Society of Georgia Archivists
Board of Directors’ Meeting
Mercer University Library
25 April 2008

PRESENT:
Morna Gerrard, Jamal Booker, Muriel McDowell Jackson, Reagan Grimsley, Abby Griner, Jody Lloyd Thompson, Nancy Davis Bray, Christine de Catanzaro, Elizabeth Russey, Teresa Burk, Marie Force

CALL TO ORDER:
President Morna Gerrard called the meeting to order at 10:18 a.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The minutes had been distributed by email prior to the meeting. The Board unanimously approved the minutes.

OFFICERS' REPORTS

Treasurer:
Treasurer Jamal Booker submitted a written report that stated:

  • All SGA bank accounts were updated to show that SGA is incorporated.
  • Now that SGA is financially responsible for Georgia Archives Week, all checks from sponsors and donors to Georgia Archives Week should now be made payable to SGA.
  • Overall accounts total $65,456.13 ($33,867.62 cash on hand, $31,588.51 scholarship funds) through April 22, 2008.
Marie Force noted that the Georgia Archives Week is now Georgia Archives Month. Booker will update the organization’s name in the budget.

Archivist:
Archivist Muriel McDowell Jackson presented a written report, stating that she received archival materials left with Laura Botts at the last Board meeting on February 1, 2008. Jackson also noted that she is seeking to expand the membership records (from just tallies to include individual member names) and to locate artifacts for SGA’s 40th anniversary in 2009.

Jackson also proposed to inventory, collect and microfilm SGA newsletters. After discussion, the Board decided that microfilming the newsletter was not necessary: printing copies for the Georgia Archives and retaining digital copies in Georgia Tech’s Dark Archives are sufficient.

Administrative Assistant:
Administrative Assistant Frances Overcash was not present but submitted a written report. Current membership for 2008 stands at 198 with 17 new members. Overall 2008 scholarship fund gifts total $925. The second notice for membership renewal was sent out in late February.

President:
President Morna Gerrard submitted a written report, stating:
  • Tina Seetoo has agreed to manage updates to the publication Shelter from the Stormy Blast, which is hosted on the SGA website.
  • Gerrard will represent SGA on the advisory committee of The Healthy Collections Initiative, formerly
  • On March 28, Gerrard met with Membership Committee Chair Christine de Catanzaro and Membership Committee member Bill Hardesty and discussed the ex-member survey, mentoring programs and fellowship opportunities. Bill agreed to research the programs available through other archival organizations.
  • On April 3, Gerrard met with Past President Jill Severn and Vice President Christine de Catanzaro and discussed general issues, including mentoring options and celebrations for SGA’s 40th anniversary.
Gerrard also intends to collaborate with other cultural resource managers by creating a subcommittee to work on outreach efforts. She will send out an e-mail invitation to all SGA members to join.

PUBLICATIONS REPORTS

Provenance:
Editor Reagan Grimsley submitted a written report, stating:
  • The 2007 issue is delayed but expected to go to the printer in May.
  • The SGA Board needs to renominate Nancy Davis Bray and nominate Jessica Lacher-Feldman to the Provenance Board of Editors.
  • Outsourcing of the design and printing of Provenance is underway. Jill Severn requested a bid from the Georgia Press in Athens. Seeking a minimum of 3 bids.
  • Indexing is caught up. Indexes up to the 2006 issue of Provenance now appear in searches of American History and Life database. Still waiting for full text to appear in EBSCO.

Newsletter:
Renna Tuten was not present but submitted a written report, which included the following items:
  • Posted the current issue of the SGA Newsletter 40:1 (Spring 2008) to the SGA website, and notified members on April 4.
  • This was the first issue with new sidebar advertising, designed by Abby Adams.
  • Mandi Johnson resigned as Institutional Profile writer, and will be replaced by Greg Markley. The Board thanked Mandi Johnson for her excellent contributions to the newsletter.
  • Advertised in the Spring 2008 for an assistant editor, but received no response. Will post the position announcement to the SGA listserv.
  • Tuten would like to form an ad hoc committee to explore creating a package for vendors including space in newsletter and in meeting program, etc. The Board postponed discu

Website:
Website Editor Abby Griner submitted a written report, stating:
  • Developed a Facebook page for SGA: 11 fans as of April 21. She will send out an e-mail blast to the SGA listserv about the Facebook page.
  • Developing a survey on ways to improve the website. Will be short (10 questions at most).
  • Trying to post to SGA blog at least once a month. Need more content.
  • Moved “Georgia Archival Repositories” to the left navigation sidebar on the SGA website because of high use of that page.
  • The top five pages accessed on the SGA website: Jobs, Disaster Planning, Newsletter, Archives Month, Georgia Archival Repositories.
  • Sent out e-mail to SGA members explaining how to upload SGA photos to our Flickr account. No additions yet.
  • Moved advertisements to online newsletter’s right sidebar on every page excluding the front page.

