ALL-SIS Business Meeting Minutes:

Sunday, July 18, 1999 in Washington, D.C.

Chair Ed Edmonds opened the meeting at 7:10 am with a welcome to all.

I. Officers' Reports

1. Secretary/Treasurer Marguerite Most

The minutes of the 1998 Business Meeting were approved as posted on the website. Marguerite Most gave the Treasurer's Report. The balance as of July, was $8,578.

Lexis/Nexis, who contributed $4,000 (about a third of the cost) will subsidize this year's lunch. The reception at Catholic University is sponsored in part by the West Group.

Election Results: Ruth Johnson Hill was elected Vice-Chair / Chair Elect; thanks to Dwight King for running and to the nominations committee for their work. Ballots received - 335 (approximately 35% of those mailed); late/invalid ballots received - 1; blank ballots received - 1. A motion to destroy the ballots was made, seconded and passed. The Secretary/Treasurer will destroy the ballots.

2. Chair - Ed Edmonds

After thanking the many SIS volunteers for their work this year, Ed thanked the Columbus Law School of Catholic University for hosting and sponsoring this year's reception, and recognized Lexis/Nexis and the West Group for their financial support for meeting events.

Ed apologized for not having a completed Strategic Plan initiative to bring before the members. He reviewed the work of the Strategic Planning Committee thus far and noted that the process is in capable hands with incoming chair Tory Trotta. Tory would be gathering additional input during her part of the business meeting.

Ed singled out James Durham for revitalizing the newsletter and the education committee for their work developing programs for this year's annual meeting.

This year the SIS joins the Libraries and Technology Committee of AALL to co-sponsor: At the Crossroads of the Age of Electronic Publishing. The SIS is also sponsoring two round tables: Advanced Legal Research coordinated by Ruth Levor, and Constructing Student Surveys coordinated by Camille Broussard. In addition, the SIS joins the TS-SIS in co-sponsoring a Collection Development Roundtable and the RIPS-SIS in co-sponsoring the Forum - Dialogue with Westlaw and Lexis.

He noted that there would be breakfast meetings for directors and middle managers, as well as the SIS lunch open to all members.

II. Committee Reports

1. Education Committee

Paul George reported the results of the Committee's survey and asked for suggestions for programs for next year's annual meeting. The Committee is focusing on three categories in which members identify a need for additional education: personnel issues, the roles of librarians in education, and technology.

2. Newsletter

Ed thanked James Durham for three tremendous issues of the newsletter; James will continue as editor for another year. He is always looking for copy, so keep those articles and comments coming.

3. Website

Ed thanked Beth Smith for her work on the website. Beth reported that the site has a new address, and asked for suggestions or information to post to the site. One possibility is an archive of older articles, such as Toward a Renaissance in Law Librarianship, the AALL report edited by Dick Danner, on long term planning.

4. Membership

Ellen Platt reported on a survey of membership that was conducted to aid the Strategic Planning Committee, specifically in identifying how to encourage membership involvement in the SIS. WebSurvey software was used to compile the results, which Ellen plans to report in the fall newsletter. Highlights of the findings included: 87% of ALL-SIS members are academically affiliated; and 50% are at the director, associate, or department head levels; the most common correlations with other SISs were with RIPS, Computer Services and the TS-SlS.

III. Old Business

A report on the Strategic Plan was the only old business. Discussion was postponed until later in the meeting.

Tory Trotta opened her report with thanks to the many members who have called her to volunteer. Tory has set up a number of committees to handle housekeeping issues and "core" issues facing the Section. After reviewing the charge to each committee, Tory urged members to volunteer. In order to share the work, she hopes to assign at least 5 members to each committee. Committees and members will be listed in the fall issue of the newsletter.

Tory enthusiastically reported on several new projects that are underway for the upcoming year: at the suggestion of Barbara Bintliff (and under her guidance), the SIS will sponsor an Academic CONELL at next year's annual meeting; Jim Milles is chairing an Academic Mentoring project; and Sally Holterhoff is chairing an Awards Committee charged with developing an annual award to be presented by the SIS to an academic law librarian.

Tory also mentioned several Special Working Groups she has charged to advise the Executive Board: Collection Development, Statistics, and Continuing Status/Tenure.

The ALL-SIS listserv is operational and Tory plans to use it to communicate with SIS members, who are automatically subscribed when they join the Section.

In-coming chair Ruth Hill is responsible for educational planning for the Minneapolis meeting in 2001. Please send her ideas for programs.

Tory expressed the concern of the Executive Board that the ALL-SIS is continually struggling to attract and involve academic law librarians, and urged members to volunteer themselves and to help her identify others willing to serve on committees and working groups.

V. New Business

Camille Broussard urged members to attend the Roundtables scheduled later in the week.

VI. New Business - Strategic Planning Dialog

Ed Edmonds recapped the work of the Strategic Planning Committee and thanked committee members. He noted that the mission statement has been published in volume 18, no. 2 of the newsletter and is posted on the website. He expressed concern that of the approximately 1,600 academics in AALL, only about half are ALL-SIS members. In particular there is a perception that the SIS is not meeting the needs of the "rank and file" academic, but is instead a section for upper managers.

Tory led a discussion focusing on ways the SIS could address members' needs and attract new members.

Numerous suggestions were made:

• Consider programs that focus on "nuts and bolts," rather than on policy issues.
• Use regional programs, or small, focused programs open to all such as the architecture program at Duke this spring.
• Satellite programs and packets or training kits like those produced by the PLL-SIS.
• A subject-focused institute followed by programs at the annual meeting (modeled after the Foreign and International Law Institute of several years ago).
• Focus on year-round mentoring of newer members.
• "How to" programs such as how to send email attachments.
• Focus on "big" picture issues, most AALL annual meeting programs are not so designed.
• Several specific program topics were suggested: dealing with a central university management; managing student workers; circulation policies; and online catalog issues. These topics may lend themselves to the round table format.
• Bring in speakers from outside the law library field as is done at SLA.
• A "project" with a year round focus that could serve to bring those involved together as a team at the annual meeting.
• A "Transitions program similar to that sponsored by LLAGNY in New York with academics working with firm librarians to prepare students for practice.
• Library issues as opposed to law issues - maybe there are ALA programs which would be of interest to law librarians.
• Authors talking about their books - again following the ALA model.
• Short-term listservs with a focus on a particular issue.
• Should the SIS have an "advocacy" role for its members?
• ABA statistics (how does this suggestion tie in with work of the ABA committee?)
• Mentoring lists of experienced academics to be posted on web-site; also a list of "experts."
• How to handle CD-ROMs that come in books.

After thanking everyone and urging members to get involved, Tory adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,
Marguerite Most,
ALL-SIS Secretary - Treasurer