NAHSL Executive Board Meeting

Lamar Soutter Library

UMass Medical Center, Worcester

March 16, 2001

Present: Marj Anderson, Happy Copley, Janet Crager, Ed Donnald, Sydney Fingold, Carole Foxman, Barbara Ingrassia, Patty Kahn, Mary Ann Slocomb, John Stey, Ann Tomes

Mary Ann called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m.

President’s Report

Mary Ann reported that NAHSL sent $1,000 donation to IFLA to cosponsor a fellowship with a regional SLA group, for the IFLA 2001 Conference in Boston. Mary Ann also announced that she has received notification that NAHSL did not win the Majors Chapter Project Award this year.

Mary Ann has to write the Chapter report to MLA, due April 2; Mary Ann is going to recommend to MLA that they ask for one report annually.

The NAHSL dinner at MLA is being organized; Mary Ann will choose one of the 17 restaurants in the Dolphin Hotel to hold this “annual” affair.

The new NAHSL website URL is www.nahsl.org. Ed Donnald reported that early problems with the new URL have been resolved.

Mary Ann has been asked to attend the MaHSLIN meeting on April 26 (as NAHSL Chair). Mary Ann reminded everyone present that she is willing to attend Spring meetings of all state groups.

Minutes/Secretary’s Report

Action: Minutes of the December 8, 2000 meeting were accepted as submitted.

Treasurer’s Report

Discussion: Marj reported cash-on-hand is $83,000+. According to Marj’s Treasurer’s records for Conference 2000 (bills paid and cash received), Conference 2000 came in with an overall loss of $397. CE showed a loss of $2,500 for the year. Marj will consult with Jo-Anne Aspri and the Rhode Island Conference Committee prior to submitting an actual financial report for Conference 2000. Overall, NAHSL as an organization had a small profit for 2000: $146.04. Marj stated that she had several requests for refunds for those who could not attend the NAHSL conference at the last minute; Mary Ann advised the Conference Committee, 2001, to set a firm refund policy.

Action: Marj will be doing a final report on all monies incoming and outgoing for Conference 2000 once she receives final details from Jo-Anne Aspri.

The Board approved the Treasurer’s report.

Committee Reports

Archives

Discussion: Sydney and Carole reported not much activity since the December 2000 Board meeting. They will be making a list of materials that should be saved following a NAHSL Chair’s term. They will also re-word the website archives section, to keep it up-to-date for future historians. Marj has paid the initial bill from the Harvard Depository, but Sydney has not moved any materials to the storage area as yet. John asked if the Harvard Depository contract covers any conservation work in the event of damage; Sydney will check on this.

Action: No action required.

Bylaws

Discussion: Mary Ann reported for Debbie Sibley: nothing to report (!) Mary Ann noted that she did not see a section for MLA Membership Representative in the procedure manual; Mary Ann will check with Debbie about adding this section.

Action: For informational purposes.

Chapter Council

Discussion: Suellen sent report to Mary Ann: she needs information for her column in MLA News by March 26 Re: Conference 2001. Ed will check with Suellen and fill in the blanks. Suellen urged everyone attending MLA to also attend a Chapter Sharing Roundtable.

Suellen noted that NAHSL needs to have a Chapter Council alternate rep elected this coming Fall. Requirements for this position are to attend Chapter Council meetings at MLA and serve on the Chapter Council Committee.

Action: Mary Ann proposed a big “thank you” to Suellen for her contributions to the NAHSL Board over the years; this would have been Suellen’s last Board meeting as Chapter Council Rep.

Conference ‘00

Discussion: Mary Ann advised the Connecticut committee to beware of vendors who bring six people when they only register one. The Conference 2000 Committee recommends that if offering a buffet lunch, use two tables with four lines, so that numbers don’t have to be as firm for lunch time.

Action: Marj will confer with Jo-Anne to finalize Conference 2000 monies.

