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American Archivists
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Society of American Archivists
COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
May 31 – June 2, 2009
Chicago, Illinois

President Frank Boles called the meeting to order at 4:10 pm on Sunday, May 31.  Present were Vice President/President-Elect Peter Gottlieb; Treasurer Ann Russell; Executive Committee Member Lee Miller; Council members Bruce Ambacher, Rebecca Hankins, Sara “Sue” Hodson, Thomas Hyry, Rosalye Settles, Margery Sly, and Diane Vogt-O’Connor; and SAA Executive Director Nancy Beaumont; Publishing Director Teresa Brinati; Member and Technical Services Director Brian Doyle; and Finance/Administration Director Tom Jurczak.  Helen Tibbo, Aimee Felker, and Deborra Richardson, who were elected to begin their Council terms in August 2009, also attended the full meeting.  Education Director Solveig DeSutter joined the meeting on Monday, June 1.

I.  COUNCIL BUSINESS

A.   Adoption of the Agenda 

Sly moved and Ambacher seconded adoption of the agenda as modified by the Executive Committee.  PASSED.

B.  Minutes of the February 26 – 28 Council Meeting

Boles noted that the minutes were adopted by the Council in April 2009 and posted on the SAA website immediately.  SAA members were notified of availability of the minutes via In the Loop and the website.

C.  Review of the February 2009 “To-Do List”

Council members reviewed the items listed on the February 2009 “To-Do List” and provided updates on completed and pending action items.

II. STRATEGIC PLANNING

A.  Review and Discuss Strategic Priority Activities for 2010 – 2013

Council members and staff reviewed and revised the work done by a Council subgroup and staff since the February 2009 strategic planning session to 1) refine the desired outcomes and activities associated with each strategic priority and 2) to develop action plans (including tasks, assignees, timeframes, and resources needed) for each activity slated for work in FY 2010.

B.  Communication Plan:  Strategic Plan and Priorities

Council members discussed ways in which to ensure that 1) SAA members are informed of the Council’s ongoing strategic planning efforts and 2) they are invited to provide feedback over time.  Beginning in early June, the strategic priorities, desired outcomes, and action plans for FY 2010 will be made available to members via SAA’s various media, along with a request for feedback.  In addition, the Leadership Orientation at the 2009 Annual Meeting in Austin will highlight the strategic planning process and priorities.

III. ACTION ITEMS

A.  Review / Approve Proposed FY 2010 Budget

MOTION 1

THAT the FY 2010 Proposed Budget of $2,174,368.74 in revenues, $2,165,200.82 in expenses, and a net gain of $9,167.92 be adopted.
Support Statement:  The FY 2010 budget represents a realistic and restrained work plan for the Society that places appropriate emphasis on maintaining operations at a sustainable level while addressing SAA’s strategic priorities.

Moved by Gottlieb; seconded by Vogt-O’Connor.  PASSED.

B.  Education Committee:  Final Report on Accreditation Project

Responding to a recommendation from 38 SAA members to “appoint a task force to explore the desirability and feasibility of accrediting graduate archival education programs composed of a broad cross-section of the SAA membership, as well as members with particular expertise in graduate archival education,” the SAA Council determined at its August 25, 2008, meeting that such an exploration is most appropriately within the purview of an existing appointed group – the Committee on Education – provided that broad comment were sought from the SAA membership. 

To establish a solid basis for understanding accreditation, as well as the opportunities and challenges involved in such a process, members of an accreditation subcommittee of the Committee on Education researched SAA’s history with accreditation and contacted a number of key stakeholders directly.  In addition, Education Director Solveig De Sutter spoke with two teams of consultants who specialize in helping organizations become accrediting bodies.

The subcommittee presented its interim report to the SAA Council in February 2009. Following the February meeting, the accreditation subcommittee posted links to its interim report (and supporting documentation) on the Committee on Education’s group webpage at http://www.archivists.org/saagroups/education/.  E-mail notification about the interim report and the subcommittee’s activities was sent to the SAA Leader List, the Archives & Archivists listserv, the Archival Educators Roundtable, and the SAA membership via In the Loop.  Those notifications pointed readers to the Education group webpage and strongly encouraged feedback. Contact information was provided for SAA’s education office and for the chair of the Committee on Education. Fewer than fifteen individuals responded, but all comments received were thoughtful and useful.

MOTION 2

THAT SAA not pursue development and implementation of an accreditation program in graduate archival education.