Discussion followed:
Griner will post information about the Annual Meeting on the SGA website. Elizabeth Russey wants to investigate posting information about the Annual Meeting on Facebook.

Jamal Booker suggested posting footage of interesting items from SGA members’ collections on the SGA blog. Griner will send out an e-mail request to SGA members for collections footage and/or images to post on the blog.

Morna Gerrard recognized Abby Griner for her proactive Web work. Griner stated she intends to continue to pursue Web 2.0 options that add value to the online SGA experience, but are not too time-consuming.

Listserv:
Listserv Manager Nora Galler was not present but submitted a written report. She conducted routine management of the SGA lists and is updating the SGA member listserv based on a current membership file received from Frances Overcash.

Subscriptions Manager:
Subscriptions Manager Jody Thompson submitted a written report. There are 57 subscribers to date for 2008. She received 6 claims related to Provenance this quarter, and 7 subscription renewals. She e-mailed the SGA Newsletter 40:1 (Spring 2008) issue to institutional subscribers and subscription vendors, and plans to submit that issue to the Georgia Tech Dark Archives.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Archives Month Liaison:
Georgia Archives Month Chair Sara Saunders was not present but submitted a written report. The 2008 Georgia Archives Month Committee is finalizing poster and flyer designs and asking sponsors for donations.

Saunders also noted that she “has 2 master microfilms of Provenance: 1972-1977 and 1978-1982.” Muriel McDowell Jackson will contact Saunders to find out more details, including film format (16 mm or 35 mm), and report back to the Board.

Education Committee:
Education Committee Chair Nancy Davis Bray submitted a written proposal for the Spring Workshop, which will be a film, video and audio basics handling workshop at the University of Georgia Main Library on May. She noted that this workshop was originally intended to be the Pre-Conference Fall 2008 workshop, but the dates conflicted with the UGA staff attendance of the Association of Moving Image Archivists conference and the need to limit workshop to 15 participants.

The Board unanimously approved the Spring Workshop proposal.

Membership:
Membership Committee Chair Christine de Catanzaro submitted a written report, which included the following:
  • The first committee meeting was held on February 8.
  • New member welcome letters and membership renewal reminders were sent out.
  • The Directory Subcommittee met virtually about finding software to convert to HTML format; a proposal is ready for Board approval (see Old Business). Discussions have started about enabling online payment of dues with same software.
  • Promotional activities planned for Georgia Archives Institute, office hours at Society of American Archivists annual meeting and SGA Annual Meeting renewal table.
  • Subcommittee for attracting ex-members met on March 28, and discussed establishing a fellows program, a mentor/mentee program and resending the ex-member survey.
  • Social get-togethers: Discussions started with Kaye Minchew (SGA/NAGARA joint event), Nancy Beaumont (SAA Happy Hour) and Elizabeth Russey (informal “meet and greet” for new/student members as part of SGA Annual Meeting’s Continental Breakfast event).
  • Promotion of SGA membership: drafted letters to faculty members at library schools and historical societies; started discussions about developing logo for SGA in time for 40th anniversary.
De Catanzaro mentioned the possibility of establishing a distinguished service award in place of a fellows program. Estimated to be in place by SGA’s 40th anniversary in 2009. She also explained that the mentor/mentee program is intended for students and new members and will start informally with get-togethers.

Elizabeth Russey said it would be great if we can get SGA office hours/happy hour listed in the SAA annual meeting program for promotional purposes.

Nominating:
Nominating Committee Chair Jill Severn was not present but submitted a written report. The Nominating Committee reviewed the Survey Monkey nomination request survey that will go out to members in early June and made corrections as necessary. Severn prepared a brief announcement for the Spring newsletter alerting people to the upcoming opportunity to recommend nominees for the vacant positions on the SGA board.

2008 Annual Meeting:
2008 Second Year Director Elizabeth Russey submitted a written report on the 2008 Annual Meeting in Athens. Total budget for space, catering and reception: $9,700. Classic Center meeting space rental is $2,357.10. Taylor-Grady House reception space rental is $150. $7,192.90 remaining in budget.

Annual meeting dates were changed to November 13-14, with the pre-conference workshop on November 12. Date changes were forced by the University of Georgia football schedule, which greatly impacted the annual meeting planning.

