Reference Round Table
Executive Board Meeting
Minutes
July 12, 1999
1:30-3:30 p.m.
RRT Chair Martha Tarlton welcomed everyone to the meeting.
The minutes for the April 21, 1999 Executive Board meeting were read by Jack Becker, Vice-
Chair/Chair Elect, and approved as read.
Tina Oswald, Secretary/Treasurer of RRT, gave the Treasurer's Report. According to the Budget
Statement received from the TLA Office, RRT has a current balance of $7.645.07.
Executive Board Liaison, Jana Knezek, reported on TLA Executive Board activities. TLA is
looking for a new Director. There will be a Strategic Planning meeting at Annual Assembly on
July 22, 1999 at 7:30 p.m. All are encouraged to attend this meeting which will be run by Julie
Tadaro, Vice-President/President-Elect of TLA. She wants input on what members want from
TLA, and is encouraging members to "think outside of the box." A reminder to everyone that
programs for Annual Conference 2000 need to be scheduled today. Next Tuesday, July 20, the
budget for TLA will be discussed. There is a possibility of a dues increase for members. There
has been no dues increase sime 1981. Executive Board member, Kathy Jones, has resigned. A
new Executive Board member will be chosen.
The TALL Texans Leadership Institute was ddiscussed. The money that RRT gives to support
TALL Texans every year is not distributed to RRT members who are selected to attend. Instead,
the money goes into a "pot", and funds are given to those who need financial assistance to be able
to attend. (Many of those selected as TALL Texans are supported by their employers, but some
are not.) Jack Becker voiced the opinion that RRT fimds should be distributed to RRT members,
and others agreed. Fran Ebbers stated that the decision had been made to collect all monetary
support into one pool and give it out as needed. The decision on how the money is distributed is
out of our hands. Patricia Switzer suggested that we put RRT money into people (support TALL
Texans) or libraries (support Legislative Day). Martha Tarlton reported that RRT did support
TALL Texans this year with a $300.00 contribution.
Fran Ebbers gave the Councilor's Report. Council will vote on a change to the by-laws regarding
residency requirements for TLA members. If the change passes Council, then it will be sent to
the members for a vote. Council will vote to eliminate the residency requirement, so out-of-state
residents may become members of TLA for a $15.00 membership fee. This fee will entitle them
to TLA publications; however, they will not be voting members of TLA. If an out-of-state
resident wishes to become a voting member, they must pay the full dues at the appropriate
personal level. In other Council business, Council has stated that filtering software is inconsistent
with the Open Records Act. Council is also working on a resolution dealing with Fair Use and
Copyright. Council must approve all new awards.
The need for the Caucus was discussed. The Caucus was designed to be the place where
discussion takes place on matters of importance to Council. Then, when the issue is brought
before Council, things should move along at a faster pace.
Jeanne Pyle, Chair of the Nominations Committee for RRT, reported that there are two candidates
for Secretary/Treasurer. One is from a public library, and one is from a school library. For the
position of Vice-Chair/Chair Elect, only one person has agreed to run, so far. There are also two
Councilor positions open, and candidates are needed for those slots.
Jack Becker, Vice-Chair/Chair Elect of RRT, discussed the RRT program for TLA Annual
Conference 2000. The RRT program will be held on Thursday, April 13, 2000, from 8:30-9:50
a.m. The program will deal with censorship and the Internet. There will be representatives from
the ACLU and ALA to discuss what librarians can, and can not, do; to what degree librarians can
be held liable; usefulness of an Internet Use Policy; etc. RRT will also sponsor a preconference
on doing genealogy research. It is hoped that this topic will bring in laypersons, as well as
librarians. The preconference will be held on Tuesday, April 11, 2000, from 1:00-4:50 pm. Jack
also mentioned that the Telecommunications Committee of TLA is interested in doing a program
on TIF (Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund) grants. Would RRT be interested in co-
sponsoring this program? After discussion, there was a motion made that RRT co-sponsor the
TIF program with the Telecommunications Conunittee by giving $400.00 toward the program,
with the understanding that the profits are to be shared. The motion was seconded and approved.
The RRT meetings for Annual Conference 2000 have been assigned times. The RRT
subcommittees will meet onWednesday, April 12, 2000, from 10:15-11:50a.m. The RRT
Executive Board will meet on Wednesday, April 12, 2000, from 12:45-1:50 p.m. The RRT
Business Meeting will be held prior to the program, from 8:30-8:45 a.m. on Thursday, April 13,
2000.
