RUSA History Section Executive Committee
2011 ALA Annual Conference – New Orleans
Saturday, June 25, 2011, 8:00-10:00am
Janalyn Moss (Chair), Janice Schultz (Vice Chair/Chair Elect), Shelley Arlen (Secretary), Kathy
Strauss (Past Chair), Mary E. Bogan (Past-Secretary), Dave Dowell, David Lincove, Susan L.
Malbin, Mary Mannix, Sara Morris, Jenny Presnell, Nancy Bunker, Nicholas Wyant, Curt
Witcher, Michael Hall.
Introduction
Committee chairs are asked to send their committee reports to Shelley Arlen
(shelarl@uflib.ufl.edu).
Online RUSA Form for Committee Reports
Reporting forms (meeting highlights) are available on two weblinks:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/volunteer/ALA_print_layout_1_590093_590093.cfm
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/volunteer/mtghighlights.cfm
Reminder: Janalyn Moss gave all Executive Board members a copy of the meeting highlights
form to fill out and post on ALA Connect to make public. Please send copies to Andrea with a
link to Shelley Arlen (shelarl@uflib.ufl.edu).
Minutes
The minutes were accepted with minor changes.
Announcements
The Genealogy Dinner will be held Saturday, , 8:00pm, New Orleans
The History Section Dinner will be held Sunday, , 6:30pm, at the Oceana Grill, New Orleans.
The History Section Program on Maps, planned by the Local History Committee, is at the
Convention Center, Room 349. It is unfortunate that another maps-related program is being held
at the same time; this is an example of too many meeting conflicts and results in frustration for
many of us.
The RUSA Awards will be announced on Sunday, 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
Genealogy Preconference.
The preconference was held Friday, June 23, at the Historic New Orleans Collection, which is
hosting an exhibit from Spain on colonial North American documents. There were 30 paid
attendees, 2 walk-ins, and 8 others. (RUSA only allows 2 walk-ins.)
RUSA Conference Program Coordinating Committee
Two items for programming were discussed: the preconference was approved as was the
Anaheim History Program. The HS Program is slated for that Monday, 1:30 to 3:30; it could not
be scheduled earlier due to proposed speaker conflict. (The speaker has not yet committed to
speak.) The topic is the 1940 Census. Board members expressed unhappiness with the day and
time, since many people leave on Monday or before. Monday at 10:30 am may be a better time.
Sara Morris indicated that if any changes are made to the program, they must notify the
Conference Program Coordinating Committee by the deadline of Monday at 8:00 am. A number
of Board members recommended seeking another speaker for a Saturday time slot. The proposed
speaker is an ideal choice, as the HS Program Planning Committee would like to have someone
from Washington, D.C., to discuss the census. Susan Malbin noted that this Midwinter program
could be a President’s Program which would provide a better time slot. The decision is not ours,
but the HS program is in the running for selection. HS has two program slots, so we could plan
for a second. Almost every other Section has two; we had two last summer. It is a good way to
increase visibility and membership. The Board will consider that option the year after next.
Report on Upcoming Program (David Dowell)
The topic has already been approved, with GODORT as co-sponsor. The Program Planning
Committee will check that GODORT has no conflicting programs at the same time as the HS
program.
Plans for the 2013 program, to be held in Chicago, have not yet been made. That year, the
program is the responsibility of the Instruction and Research Services Committee. Jenny Presnel
recommended advertising the topic and asking for specific program suggestions. The program
could be on academic uses of genealogical materials, as in the documentation of social history.
History Section Research Grant (Janalyn Moss)
The HS Research proposal cannot be called a grant, according to Neal Wyatt; it is an award.
Agnes Widder is approaching vendors for sponsorship (one has already refused). The Board
needs to move quickly on this to avoid losing momentum. We have asked for $3,000, but an
additional $600. is needed for administrative costs. Also, the Board must move forward to
develop the criteria for application. The amount of the award can still be changed.
Communications
HS/RUSA/UPDATE
Please send all information to Laura Hibbler. Also, check the History Section’s website for any
changes needed. (The software issues involved in making any changes do cause complications, a
major reason for the slow updates.) ALA Connect is scheduled to change to Drupal.
Facebook Page
Currently, to post on Facebook, you must send your message to Tom Kemp. There is a need for
at least one back-up person. Janice Schultz and Sara Morris should be added. Also, we should
establish a group page, not a personal page, with “RUSA” added to the name. Not much has
been posted, and there are few updates. Janice will call Tom to find out how to make these
changes.
