I. Introductions  (Priscilla Shontz)

Priscilla Shontz called the meeting to order at 5:05 pm.  At this time, all attendees introduced themselves.

Attendance: Michael Wong; Christine DeZelar-Tiedman; Dennis Wilson; Mary Anne Hansen; Gene Kinnaly; Norman Buchwald; Jeff Kempe; Alesia McManus; Susanna Van Sant; Jimmie Lundgren; Priscilla Shontz; Chris Shupala; Ann Snoeyenbos; Ann Dykas; Laura Lucio; Dora Ho; Erik Drake.

II. Minutes (Dennis Wilson)

Wilson thanked Van Sant for loading the drafts of the MidWinter 2000 NMRT Executive Board Minutes on NMRT's web, in March 2000, for the membership to review.  Wilson stated that he did receive some corrections/revisions for the minutes, in March 2000, and sent those revisions to Van Sant, so that the minutes could reflect the changes. Hearing no objections, the MidWinter 2000 Executive Board Minutes were approved.

Dykas distributed a handout to the attendees that provided an outline and verbiage for Sturgis parliamentary procedures…Motions: Seven Step Process, Motions to Change or Amend Motions, and Motions Related to the Main Motion. This handout was a revision with Sturgis “wording” instead of Robert's Rules of Order.  She provided a general overview of motions to the attendees.

Overview/Discussion
       Van Sant provided an overview of the “proposal” to split the Publicity
                  Committee into two committees…Publicity Committee and Web Committee.
      It would be helpful if NMRT would create a formal “Web” committee.  The
      proposal, which Van Sant e-mailed to NMRTBD on May 30, is replicated
      below:

Publicity Committee Split/Creation of Web Committee

Proposal:
That a Web Committee (WC) be created as an entity separate from the Publicity Committee (PC).

Background:
The PC currently “prepares and disseminates news releases and announcements of NMRT activities. This committee maintains the NMRT web site. The chair works closely with the ALA Public Information Office in meeting deadlines for national library publications. Strong writing, graphics or communication skills are desirable for anyone interested in this committee. The committee chair is appointed for two years. Conference attendance is not required” (http://ala8.ala.org/nmrt/committees.html).

Justification:
Since maintenance of the NMRT Web site was added to the list of responsibilities of the PC, the Web site has grown considerably. NMRT is relying on its Web site more and more to disseminated news and announcements of current activities, to archive past projects, to deliver the Handbook and Footnotes, for officers to submit reports, and to facilitate participation in NMRT activities, to name just a few of its uses.

Creation of a Web Committee would formalize the current (informal) practice of the PC. We now have co-chairs: Gene coordinates the publicity of NMRT activities via email, print mailings and print distributions at conferences, for example, while I coordinate the maintenance (and growth) of the NMRT Web site. This maintenance and development has reached a critical mass so that responsibility for it should be attended to by a separate committee, with its own communication channels and set of skills to respond quickly and efficiently to the requests of NMRT members and officers.

Composition:
The (proposed) WC would need a chair, which would serve for two years. The chair would have password access to ALA's Web staff and would be the conduit through which WC members would transfer files to ALA's server. WC members would be required to have html editing skills (some people would have to be able to work with forms, too) but would not be required to attend conferences. WC members would not all be given the password to ALA's server. WC membership would number from 8-10 people. Members could be liaisons to NMRT committees and to the President and be assigned all the Web tasks that come from those committees (or office). Members with dual appointments with WC and Footnotes, Handbook, SASCO, Speakers Bureau, and Publicity, for example, would be quite beneficial since these committees tend to generate a great deal of Web work. Otherwise, creating conference pages constitutes much of the committee's work.

If co-chair positions were desired, perhaps one co-chair could coordinate page efforts while the other attended to non-conference matters, including daily maintenance and tasks from the President. (We would have to check with ALA with regards to how many people could get the password.)
_____________________________________________________________

      Van Sant reiterated that the number of people, who would have access to
      ALA's server, does need to be investigated. She also stated that the proposed
      Web Committee could review the current NMRT Web page for possible
      revisions or new format.

      Action:
      Shupala made the motion to formally split the Publicity committee into two
      committees…Publicity Committee and Web Committee.  Lundgren seconded
      the motion. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.

Discussion:
Hering provided the attendees with a background of the Resume Reviewing Service Committee.  She stated that this committee has been an ad-hoc committee for the past two years…a pilot project. Hering reported that this past year the service has been in place year-round. Why does NMRT offer this service?  Hering stated that many people want these services for “pointers”.  She stated that this service is worth continuing, but requested that NMRT change the committee status from an ad-hoc committee to a standing committee.  The committee would provide the resume reviewing service on a year-round basis, not just at conference.  Van Sant asked if the service would be for NMRT members only and Hering replied yes.

Hering also stated that the committee would seek out networking opportunities with other ALA divisions for individuals who could serve as reviewers, such as LAMA. The committee would continue its presence at Annual, not only by providing the resume reviewing service, but also the “comfort station”…which serves as a informational resource for interviewees by providing directions to interviewees how to navigate through the ALA Placement Center.

As for providing this service year-round, Lucio asked if resumes can be submitted electronically and Hering replied yes. Resumes are submitted to the Resume Reviewing Service Committee Chair and are then passed on to reviewers. Once the reviewers, who may remain anonymous, conclude his/her review of the resume, the reviewer submits the review to the committee chair to pass along to the individual who submitted the resume.  This procedure allows the chair to know that the review has been completed.