Support Statement: The Committee on Education’s research on accreditation revealed that to manage such a program is costly; that institutions are unlikely to participate for a variety of reasons; that there appears to be less support for accreditation from the SAA membership than originally anticipated; that designing an accreditation program for a discipline that is grounded in a variety of programs, departments, and schools will likely face insurmountable challenges; and that issues driving the requests for accreditation may be addressed successfully in other ways.  The Council expressed its appreciation to the Education Committee for its thorough work.

Moved by Hyry; seconded by Vogt-O’Connor.  PASSED.

C.  ALA/SAA Joint Statement on Access to Research Materials in Archives and Special Collections Libraries

The original American Library Association (ALA)/SAA Joint Statement on Access to Original Research Materials in Libraries, Archives, and Manuscript Repositories was developed jointly in 1978 by the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the SAA Committee on Reference and Access Policies. In response to an ACRL request for periodic review, RBMS established a Committee on Access Guidelines in 1993.  This committee prepared an initial revision and then referred the document to the ALA/SAA Joint Committee in 1994.  A final compilation was prepared by a working group appointed by the Joint Committee.  In 2006, an RBMS committee was created to prepare an initial revision mandated by ALA standards policies.  When that draft was brought to SAA’s attention, SAA President Mark Greene (in October 2007) provided the following charge to a new joint task force:

“Prepare a statement for the Council's consideration that addresses as comprehensively as possible the issues and policies related to researcher access to archives and manuscripts collections (commonly referred to as manuscript collections, special collections, and archives) owned or maintained by a clearly defined set of repository types (it is unclear at this point whether the statement is meant to apply to all repositories, including for example business archives and other private organizational archives such as churches, or instead to only a subset of repositories, e.g. college and university libraries, archives, and special collections, state and local public and private historical societies, independent research libraries, state and local libraries and archives, federal archives, records centers, and presidential libraries).

“SAA Task Force members should consciously represent the interests, concerns, experience, and practice of the range of repositories to be affected by the statement, even though the members may not directly represent all of those repository types.

“The statement should make clear what material and what repositories are to be governed by it, whether the statement is meant to be guidelines/recommendations versus standards, and the relationship of the statement to other relevant documents (such as ethics statements). 

“The statement should explicitly take note of intellectual property issues, privacy and confidentiality issues, freedom of information issues, equality of access issues, and issues raised by the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials, among others; however, the Task Force can elect to consider one or more of these issues outside its purview so long as an explanation to that effect is provided. 

“Development and discussion of the statement should follow guidelines for the development of SAA Standards regardless of whether the statement will be formally considered a standard, to ensure a process of wide dissemination and comment before final consideration by governing bodies.

“The statement should be fully cognizant of, but need not directly build on, previous iterations of the statement.”

According to the task force report, “We made minor revisions to the 2006 RBMS draft… and we’ve publicized it widely within SAA (via discussions with appropriate component groups, an open forum at the 2008 Annual Meeting, and via the website) during the past year.  Except for two responses [addressed in the final draft], SAA members have offered only minor editorial comments.”  The Council considered a draft presented to its February 2009 meeting and asked for revisions.

MOTION 3

THAT the following revised ALA/SAA Joint Statement on Access to Research Materials in Archives and Special Collections Libraries be approved: 

Support Statement:  This revision of the draft statement submitted to the SAA Council in February 2009 contains the Task Force's response to feedback from the Council.  The February 2009 draft was based on broad distribution of comment drafts to the SAA and ALA communities via a variety of public means.  The resulting document represents a consensus among archives and library professionals and is consistent with SAA's Code of Ethics for Archivists.  The SAA members of the Task Force have been guided by our charge to represent the interests of the archives profession as a whole, as well as our implicit responsibility – given that we worked with ALA – to produce guidelines that represent the interests and needs of both communities.  All six members of the Task Force collaborated in the revision of the document.

Moved by Hodson; seconded by Vogt-O’Connor seconded.  PASSED.  (Ambacher and Miller opposed; Sly abstained.) 

D. Revision of Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct Duties and Responsibilities

In the past several years the SAA Council has voted twice to make the Society’s Code of Ethics for Archivists an “aspirational,” rather than an enforceable, document.  In 2003, the Council chose to remove the enforcement clause from SAA’s Code of Ethics.  The Council reiterated that decision in 2005 when, after broad discussion by the SAA membership, the Council adopted a revised and “aspirational” Code.  Given this direction from Council, Boles proposed revision of the duties and responsibilities of the Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct to reflect these previous decisions.