The majority of the meeting will be held at the Classic Center in Athens, across the street from the conference hotel Athens Hilton Garden Inn ($125/night plus tax; $8/day for parking). Reception will be held in the Taylor-Grady house, with reception transportation probably provided by University of Georgia buses. Catering remains the largest expense.

Russey suggested that the Board may want to consider in the future charging a nominal fee in addition to the conference fee to pay for a portion of the luncheon. Russey noted that other regional conferences do not offer this lunch; we are the only ones that do. She also commented that we are trying to site conferences now where members have more lunch options around the meeting venue. Morna Gerrard suggested putting the question to the members in the annual meeting survey. Jody Lloyd Thompson suggested maybe raise conference fee and include an explanation saying costs rose because of lunch.

Russey also reported on a proposal to hire a graphic artist to design a SGA logo/letterhead and annual meeting program booklet. This discussion was postponed until later in the meeting. See Old Business.

2008 First Year Director Teresa Burk submitted a written report. Three well-attended program planning meetings were held this quarter. Initial request for bids on 2009 meeting space made to Savannah and Jekyll Island, because 50% of respondents to annual meeting survey wanted to meet on the Georgia coast. The program and schedule will be finalized by the end of May, so a brochure or flyer can be created and distributed at the SAA meeting in August.

The SGA Board reviewed the program sessions and annual meeting schedule drafts of April 24. The Board agreed that the lunch/SGA business meeting (scheduled for Thursday November 13) usually goes too long. The Board will discuss at its next meeting who will speak at the lunch and who will just put a report in the packet distributed to attendees. Muriel McDowell Jackson also suggested seating all the award winners at the same table to shorten time spent walking up to the podium to accept awards.

Scholarship:
Scholarship Committee Chair Luciana Spracher was not present but submitted a written report. The Carroll Hart Scholarship for the Georgia Archives Institute was advertised thorough various listservs and the SGA website and awarded to Cynthia Horne, library assistant at North Georgia College and State University. The Edward Weldon Scholarship for SGA members was announced in the SGA listserv and newsletter (application deadline May 15). The Scholarship Committee will coordinate with the Education Committee for the announcement and award of the Brenda S. Banks Scholarship for the SGA Summer Workshop.

OLD BUSINESS

Online Directory Move from a Database to HTML:
The Board reviewed a written proposal submitted by the Membership Directory Subcommittee (Christine de Catanzaro, Abby Griner, Paul Densmore and Ryan Speer) to implement Wild Apricot as the new SGA online membership directory. Key features: online member application form and directory database, members can make changes to their profiles and pay dues via Paypal or credit card, income reports generated automatically and it has a secure login.

The Subcommittee recommended the “Community Pricing” package of $50/month, 500 member maximum, multiple website sections with restricted access, multiple administrator accounts.

Abby Griner and Christine de Catanzaro said that SGA has the option of later moving the SGA website to this site and save on website costs. Very easy to use, do not need to know coding. Another future possibility is to use this site for online payments of annual meetings and workshops.

Christine de Catanzaro made a motion to approve Wild Apricot as the new SGA online membership directory and the Community Pricing package. Seconded by Elizabeth Russey. The motion passed unanimously.

Ex-Member Survey:
Christine de Catanzaro reported that the survey to ex-SGA members is on hold. May wait until after the membership database is up to date.

Abby Griner noted that a lot of members’ e-mail addresses are not valid and that was a big problem with responses to the last survey. De Catanzaro agreed that we need a better way to target ex-members. Muriel McDowell Jackson suggested that maybe current members in the different regions of Georgia can help. Elizabeth Russey suggested trying to match SGA’s list with the SAA membership list. General agreement from Board members to consult the SAA list as a first option.

Repository for SGA Photos:
The Board decided that photos should be sent to the Georgia Tech Dark Archives where electronic issues of the SGA Newsletter are stored.

Publication Shelter from the Stormy Blast:
This business discussed earlier. See President under Officer’s Reports.

IMLS statewide planning grant:
This business discussed earlier. See President under Officer’s Reports.

Replacement newsletter editor:
This business discussed earlier. See Newsletter under Publications Reports.

Replacement administrative assistant:
Morna Gerrard reported that Mandi Johnson will be the new administrative assistant and will work with Frances Overcash until end of this year.

Use of graphic designer to develop SGA logo/letterhead and 2008 annual meeting program booklet:
Elizabeth Russey reported developing SGA logo/letterhead is probably postponed this year, but will take up again next year. Bid results were high (approximately $2200 including the annual meeting booklet).

Christine de Catanzaro suggested that Mandy Mastrovita, who designed the Georgia Archives Month poster, is a possible option for doing graphics design work this year. Elizabeth Russey will contact Mastrovita about the 2008 annual meeting program design (Abby Griner has contact information).

