Society of Georgia Archivists
Board of Directors' Meeting
Mercer University Library
28 April 2006

PRESENT:

Valerie Frey, Christine de Catanzaro, Michael Nagy, Tamara Livingston, Taronda Spencer, Greta Browning, Jill Severn, Sheila McAlister, Reagan Grimsley, Sybil McNeil, Mandi Johnson.

CALL TO ORDER:

President Valerie Frey called the meeting to order at 10:18 am.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

The minutes had been distributed by email prior to the meeting. The Board approved the minutes unanimously.

OFFICERS' REPORTS

Treasurer:

Treasurer Elizabeth Barr was not present but submitted a written report. Barr’s report includes the actions she took to prevent future unnecessary bank fees against SGA accounts. It was noted that the Newsletter does not need postage money; that can be removed from the budget. Reagan Grimsley noted that the microfilming of Provenance will not happen this year. He will email Barr and request that it be removed from the budget.

Archivist:

Archivist Michael Nagy was present and submitted a written report. Nagy reported that he has received no reference requests since the last Board meeting. He also reported that despite a minor accident at his home, none of the SGA records were damaged.

Administrative Assistant:

Administrative Assistant Sybil McNeil was present and submitted a written report. McNeil reported that although the membership numbers have increased since the last Board meeting, membership is still lower than this time last year.

President:

President Valerie Frey reported that she has updated the SGA entry in the GHRAB Directory. Frey has also written letters of support for the NHPRC and the new archival program at Clayton State University. In addition, Frey discussed the microfilming of Provenance with Reagan Grimsley and Susan Hoffius and is investigating nominees for the SGA President’s Award.

PUBLICATIONS REPORTS

Provenance:

Editor Reagan Grimsley was present and submitted a written report. Grimsley reported that some formatting issues delayed the printing of the 2005 issue of Provenance, but it should be out by early June. Grimsley stated that his goal is to have the yearly issue out before the Annual Meeting each year.

Reagan Grimsley reported that five editors’ terms expired in February and noted that the terms need to be adjusted so only three editors’ terms expire at once. He is working to recruit a new editorial board and there will be a shortened term to correct the cycle.

He stated that microfilming of Provenance will not happen until next year. This will allow for a ten year run of the journal to be filmed and indexed, instead of two sets of five years.

Newsletter

Editor Greta Browning was present and submitted a written report. Browning reported that the Spring issue is out. Columnists are needed for two Newsletter features. Browning noted that the deadlines have been changed, they are now 01 March, 01 June, 01 September, and 15 November. These deadlines are closer to the time of publication to allow for more timely information.

Valerie Frey noted that she does not know of anyone to replace Browning as editor, so please let her know of any possibilities.

Website:

Website Editor Pam Coleman Nye was not present but did submit a written report. It was reported that Nye is stepping back from her position as Website Editor. The Board extended its thanks and appreciation to Nye for her years of service and work on the website. Sheila McAlister has agreed to serve the remainder of the term. McAlister was approved unanimously by the Board. McAlister said that she has made some updates to the site and will be making more.

Sybil McNeil stated that she would send a renewal form to go on the web. Mandi Johnson will send an electronic version of the approved minutes to be posted online.

Listserv:

Listserv Manager Nora Galler was present and submitted a written report. Galler reported that she has updated the general SGA listserv and the Board-only listserv. She asked to be notified if anyone is not on the listservs that should be.

Sheila McAlister reported that Abby Adams, at UGA, will be helping/shadowing her with the SGA web work. The idea is that Adams will be able to serve as the Website Editor next.

Subscriptions Manager:

This report was inadvertently skipped during the meeting. Subscriptions Manager Jody Thompson was not present, however she did submit a written report.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Archives Week Liaison:

Archives Week Co-Chairs Christine de Catanzaro and Sheila McAlister were both present and submitted a joint written report. They reported that the committee met on 03 February and will meet on 12 May. There has been discussion about having an Archives Month next year. Pros include more time and more exhibit opportunities; however, it might cause the event to be less focused.

It was noted that there is good representation of different regions and institutions and there are already two volunteers to co-chair next year’s event.

Education Committee:

Education Committee Chair Christine de Catanzaro was present and submitted a written report. Reporting on the Spring Workshop, she noted that after 14 May, the registration cost will increase. De Catanzaro also reported that Georgia Tech is providing the room for the workshop and the photocopies; SGA is providing food and coffee for the participants and $100 SGA member rebates. Of the fifteen spots available, twelve are filled.

Christine de Catanzaro stated that they found a good location at Spelman for the Pre-Conference Workshop. The topic will be oral history. This choice was based on previous year’s feedback and it fits in well with the Annual Meeting topics.