MOTION 4

THAT the Council Handbook, Section VII., Standing Committees and Boards, Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct, III. Duties and Responsibilities, be modified to delete item 4., as follows:
 
III. Duties and Responsibilities

1. The committee recommends to the Council updates to the Code of Ethics for Archivists when these are made necessary by changes in laws governing recordkeeping, copyright, or other pertinent subjects, or by changes in professional procedures and practices.
2. The committee periodically conducts a complete review of the Code of Ethics for Archivists to ensure that ad hoc changes have not compromised its internal consistency and the document as a whole continues to meet the need of the profession. It recommends to the Council revisions as necessary.
3. The committee monitors the rise of new ethical issues due to societal, legal, or judicial and technological developments.
4. The committee recommends to the Council procedures for responding to complaints to SAA alleging violation of the Code of Ethics for Archivists, and advises the Council on specific cases as deemed necessary by the President.
   

Support Statement:  Removal of Section III., Duties and Responsibilities, item 4., from the description of the Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct in the Council Handbook provides greater consistency with recent Council resolutions regarding enforcement of the Code of Ethics for Archivists.

Moved by Vogt-O’Connor; seconded by Ambacher.  PASSED.  (Hankins abstained.)

E.  Policy Regarding Release of Council Materials to Membership

At its August 2007 meeting, as part of several resolutions intended to increase governance transparency, the Council passed the following resolution:

THAT the SAA office make agendas for Council meetings available to the membership, through a post on the SAA website, 10 business days prior to the Council meetings, with the understanding that exceptions are possible for late changes and agenda amendments made at the meetings.

Prior to the February 2009 Council meeting, publication of the agenda led to discussion among SAA members of an agenda item regarding California’s Proposition 8 and a request for disclosure of the report prepared by the Diversity Committee.  The Council found itself in the position of having no policy regarding release of material prepared for or forwarded to the Council and was unable to respond to the request in a proactive manner. Although an ad hoc solution was devised in which the chair of the Diversity Committee voluntarily released the Committee’s report, Boles believes that a more comprehensive policy is desirable.

Per the supporting report:  “There are alternate models and practices upon which SAA can draw. However, given SAA’s strong and consistent efforts to promote transparency, as well as free and open access to government documentation, it seems inconsistent for SAA not to model similar policies and practices in its own governance.  …. Not to model such governance behavior leaves the Society and its leaders open to charges of hypocrisy.  SAA could be accused of denying to its own members the same level of openness it advocates for others in governance.”

MOTION 5

THAT the following policy be adopted and incorporated into the appropriate section of the Council Handbook:

All material distributed to Council members prior to any regular or special meeting of the Council shall also be made available to SAA members three days after final distribution to the Council, and may be withheld if, either by law or in the opinion of the Executive Committee, it affects the privacy of individuals or institutions; and

THAT this policy become effective for the August 10, 2009, Council meeting, with appropriate notice given to SAA leaders and members.

Moved by Gottlieb; seconded by Vogt-O’Connor.  PASSED.  [Hankins opposed.]

Support Statement:  As an organization that consistently calls on those in positions of authority to maintain high levels of transparency and accountability, SAA’s own governance practices should serve as a model of the transparency and accountability that we believe others in positions of authority should follow.  Release of Council meeting materials to the full membership will increase the level of transparency of the Society’s governance.

F.  SAA’s Advocacy Agenda

Among the duties and responsibilities of the newly established Government Affairs Working Group is to “develop an advocacy agenda for Council approval.”  The Agenda will be an evolving and changeable document that is updated as needed, and at least annually.  The Agenda itself will provide a simple statement on a given issue, which will serve as the basis for a much broader discussion of the issue via a discussion paper, white paper, or such other document as provides the details that may be needed by various interested audiences (such as members, policymakers, and the media) to have a full understanding of the issue and SAA’s stance on it.  SAA staff will develop a more robust “Advocacy” Web page that highlights the agenda, with appropriate links to discussion papers, calls for action, other organizations’ agendas, and additional information. 

