NMRT Board Member 2002-2003 Planning Report

1. Office name: Sally Gibson, Member Services Director

2. How you plan to help committees address the four NMRT goals (if it does not apply, put N/A):

The Member Services Director oversees NMRT activities designed to inform and serve the membership,

supporting member efforts toward professional development. Footnotes, Publicity and the Web committees

will keep members informed about NMRT activities and opportunities to become active in the profession. The

Membership, Mentoring, and Resume Review Committees will provide opportunities to educate, and encourage

new librarians. Each committee will attempt to address the needs and concerns of NMRT members.

3. How you plan to create a positive committee experience, including the frequency and type of support you plan

to provide to chairs and committee members:

Many of the committees have first time chairs. If I did not meet them at the New Board Orientation or at a

previous event, I plan to speak with them on the phone in an effort to become acquainted with them. It is

important to let the chairs take a leadership position. Therefore I will quickly answer any questions they have

and provide direction but not dictate how things should be accomplished. During the first months I will become

acquainted with the working style of the committee and determine an acceptable workload. It is very important

to remember that everyone is a volunteer and I hope to maintain his or her interest and enthusiasm for NMRT.

The volunteer determines how much of a time commitment she/he is willing to make. I will monitor progress with

the goal of having each committee produce an end product. I will also congratulate the committee on successful

accomplishments and support any decisions they make. By Midwinter each committee will determine what ideas or

plans should be delegated to next year and what can be accomplished this year. The rest of the year will be

spent completing the year's goal and objectives.

4. Future directions you see your office or NMRT needing to take this year or the following year, including

strategies on how to address projects that affect committees outside of your supervision:

A detailed timeline of webpage updates needs to be created so that the web committee can anticipate the

workload and meet deadlines in a timely manner. Work with the Executive Board and Committee Chairs to determine

the schedule. It is the responsibility of the Committee Chairs to send in updated files with unique file names

and information for archiving or overwriting the older files.

Explore the idea of a Web Taskforce, which contains members from each NMRT committee. Those members would be

responsible for their committee's webpages. Work with the Vice President and current web committee chair to

determine the direction to explore.

A smooth transfer of files is important for all committees but especially critical for Resume Review,

Footnotes, and the Web. Explore options to prevent the loss of files and restricted access to critical

information. Determine what procedures have been established by other committees and decide if those

possibilities are viable.

Creation of NMRT Members news. To highlight the accomplishments, new jobs, etc… of NMRT members. Distribute via

monthly email on NMRT-L and the webpage. Determine which committee is the best choice for implementing this

project.

The idea of a "Members Only" section on the website has not been brought before the general membership. There

should be feedback and support for the idea before it is implemented. The cost factor to this project in terms

of volunteer time and effort needs to be taken into account. If the "Members Only" section is not supported by

the general membership other ways should be explored for expanding the content in Footnotes.

5. Date of report: November 20, 2002

6. Submitted by: Sally Gibson