NAHSL Executive Board Meeting

RML Office, Rose and Gordon Bldg

Shrewsbury, MA

December 7, 2001

Present: Marj Anderson, William Anger, Kathy Brunjes, Happy Copley, Ed Donnald, Marybeth Edwards, Carole Foxman, Jeannine Gluck, Peter Jones, Patty Kahn, Jill Livingston, Debbie Sibley, Mary Ann Slocomb, Joan Yanicke

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

Announcements/Chair’s Report

Ed welcomed everyone to the meeting and extended Holiday wishes.

The MLA annual Chapter report will be due shortly.

Ed read a thank you letter sent from James G. Neal, Chair, Fund Development (IFLA organizers); the thank you was for financial support of the Fellowship Project at the IFLA 2001 Conference.

Minutes/Secretary’s Report

Action: Minutes of the October 15, 2001 Board meeting were accepted as submitted.

Action: Kathy distributed NAHSL stationery to new Board members.

Treasurer’s Report

Discussion: Marj distributed the Treasurer’s Report, dated December 7, 2001, and asked Board members to make corrections to the Money Market amount (should read $48,954.72 rather than $48,000) and under the “To be paid” line, Hotel bill should read $21,669.29 (rather than $22,000) and a Caterer line should be included for $6,448.42.

Conference 2001 should produce approximately $16,800 profit (income totaled $60,500 and bills totaled $43,700). NAHSL topped $20,000 for sponsorships this year.

Action: The Board approved the Treasurer’s report as presented, with corrections noted.

Committee Reports

Archives

Discussion: Carole reminded the Board that the electronic archives are called “E-Archives” on the NAHSL website.

Patty reported that she is still receiving email notifications from the Depository, and asked Carole to contact the Depository to remove her from their notification list. Marj informed the Board that she has paid the Depository bill up to the end of NAHSL’s fiscal year (June), rather than paying on a monthly basis.

Ed brought photos taken at the NAHSL 2001 Conference; the photos will be given to Carole to place in the Archives, once Ed has labeled them.

Action: For informational purposes.

Bylaws

Discussion: Patty had no report.

Chapter Council

Discussion: Janie Kaplan not present; Debbie Sibley, alternate, reported that MLA has requested ideas for CE courses to offer in 2003 (at MLA in San Diego). Topics for the Chapter Council Round Table sessions are in the planning phase for MLA 2002. The Chapter Council Chair is in the process of writing the annual report.

Action: None.

Conference ‘02

Discussion: Karen Odato not present but sent a report via email to Ed: the Conference 2002 Committee is hard at work on the Conference budget and will forward to Ed by the end of December. The program is coming together, with commitments from many of the presenters; the Committee is still looking for a speaker to review and compare clinical resources (i.e.: Up-To-Date, Cliniguide, etc.) and someone to talk for 45 minutes on Prospero/Ariel/Ilead. Two of the presenters are also possible CE instructors. A more detailed overview of the proposed program is attached to these minutes.

Action: For informational purposes.

Discussion: Mary Ann and Ed discussed the need for the Board to vote by March on the budget for Conference 2002; Ed will let Karen know.

Discussion: The Board briefly discussed the NAHSL Chair position, following Conference 2002, and how to proceed if Karen will not accept the position; the Board agreed that it is now up to Karen to either step into the position following the Conference, or provide the Board with an alternate.

Conference ‘03

Discussion: Len Levin not present; Ed read report that Len emailed to him. The Conference 2003 Planning Committee, along with their conference planner, is in contract negotiations with the Sturbridge Host for October 26-28, 2003. A full conference committee is in place: Len Levin as Chair, Anne Fladger as Program, Margo Coletti as Exhibits, Debbie Sibley as Local Arrangements/Hospitality, Susan Lieberthal as Publicity/Web Page, Pat Vigorito as Registration, Melinda Safer and Anita Loscalzo as Scholarship, and Ann Tomes as Sponsorship.

Action: For informational purposes.

