AFS 2008: Minutes of the Archives and Libraries section meeting
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Convener: Michael Taft
Present
David Azzolina, Eric Eliason, John Fenn, Nathan Georgitis, Janet Gilmore, Steve Green, Lani Herrmann, Terri Jordan, Mary Koegel, Andy Kolovos, Maggie Kruesi, Barbara Lloyd, Karen Miller, Jodine Perkins, Nicki Saylor, Marcia Segal, Guha Shankar, Moira Smith, Michael Taft, Randy Williams,
Margaret Yocom, and Kristi Young.
Call to order
Marcia Segal volunteered to take the minutes for the meeting.
2007 minutes
The 2007 minutes were approved.
Budget report
September 1, 2007 balance$2491.00
Sept. 2007 – August 2008 revenue 310.00
Workshop revenue 1320.00
Sept. 2007 – August 2008 expenses 100.00
August 31, 2008 balance 4021.00
Discussion point
Should the McCallum and Grimshaw prizes be given on alternate years?
Steve Green suggestedone committee for both prizes. After discussion, two votes were passed: 1) the awards would be given in alternating years, and one committee would be selected, and 2) Kristi Young, Randy Williams, Andy Kolovos, Michael, Taft, and Jodi Perkins would be the members of the new awards committee.
Digitization workshops
Andy, John Fenn, and Marcia gave reports on the digitization workshops. There was some discussion on issues regarding the workshops. Andy suggested the creation of a workshop committee. Extended discussion on this and related matters. Marcia suggested a survey of interest in particular topics. Guha suggested that such an activity might be outside the scope of this particular section. Barbara Lloyd (?) suggested it might be worthwhile to do workshops for targeted audiences (e.g., students). Andy brought up the concern about how resources would be allocated if such workshops were co-sponsored by other sections. Michael summarized the discussion: have a survey, and committee to do ______. Andy and John Fenn said they could be on the committee. After discussion on whether or not the workshops would be skewed towards students(since the workshops were about 50% students), Andy suggested the committee flesh out ideas and send them out to the section members.
The question came up regarding who is on the section’s listserv. Peggy Yocom stated that she maintains it at George Mason University.
Membership report
Michael reported that the section currently has 71 members.
Old business
1) McCallum Prize
Kristi Young said this year there were no submissions for the McCallum Prize. She said they would like to have at least one winner this year.
Guha asked if there was a membership list online; Michael said he didn’t think so. A discussion followed, regarding a list of names to appear on the web site. Moira suggested the possibility of opt-outs.
Marcia moved that a compilation of posting locations for announcements be made. The motion was passed.
2) Grimshaw Prize
Michael reported on the Grimshaw Prize: no award was given in 2008 for two reasons: 1) The 2007 awardee, Doug Keil, was not able to attend the 2007 AFS annual meeting, and asked if he could use the prize money to attend the 2008 meeting (the Section agreed to his proposal), and 2) The language of the prize announcement needs extensive revision.
Those present discussed how to improve the prize description. Peggy suggested the award would be given at the section meeting. Maggie said the folk belief section required a sponsoring letter. Moira will compile the suggestions. Michael said the language would be reworked and sent out to the section membership. Steve suggested the word “fieldwork” in the award should be changed to “research.”
New convener
After five years, Michael will step down as section convener. He explained the duties of the convener. A motion was passed that it would be a three-year term limit for the convener, without a follow-up term. It was moved and passed that Randy Williams will be the section’s next convener.
New business
1) Archiving Conferences
Michael has received information on two archiving conferences, and asked the Section for views and suggestions, and also for monetary support:
1) Indiana University Archiving Conference in Memory of George List
2) Utah State University with assistance of the Folklore Society of Utah and the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies: the second in a series of conferences initiated by Brigham Young University
Regarding the George List conference: Andy thought that Indiana University could host a conference on how folklore and ethnomusicology could be bridged by archives. Discussion of this idea followed. Randy spoke about the Utah initiative; she and Kristi were talking about a two and a half day conference of sessions and activities during the time of the Simon Bronner lecture; the possibility of it being held in 2010, and potential interest within the Utah archiving world (i.e., the base).Randy has already done some research on the issue, and can get sponsorship and funds. She also spoke about Kristi’s idea that the Section could have a session on George List. Michael suggested a teleconference between IU and Utah.
Guha brought up possibility of including representatives from communities of origin. Randy said she titled the conference “Public Folklore and Archives.”
Michael raised the issue of perhaps making the entire conference (which?) a teleconference. He asked, does the session want to support this? It was moved and seconded that we support the Utah conference with $500 from the section.
New business
Guha said there is a move to start a new web site that would be a drastic revision of the present web site. It would include blogs, posts, and comments. This was discussed in the program meeting, and will be presented to the membership in 2009.
Mary Koegel made an announcement “about the Themed Collections website project she is working on for Kentuckiana Digital Library (KDL). The general website for KDL is The Themed Collections project is called Kyleidoscope. As of yet, it doesn’t have a public URL, though it will be available from the homepage of KDL.”It is expected to launch in 1-2 weeks. [Update from Mary: ...probably early in the New Year for the launch. And she will put an announcement out on Publore when it finally launches, with a direct URL and all that good stuff.]
The meeting was adjourned.
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