Society of Georgia Archivists
Executive Board Meeting
Jack Tarver Library, Mercer University
26 July 2007

PRESENT:

Jill Severn, Elizabeth Russey, Tamara Livingston, Valerie Frey, Jody Lloyd Thompson, Abby Adams Griner, Morna Gerrard, Christine de Catanzaro

10:17 AM -- Called to order by President Jill Severn Russey moved to approve previous meeting minutes. Gerrard seconded the motion.

OFFICERS' REPORTS

Treasurer:

Elizabeth Barr was not present. The budget was examined and there were no questions.

Archivist:

Muriel Jackson was not present. Her report was examined and there were no questions.

Administrative Assistant:

Frances Overcash was not present. Severn remarked that the current membership level seems reasonable.

President:

Severn discussed her plans to expand collaboration between SGA and organizations with similar goals. She is also working on various Provenance issues. She attended the Georgia Archives Institute reception to represent SGA and received a plaque. At the reception, both Brenda Banks and Severn encouraged new archivists to join.

PUBLICATIONS REPORTS

Provenance:

Reagan Grimsley was not present. Severn stated that she would work with Grimsley on various issues via phone and e-mail.

Newsletter

Renna Tuten was not able to be present as UGA is somewhat short- staffed at the moment.

Website:

Gerrard noted that there is a problem with the membership application online and Griner replied she would work on this. Griner reported that there were many new job postings. If there are any issues with the directory, please let her or Gerrard know. The statistics have been steady and as expected. Griner is beginning work on a survey for members concerning the website.

Listserv:

Nora Lewis was not present. Severn noted there has been a great deal of spamming (which involves both web site and listserv). Griner said that they have pretty much done what they could to prevent this. There was a discussion about having a single address for SGA officers with one person (perhaps administrative assistant) to distribute genuine messages. Griner (Webmaster) and Thompson (Subscriptions Manager) said they would prefer to keep theirs as they do get many legitimate messages. The issue was tabled for the present.

Subscriptions Manager:

There have been no recent claims. Thompson noted this was the first time this had happened. There are 67 subscribers.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Georgia Archives Month:

Sara Saunders was not present. The GAM report was examined. There were no questions.

Education Committee:

De Catanzaro brought up-to-date figures to the meeting. The workshop went well last week. Expenditures and income were less than usual but funds ended up as planned. De Catanzaro suggests increasing the budget for education next year. She felt they were very lucky to get their speaker for a low cost and feels this won’t continue.

They are working on a digitization workshop for the annual meeting. Sheila McAlister and Toby Brown will be the speakers with a flat fee of $400. Reagan Grimsley has done a great job helping to find reasonable meeting space.

The committee will get together soon to plan short workshops for the beginning of 2008. Then the new committee can jump into work easily. Suzanne Graham of UGA was discussed as someone to do a workshop. De Catanzaro mentioned that she and Luciana Spracher have been discussing the possibility of a combined education/scholarship project possibly to provide funds to send people to workshops. This issue was discussed later in the meeting.

Membership:

Morna Gerrard reported that Frances Overcash and the committee are working on creating a survey for expired members to determine why they have not renewed.

The directory is up and running. A few updates have gone to the Web Master. Gerrard and Griner have discussed changing the web interface so that members could update their own data. They are in the process of learning more and have talked to a webmaster at Georgia State University named Doug (contacted through Morna Gerrard).

Gerrard brought a mock-up of the new SGA brochure. It is currently a PDF file but will be printed. The lowest bid was $325.19 for glossy or matte. Severn asked for price difference between 500 and 1,000 brochures as she pointed out that more brochures would mean we could be more generous passing them out. Gerrard will find out the prices and send them to the board. There was a brief discussion on matte or glossy and it was decided to go with matte. Severn moved to approve the text. Tamara Livingston seconded. It was approved with the understanding that there would be an addition of the workshop scholarship information.

Gerrard reported that Renna Tuten created a list of groups that should be targeted for promoting membership.

Several people showed up for the first after-work SLA/SGA social. The next one is on August 9 at Après Diem in Atlanta from 6-8. This information will go into the newsletter.

Friday, Aug. 31, 12:30-1:30 are SAA office hours this year. Severn noted that this was a good, productive time. SGA Happy Hour will be at the hotel bar. There is a conflicting happy hour on Thursday night and the next night is an SAA awards ceremony. Gerrard therefore recommended 6:00-7:00 on Friday. Russey feared that not many people would come, but Gerrard said there really isn’t another good time. Russey wondered if Wednesday night would be better, but there were objections due to roundtable meetings and fitting dinner in. Russey said next year we should think about SAA in January and get a time slot during the school mixers.

Gerrard polled her staff members to ask what sort of membership promotion giveaway would be preferred – keychain, pencil, pen, etc. Gerrard asked for additional ideas. The SGA Board gravitated to the idea of a mechanical pencil. Gerrard asked what words should be on a giveaway and it was decided that the full name of organization and web address would be best. Gerrard noted that it is difficult to produce less than 250 items per order, but it was discussed that extras might go into the goody bags at the annual meeting. The price per item goes down with a larger order, but only slightly.

Scholarship:

Luciana Spracher was not present. There was no discussion, but scholarship matters were covered under New Business.

Nominating:

Valerie Frey reported progress towards the 2007 elections including publicity and contact with the Nominating Committee. Severn mentioned that updating the e-mail list on SurveyMonkey is a necessary first step. Gerrard can provide a list.

2007 Annual Meeting:

Tamara Livingston noted that Reagan Grimsley is working on hotel reservations. Costs are higher this year, as was predicted. A list of places to see will be provided rather than a tour since many spots will be within walking distance.

