Philadelphia, PA
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by RIPS-SIS Chair (2010-2011), Katie Brown.
New RIPS Board Projects Accomplished This Year
Katie Brown reported that the new RIPS strategic plan is now available on the blog and the website. The specific duties assigned to board members and committee chairs are included within the strategic plan. Kris Helge began the Innovation Committee, and the Katie Brown initiated the RIPS “Give Back” Task Force.”
Other projects included the RIPS History project, headed by Karin Johnsrud, which will be posted on the RIPS website and will continue into the next year. RIPS adopted a penguin from Defenders of Wildlife, and also contributed to the SR-SIS book drive for the annual meeting. This year, RIPS increased the number of AALL/CONELL grants to seven. This year, the board also surveyed members in order to recruit volunteers to RIPS committees. Puron is now on Facebook: Friend him to follow his adventures with Katie and Kris throughout the year. Finally, RIPS will possibly have the opportunity to digitize its archive of newsletters into HeinOnline.
Committee and Task Force Reports
Blog: Jason Sowards. The RIPS blog successfully moved to WordPress from Blogger earlier this year. Since October 2010, the blog has had 9906 hits. In order to keep up with the blog, members can either subscribe by signing up through the blog, or through an RSS reader. The blog would like to appeal to a more diverse audience and needs more non-academic people to blog; none applied this year. New blogger succession guidelines were drafted this year and will soon be available on the RIPS website. Jason thanked the outgoing bloggers and announced that Jenny Wondracek would serve as the editor for 2011-2012. The blog has three bloggers for the upcoming year.
Awards/Scholarships: Lynn Murray. This year, RIPS expanded its awards to 6 annual meeting and 1 CONELL grant to: Carolyn Dean, Caroline Young, Margaret McDermott, Jennifer Frazier, Jacquelyn McCloud, Grace Rosales, and Elliott Hibbler. RIPS needs to increase its outreach to public law librarians, and Lynn suggested either removing Public Services category of awards, or removing both Public Services or Technical Services and adding them as subgroups of other categories. Lynn thanked the 2010-2011 committee members.
Program Committee: Kris Helge. Kris thanked the 2010-2011 program committee and encouraged members to attend the RIPS-sponsored programs during the annual meeting.
Teach-in Kit: David Lehmann. This year, RIPS published the 19th annual Teach-in Kit, many guides were added. This February, the 20th Teach-in Kit will be released. A call for submissions will be posted on the blog.
Public relations and recruitment: Mellissa Serfass. This year, RIPS gave away “green” notepads and magnet clips. Mellissa encouraged members to sit at the Exhibit Hall table to promote RIPS, and more people volunteered than were needed! This year, RIPS was represented at CONELL, where members spoke with many new librarians.
Nominations: Beth Givens. Beth thanked members who agreed to serve as nominees for the RIPS board. Beth is working on a timeline and handbook for future nomination committees.
Research Instruction: Marc Silverman. This year, the Research Instruction committee worked to produce book reviews of 10 new legal research texts that were published recently. The committee received more than double the number of volunteers to write the reviews than was necessary!
Web Page: Uwe Beltz. Sarah Glassmeyer resigned as RIPS webmaster, and Uwe and Maribel Nash will be co-webmasters this year. Uwe encouraged members to submit ideas for design and content. The webpage will be migrating to AALLNET in the near future.
History Task Force: Karin Johnsrud. The RIPS history will be posted on the website, please contact Karin if you have any more information to add to the project, or feedback. Karin thanked everyone who assisted her with the project.
“Giving Back” Task Force: Katie Brown. RIPS wants to recognize members who volunteer, not only with RIPS, but with the community at large. RIPS will be profiling these members on the blog on a regular basis.
Chair Katie Brown thanked all members of the 2010-2011 Executive Board: Kris Helge (Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect), Maribel Nash (Secretary/Treasurer), Uwe Beltz & Liz Johnson (Members at Large) for their service during the year.
Treasurer’s Report: Maribel Nash. The current balance, as of May 31, 2011, was $23,309.88. RIPS distributed $2180.00 in seven grants to AALL annual meeting attendees. RIPS also donated $100 to the Social Responsibilities SIS Book Drive and $35 to adopt a penguin from the Defenders of Wildlife, a charity chosen by the membership. RIPS membership increased this year, giving us an increase in revenue from dues.
Puron was officially passed from 2010-2011 Chair Katie Brown to 2011-2012 Chair Kris Helge.
Chair Kris Helge thanked Katie, his RIPS-SIS colleagues, and adjourned the meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Maribel Nash