Minutes of the VALL Business Meeting
Kaufman & Canoles, Norfolk, VA
February 27, 2004
Call to Order (Bobbie Denny, President)
The meeting was called to order by VALL Vice President Cathy Palombi.
Minutes (Tisha Zelner, Secretary)
The minutes of the November 6, 2003, business meeting were approved as submitted.
Treasurer's Report (Bill Katz, Treasurer)
Bill Katz distributed copies of the treasurer's report for the period May 1, 2003 to February 29, 2004 and called attention to significant receipts and expenditures.
Committee Reports
Grants (Rae Best, Chair)
Donna Bausch reported on behalf of Rae Best.
The application form for grants to attend the AALL annual meeting and conference in Boston on July 10-14, 2004 is available in PDF on the VALL website. There are two grants available through VALL. One is a chapter grant funded by AALL and the other is funded by LexisNexis. Applications must be postmarked by April 2, 2004. Grant recipients will be selected by April 9, 2004 and notified immediately by mail or e-mail. Printed grant application forms were also available from Donna at this meeting.
Legal Information Outreach (Leanne Battle, Chair)
The VALL Speakers Bureau will be posted to the VALL website.
Legislative Awareness (Isabel Paul, Chair)
Information has been distributed via VALL-L.
Membership (Robert Davis, Chair)
Robert Davis was not present.
LexisNexis was thanked for sponsoring the printed VALL Directory for 2003-04. Although printing of the directory is later than usual, it will be printed before the end of VALL's current fiscal year on May 31, 2004.
As of February 2004, VALL had 154 members, including 23 new members. The two newest members are Craig Dove-Isbel with Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore and Debra Duck with Williams Mullen. Bobbie Denny and Margaret Christensen each have a copy of the most recent membership list.
Newsletter (Margaret Christiansen and Marie Hamm, Co-chairs)
Michael Klepper, a librarian at University of Virginia's Law Library and immediate past editor of The Southeastern Law Librarian, has tentatively agreed to serve as the next VALL Newsletter editor, on the condition that the format of the newsletter be changed from print and electronic to electronic only. Margaret explained that producing the VALL Newsletter in both print and electronic formats requires twice as much work as publishing in either format alone. Marie explained that a survey she posted to the AALL Council of Newsletter Editors (CONE) listserv showed that the majority of AALL chapter newsletters are now electronic. Also, where the newsletter is concerned, VALL is spending more than it receives in order to produce the newsletter in paper form. Paper copies of the newsletter may be printed from the PDF version and made available upon request. The Board recommends to the membership that publication of the VALL Newsletter move to an electronic-only format.
Hazel Johnson expressed concern about members being made aware of each new issue of the newsletter if it were available only in electronic form. Marie addressed this concern by explaining that an e-mail distribution list will be maintained for all VALL members, separate from member’s voluntary subscription to VALL-L, and that a notification will be sent via e-mail when each new issue of the newsletter is published to the VALL website. Tim Coggins reported that the SEAALL board is going to reconsider whether or not it made a mistake in moving its newsletter to an electronic-only format. Despite these concerns, a motion was made that the VALL Newsletter become an electronic-only publication and that the decision will be revisited if needed. The motion passed.
Placement (Barbara Cumming, Chair)
Openings continue to be posted to VALL-L.
Program (Cathy Palombi, Chair)
The spring meeting will be held at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA on May 14, 2004. Sally Wiant is in charge of local arrangements for the meeting. The speaker will be W&L law professor Brian Murchison.
The summer meeting will be held at Skipjack's Seafood Emporium in Boston from noon to 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 13, 2004. Registration will be $20.00 per person, to include a choice of soup or salad, entrée, dessert, beverage, and tip. Attendees will be able to order from a limited menu.
Preservation (John Barden, Chair)
Sally Wambold reported on behalf of the committee. Anyone with suggestions for preservation activities is encouraged to contact John Barden.
Public Relations (Jill Burr, Chair)
Bobbie reported for the committee. Kathy Mays, Director of Judicial Planning for the Supreme Court of Virginia, has accepted VALL's invitation to attend the AALL Annual Meeting in Boston as VALL's Chapter VIP (Valuable Invited Participant).
Nominating Committee
As called for in the Bylaws, the names of the candidates were presented to the membership at this meeting.
There were no nominations from the floor. A motion was made and approved to accept these nominees to appear on the official ballot.
Publications (Gail Zwirner, Chair)
VALL has contributed two articles to Virginia Lawyer this year. Mark Hedberg, a partner at Hunton & Williams' Richmond office, will be writing a guide to health law research for the June/July 2004 issue of Virginia Lawyer. The next "all librarian" issue of Virginia Lawyer is scheduled for publication in February 2005. Paul Barron and Gail Warren have been added to the list of contributors for the Feb. 2005 issue of VL.
Recruitment (Taylor Fitchett, Chair)
No report.
Vendor Relations (Nancy Loewenberg, Chair)
No report.
VLA Liaison (Barbie Selby, Chair)
No report.
Old Business
There was no old business to discuss.
New Business
Gail Zwirner introduced Caroline Osborne, a new librarian at the University of Richmond.
The SEAALL 2004 Annual Meeting will be held in Richmond on March 25-27, 2004. For more information, visit the SEAALL website at http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/seaall/2004/index.html or contact either Tim Coggins or Hazel Johnson.
Adjournment
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.