Education

Discussion: Jeannine reported that there is no representative from Massachusetts on the Education Committee and asked the Board for assistance in finding someone. The Board discussed if there was a NAHSL Bylaw concerning the Education Committee representation and rotation of membership; Debbie thought that the manual states four members; Jeannine responded that representation is an unwritten procedure.

Action: Debbie will pursue finding someone from Massachusetts to sit on the Education Committee. Debbie and Jeannine will review the policy and procedure manual and Jeannine will make revisions, if needed, to reflect what is actually taking place (membership and structure of the Committee).

Discussion: Jeannine discussed Spring CE and the possibility of NAHSL hosting a session on bio-terrorism resources. Resources could include clinical, NLM, CDC and military. Debbie volunteered to help find a site in Worcester to hold this session.

Action: Jeannine will pursue an all day Spring CE on bio-terrorism resources, to be held in late March, and will email the Board with costs, possible presenters, etc.

Discussion: The Board discussed subsidizing versus charging a registration fee for the Spring CE. Again, Jeannine will look into costs and report back to the Board. Jeannine also discussed the Fall CE schedule (NAHSL Conference 2002) and stated that the Committee is looking into a pulmonary topic in follow-up to the cardiology course offered at NAHSL 2001 Conference, obtaining the same speaker. Jeannine will teach the CE on promoting library services to Administrators, and reviewed Karen Odato’s email report (see Conference 2002 discussion, above). A consumer health CE in memory of Cecilia Durkin will be offered during Conference 2002.

Action: For informational purposes.

Electronic Communication

Discussion: Lida Douglas not present; Marj reminded the Board that PayPal is operational.

Action: Mary Ann and Ed will email Lida about updating the Executive Board list for the website.

Finance

Discussion: Marj reported that the Finance Committee has not met since October.

Action: No action required.

Government Relations

Discussion: Barb Ingrassia not present; Mary Ann read report from Barb. Barb reiterated that her primary focus since NAHSL 2001 has been forwarding relevant budget and filtering news to the NAHSL Board and membership.

Action: For informational purposes.

Marketing

Discussion: Jill reported that the Committee is down to two members and they are “recruiting”; the Committee would like to have four members.

Discussion: Jill reported that the “Marketing Top Ten Tips”, which had been submitted as an MLA Majors Award project and originally rejected because it had been submitted too late, will be considered by MLA after all.

Action: For informational purposes.

Membership

Discussion: The Board welcomed Peter as the new Membership Chair. Peter asked who should be notified about name changes, change of employment, etc. (for updating the membership list online). Ed discussed the relationship between the Membership Committee and Electronic Communications.

Peter will be sending out NAHSL membership renewal notices in January, and will post on the NAHSL listserv a reminder to renew.

The Board discussed how to keep the membership list current and online rather than taking it off line until renewals have been made; the membership list is not useful by only adding names as people renew. Kathy suggested placing date of membership next to name (i.e.: Kathy Brunjes ’02) and change the date as renewals are received. Peter will investigate how best to have the membership directory available on the web.

Ed reminded Board members that PayPal takes a percentage out of the renewal fee (when someone renews membership at $30, PayPal pays NAHSL $28.83), so NAHSL does not receive full payment for membership renewals, conference registrations, etc. Marj asked Peter to send, once a month, names of people who have renewed using PayPal, since she only receives a statement with a dollar amount listed. Debbie asked if the Finance Committee would look into the whole PayPal process and decide how we should proceed with conference registrations, membership renewals, etc. (the implications of using PayPal).

Action: For informational purposes.

Nominating Committee & Awards

Discussion: Mary Ann announced that Secretary, Treasurer, Conference 2004 Chair and MLA Nominating Committee are Board positions that are open for nominations. She is actively recruiting for these positions!

Action: For informational purposes.

Program

Discussion: Donna O’Malley not present; report covered under Education section of these minutes.

Scholarship

Discussion: Nothing new since NAHSL 2001 Conference.

MLA Credentialing Report

Discussion: Joan reported no report!

MLA Membership Report

Discussion: Marybeth stated that her term expires after MLA in Dallas. Marybeth reported that the MLA website has the career brochure as a Power Point presentation.