MOTION 6

THAT the “Advocacy Agenda 2009-2010 (version 053109),” as drafted by the Government Affairs Working Group, be adopted as a working document that will be distributed to the SAA membership from June to August 2009 for comment and refinement; and

THAT a revision incorporating member comment be reviewed by the SAA Council at its August 10, 2009, meeting; and

THAT the Government Affairs Working Group develop a series of issue briefs, beginning with those Advocacy Agenda issues that are of the highest priority for member, policymaker, and public awareness, and submit those briefs for Council or Executive Committee review and comment as they are completed, with a goal of completing an issue brief for each issue identified in the Advocacy Agenda by the time of the May 2010 Council meeting.

Support Statement:  Development and ongoing review and refinement (at least annually) of an Advocacy Agenda provides the Society with a means to organize its advocacy efforts, make conscious decisions about its priorities, frame its messages, work proactively on key issues, and respond quickly and effectively to policymaker and media inquiries.

Moved by Gottlieb; seconded by Hyry.  PASSED.

G.  Revised Charge for Encoded Archival Context Working Group

The Council deferred discussion of this agenda item until its August 2009 meeting, at which the Standards Committee’s final report on its mission and structure will be considered.

H.  Copyright of SAA Component Group Materials

At its February 2009 meeting, and in response to a request from the Records Management Roundtable, the SAA Council charged the Intellectual Property Working Group to “draft appropriate policies for copyright and reproduction of component publications that will a) mirror similar SAA policies for Society-wide publications in regard to whether the author of an article retains copyright or copyright is transferred to SAA, and b) cover SAA components as appropriate in regard to copyright reproduction of their publications.”

MOTION 7

THAT the following policy statement be adopted:

THAT this policy govern all submissions to SAA and all of its component groups;

THAT, in those cases in which a formal contract between an author and SAA is signed (such as for books and some journal articles), the contract would take precedence, and that for all other submissions (letters to the American Archivist, contributions to subunit newsletters, conference papers posted to the website, etc.) this policy would govern;

THAT potential authors be notified of the existence of these terms via a posting of the terms on the SAA website, incorporated in or hyperlinked from the SAA copyright page;

THAT SAA national and component publications include links to the policy; and

THAT the editors of component journals, newsletters, and other materials be encouraged to include boilerplate language in their signature blocks so that potential authors know that submissions must be made in accordance with SAA’s terms. 

Support Statement:  The proposed policy provides maximum flexibility for both authors and SAA, is easy to understand and implement, and ensures that SAA and its components receive credit for their publication activities.

Moved by Miller; seconded by Gottlieb. PASSED.

I.  Intellectual Property Working Group:  Orphan Works Best Practices

In March 2008, the Intellectual Property Working Group (IPWG) and colleagues met to create an orphan works best practices document.  Although the IPWG submitted the document, “Orphan Works:  Statement of Best Practices,” to the Standards Committee in January 2009 as a possible standard, both the Working Group and the Standards Committee were inclined to believe that this document is not a standard and thus does not fall under the purview of the Standards Committee.  The review process was further complicated by the Standards Committee’s work on re-missioning and clarifying what is a standard.  The SAA Council currently is without a process for reviewing, approving, and publishing documents that are not standards.   While that process is in development, the product of the IPWG, whose mission is to advise the Council about issues of intellectual property, has not been disseminated to members of the profession except via a few presentations by Working Group members.  “Orphan Works: Statement of Best Practices” has immediate value to the profession and should be made available.

MOTION 8

THAT the “Orphan Works: Statement of Best Practices,” developed by the Intellectual Property Working Group, be adopted as a best practice and be posted (after appropriate copyediting and formatting) as a PDF on the Intellectual Property Working Group section of the SAA website.

Support Statement:  “Orphan Works: Statement of Best Practices” will be of considerable assistance to the profession as archivists deal with the intricacies of this aspect of United States copyright law.

Moved by Hodson; seconded by Vogt-O’Connor.  PASSED.

J.  Cultural Property Task Force Status

Gottlieb noted that he had contacted the American Library Association to learn more about that organization’s Traditional Cultural Expressions and Libraries initiative in order that the Council could consider pursuing SAA’s cultural property objectives through collaboration with the ALA.  Although collaboration is something that the Council intends to pursue, it also passed the following motion.

MOTION 9   

THAT SAA proceed with the formation of a Cultural Property Working Group and assign a Council member to draft the Working Group’s purpose, goals, and charge for consideration at the August 2009 Council meeting.

Support Statement:  Although collaboration with other organizations will be pursued, SAA can best learn about cultural property issues through the focused work of a working group. The group must have clearly stated objectives and time frames for its work in order to produce useful results.