After some discussion, Russey said she may go ahead and look for someone to design logo/letterhead this year. Morna Gerrard will contact graphic artists at Georgia Statue University.

Subcommittee for collaborating with other organizations:
This business discussed earlier. See President under Officer’s Reports.

PayPal online payment system:
Jamal Booker stated that SGA now has online banking set up and can pay bills online, but he was not able to investigate PayPal. He thought PayPal could be set up in time to accept the May 30 workshop fees.

Booker will e-mail everyone about the fees for PayPal and credit card payments. Morna Gerrard noted that depending on the PayPal/credit card fees, the Board may need to discuss raising membership fees.

Placing scholarship budget below bottom line for general budget:
Jamal Booker will remove scholarships from the general budget and track them separately. Individual scholarships will be listed out.

Archival supplies/vendor survey to cultivate vendor support:
Morna Gerrard reported that Jill Severn suggested finding out which archival vendors are used by SGA members. Jill volunteered to organize the survey. Elizabeth Russey noted that the information could be used to cultivate vendor support for next year’s annual meeting.

Provenance Managing Editor Vacancy:
Reagan Grimsley reported no success in finding someone to replace Managing Editor Susan Hoffius.

Outsourcing Printing and Design of Provenance:
This business discussed earlier. See Provenance under Publications Reports.

NEW BUSINESS

Approval of Provenance Board Member:
The Board unanimously approved the appointment of Jessica Lacher-Feldman to the Provenance Board of Editors.

Vendor Package:
Elizabeth Russey and Renna Tuten have discussed starting a subcommitteee to create a package for vendors. The package will include space in the newsletter and annual meeting program. Subcommittee will probably start next year.

Mailing list policies for not-for-profit fund-raising initiatives and membership drives:
Jamal Booker recommended developing a policy regarding the use of SGA listservs for posting fund-raising initiatives and membership drives messages from other not-for-profit organizations.

After discussion, there was general agreement from Board members on these points:
  • See no problem with posting anything from fellow organizations; do not think SGA will suffer financially.
  • Any such posting has to be posted by an SGA member, so the listervs already have an established, self-limiting requirement.
  • A written policy needs to be developed.
Elizabeth Russey and Abby Griner also noted that written policies need to be developed to define what the SGA listservs are and the purpose of the SGA blog.

Abby Griner, Jamal Booke, Nora Lewis and Morna Gerrard will be in contact about writing up a proposal.

Archiving SGA annual meeting electronic records:
Elizabeth Russey proposes archiving SGA annual meeting electronic records (speeches, etc.) at the Georgia Tech Dark Archives. Postponed for discussion until the next Board meeting.

SGA conference dues payment incentives:
Morna Gerrard would like to encourage members to pay dues at the annual meeting. Elizabeth Russey suggested tacking the dues onto the annual meeting registration form so members have to only write one check. General agreement from Board members.

SGA’s 40th anniversary in 2009:
General agreement from the Board that time is very critical due to 2009 annual meeting session/reception planning schedule and need to add the anniversary to the budget.

Morna Gerrard will send an e-mail to the SGA listserv inviting members to join an anniversary subcommittee. Members will have two weeks to respond. Jamal Booker suggested asking for volunteers and ideas in case people do not have time to volunteer. Christine de Catanzaro recommended that a member of the Annual Meeting Committee and the Membership Committee be on the Anniversary Subcommittee. Gerrard will report back to the Board about the response from members and a possible subcommittee chair she has in mind.


Other:
Theresa Burk and Elizabeth Russey suggested changing the Newsletter Editor’s title to “Publication Editor” with duties to expand to include the annual meeting program. Morna Gerrard said the Board will revisit this issue next year.

ADJOURNMENT
There being no other business the meeting was adjourned at 12:07 p.m.

ADDENDUM TO MINUTES
The following items of business were proposed by e-mail in May-July 2008. SGA Board members voted on these items by e-mail, and all motions passed unanimously:
  • On May 16, 2008, Christine de Catanzaro made a motion to allocate about $150 for food and drink for the social get-together of SGA members (current and former) at the SAA conference on the Friday evening (August 29, 2008) prior to the SAA reception.
  • On June 4, 2008, Christine de Catanzaro made a motion to approve the ordering of a debit card for SGA’s primary checking by Jamal Booker.
  • On July 7, 2008, Jamal Booker made a motion for approval of an SGA Paypal account to be set up by Booker.
  • On July 14, 2008, Morna Gerrard forwarded a motion from Sara Saunders to approve the usual $500.00 of SGA monies for Georgia Archives Month.
Respectfully submitted on July 21, 2008,

Marie Force
SGA Secretary