Membership:

Membership Committee Chair Jill Severn was present and submitted a written report. Severn reported that the Membership Committee has decided to try for monthly updates to the online membership directory. She also stated that they would like to have a laptop at the Annual Meeting so that as soon as a people renew, they can check their listings.

Severn also reported that the Committee would like to do a survey to find out why some people in the archival world do not belong to SGA. They plan to complete this survey over the summer and then report the findings at the Annual Meeting. Valerie Frey asked if the survey would be general enough to give to records managers. Severn responded that it would be best to survey SGA members and that group first and focus on those needs and wants. Then a survey can be given to a larger group outside SGA.

Scholarship:

Scholarship Committee Chair Gilbert Head was not present but did submit a written report. Valerie Frey noted that Head is doing a great job as Scholarship Committee chair. There was mention of an online auction; someone asked if the regular auction would be shorter if there was an online or silent auction. Tamara Livingston suggested having a shorter auction at the beginning of the reception to allow more time for socializing. Sheila McAliter noted that the hardest part is at the end of the auction will everyone needs to pay, but the reception spaces needs to be vacated as well. Frey stated that she feels the scholarship money is healthy enough to experiment with some of these options, even if not as much money is raised. She will speak to Gil Head about this discussion.

Nominating:

Nominating Committee Chair Sheila McAlister was present and submitted a written report. McAlister reported that there will be an article for the next newsletter and that a call for nominations will go out on the listserv.

2006 Annual Meeting:

Second Year Director Taronda Spencer was present and submitted a written report. Spencer reported that the Annual Meeting and Local Arrangements committees met in March. They checked out Spelman and two possible hotels–the Holiday Inn Select and the Castleberry Inn. Spencer reported that there will be no contracts or costs to use Spelman, however, we are required to use their caterer and we must have an AV technician for which there is a charge.

Christine de Catanzaro asked if the AV person is also hired for the pre-conference workshop, does that fall under the Education budget or the Annual Meeting budget. No one knew the answer. Valerie Frey asked if Taronda Spencer could have a draft budget available by the end of May; Spencer replied that she would.

It was noted that there will be some walking between buildings and there is a $3/day parking fee, however SGA does have a few comp spaces for both days.

Taronda Spencer reported that the Woodruff Library Center volunteered to host the auction and reception, but SGA will need to rent tables and chairs. However, the Woodruff also said that they will give some money for the reception, but the amount is unknown at this time. The Woodruff Library Center will also have tours of the facility.

The Board was in agreement that there is no point in signing a housing contract with the Holiday Inn. Since so many people do not stay in hotels when the meeting is in Atlanta, SGA would probably have to pay if a contract was signed. However, Taronda Spencer will reserve three suites at the hotel.

First Year Director Tamara Livingston was present and submitted a written report. Livingston reported that the committee has done a lot of work already. Dr. Gloria Wade Gayles of Spelman is a possible keynote speaker.

Tamara Livingston reported that there may be an honorarium issue with Dennis Meissner. Elizabeth Keathley, who is on the committee, thinks that his honorarium should come from the Education Fund because his topic is so educational for the entire membership. However, the Board members did not see a reason for this, particularly since the amount of his honorarium and fees is not known yet. It was noted that other speakers who were educational or high profile have spoken at SGA meetings and were paid out of the regular Annual Meeting budget. It was also noted that the registration fees can help cover higher travel costs; vendor fees or donations may also be able to help.

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There was then a short break. 11:56-12:07

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OLD BUSINESS

Link Checking Software:

Sheila McAlister reported that she has already started checking the links.

Board Minutes on the Web:

It was noted that the most recently approved Board minutes have been posted on the website to make them available to members.

Approval of New Annual Meeting Handbook:

Taronda Spencer reported that there has been no progress on this. Valerie Frey suggested that since it was in draft form, the Annual Meeting Committee use it as a guideline this year and see what works and what does not. Any updates or changes can be made and then it can be approved after this year’s Annual Meeting.

Progress on SGA Disaster Preparedness Committee:

Valerie Frey reported that the first meeting was held 01 March. There were nine people at the meeting and there are sixteen on the committee. Frey noted that the committee is made up mostly of people from Atlanta and North Georgia. She typed up the minutes from the meeting and emailed them to people in the under-represented areas.

Frey reported that one more archivist from Savannah has joined and one records manager from South Georgia. The committee does not want to duplicate existing efforts, however they do want to have a cohesive network. The Georgia Archives created a pamphlet about disaster planning and has offered to be a storage bank for other institutions’ disaster plans. Frey stated that she would email the meeting minutes to the SGA Board.

