Texas Library Association Reference and Information Services Round Table Executive Board Meeting Annual Conference Friday, April 11, 2014 8:00 to 9:50 am Room 211, Concourse Level, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center San Antonio, Texas Members present: Constance Matheny, Chair, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Melissa Johnson, Chair-Elect, Program Committee Chair, Southern Methodist University Ashlynn Kogut, Immediate Past Chair, Nominating Committee Chair, TMC Library John C. Hepner, Planning Committee Chair, Publicity & Membership Committee Chair, et al., Retired Jeffrey Levy, Texas Reference Source Selection Committee Chair, University of North Texas Coby Condrey, Secretary-Treasurer, Univ. of North Texas Lisa Ancelet, Texas State University Arta Kabashi, AMIGOS Library Services Christy Singleton, Tarleton State University Janis C. Test, Abilene Public Library Susan Whitmer, University of North Texas 1. Welcome and Additions to the Agenda The Chair called the meeting to order at 8:05 am and welcomed attendees. The Chair called for revisions to the agenda; none were requested. 2. Attendance/Introductions The attendees did self-introductions. The Secretary-Treasurer routed an attendance sheet. 3. Approval of Annual Assembly Meeting Minutes The Secretary-Treasurer presented the minutes of the previous meeting (of 7/9/2013) and noted that the minutes were also distributed via the listserv to the membership. One correction was noted: the date 4/27/2013 should replace date in section 3 recorded as 4/x/2013. Melissa Johnson moved the approval of the minutes as corrected; Ashlynn Kogut seconded; the motion passed unanimously. 4. Update from Program Committee Constance Matheny This conference has presented four programs and a reception: To Your Health: Fitness, Wellness and Nutrition Websites / Leah Fisher Nyfeler, Austin Fit Magazine; Tuesday, 4/8, 4-5 pm. About 40 attendees. Empowering Your Library Customers and Staff for a Healthier Tomorrow / Michelle Du, Wellness & Human Resources, City of Austin; Beth Hallmark, Texas Comptroller's office; Kay Hetherly, Texas State University San Marcos; Wednesday, 4/9, 2-4 pm. About 20 attendees. The black Labrador retriever was a big hit. Update on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act / Cheryl Rowan, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, South Central Region; Thursday, 4/10, 10-11 am. About 10 attendees. Reference Round Table, Executive Board Minutes, 4/11/2014 Page 1 of 4
Looking Back & Moving Forward: Information and Reference Services / Andy Hines, Univ. of Houston, and Suzanne Sears, UNT Libraries. About 40 attendees. The 50 th Anniversary Party took place at the Crockett Hotel, with two cakes (provided by the Chair, one specifically honoring John Hepner, who has done so much for the group over many years of service). John provided veggies, meats & cheese trays. Anthony Micchelli and Hollie Gardner put together a great audiovisual slide show for the event. There were about 40 attendees, with some former chairs and retired members. The Texas Reference Source Award was presented at the event as well. 5. Update from Planning Committee Constance Matheny & Melissa Johnson The committee met on Tuesday, 4/8. Current plans for next conference include possible programs on FAST (Financial Allocation Study for Texas), open access resources (with which E-SMART wants to collaborate), new technology uses in the reference and instructions departments (possibly cosponsor with LIRT), social networking in reference, 'hi tech, low tech, no tech' reference, and a meet-and-greet as a fundraiser for the unit. 6. Update from Publicity/Membership Committee John Hepner The committee met on Tuesday, 4/8. In the exhibit booth, panels were updated and replaced using large size paper printouts, which is much less expensive than laminated materials. Most of the giveaway items have been depleted, especially the key-chain lights. Staffing the exhibit booth was a little challenging so some hours were not covered. Hollie Gardner is resigning as the webmaster. The unit was in the process of putting together a promotional video; need to follow up with Hollie to see where this project is and whether she can help complete it. The association is generating monthly notices of new members. Anthony {Micchelli?] and Alexia [Riggs?] will draft a welcome message for consideration at the next meeting during Assembly. The committee is also working on other promotional ideas: better use of social media; Alexia plans to beef up the Twitter presence; Alexia and Anthony will refresh the Facebook site. Coby agreed to contact TLA Office about killing the TLA members-only RRT blog. Other issues for the committee: the name change to RISRT will cause a few headaches for signage, publicity materials. John has contacted the TLA webmaster, Mary Ann Emerson, about updating the website to reflect the new name. next year Anthony Guardado[?] will be chair of the publicity committee and be the booth coordinator. General discussion ensued regarding social media, using the listserv more vs. updating the web site and aggregating training opportunities on web pages rather than via the listserv. [*] Executive Board report - Sharon Amastae [*not slated on original agenda] Great news: this conference reports over 7,200 attendees. Next year Program Committee plans to repeat the diversity summit, tech camp, and library directors breakfast events. Make room reservations now. Next year's conference will be April 14-17; theme: Sync Up. Another initiative: "each one reach Reference Round Table, Executive Board Minutes, 4/11/2014 Page 2 of 4
one" trying to get each member to contact a former member to encourage re-joining. Note also TLA Council will vote on the dues increase (whether to approve and submit to membership for final passage). 7. Update from Texas Reference Source Award Committee Jeffrey Levy See attached report. Six nominees were considered. Winner was Texas Health Atlas (TAMU Press, 2012). The four of the remaining nominees continue to be eligible for three years from publication date of 2012; one published in 2011 (Guide to Sources of Texas Criminal Justice Statistics, UNT Press) is no longer eligible. Jeffrey thanked the committee members for their work. Nominations for next year's award are open until September 1 of this year. 8. Status of Annual Conference Stipend Committee Constance Matheny No stipend this year due to tight financial conditions coupled with lots of programming and the costs associated with the 50 th anniversary party. It would be good to reach out to vendors to find a sponsor for this award; such efforts needs to be coordinated with TPALS and TLA Office to ensure that we don't request money from a vendor who is already giving generously to TLA. We could name the stipend after the sponsor. Also, we can consider reducing the stipend amount; it doesn't have to be $500 as in the past. 9. Budget Update Constance Matheny Other units did contribute to help defray costs: Special Libraries Division, Black Caucus, Automation & Technology Round Table. Revenues are down, so we need to be careful with financial commitments and programming costs. General discussion of developing potential revenue sources: dining out as a group at Assembly and at Conference; Constance Matheny is exploring possibility of getting a sponsoring restaurant to share proceeds from such an event. The next Assembly and next Conference are both in Austin. preconference workshop; incoming chair Melissa Johnson and incoming chair-elect Coby Condrey agreed to investigate possibility of holding an Open Access collection development preconference; the "hook" might be emphasizing how dwindling budgets can be offset with fee-free online resources. 10. Discussion of Webmaster & General Editor of Texas Reference Sources Online John Hepner & Melissa Johnson After some discussion, the chair appointed Lisa Ancelet as the unit webmaster. Regarding the general editor position, the chair formed a committee to select from three eligible candidates. The committee of three included John Hepner, Constance Matheny, and Coby Condrey. Their charge is to review the job description in the operating procedures and to assess the three individuals who have indicated interest in handling the editor's duties. 11. New business & Adjournment No new business was presented to the unit. The chair adjourned the meeting at 9:33 am. Reference Round Table, Executive Board Minutes, 4/11/2014 Page 3 of 4
Respectfully submitted, Coby Condrey 2013-2014 Secretary/Treasurer Reference and Information Services Round Table Texas Library Association Reference Round Table, Executive Board Minutes, 4/11/2014 Page 4 of 4