Jack Becker for Susan Norrisey, Chair of the RRT Web Committee, gave the Web Committee
Report. Any ideas on what should be included on the RRT Web page would be welcomed.
Information on RRT awards winners, or RRT committee projects, is needed.
The RRT Membership/Public Relations Committee reported that they are working on an RRT
logo, as well as an RRT banner and stickers.
Will Stuivenga, RRT Newsletter editor, reported on the activities of the Newsletter Committee.
The next issue of the newsletter is ready to go to the presses. They had hoped to get it out before
Annual Assembly, but had some technical difficulties. They are experimenting with putting the
newsletter in PDF format on the Web. They will not be converting all the articles to HTML, as
that would be to time consuming. It was requested that they be allowed to ask for a list of e-mail
addresses for all RRT members. Then, members could receive the PDF version of the newsletter,
as well as a paper copy. The PDF version would include a survey for feedback on the PDF
version of the newsletter. A motion was made that the Newsletter Committee request the e-mail
list for RRT from the TLA Office, and then send out a PDF version of the newsletter. There was
discussion, and concern about the fact that the ballots for the RRT elections, which are part of the
newsletter, would also go out in the online version. Jeanne Pyle stated that out of over 500
members of RRT, only about 30 ballots are sent in for the election. Maybe the ballot being online
will remind people to send in their ballots. The motion was seconded, and passed.
Tina Oswald reported as the Chair of the Planning Committee. The Committee is getting started
on the fifth edition of Texas Reference Sources. Lynne Hambric has agreed to serve as the
General Editor. Publicity is needed, so that those interested can volunteer to be editors and
reviewers for the different subject areas. Articles need to be written for TLA Cast and Texas
Library Journal. A letter will be sent to every RRT member asking for their assistance in making
the fifth edition of Texas Reference Sources possible. It was suggested that a form be included at
the bottom of the letter asking for titles of books that should be reviewed for the fifth edition.
These titles could be used both for Texas Reference Sources, as well as Texas Reference Source
Award; an annual award given by RRT for the best reference source that deals with Texas.
Patricia Switzer reported as Chair of the Texas Reference Source Award Committee. More titles
need to be nominated for the award. Librarians can nominate new reference sources, but most do
not. The Committee needs help in publicizing the need for nominations. A list of all winners,
and information on the award, on the RRT web page would be helpful. The 1999 winner: Fishes
of the Gulf of Mexico: Texas, Louisiana, and Adjacent Waters. 2nd edition, by H. Dickson Hoese,
and Richard H. Moore, Texas A & M University Press.
The report on the Centennial Celebration was given by the RRT delegate to the Centennial
Celebration Committee, John Hepner. The Centennial Celebration for TLA is only two annual
conferences away. RRT needs to begin to plan what to do to celebrate TLA's centennial. Some
possibilities to consider:
- Chronology/Documentary history of RRT
- Narrative History of the RRT
- List of all programs sponsored or co-sponsored by RRT
- Pamphlet on RRT history
- Memorial for those who began RRT
- Scrapbook for RRT
- Honor major RRT persons
- Traveling/Table exhibit
- Workshop on Texas reference services
Need to find out what is available in the TLA archives on RRT. RRT needs to decide how much
to spend on the Centennial. The celebration is meant to last all year long, not just at the Annual
Conference, so Centennial Programs can be planned for other times during the Centennial year.
For TLA Conference 2002, all members will celebrate the history, the Centennial of TLA, but our
programs should also look toward the future--a futuristic approach. There was discussion over
what RRT should give to be put into the TLA Time Capsule. Two possibilities were: Texas
Reference Sources (first and fifth editions), and a complete run of the RRT newsletter. TLA
Annual Conference for the Centennial year of 2002 will be April 22-27, 2002 in Dallas.
OLD BUSINESS:
Contributions for last year from RRT were $300.00 to TALL Texans, and $200.00 to TLA
Legislative Day, for a total of $500.00. There was discussion on whether RRT should support
ALA Legislative Day each year. It was decided that RRT should contribute $200.00 each year to
ALA Legislative Day.
NEW BUSINESS:
Reminder of the Strategic Planning Meeting to be held that evening.
April 12, 2000 will be Community Day at Annual Conference, a chance to get the public involved
in TLA. Should RRT do anything special?
Meeting was adjourned at 3:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Tina A. Oswald, Secretary/Treasurer of Reference Round Table
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