PRESENT: Russ Monika, Gisela Ahadi, Cindy Fedders, Barbara Halbrook, Carol Iglauer, Donna Locke, Ashley Ray, Cheryle Cann, Linda Hulbert, Maria Minowitz
The following documents were distributed to the Board:
The meeting was called to order at approximately 2:41 by President Monika.
It was moved that the minutes from the Aug. 28 board meeting be accepted as submitted. Motion was seconded and approved. It was noted by President Monika that the minutes and other official documents are available on the SLML Web Page.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
First order of business was the call from President Monika for reports from Committee Chairpeople.
Advocacy, Archives, Cooperative Collection Development, Governance, Recognition & Awards, Union List Committees had no new developments to report.
Continuing Education Committee reported that not all of the expenditures for the past year have been accounted for, the primary problem being that a speaker has not yet provided an invoice for her program. Chairperson Carol Iglauer told the board that the speaker has been contacted repeatedly via e-mail, with no results. The board agreed that a deadline of Dec. 31, 1997 should be given for receipt of the outstanding invoice, after which time it will no longer be accepted for payment.
Some discussion followed on the proper procedure for reporting incidental expenses incurred by committees. It was pointed out in the Procedure Manual that all such expenses should be coordinated with the treasurer, and there are forms available for submitting these. Committee reports need not include marginal expenditures.
There are several possibilities that are being explored for CE courses in 1998, among them a satellite MLA conference lecture, panel discussion on evidence-based medicine, and a comparison of Web search engines. The board agreed these should be topics of interest. Several local professionals were named as possible instructors/speakers, in keeping with discussions of lowering expenditures for the courses, and the board also approved going to four hour courses, versus full-day, eight-hour sessions.
The issue of CEUs was brought up, and it was decided that it would be asking a lot for local speakers to apply for the credits from MLA. It was decided that if any of the membership wanted to apply for the contact hours, they would be able to do so on an individual basis.
SLML will continue to advertise courses to the St. Louis chapter of the Special Libraries Association.
Electronic Access Committee President Monika reported that Betsy Kelly resigned from this committee, and postponed discussion for New Business.
MCMLA 97 Committee There was a round of applause from the board for the committee and the success of the meeting. Final count for those who attended was 125. Chairperson Donna Locke said that expenses for the meeting had been coming in under budget, and that a full report was being finalized. In general she reported the meeting went well. The Clayton Holiday Inn received mediocre reviews, but the reasonable cost was generally appreciated. She asked that reports be submitted to her electronically.
Membership Committee reported that renewal letters were sent out and many are using the labels that were attached to the form.
Newsletter Committee Discussion on this committee was postponed to New Business.
Program Committee reported that meeting schedule for the year is proceeding as outlined at the August board meeting.
Web Committee Discussion on this committee was postponed to New Business.
OLD BUSINESS
President Monika referred those board members in attendance to a copy of the 1997-98 Strategic Plan and read it aloud. He reported that he had received only one objective for the plan and suggested that the members complete their objectives and submit them via e-mail within a week to ensure this is accomplished. Objectives/plan will be e-mailed to board members, then posted on the Web Page. President Monika will mention to the general membership at the November 6 business meeting that these documents are available on the Web.
NEW BUSINESS
New business began with discussion of the SLML Newsletter. President Monika asked the board to begin discussion what its purpose is and does it need to continue, since no-one has stepped forward to serve as editor and there is little news for it. President Monika also pointed out that the Web Page is serving more and more as the news medium for the organization.
Discussion ensued on the perennial debate about electronic versus paper access and archiving issues. It was noted that not all members have electronic access and that paper copies would need to be made available if an electronic newsletter was initiated. It was agreed that the issue should be presented to the general membership at the November 6 business meeting for a consensus.
The next order of business was the discussion of three ad hoc committees: Web Page, List Serve and Newsletter. President Monika proposed since he was performing most of the duties associated with all three of these ad hoc committees, that they be dissolved reincarnated as a standing committee -- Communications. There was unanimous agreement on this by the board. It was moved and to dissolve the ad hoc committees and move the responsibility of Web Page, List Serve and Newsletter under the aegis of the Communications Committee, its purpose being to disseminate information of interest to the membership of the St. Louis Medical Librarians. All voted in favor of the motion, and it was carried. President Monika appointed himself chair of the new committee, since he was chair of the three dissolved ad hoc committees. He announced that he is seeking any assistance that’s offered.
Donna Locke made the board aware that the Action Plans and proposed budgets were due in September. Committee members should submit a plan detailing what the committee plans to accomplish during the year, along with an estimated time line and budget. Members not in attendance who need to submit an Action Plan will be e-mailed.
ADJOURNMENT
President Monika set the next board meeting for 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 15, 1998.
Meeting was adjourned at 3:47 p.m.
There will be double treats at the January meeting -- thanks to our fearless leader! Y’all come now!
Respectfully submitted,
Maria Minowitz, Secretary