RUSA History Section Pre-Midwinter Report
January 2010
Kathleen Strauss, RUSA History Section Chair
RUSA Board of Directors
Board Document
2010 Midwinter
#B1010
The History Section Executive Board will meet at Midwinter in Boston on the following
dates:
Saturday, 16 January 2010, 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM (SEA-Plaza B)
Monday, 18 January 2010, 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM (BCEC-Rm. 211)
History Section Committee Activities
Genealogy Preconference Planning Committee
The Genealogy Preconference in Chicago at Annual Conference was held at the Sheraton Hotel.
There were 34 in attendance, 22 of whom were paid attendees.
Plans were made during the conference for the upcoming preconferences at the 2010 Midwinter
and Annual Conferences. The Midwinter preconference will be held at the New England Historic
Genealogical Society in Boston. As of this report, there are approximately 45 paid attendees. The
Preconference at Annual will take place at the Daughters of the American Revolution Library in
Washington, DC.
Instruction and Research Services Committee
The program sponsored by the committee at Annual Conference in Chicago was well attended.
There were three speakers, Jenny Prsnell of Miami University, Michael Kelly of New York
University, and a Senior Vice President of ProQuest. The program was videotaped by RUSA.
Historical Materials Committee
The Historical Materials Committee wil be sponsoring the History Section program at Annual
Conference in Washington, DC. The theme will be “Digitizing State Archives Materials. There
will be three or four speakers about funding, management, advertising, end results and user
studies. The program will be held on the morning of Sunday, June 27.
Genealogy Committee
The Genealogy Committee has been discussing its primary mission of reaching out to librarians
doing genealogy. The Genealogy Committee is responsible for the program at the 2012 ALA
Annual Conference.
Local History Committee
The Local History Committee will be responsible for the History Section program in 2011 in
New Orleans. A program, “Map Resources 101 for Local Historians” is planned. The committee
will work with PLA and the Maps and Geography Round Table (MAGERT). Large and small
digitization projects, timelines, as well as rural and urban aspects will be covered. The committee
will seek local speakers, perhaps from Tulane University or the Historic New Orleans
Collections.
The Oral History Program for interviewing retiring/retired librarians was discussed. The History
Section Executive Committee decided to move forward with the project. The guidelines from the
Oral History Association will be followed.
Genealogical Publishing Company Award
The meeting for 2010 Midwinter will be virtual. The committee members will be working on
revising the handbook for the award.
Genealogy and Local History Discussion Group
The meeting in Chicago was well attended. David White, Genealogy Librarian at the
Jacksonville, FL Public Library, presented an overview of Genealogy and Local History as well
as how to use the resources. Social networking ideas were discussed.
Ron Burdick, chair of this discussion group had to resign from his position since 2009 Annual
Conference. Curt Witcher will be leading the Genealogy and Local History Discussion Group at
Midwinter in Boston.
History Librarian’s Discussion Group
This group will meet at Midwinter in Boston. David Murray is the incoming Chair.
ABC CLIO Online History Award
Ruth A. Carr, the Rose Librarian for Public Service a the New York Public Library, was
presented with the ABC CLIO Online History Award at Annual Conference in Chicago.
Applications for RUSA “New Initiatives”
The application written by Agnes Widder for the funding of a History Section research grant to
be awarded each year was presented to the RUSA Executive Board. This was not funded. The
History Section decided to seek vendor funding for this worthwhile project.
The application, written by Jen Tellman, to fund History Section librarians hosting small
gatherings at graduate library schools to encourage student awareness of history librarianship and
the History Section was funded. Several librarians have already held these meetings with
students, and others plan to hold meetings in the spring.
Janice Schultz presented an application for future consideration. The application requests
funding for a table at state library conferences that History Section Executive Committee attend.
The table would be set up to promote RUSA.
Co-sponsorhip of Samuel Ullman film with EMIERT.
The RUSA Conference Program Planning Committee approved the showing of the film. The
program will be held on the afternoon of Sunday, June 27 in at ALA Annual Conference in
Washington, DC. The program is called: “One Poem Enriching Lives Across the Globe: Samuel
Ullman, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and ‘Youth.’”