New Georgia Encyclopedia SGA Article:

It was reported that Pam Hackbart-Dean is writing the article and will finish it despite the fact that she is moving out of state.

Newsletter Format:

The possibility of changing the format of the Newsletter from PDF to web will be dropped because the Editor Greta Browning is leaving and she wants to let the new editor be in on that decision. It was also noted that PDF is easier to archive, cite, and index.

Updating SGA By-Laws with the State:

It was reported that the Secretary of State only keeps Articles of Incorporation (which are very skeletal), not By-Laws. This means that nothing needs to be updated with the SOS. Reagan Grimsley asked about SGA’s federal status. No one was sure; Valerie Frey will see if anything needs to be updated federally.

GHRAB Award:

The Archives Week Committee is in the process of nominating Walter Hopkins for a GHRAB award; it was reported that the nomination will be turned in by the deadline.

Committee for Handbook and By-Laws Harmonization:

Sheila McAlister reported that she will be working on this and will be contacting some people to form this committee. She also stated that she needs to talk with Valerie Frey to determine exactly what needs to happen. She stated that this is in progress, but moving slowly.

NEW BUSINESS

Lunch for First Board Meeting of Year:

Valerie Frey proposed that SGA provide lunch for the Board members at the first meeting of the year because there are so many people, with so many topics to get through, that the meeting usually runs long past lunchtime. Frey checked the costs at several different vendors and found that a decent lunch can be provided for under $150. Taronda Spencer motioned that $150, under the SGA Administration budget, be earmarked for providing lunch at the first Board meeting of the year. Tamara Livingston seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Membership Committee Subcommittee:

Jill Severn stated that she would like to form a Membership Committee subcommittee to study moving the membership directory from PDF to dynamic HTML. Severn stated that it would be good to be able to make small changes quickly and easily, but the effects of the workflow of the Administrative Assistant, Website Editor, etc. also need to be considered. The subcommittee would investigate technology and workflow concerns. Severn noted that the change probably would not be in place until 2008.

Severn has written up a proposal of what she thinks the changes would entail and the following results. Reagan Grimsley pointed out that dynamic HTML would be a time-saver down the road, even though there would be lots of initial work. Mandi Johnson asked about the previous discussions that the directory would be used as a "carrot" for renewal. Jill Severn stated that this is not a strong incentive since the information is generally available through the internet.

Provenance Board of Editors:

Reagan Grimsley presented his choices to replace outgoing Provenance editors. Grimsley reported that he considered the audience for the journal, which is not just Georgia or the South. For instance, the Northeast does not have an archival journal at all. This rationale affects his choices for replacements. Valerie Frey put the slate to a vote and it was unanimously approved.

New SGA Newsletter Editor:

Valerie Frey sent a message to the SGA Listserv stating that, because current Editor Greta Browning was moving out-of-state, SGA needed a new Newsletter Editor. She asked for volunteers or names of people who may be interested. However, Frey stated that she did not receive any responses. The Board brainstormed and came up with several names for Frey to contact.

Online Election System:

Sheila McAlister reported that she was involved with the SAA section that went to e-voting. She reported they had significantly greater returns and she would like SGA to move to electronic voting as well. McAlister stated that this would be a service SGA would need to pay for. A service like Survey Monkey would cost about $60 for two months. Having a service like this would allow higher functions such as permitting only one vote per person, sending reminders, and the like.

Sheila McAlister stated that e-voting would eliminate much of the time factors involved with SGA’s traditional voting, this would allow more time to construct a ballot which is good because it is difficult to get people to volunteer. She noted that those members without email would receive the information and ballots by fax or US mail.

Reagan Grimsley asked if this was a special skill set that would hinder new people from taking this job, but McAlister replied that it was very easy and did not require any special technical knowledge. The ability of archiving the results or the ballots was also discussed. It was noted that SGA has been inconsistent with archiving the actual ballots. It was stated that the results could be archived. There was also a question about anonymity. It was noted that the person collecting the e-votes could find out which votes came from where, but it was also noted that SGA officers are already charged with a certain amount of private information about members such as bounced checks, non-renewals, etc.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

SAA sent a thank you letter to SGA for the money donated to their Hurricane Katrina fund. Valerie Frey read the letter and stated that she will send it either to the Listserv or the Newsletter.

Frey reported that although Rebecca Roberts is interested in the Administrative Assistant position, she was unable to be here today because her father has been diagnosed with cancer.

ADJOURNMENT

There be no other business, Sheila McAlister moved to adjourn at 12:56 pm. Tamara Livingston seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned.