

Amy Weiss
OLAC Secretary

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Last updated: March 29, 2005
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