Hist-l (David Lincove)
Currently 255 people subscribe, and there are messages every month, including ones from
RUSA. This forum is a good place to discuss issues. Hist-bibl is a bigger list. It has a broader
appeal, 400-500 members, and is run by Charles D’Aniello.) We could announce these forums
at our programs, perhaps with a flyer. Janice noted that when she sends an email to welcome
new members, she can distribute this information. She can also send the information to all
Section members. The History Section has about 900-1,000 members.
ALA Connect
No additional issues were brought to the Board.
Other
The HS Brochure is available. Contact ALA RUSA to obtain copies.
There should be guidelines on how to plan programs: the kinds of experiences past committees
have had, to-do lists, advice, with a list of topics that have been featured.
The Historical Materials Bibliography Guidelines will soon be available via the website.
RUSA History Section Executive Committee
2011 ALA Annual Conference – New Orleans
Monday, June 27, 2011, 8:00-10:00am
Janalyn Moss (Chair), Janice Schultz (Vice Chair/Chair Elect), Shelley Arlen (Secretary), Kathy
Strauss (Past Chair), Mary E. Bogan (Past-Secretary), Dave Dowell, David Lincove, Susan L.
Malbin, Mary Mannix, Sara Morris, Jenny Presnell, Nancy Bunker, Nancy Bunker, Curt
Witcher, Michael Hall, Charles Thurston
Committee Reports
Genealogy and Local History Discussion Group
No representative at Midwinter
HS Program Planning Committee: Genealogy (David Dowell)
The Committee decided to have the program on the 1940 Census on Sunday, 1:30 – 3:30, and
they will inform the speakers. The tentative title is “Mining Gold from the 1940 Census.” There
will be conflicts only with CODES and STARS at that time. The Board thanked Sara Morris and
David Dowell for their efforts in bringing about these changes. There may be information on
vendor indexing.
Genealogy Pre-Conference (David Dowell)
The Midwinter 2012 program is tentatively entitled, “Genealogy is Bigger in Texas.” There will
be four speakers including Native American and African American speakers, and Southwest
records. The Genealogy Committee is working on plans for the Anaheim Annual Conference.
There is a growing need for genealogy information for academic librarians. Family history is
public history, and there are a number of war anniversaries coming up (War of 1812, Civil War,
World War II.) Perhaps a focus could be on local history rather than genealogy. Professors give
assignments on family history and that is “social history” of the time. Digitization is changing
the ways of doing research using family history/traditional genealogy. We just need to reframe
genealogy for a different audience, one that is interested in regional or public history.
Historical Materials Committee (Jenny Presnell)
Nick Wyant has agreed to be the new Chair and Jacob Sherman the Vice-Chair. The Committee
will continue its mission to identify historical materials and publish a listing of “The Best of the
[Year]” in RQ. The manual was updated.
Instruction and Research Services (Sara Morris)
Nancy Bunker is the new chair. The Committee is involved in 2013 program planning. The
subcommittee working on information literacy standards will break away and continue to focus
on these; the draft will be presented at Midwinter. The group is in contact with the American
Historical Association regarding their endorsement.
Local History Committee (Susan Malbin)
There were just under 50 attendees at the program. The guest speakers were well-received and
gave engaging presentations. Much of the presentation concerned merging information found in
city directories and maps. The PowerPoint slides will be mounted on the History Section
webpage. The website should have limited access due to copyright issues.
RUSA Board
Over 11,250 people pre-registered for the ALA Annual Conference. Some estimates of the total
number of attendees is as high as 22,000. Gary White is the new RUSA President. Next year,
RUSA will be reviewing strategic plans and working on the next 3-year plan. The one-year
update changes included support for virtual meetings and streaming videos. Several resolutions
included a code of ethics, such as patron privacy for library Holds. There were questions if the
Board should get involved; the group decided it should go to the Access to Information group,
and they will work with LAMA on this. There may be a need for a task force on privacy issues.
There is also a new advocacy campaign to call attention to reference staff: “Just Ask” @ Your
Library. A marketing plan has been developed and there is a $5,000. budget. It will be
comparable to the READ program, and is a good marketing tool for RUSA.