Conference ‘01

Discussion: Ed passed around a report. Mark Gentry and Gillian have been working on the conference website and it should be up soon. The Committee has selected a postcard for preconference announcement. The Committee will invite SLA members and some public librarians from local areas, as well as the NY-NJ Chapter of MLA. Preliminary food choices have been made. The Committee is creating a podium banner (a smaller version of the NAHSL banner); discussion ensued about the design of the podium banner. The Board recommended that words be justified to the left and the font for the first letter (N) be larger to emphasize the NAHSL acronym.

Action: Ed will create a couple of designs for the podium banner and put them on the website for Board approval. Ed said that the banner will be 20x20 and should be able to be shipped via a mailer.

Discussion: Ed passed out a budget proposal/spreadsheet for Conference 2001: conference fee will be around $130. Ed reported that food costs will be higher than in RI because New Haven is very expensive.

Action: The Board did not vote on the proposed Conference 2001 fee; this was not a final budget proposal.

Conference ‘02

Discussion: Mary Ann reported for Karen Odato: the Conference Committee has chosen the Grand Summit Hotel at Attitash for their hotel and are finalizing the contract. The Grand Summit is about 20 minutes from North Conway, NH. John Stey reported that he has stayed there; it is a beautiful spot and a good hotel. Donna Wickstrand has been advising the Committee on negotiations.

Action: For informational purposes.

Conference ‘03

Discussion: Len Levin has agreed to be Conference Chair for 2003, and has named Ann Fladger from Salem as Program Chair. They are looking at possible sites in Worcester; brief discussion ensued about other possible location, including Sturbridge.

Education

Discussion: Janet Crager reported that Spring CE will be held in Worcester, “Hot Trends to Energize Library Service Delivery” with speaker Steve Arnold. Date has been set as April 20 (the day following the ILL meeting in Sturbridge). Program will be from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with a $40 cost to attendees. There will be some rooms held at a special rate at the Beechwood Hotel.

Conference 2001 CE will only be held on Sunday; no Monday CE. Sunday will offer six half-day classes. CE topics already set are on Cardiology (nurses’ level), PDAs (with Laura Larson), government agencies (also with Laura Larson). Technology classes may also be added, once Spring CE evaluations have been reviewed. Patty Kahn suggested that Conference 2001 offer a repeat of the Spring CE (with Steve Arnold), as some members will not be able to attend the April 20 session.

Electronic Communication

Discussion: Lida sent a report: NAHSL website is now located at www.nahsl.org . Lida thanked Ed Donnald for helping make this change. The NN/LM-NER (U Conn) is developing guidelines for identifying websites they host; this may include a small logo showing that NN/LM-NER is hosting the website. The NAHSL Membership Directory on the website now reflects actual paid members. If you are trying to seek the address of someone who is either late in paying their NAHSL dues, or did not renew in the current year, this could present a problem. Patty Kahn suggested a direct link to the membership directory of each state. John Stey advised that MaHSLIN does not have a membership directory.

Action: The Board recommends that Lida create links to the state association membership directories.

Finance

Discussion: Marj reports the Finance Committee has not met. Marj has a NAHSL credit card to use for specific special payments related to conferences. Marj will have control of the credit card, and make payments as requested; she will present policies and procedures for use of the credit card at the next Executive Board meeting (June 8, 2001).

The Board discussed accepting credit card payments for conference registrations; it was decided that this is a complex issue, and will be put on hold until the RML hires a Technology Coordinator.

Action: For informational purposes.

Government Relations

Discussion: Barb Ingrassia reported she has been monitoring developments with UCITA. Librarians around the nation are trying to combat it; it was voted down in RI and is coming up for discussion in Maine. See www.ala.org/washoff/ucita for more information. Barb will also be monitoring the March 7 update on the Copyright Act to cover distance education (introduced by Hatch and Leahy).

Action: For informational purposes.

Marketing

Discussion: Len Levin is trying to recruit someone from his committee to move into the Chair position, since he has accepted the Conference Chair 2003 position. The Committee is currently working on becoming more visible to non-NAHSL members.

Action: For informational purposes.

Membership

Discussion: Jeanene Light sent report to Mary Ann: as of mid-March, 143 NAHSL members have renewed for 2001. Patty Kahn noted that only paid members are now listed in the website directory, and it is frustrating when trying to find someone who has not yet renewed their membership.

Membership (cont.)