Vendors and sponsors have been invited to contribute. Hollinger has already offered, as has Metal Edge. Walter Hopkins is only going to fund a poster. De Catanzaro mentioned that Walter Hopkins, Senior is a much stronger supporter than Walter Hopkins, Junior. Livingston will call Walter Hopkins, Sr. Severn suggested Munters Moisture Control. Livingston may also look at SAA sponsors. Russey suggested seeking sponsors from library schools – Auburn, Valdosta, University of Tennessee--Knoxville, etc. Gerrard will send a list that Renna Tuten put together. The Chattahoochee Library System has contributed.

According to the timeline, all seems well underway for the annual meeting.

Russey spoke about programs for the annual meeting. They need board members to serve as moderators. All is currently under budget for travel with thanks to the support of some of the speakers’ institutions. Deborah Davis will be doing a presentation to support the new library program at Valdosta.

There is a new reimbursement form that the Board informally approved. De Catanzaro noted that the form would be helpful for the Education Committee and others.

Publicity still needs to be done. Russey suggested a printed brochure for the annual meeting but notes that we will have to hire a graphic designer. Russey will find some costs and report back to the Board. Jill noted that it would be good to do this earlier next year so the brochure can be given away at SAA.

There was some discussion about ideas for 2008. Russey felt it would be best to ask for program proposals early. As for sites, the Atlanta History Center is a possibility. Emory is too expensive. UGA is a possibility.

Russey moved the discussion of sites to the topic of southern sites for 2009 and stated she worried SGA may focus too much on Atlanta area institutions and members. She wants to encourage members south of Macon. Several board members noted that Columbus was selected as the site for this year specifically to satisfy non-Atlanta members and to be geographically diverse. It was also discussed that there are not many archival institutions outside of Atlanta, Athens, and the coast. Severn suggested a survey to determine which areas/sites the membership would prefer and if members feel that South Georgia is being neglected. Severn further stated that Valdosta or Americus might be good places. Savannah and Jekyll Island were given as popular sites that members may wish to return to for the annual meeting. Sapelo Island was an idea to encourage membership in the south and to encourage Florida archivists to come to the annual meeting. Russey stressed that better speakers will mean a better draw.
Returning to the discussion of ideas for 2008 in the Atlanta area, Kennesaw was suggested as was UGA. Severn noted that the Center for Continuing Education at UGA might be expensive but that the Student Learning Center is a possibility, although it will be busy with student needs during November.

Russey said the program committee had the idea of offering a cash prize for a paper that would then be presented at the annual meeting. It would be advertised to graduate students. Severn noted prize money should be less than Gracy Award. Frey noted that GHRAB targeted a few professors to send nominations for their awards at first, and then it gained momentum so that nominations were coming from a wide group; this might be a good strategy for finding the first few competitors for a SGA cash prize. Severn suggested publishing the papers on the SGA website. There could possibly be publication in Provenance. Russey is going to speak with Grimsley and then create a formal proposal to the Board. Severn suggested the Provenance board might serve as judges for the prize.

Severn called a break time at 11:30.

OLD BUSINESS (reconvened at 11:48)

SGA Minutes/Handbook/Bylaw Reconciliation Project – Frey reported that Sheila McAlister (2005 president) has most of the information about this. Severn will follow up with McAlister.

Providing Back Issues of Provenance – EBSCO and ABC-CLIO have been taken care of in terms of access needs. There is still a problem with the 2006 issue as the extra copies were lost by a shipping company. Grimsley got a quote for reprinting 50 additional copies.

Print-on-demand is also a possibility as long as the result is high quality. Thompson is looking into this. The 2000 issue and all forward issues will be digitized by EBSCO. Grimsley is investigating what has been microfilmed. Severn said we may be able to get copies of the microfilm to sell. As Grimsley is not present, Severn suggested tabling the issues until Thompson, Severn and Grimsley can meet and report via e-mail.

SGA Disaster Preparedness Committee – Work on a second draft of the updated Shelter from the Stormy Blast preservation guide is due at the beginning of August. The committee is pleased with the results thus far and feel the guide will be finished by the end of the year.

The Train the Trainers program headed up by Christine Wiseman and Tina Mason Seetoo will probably be absorbed into their other work with disaster preparedness for state institutions.

NEW BUSINESS:

SGA Workshop Scholarship:

De Catanzaro said the SurveyMonkey results indicated people would be interested in a scholarship for workshop attendance. She noted this dovetailed with Russey’s suggestion for a paper presentation award to indicate there is interest in supporting new members and students. She referred to the proposal that was e-mailed to all board members prior to the meeting. Livingston had a question about the support coming from the auction. It was decided that discussion with the treasurer was necessary to determine if there is enough money to provide support for a workshop scholarship as well as the existing scholarships. Frey pointed out that there is not a quorum at the present meeting for a vote, and Severn said that voting can be done later via e-mail. Severn and Frey both discussed that naming the scholarship after a vendor may be problematic. Severn further said that opening the discussion about the honoree to the membership may be helpful. Russey said that she felt money held in the SGA accounts should be used rather than simply sit in the bank. Severn pointed out there are some additional funds needed for microfilming, the possibility of hiring editing services for Provenance, and a few other projects. The treasurer will be questioned about past auction funds, possibly via conference call, and the committee heads will report back. Severn thanked the two committees for their hard work and new ideas.

Severn asked if there were any budget or other concerns. None were voiced.

A motion to adjourn was made by Gerrard and seconded by Severn. The meeting ended at 12:20 PM