Action:
Shupala made the motion to change the Resume Reviewing Service Committee from an ad-hoc committee to a standing committee that provides a year-round resume reviewing service for NMRT members. Lucio seconded the motion.  The motion passed by a unanimous vote.

The NMRT budget was moved from Friday's board agenda to Monday's board agenda…under the “new business” section.

Discussion:
McManus distributed a handout to all attendees entitled “SSRA Report ALA Annual 2000”.  She provided the attendees with an overview of the past year's work of SSRA as well as update on NMRT's strategic plan. The handout outlined:

1. Strategic Plan Update…including one action item: Does the Executive Board accept the following vision statement for NMRT?

She reported that a “proposed” NMRT Vision Statement had been
produced following MidWinter 2000 and posted on NMRTBD. The
“proposed” vision statement was included in the handout.  McManus read
the “proposed” vision statement to the group.

A discussion was held about the “wording”. McManus provided the group
with how the group drafted this vision statement. Shontz asked if NMRT
wants to endorse this statement versus “wordsmithing”…to take action or
make a decision.  After further discussion, the vision statement was
slightly revised.

The revision of the “proposed” NMRT Vision Statement is replicated
below:

Proposed NMRT Vision Statement

NMRT will be a friendly, welcoming roundtable that is diverse and
inclusive. We will be a leader in bringing new members to ALA and be an
advocate for new members within ALA, as well as for the profession. We
will provide leadership development opportunities, through both
traditional and virtual participation, and serve as an avenue for ALA
members to become involved in the organization. We also will be a leader
in providing professional development opportunities for new members.
2. Monitoring the outcomes of the NMRT reorganization.

Taken from McManus's handout…

Background: SSRA was charged to monitor the outcome of the reorganization and to work closely with the Executive Board to evaluate the new structure. Unfortunately, strategic planning efforts hindered our ability to complete this charge. We did discuss this charge at the 2000 Midwinter meeting and posted a summary of this discussion to the NMRT Board listserv on March 4, 2000. We realized that it will be hard to monitor the outcomes of the reorganization because outcomes aren't explicitly stated in the original reorganization proposal. Based on a review of past SSRA charges, Dan and Alesia surmised that there were two desired outcomes:

1. To reorganize to better fulfill the mission of NMRT
2. To reduce duplication of effort among committees

To determine if the reorganization has resulted in these outcomes, we need some type of measure(s). We have several recommendations to help NMRT measure the effectiveness of the reorganization:

1. While one of SSRA's functions is to help NMRT evaluate its efforts, ongoing evaluation needs to be an explicitly stated objective in the strategic plan.
2. After Handbook revisions and the strategic plan are completed, we should create a new matrix of committee responsibilities and compare it to the original matrix that served as a tool to measure duplication of effort.
3. NMRT should develop a way to measure how well the committee functions/responsibilities fulfill the fourfold goals of our mission statement.

McManus also outlined suggested next steps for SSRA…a timeline to complete some documentation of SSRA activities of the past year as well as steps for future SSRA committee members could work towards.
 

Action:
Lundgren made the motion to approve the NMRT Vision Statement as revised. Snoeyenbos seconded the motion.  The motion passed by a unanimous vote.

Shontz reported that the NMRT pre-conference went very well.  The program was well-attended…61 attendees in the morning session and a little less in the afternoon session. Though overall expenses have yet been determined, NMRT has made much more money than expected.

Shontz said that over the next couple of months NMRT should brainstorm and think about how NMRT will want to use this money. Snoeyenbos commented that maybe NMRT could create an “innovation fund”, a fund that could be allotted to “special” activities and would not be part of the general NMRT fund. Shupala mentioned that NMRT will be celebrating its 70th birthday at Annual 2001 (San Francisco) and that NMRT needs to do something special for the occasion.

Shontz then reported on other activities that would be occurring during Annual 2000.  She provided the attendees with a schedule of meeting and events of NMRT for the current conference.

1. Orientation Program (Saturday, July 8 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm)  - Door prizes were shown and items that will be given to Orientation speakers, too.

2. President's Program (Saturday, July 8 from 1:30-4:30 pm)  - The program will be taped so those individuals who would like to purchase a copy may do so.
 

3. Friendly Booth Award (Saturday, July 8) – It was mentioned that a room has been reserved for the Friendly Booth Award judges to convene and make their decisions.  The Friendly Booth Award Presentation will be at 4:00 pm.

4. Bash Activities:
-3M/NMRT Social & Grant Presentation (Saturday, July 8 from 9:00 pm – 12:00 am) …door prizes will also given; 3M Grant presentations will be at 10:15 pm.

-ALA Scholarship Bash – Kempe asked for any additional volunteers to help with the ALA Scholarship Bash…The ALA Scholarship Bash Volunteer Orientation would be held from 4:00 – 5:00 pm at McCormick Convention Center – S505b.

5. Silent Auction…NMRT will provide who we can…NMRT is stretched thin for volunteers for all of the various functions going on at Annual.

Shontz also outlined Sunday and Monday's schedule of meetings and events.  She also mentioned that the NMRT Booth was #3446 in the Exhibits Hall.

Shontz adjourned the meeting at 6:24 pm.