Ed reported that he is trying to make things as easy as possible for Lida to keep the web-based directory up-to-date. Janet Crager asked about payment for the NAHSL Spring CE; implications of late renewals may occur if “members” have not paid their renewal at the time of registering for the Spring CE.

Action: The Board directed Janet to check with Jeanene about membership status after April 1 (when accepting registrations for the NAHSL Spring CE).

Newsletter

Discussion: No report.

Nominating Committee

Discussion: Patty reported that the Slate is almost complete. Len Levin has agreed to be Conference Chair Elect for Conference 2003, Janie Kaplan will be Chapter Council Rep, Debbie Sibley has agreed to be Chapter Council Alternate, and Kenny Marone will be our candidate to the MLA Nominating Committee. Patty is recruiting for the NAHSL Chair position, since Karen Odato wants to return to the Education Committee following her Conference Chair 2002 role, rather than become NAHSL Chair; Karen will also try to find someone to fill the NAHSL Chair position. The Nominating Committe has not looked beyond NH/VT as yet, but may have to fill this position.

Action: The Board voted to accept the report of the Nominating Committee.

Program

Discussion: John Stey reported that the NAHSL 2001 Program Committee has confirmed Richard Lucier from Dartmouth as a keynote speaker and Arnold Hirshon of Nelinet as another Monday morning speaker. There will be additional speakers on Monday afternoon. Tuesday morning will feature Dr. Kristen Zarfos, the physician who worked with Evelyn Breck-Morgen on the drive-through mastectomy legislation. Tuesday morning will also include the usual business meeting at breakfast; Carla Funk will do the MLA update. Angela Ruffin may come to do the NLM update.

Action: For informational purposes.

Scholarship

Discussion: Mary Ann reported for Kathy: proposed changes in the Scholarship criterion #2, “Eligibility for Scholarship” were submitted by Kathy to the Board at this time. Lengthy discussion on how the Board can judge the motives of scholarship applicants (are members requesting scholarships and also being reimbursed by their institutions for the same expenses?) took place.

Action: The Board will table this subject to the next meeting.

IFLA

Discussion: See President’s Report.

MLA Credentialing

Discussion: Joan Yanicke sent no report.

MLA Membership

Discussion: No report.

RML

Discussion: Spring Outreach RFP was posted to the listserv on March 15. Proposals are due on April 30, contrary to what the Sounding Line newsletter stated. Deena Acton of NLM Collection Access Services will participate in the Annual ILL/Document Delivery meeting on April 19 at the Publick House in Sturbridge, MA. The RAC meeting will be conducted on April 20at the Publick House. The NER staff are planning on attending the Spring consortia meetings, and the RML Directors’

RML (cont.)

Meeting and MLA. NAHSL will be billed for our share of the April 19 ILL meeting (approximately $600) and for the annual fee for the domain name.

The RML sent invitations to over 100 Resource Libraries outside Regions 1 & 8 to join EFTS; the

AHA was the first to respond by opening an account, but there hasn’t been much response from others, to date. John and Ed would like for us to encourage Resource Libraries we may do business with to join. The RML is not waiting for NLM to promote EFTS, and are taking the initiative and planning for a larger volume of EFTS; the inter-regional piece is now operational - if Regions 1 & 8 want to borrow with the TALON region, it is now possible to bill through EFTS, starting with April’s run. Ed will notify everyone through the listserv and upgrade the EFTS group on the SERHOLD search and on the NN/LM-NER website. John reported that the NER is also thinking about a web-based version of EFTS.

Ed was recently in Omaha talking to the Region 4 group about EFTS at their ILL Committee meeting. Region 4 includes Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, etc. John Stey will also be visiting Region 4 to address the Resource Library Directors and participate in their RAC meeting later this month.

John will be attending the Public Health Conference to be held at NLM on April 4 & 5. Representatives from outreach subcontracts having a public health focus are invited to attend.

Nancy Putnam has resigned; she had a baby girl (Kelsi Lynn) on Tuesday, February 27. Both mom and baby are doing fine. The NN/LM-NER will recruit for her Outreach Coordinator position as well as the Technology Coordinator position.

