The Governing Board the Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists, met for their regularly scheduled meeting October 23, 2007 in the University of Colorado Norlin Library, Room N148, Boulder, Colorado.
President Patty Rettig called the meeting to order at 1:38 pm.
The following members were present:
Shaun Boyd
Holly Geist (via phone)
Jody Georgeson
Annette Gray
Kenton Jaehnig (via phone)
Kate Legg
Rebecca Linz
Cecily North
Patty Rettig
Carl Stewart
D. Claudia Thompson (via phone)
Student Julie Carmen also attended as a guest.
- Minutes of the July 12, 2007 meeting were approved as written.
- Holly presented the program debriefing of the fall conference. We usually have 40-50 people in attendance but this time had 65. The program was very well received by attendees and we made a profit of $1,525.
- The spring conference is scheduled for June 13. The program is tentatively being called "Material Culture in the Archives," and Holly reported that we have most of the speakers lined up already. Subjects will include how to use objects in teaching, how to help researchers, and how to date photographs. A venue is being looked for in the Denver area. Suggestions for niche presentations for the spring were Native American materials and NAGPRA rights to items in the collections; and the implications of displaying venerated holy objects from an archives' collection. Julie Carmen suggested discussing Native American costumes.
- The Western Round-Up will be held in Seattle in the spring of 2010. Jody is representing SRMA on the planning committee, although Patty graciously took over for the first meeting, which took place at the SAA conference. It's been suggested that we try to move the date from April to May.
- Annette reported on future workshops: SAA Digital Assets workshop is a possibility; we'll poll the membership for interest in upcoming Internet classes. Carl was asked if SRMA will co-sponsor WESTPAS Emergency Planning workshops. We're not sure what that entails, but the Board agreed that we would offer assistance, if only by advertising in the newsletter and web site.
- The Treasurer's report was approved with a minor date revision. D. C. and Shaun were able to resolve a $40 discrepancy between the fall conference report and Treasurer's report. PayPal payments amounted to $745 from 17 sources (3.7%). D.C. is working on reconciling her numbers with the Joint Spring Conference Committee.
- The Archives Month events have been well received. Nine events have been/are being held. Leslie has informed us that she is resigning from the position of Archives Month Coordinator. The Board will appoint a new Coordinator at the regularly scheduled meeting in January. Suggestions/nominations should be sent to Patty.
- Shaun reported that we have 169 members, the same as EOY 2006. 35 of those are new, which means we had 35 drop out. She will send a renewal letter in December to all current members. (Membership is on a calendar year basis.)
- Kenton reported that the fall issue of the newsletter went out early to accommodate the fall conference. There were no changes reported. The deadline for material to be included in the next issue is December 16. ACA indicated that they wish to submit announcements to our newsletter. Kenton has asked them if they are willing to do another ad exchange, but has yet to hear back from them. The next issue will contain a featured member; Patty suggested that Kenton find someone who will write his or her own article.
- Cecily reported that a backup snapshot was made of the site on October 22. The board agreed that outdated CPA and Archives Month material should be deleted from the server. Cecily will be adding an FAQ page, an organizational directory, and a page for member programs/current events. She is also working on a shopping cart to be used for PayPal transactions.
- Carl has revised the web site materials for Preservation, and will work with Cecily to format them. He will be setting up a committee to assist with preservation issues. The Board approved a plan to offer Preservation Kits at a discounted rate of $25 for the first six months of 2008; demand and cost will be reevaluated after that period. The Board approved sending the environmental monitor for recalibrating at a cost of approximately $100.
- Becky has finished processing the CPA records, and is working on the rest of the SRMA archives (a total of 18-20 record boxes). The Board agreed to the following:
- Each member of the board will send his/her records to the archives when leaving the office.
- Final copies of any publication produced by SRMA or directly relevant to a SRMA function should be maintained as part of the record.
- Everything to be archived will be dated.
- Each member of the board is responsible for capturing records related to his/her office, any voting he/she has initiated, and any relevant discussion, regardless of media.
- The SRMA Archivist is responsible for the migration/preservation of records once it has been sent to the archives.
- Boxes do not need to be numbered sequentially, or like records shelved together, as long as the filing system allows easy access to individual records.
- A manual or notebook (like "The Programming Bible" maintained for Program Chair/Member at Large) should be maintained for each Board position. Cecily will provide a template to be used, with a list of materials that each manual should contain. Each current Board member will be responsible for initiation and maintenance, and will turn the manual over to his/her successor.
- The Scholarship program was approved via email vote just prior to the fall conference. No applications were received for that conference, possibly as a result of the late announcement. The Board agreed that if we continue to see little interest in scholarships for local meetings, we will revise the program to include only the more expensive conferences. Scholarship information will be available on the web site at all times.
- Old business - none
- New Business - Patty suggested that we sponsor attendance at the 2008 Archives Leadership program, if a SRMA member is chosen to attend. She will send the URL so the Board can investigate the program, prior to calling for an email vote.