RML

Discussion: Debbie reported that they have finished the second quarter report and are in the final throes of the first newsletter; the “NER’eastah”. Debbie completed a training tour in Maine in November, featuring MEDLINEplus and PubMed classes. Six libraries in Maine are participating in the EDD project (electronic document delivery). The RML-NER will be hosting, with UMASS Medical, a PDA conference on February 6, 2002. The RML-NER has awarded three outreach subcontracts (Yale, BU, Tufts). Site meetings have been conducted with all three. Debbie reported that there are still funding opportunities for outreach/subcontracts.

State Reports

ARIHSL Bill Anger reported that ARIHSL last met on November 28 at the Brown Faculty Club. RI is celebrating Mary Ann Slocomb’s return to the State! ARIHSL is revising bylaws, discussing ways to collect interlibrary loan statistics and appointed Bill as the NAHSL Rep. The next ARIHSL meeting will be held in March.

ARIHSL will be co-hosting (with Brown) a PDA teleconference on February 6 (at Brown).

There is an opening at Pawtucket Memorial Hospital.

CAHSL Ed Donnald and Jill Livingston reported for John Stey. The next CAHSL meeting will be held December 13. CAHSL is investigating an OVID package (140 full text journal titles from Lippincott/Williams) for a group purchase, and pursuing three licenses per title. At this stage, the package is very expensive.

HSL NH/VT Alice Reed not present. Ed reported that Alice stated there is really no report, other than UVM’s big move.

HSLIC Happy reported that the RML provided MEDLINEplus and PubMed training in Maine in November, and attended the Fall HSLIC meeting, held at Jackson Lab in Bar Harbor on November 9. Patty is still looking into a group online purchase (Northern Links project) for Maine; this has scaled down to a Maine project at this time.

MAHSLIN Debbie reported that MAHSLIN held it’s annual holiday luncheon on December 6. MAHSLIN will be hosting the PDA workshop at Children’s Hospital in Boston. MAHSLIN and the Massachusetts State Library are coordinating a disaster manual, to instruct/assist people if network “do down”; who will provide backup services for support across the State.

MASHLIN has completed a technology survey and compiling information. 90% of the needs identified in the survey are technology oriented. Spring CE will be a “Technology Day”.

The MAHSLIN annual meeting will be held the fourth Thursday in April at the Tower Hill Botanical Garden. There will be a collection development symposium; how to develop a virtual library, and how to establish interlibrary cooperation.

Marybeth reported that MAHSL is also working on a routine free faxing project, on the model of FreeShare, called “MassFax”. The basic idea behind this project is to provide free reciprocal faxing within the State.

Old Business

None.

New Business

Discussion: Ed distributed a “map” showing where Board members live/work, to determine future Board meeting sites. After much discussion, it was decided that Worcester is still the most central spot for meetings; Ed will try to schedule one meeting in either southern Maine or southern New Hampshire in June. Tentative meeting schedule:

March 1, 2002: Worcester, building TBA.

(Snow date March 15)

June 14, 2002: Maine or NH.

August 16, 2002: Worcester, building TBA.

Discussion: Marj reported that she has received a bill from MLA for liability insurance. NAHSL has not been billed for this since 1998.

Action: The Board authorized payment of this bill.

Discussion: Goals, 2002

1. Fine-tuning PayPal: getting a better understanding of PayPal process, and writing a procedure for the NAHSL manual.

2. Work on a calendar of events and codify a timeline for Board Committee functions/charges.

3. Fine tune membership list/directory; devise a way to have a running membership directory online.

4. Subsidize CE to a more substantial level, in fulfillment of our mission of supporting education.

5. Explore CAHSL’s initiative of offering 140 full-text Ovid journals online to see if this could be region-wide.

6. Revise procedures for Education Committee membership.

7. Become more proactive in NAHSL submitting a Majors Award Project.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m., the next meeting to be held in Worcester, MA on March 1, 2002.

Submitted by: Kathy Brunjes, Secretary