The Board is trying to make more RUSA documents and meetings virtual. LITA is working on
the guidelines for streaming meetings. RUSA Quarterly will go completely digital with the next
issue. History Section Board members commented that there is a need to provide an
infrastructure and support for these advanced technologies. Also, ALA is trying to get a
software package similar to GOTOMEETING.
We need more long-term planning. The History Section could pull out of Midwinter (like
BRASS), but there is still a need for meetings. Janalyn Moss was asked to find out the status of
the Report of the Task Force on virtual meetings.
Budget and Finance Committee (Janice Schultz)
There is a need to restructure the Midwinter meeting. Janice will request all chairs to get
comments from their committee members. She will let the RUSA Board know we’re thinking of
this. As more Sections bow out, RUSA will have to make a decision. School librarians, for
example, find it difficult to get away for the Midwinter conference, but one issue is what will
happen to vendor support if we eliminate Midwinter.
At the Conference you will find drop boxes to aid Haiti and Japan with library rebuilding after
their disasters. The drop boxes for Missouri and Alabama will help librarians who lost their
homes.
RUSA Committees
Conference Planning (Sara Morris)
The 2012 program will be held on the Sunday of ALA. This change did meet RUSA’s deadline.
Nominating Committee (Jenny Presnell)
Let Jenny Presnell know if you wish to nominate someone for RUSA at-large positions.
Membership (Janice Schultz)
Janice and another HS member helped with the membership booth in the Exhibits Hall. There
will be another Social at Midwinter. Also, welcome emails are sent out to new HS members.
Organization and Planning
Jeannette Pierce resigned from the committee. Janalyn will contact someone else she has in
mind for this position.
There is also a need for a replacement for Janice as she takes over as Chair of RUSA History
Section.
Budget and Finance (Janice Schultz)
There were not as many expenses this year as there were last year.
Current budget as of April 2011:
Total revenues (actual) = $238,896.82
Total expenses (actual) = $214,920.66
Contribution margin = $23,976.16
Overhead = $7,966.82
Tax = $120.00
Net revenue (actual) = $15,889.34
[Conference income and expenditures are not yet determined]
Budget proposal requests:
$1500 for RUSA Membership Midwinter Social. This should not be a budget request per Neal
Wyatt. Budget requests are for one-time items and Membership wants this granted yearly. The
Committee voted to put $2,000 in the budget for the Social.
MARS profession development. Request for $900 for two free webinars (spend money to make
money in the long run). Passed with the stipulation that a report on the outcome be submitted to
Budget & Finance two weeks before their Annual meeting.
RSS request for $2500 research grant. Denied. "RUSA is not a granting agency."
Preliminary budget FY2012:
Bottom line is a $11,540 deficit. Increased the expenditures with the above proposals and $1,000
to support an emerging leader. This total addition to the budget was $7,000 which would make
the deficit $18,540. Todd Hines from BRASS said it would be helpful to see the endowment
numbers for the last 5-10 years. He also said that at some time in the future RUSA needs to have
a balanced budget. The budget was approved as amended.
Two remaining items regarding virtual meetings was tabled and to be taken up virtually later
with the incoming committee.
RUSA membership fee collections are down $4,200, about 40 people. There needs to be an
effort to balance the budgets. Endowment funds total about $505,707. Fortunately, most
program proposals come in without requests for money.
Professional Development (David Lincove)
A virtual meeting was held using ALA Connect, but they did experience some technical
problems. They plan to formalize their procedures: a webinar proposal form, evaluation criteria,
course proposal form, and course proposal criteria. These will provice information on how to
apply, what is needed, aids to evaluation, free or not status. Webinars are considered training.
RUSA does expect to charge for them.
Publications (Helen Gbala)
No report.
Standards and Guidelines (Charles Thurston)
A new draft is expected by the end of November. Janice is working on local history guidelines.
A good contact on this is Larayne Dallas.
Other
Mary Bogan distributed history section brochures.
Regarding the idea of making the Monday HS Board meeting virtual, Janice Schultz reminded
all that the Saturday meeting consists of sharing news with everyone. The Monday morning
meeting enables us to hear about the RUSA Board meeting. Susan Malbin indicated that
decisions on virtual meetings need to be a part of the total rescheduling of ALA Conference.
Nancy Bunker related that RSS had a second meeting remotely, but that it is hard to schedule at a
time that is good for everyone.
Sara Morris is the new Vice Chair of the History Section, and Mary Bogan is the member-atlarge.