The DOCLINE Sunrise Session at MLA will begin at 7am instead of 7:30am. The NLM update will be 4pm on Monday.

No news as yet on the RML contract renewal.

State Reports

ARIHSL Kim sent report to Mary Ann: Upcoming meeting March 21 at Landmark Medical Center. Sheila Carlson from OLIS will present a program on statewide access and other resources. They will also discuss the future of the ARIHSL website. A core group of hospital librarians have formed a Cooperation Committee to research group purchasing of electronic resources and journals, etc. They are looking for ideas from others who have done this. Contact Kim Lavoie at klavoie@IDS.NET or 401-456-2036. There is no information on Irene Lathrope’s replacement (Irene has not actually left her position).

CAHSL CORC (Cooperative Online Reference Catalog) training was provided by Amy Benson of Nelinet and attended by 17 CAHSL members. On Thursday, April 12, at the Connecticut Hospital Association in Wallingford, CT, Alberta Richetelle will give a presentation entitled The Consumer Health Library: Collections, Policy and Resources. She will outline collection development for the consumer health library/collection in terms of policy and important print and electronic resources. Arlene Freed, Hartford Hospital, will follow with a focused presentation on gerontology resources for the consumer library. The annual CAHSL dinner meeting will be held in June.

HSL NH/VT no report

HSLIC Annual membership renewals will be sent out via the HSLIC website. Notices will be sent via the listserv, and members will be responsible for printing renewal form and submitting for payment. HSLIC is interested in seeing how this will work! No date has been set for the Spring meeting.

MaHSLIN Ann Tomes announced that MaHSLIN will be looking to see if they can add a Membership Directory to their website. The annual meeting will be held in April.

Old Business

Nominating Committee

The question of the Nominating Committee becoming a standing committee will be tabled until the June Executive Board meeting.

Budget

Marj reminded Committee Chairs that travel to Board meetings is covered by the Board budget, not by each committee budget. Marj has figures from Chairs, and will be adjusting the travel monies into the proper account and compiling the final budget for presentation at the next Board meeting. Budget will be approximately $50,000, including the Conference.

New Business

Goals

1. Finance: investigate credit card billing for conference. Preliminary investigation has been done, but will be put on hold until a Technology Coordinator is available at the RML.

2. IFLA: we have submitted a donation and some NAHSL members have volunteered to assist at functions during the Conference. This goal will be considered accomplished.

3. Committe Structure: a review of committee structures will be tabled to another meeting when more committee chairs are present.

4. Conference organization & structure: lengthy discussion about the size of Rhode Island and problems with organizing a conference. The Board will revisit this at a later meeting.

5. Timeline Calendar: Each Chair to develop a timeline calendar of key events throughout the year, and submit to Mary Ann via email by the next Board meeting (June 8).

6. Web Membership List: preliminary investigation has been done on posting the membership list onto the web directly from the Access database - this goal will be tabled until a Technology Coordinator is available at the RML.

Other Business

E-payment: Mark Gentry has not reported to the Board re: options he has looked into.

Website: The cost to register the NAHSL URL (www.nahsl.org) was $75 for the first two years, then $35 each year thereafter. The Domain Name was registered and the Apache Web Server was configured to handle the change. There may still be some issues with the Virtual Host configuration, and problems should be sent to Ed Donnald. There was an attempt to put up a redirect page for http://nnlmner.uchc.edu.nahsl but it was unsuccessful.

Membership List

The Technology Coordinator of the PNR was contacted to see if he could assist the NER in setting up the NAHSL membership with a few basic queries (membership on the website). It was then discovered that it is against the NN/LM policy to support MLA subchapters. This is understandable as that would be a drain on resources. This means that at this point, the best we can do is maintain a static web page. Ed talked with Lida and made a few suggestions on how to make updating a bit easier. The ability to have a database mounted on the NN/LM-NER server will remain on the agenda as future opportunities can be identified.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:52 p.m. - the next meeting scheduled for Friday, June 8, 2001 at the Lamar Soutter Library (UMASS Medical Center).

Submitted by: Happy Copley for Kathy Brunjes

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Brunjes, Secretary