Moved by Sly; seconded by Vogt-O’Connor.  PASSED.

K. Elect Executive Committee Member

By ballot of those Council members who do not serve as an officer, Margery Sly was elected to serve on the Executive Committee in 2009-2010.  Bruce Ambacher and Diane Vogt-O’Connor, the two second-year Council members who were eligible for the Executive Committee position but were not elected, will serve on the 2009-2010 SAA Nominating Committee.

L.  Additional Action Items

No additional action items were brought forward.

IV. DISCUSSION

A.  SAA’s Role When Controversies Arise

Vogt-O’Connor had prepared a discussion paper outlining ideas and options for how the SAA Council might manage the research, analysis, and decision-making process when external controversies arise to ensure a fair result that reflects the will of SAA members and the ethics and best practices of the profession.  No motions were proposed.

B.  Policy Regarding Revocation of SAA Membership

Ambacher had prepared a discussion paper on the subject of establishing criteria for revoking membership from a dues-paying member who has been tried and convicted of crimes that have had a negative effect on the collection that had been entrusted to his/her care.  The Council declined to take action.
 
C.  SAA’s Presence on Facebook

Based on a staff-written briefing paper as well as submission of recommendations by an unofficial “SAA Facebook Group Working Group,” Council members had a brief discussion about SAA’s current – unofficial – presence on various social networking sites, including Facebook.  The group stressed the importance of developing an official presence on sites, ensuring a distinction between official SAA-administered groups/pages and unofficial ones, and moving ahead with all deliberate speed to incorporate social networks in SAA’s communication and collaboration tools.

D.  Administration of Roundtable Memberships

In February 2009 the Council approved a petition to lower the required number of members for SAA Roundtables from 50 to 25.  At that time, the SAA staff raised a number of related administrative and policy issues, and the Council asked Ambacher, Hyry, and Doyle to review these points and return with suggestions.

MOTION 10

THAT the limitation of two Roundtable memberships per SAA member be eliminated (i.e., that SAA members be permitted to be members of an unlimited number of Roundtables).

Moved by Miller; seconded by Hyry.  PASSED.

E.  Coordination of Grant Proposals

To ensure that SAA departments and component groups do not compete for the same limited pool of grant dollars, the Council discussed a list of grant proposal ideas and indicated its priorities.  In general, those projects that address SAA’s strategic priorities (Technology, Diversity, and Public Awareness/Advocacy) were ranked highest by the Council.

F.  SAA’s 75th Anniversary

In response to a suggestion from the Publications Board that the President appoint a task force to coordinate SAA’s 75th Anniversary celebration in 2011, Council members discussed ideas for the celebration and Ambacher noted that the Oral History Section and the Archival History Roundtable, which have been considering options, will have a report for Council consideration in August 2009.  The group agreed to discuss the matter further at that time.

G.  2010 Joint Annual Meeting Update

Gottlieb updated the Council on the status of Program Committee appointments for the 2010 Joint Annual Meeting of SAA, the Council of State Archivists, and the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators (NAGARA).  Beaumont noted that SAA and NAGARA have signed a memorandum of agreement for the meeting.  Program Committee Co-chairs Jelain Chubb and Ben Primer will issue a call for proposals in mid-June, with a deadline for submission of proposals of late September 2009.

H.  Selection of Future Annual Meeting Sites

Beaumont led a discussion of prospective meeting sites for the 2012 and 2013 annual meetings.  She hopes to place the 2012 meeting in a western location and the 2013 meeting in a southern location.  She noted the challenges associated with placing the annual meeting in one central hotel as attendance increases.  Council members suggested that staff prepare an article for Archival Outlook to explain the site selection process for members.

I.  Leadership Event at 2009 Annual Meeting

Council members discussed ways in which to engage leaders at the Leadership Orientation and Forum scheduled for Wednesday, August 12, at AUSTIN 2009.  Boles, Gottlieb, and Beaumont will also solicit ideas from committee, section, and roundtable leaders as they develop an agenda.

J.  Council Exemplary Service Award in 2009

Council members approved motions for two Council Exemplary Service awards and made assignments for drafting of two Council resolutions honoring individuals/groups.  The resolutions will be considered via online discussion prior to the Joint Annual Meeting in August.

