Society of American Archivists - UT Student Chapter

Society of American Archivists
University of Texas at Austin Student Chapter

24 March 2005 MEETING REPORT

Meeting opened at 4:00pm

In attendance:
Ben Bahlman
Courtney Chartier
Keri Hull
Stephanie McFarland
April Norris
Zach Vowell
Dr. Gracy

Topic: General Matters
April confirmed that everyone is a national SAA member, as well as members of the Chapter. It was agreed that the Board needs to gather together all of the Chapter's Fall '04/Spring '05 membership records. Ben possesses a folder full of paperwork that may be helpful in this effort.

Topic: Available Funds
April informed everyone that GSA and SASI have allocated some funds for the Board's use. She said that the Board needs to use the money soon, or it will be absorbed into the two organizations' general fund.

April added that the money must be used for permanent Board functions, such as office supplies. Some ideas that were proposed were filing cabinets, stationery, printing cards, stickers, and advertising on the Co-Op's electronic billboard.

Topic: Housekeeping
Courtney and Stephanie reported that the SAA-UT bulletin board in Sanchez has been filled and includes a sign-up sheet for Dr. Gracy's upcoming potluck for PCS students. Also included on the bulletin board are news items relating to archival enterprise, flyers for the Journal Club, and membership dues reminders.

Courtney also reported that she has written up and submitted a proposal asking for Brenda Gunn's participation in a Career Forum. She will follow up on this proposal.

Keri reported that Mary Anne has still yet to provide her with the financial records for the Chapter last year.

Ben reported that he and Megan had divided the webmaster duties into two distinct functions. Ben will manage the Board listserv, while Megan will manage the website. April informed Ben that she will email him a potluck flyer to attach to the CDL bulletin board.

April asked what the other board members thought about continuing the practice of having the Board meetings at CDL. It was agreed that it should continue.

Topic: SAA-UT and PCS Students
It was agreed that the Board needs to cultivate relationships with the PCS students at Kilgarlin. Ben posed the question: What does the Board have to offer PCS students? What can the Board do?

It was agreed that Ben could prove to be a valuable source for such information, and that he should keep his eyes out for any suggestions from his fellow PCS students.

Topic: Board Committments
April emailed Kris Kiesling regarding a possible SAA workshop. She will follow up if she gets no reply.

But April did report that she had engaged Susan Cisco and Mary Donovan for the Luncheon with Leaders during iSchool Week.

April also reminded the Board that the Edible Book Festival will take place in about a week. The Board had previously decided to contribute a book, but there had still been no serious suggestions for an idea for the book. April asked the Board to continue brainstorming for an idea, and to submit any ideas to the listserv by Friday 3/25 at 8pm.

Topic: Dr. Gracy's Potluck
It was suggested that there could be an informal happy hour following the potluck, to allow for extended conversation and to allow for people who can't make the the potluck itself. It was agreed that Opal Divine's would be a good place at which to have the happy hour.

Topic: Journal Club
April reiterated that the next Club meeting will be on May 13. She asked for suggestions for a location. Any location should allow for candid conversation yet still be somewhat quiet.

It was also agreed that the meeting needs at least 2 weeks' worth of advertising.

Zach pointed out that the current American Archivist editor is actively soliciting letters to the editor, and that the Club might want to take advantage of this.

Ben suggested that there should be a consensus on what the main articles are in the latest issue, to facilitate better dialogue. April further suggested that the forum be more free-form, using any main articles as ice-breakers/conversation-starters.

Topic: NARA/NAGARA Conference
April asked for volunteers for the conference at Pickle Research Center. Ben recalled his experience last year as pleasant, and that it included access to most conference events and speakers.

Topic: Board T-Shirts
It was agreed that there is no time left for producing and selling Board t-shirts this semester. Next fall might be more realistic. Courtney seconded Ben's idea of spoofing the "What Is Information?" inquiry of our profession. April added Melissa Bailey's "Archivists Are Here to Save the World...For Later."

Dr. Gracy asked if there might not be another piece of clothing that the Board could produce. Some ideas that were suggested included hats, stickers, magnets, and bookmarks. It was agreed that Ben will handle any graphic design duties involved in producing any of the above items.

Topic: Summer Events
For the tour of the Capital, the Board and Dr. Gracy agreed that June 4 at 10:30am should be set as the time. For the tour of the State Archives, Dr. Gracy recommended that we conduct that sceduling through the current State Archivist. April volunteered to email him regarding the availability of tour times.

Options were solicited for transportation to the National SAA Conference in New Orleans in August. Several Board members offered the extra space in their vehicles. It was also pointed out that the Student Poster day is on Thursday, along with the UT Roundup Event. So it was agreed that the trip should most likely be made on Wednesday.

Topic: Recap, Etc.
April ran down some important points of the meeting:

Pun ideas for the Board's edible book should be submitted by Friday.

Potluck should be advertised on the front of the website.

Membership records need to be consolidated.

The Board should continue that think about possible Board clothing ideas.

It was suggested that the Board should consider putting pictures of each board member up on the bulletin board.

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Society of American Archivists - University of Texas at Austin Student Chapter
E-mail: saa@ischool.utexas.edu