K.  Relocation of NARA’s Laguna Niguel Facility

Society of California Archivists President Jane Rosario forwarded to Boles just prior to the Council meeting a copy of a letter from SCA to Acting Archivist of the United States Adrienne Thomas regarding the proposed move of the National Archives and Records Administration facility in Laguna Niguel, California, to Perris, California.  The Council discussed this matter at length, considering the impact of the relocation on access as well as the financial constraints that NARA faces.  Boles will communicate with Thomas to express the Council’s concern.

V.  REPORTS

A.  Executive Committee Report

Miller presented a brief verbal report on discussions by the Executive Committee since the February 2009 meeting.

B.  President’s Report

Boles’s written report covered several activities since the February 2009 Council meeting, including the following:

• Responding to a Request for Information from the National Archives and Records Administration, Boles solicited member input and provided comments on “cost-effective ways of modifying the present system for archiving and providing public access to Presidential records.”  The SAA response is posted on the SAA website.
• Continuing to monitor a dispute between researcher Anthony Clark and the NARA regarding the Office of Presidential Libraries.
• Successfully negotiating a three-year extension of Beaumont’s contract as SAA executive director.

C.  Vice President’s Report

Gottlieb’s written report noted that his efforts since February 2009 had focused on 2009-2010 appointments.  In late March, he had worked with Boles, Hyry, and Beaumont on revising strategic planning documents for review by the Council.

D.  Treasurer’s Report

Russell presented a financial review of SAA’s performance through April 2009.  Although April revenues exceeded the budget for the month and expenses were slightly lower than budgeted, the Society faces significant challenges in the remaining months of the fiscal year and in FY 2010 as members deal with the full impact of the nationwide economic downturn.

E.  Staff Reports

1. Executive Director:  Beaumont reported on Headquarters activities since the February 2009 meeting, including working with Boles, Gottlieb, and Hyry to refine and edit the “Strategic Priorities Outcomes and Activities, FY 2010 – FY 2013” document and with the staff directors to develop the “Action Plans” that flesh out FY 2010 activities; assisted in preparing written testimony for Thomas Battle to present at a May 21 hearing on NARA and the Archivist of the United States position before the Information Policy, Census, and National Archives Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; worked with the Government Affairs Working Group to draft the “Advocacy Agenda” for Council consideration; began work on the 2009 American Archives Month Public Relations Kit; worked with the staff to prepare the Proposed FY 2010 budget for Council consideration; met with Boles regarding her employment contract; and prepared her annual self-evaluation for discussion with the Executive Committee.
2. Membership:  Doyle reported a slowing in membership growth and a decline in retention rates, with a total of 4,992 individual members and 569 institutional members.
3. Education:  De Sutter’s report provided a year-to-date update on workshops (64 face-to-face programs with 1,217 attendees, 14 new program topics, 18 new co-sponsors) as well as plans for professional development offerings through Fall 2009.  A Web seminar on “Archival Content Management Systems” attracted 52 sites and 292 participants.  Two new Web seminars – one on Web 2.0 and the other on how to become an archives consultant – will be presented in the fall of 2009.  In addition, she staffed a Committee on Education meeting in March and worked with the subcommittee to complete a final report on Accreditation for the Council’s consideration.
4. Publications:  Brinati noted that book sales remain below budget for FY 2009 and will not recover for the fiscal year.  Two new publications will launch at the Joint Annual Meeting in Austin:  Archives Power: Memory, Accountability, and Social Justice, by Randall Jimerson, and Archival and Special Collections Facilities: Guidelines for Archivists, Librarians, Architects, and Engineers, edited by Michele Pacifico and Thomas Wilsted.  Preserving Archives and Manuscripts, 2nd Edition, by Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, has just entered the production process, and the Publications Board recently approved three new book proposals.  In addition, more than a dozen projects are in the pipeline. She also noted that SAA had entered into an agreement with the American Library Association whereby ALA will list in its catalog and distribute select SAA book titles.  On the periodicals front, work has begun on digitizing of the back issues of American Archivist; SAA signed an agreement in April to have the journal participate in JSTOR, an independent, not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to making a wide range of intellectual content available in a trusted digital archive; and staff has been interviewing designers in preparation for redesigns of American Archivist, Archival Outlook, and In the Loop.
5. Annual Meeting:   Beaumont’s written report summarized promotional efforts for Sustainable Archives: AUSTIN 2009 and covered the current status of the conference schedule, registrations, and exhibits and sponsorships.
6. SAA Website:  Doyle provided a brief written update on the status of the “Drupal” content management system development project.  A content developer has been selected and the planning phase of the project has begun.  During the week of May 24, staff intends to launch another subdomain (http://careers.archivists.org), home of the new and improved SAA Online Career Center.  The new jobs board will feature free and confidential résumé posting and a host of other enhancements intended to assist members during these difficult economic times.

F. American Archivist Editor

In a written report, Editor Mary Jo Pugh summarized activities associated with the American Archivist from February to May, including:  the conduct of April 15 and May 27 conference calls in lieu of a face-to-face Editorial Board meeting; the Editorial Board’s desire to pursue extramural funding for the uploading of the digital content of American Archivist to the MetaPress site (upon completion of the digitization project); and the status of manuscript reviews.

G. Editor, Print/Electronic Publications

Editor Peter Wosh provided a written summary of the Publications Board’s discussions at its March 2009 meeting, including its plans for a successor series to the Archival Fundamentals II volumes.  He noted the Board’s desire to pursue a planning grant (to be followed by an implementation grant) to develop the series concept.  In addition, he encouraged the Council to consider appointing a task force to coordinate the Society’s 75th Anniversary initiatives.  Should a publication be included in those initiatives, the Board stands ready to assist.

H. 2008 – 2009 Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee provided a brief written summary of the 2008-2009 slate of candidates, the online election process, and the election results.  All members were informed of the election outcome via In the Loop, the SAA website, and the May/June issue of Archival Outlook.  The online election process did not have an impact on the level of participation in the 2009 elections.

I. Standards Committee

The Standards Committee provided a written update on the status of its development of a new mission, which will be submitted as a final report/recommendation to the August 10, 2009, Council meeting.

J. Diversity Committee

Diversity Committee Chair Terry Baxter submitted a report noting that 1) he has been working with the co-chair of the diversity committee for the American Library Association’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Section on ways in which the two committees might collaborate on common issues, particularly the creation of professional recruitment information for minority students; and 2) the working group assigned to develop and conduct the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials Forums at the 2009, 2010, and 2011 SAA annual meetings has met by conference call to plan the forum, and arrangements will be finalized during a second conference call in early June. 

K. 2009 Program Committee

2009 Program Committee Co-chairs Mark Duffy and Aimee Felker provided a written update of the Committee’s work and provided a series of recommendations for future committees in the areas of “communication,” “submission and review,” and “membership and ex officio members.”

L. Joint Task Force on Preserving the American Historical Record Act

Council Liaison Sue Hodson reported on the activities of the Task Force, noting that the “PAHR” legislation (H.R. 2256) was introduced in the 111th Congress on May 5, 2009, by co-sponsors Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and John McHugh (R-NY).  Updates on the legislation are available via the SAA website, which is the primary location of PAHR information.  Task Force Chair Kathleen Roe’s tireless encouragement and information via conference calls and email messages has ensured that communication continues to flow to members of Congress and to organizations to keep the momentum going in favor of the bill.  Currently there are 19 co-sponsors in the House and 33 national, regional, and state organizations have signed on with CoSA, NAGARA, and SAA in support of the legislation.

M. Mosaic Scholarship Publicity

Brinati presented a written summary of actions taken to publicize the availability of two Mosaic Scholarships in 2009.  A news release was issued to the SAA Leader, Archival Educators, Archives and Archivists of Color Roundtable, Student Chapter, and Archives and Archivists discussion lists (with a total reach of 5,800); to the Chronicle of Higher Education; to Historically Black Colleges and Universities communication departments (103); and to the archives departments of all universities listed in the SAA Education Directory (40).  In addition, the scholarships were publicized as part of SAA scholarships and awards program via Archival Outlook, In the Loop, and the SAA website between November and February 28 (application deadline for most awards).  SAA received 17 applications for the Mosaic Scholarship, the largest application pool for any SAA award in 2009.

I. COUNCIL BUSINESS (Continued)

D. Additional Business or Strategic Planning Items

No additional business or strategic planning items were brought forward.

E. Review of May 2009 “To-Do List”

Council members reviewed the draft list of action items stemming from the meeting.

F. Conversation with Beaumont (Executive Session)

No executive session was convened.

G. Adjournment

Gottlieb moved and Sly seconded adjournment of the meeting.  PASSED.  The meeting was adjourned at 11:20 am on Tuesday, June 2.

Approved by the SAA Council June 29, 2009.