SCAA Joint Planning Meeting with PALMCOP

South Carolina Department of Archives and History Columbia, SC

May 20, 2009

Present: Brent Burgin, Dorothy Hazelrigg, Susan Hoffius, Georgette Mayo, Heather South, Allison Thiessen, Jennifer Welch, PALMCOP representatives Debbielee Landi and Marie Ferrara

The meeting was called to order at 9:30 a.m.

  • New Business- Fall Conference

    The date of the joint conference is October 21. One idea that had been discussed at the previous SCAA Board meeting was a presentation by USC professor Bobby Donaldson about his students’ work in community history. Susan said that we had a commitment from him, but not for any particular session. He could also be the lunch speaker. Georgette will follow up with him to confirm.

    Debbielee brought up the idea of an overarching theme for the conference, perhaps something like “2 for 1,” since this is a joint meeting, with emphasis on collaboration and ways to save money in a difficult economy. The evaluations from the last SCAA workshop also included several requests for similar topics. A tentative theme was decided on: “2 for 1: Benefits of Collaboration.”

    There was discussion about how many joint sessions versus breakout sessions were needed for the two groups. We settled on the idea that only the organizations’ respective business meetings really needed to be separate, as there is a great deal of overlap in the interests of the two groups.

    One idea for a session is to cover collaborative efforts in digitization such as the SC Digital Library. This could be a panel discussion with representatives from various types of institutions from across the state. Suggested names included John White, Kate Boyd, and Emily Gore. Jennifer will contact some of the possible participants.

    Another session could cover collaborative efforts in dealing with disasters, including shared resources that are available to anyone who needs them. This panel could include Nancy Sambets, Dawn Hammatt, and/or representatives from CALM and CUSH. Marie could serve as moderator. She and Heather will work on coordinating this session.

    A third session to end the day was drawn from an idea on one of the SCAA evaluations, which asked for stress relief information. Dorothy will contact USC’s EAP (employee assistance program) to see if someone would be willing to speak about the types of services an EAP can provide to archivists working at larger institutions. Allison will also look into what Richland County Public Library’s resources are. Susan suggested that someone working as a “life coach” might be a good additional speaker to help lone arrangers.

    The tentative schedule is as follows: first session 10-11; concurrent business meetings 11:15-11:45; lunch 12-1; second session 1:15-2; third session 2:15-3.

    Georgette and Brent will arrange for the food. Everyone seemed to enjoy the box lunches at the SCAA spring meeting.

    The cost for the conference will split the difference between PALMCOP’s usual charge of $25 and SCAA’s usual charge of $35. It was suggested that we charge $30 for members of either group. Paying $50 would allow members to renew/join both groups.

    The joint planning meeting was adjourned at 10:25.

SCAA Executive Board Meeting

Present: Brent Burgin, Dorothy Hazelrigg, Susan Hoffius, Georgette Mayo, Allison Thiessen, Jennifer Welch

President Susan Hoffius called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m.

  • Approval of February Minutes

    There were no corrections to the minutes. The minutes were approved.

  • Officers' Reports

    A. Director: Georgette stated she had no report. Brent passed out summaries of the evaluation comments from the spring workshop. He pointed out that the form needs to be revised. Most of the negative comments were about the speakers—attendees wanted more handouts. Susan mentioned an idea we had discussed in the past, of doing a “pre-survey” of our speakers to get a better idea of their AV requirements, handouts, etc.

    Brent said that the question about serving on the SCAA Board needs clarification. No one is really sure what such service entails. Susan said she would ask Debbie to work on more proactive officer recruiting, with more information available about the process and job duties.

    The response to our lunchtime speaker, Patricia Sasser, was very good. Everyone agreed that we should continue to encourage students to make presentations at our meetings, even more so than poster sessions, because both the audience and the students will get more out of more interactive presentations.

    Some of the comments on the evaluations complained about things that had been explained in the brochures. Susan suggested an immediate confirmation email when people register, which would remind people to ask for a vegetarian lunch, bring a grant proposal to work on, etc. Jennifer said she would look into whether such emails could be automated for those who register online.

    C. Treasurer: Allison said that the PayPal registration for the spring workshop had worked well. There were no problems reported.

    D. Membership: Kate was absent. Susan asked why the membership renewal letters had never been sent, but no one knew about it. She will call Kate.

    E. Newsletter: Laura was absent but sent a report. She is looking for people to take on specific roles in providing regional updates, etc., for the newsletter. For the next issue, she suggested a tentative publication date of Oct. 1, with a submission deadline of Sept. 4. Susan said she would suggest moving both dates one week earlier. She also said that if we can find people to take on tasks for the newsletter, that that could be a good recruiting ground for future Board members.

    F. Website: Jennifer reported that there had so far been only 2 online registrations for the social, although there are 11 total. Everyone on the Board thought that the registration process on the site was very easy. Jennifer said that the form for online membership is now live also, although it hasn’t been advertised. She also set up a Flickr account for us to put pictures online.

    Dorothy brought up an idea that had previously been discussed, of setting up an SCAA blog to supplement or replace the newsletter. It would be easier for multiple people to contribute, less worry about formatting, timelier, etc. Everyone liked the idea, although more discussion will be needed. Susan asked Jennifer and Dorothy to work together on investigating the possibility.

  • G. President: Susan said that she had talked to Elizabeth West and Debbie Bloom about the language for the Hart Endowment. The revisions are still ongoing, although hopefully they will be done by the end of June. At that point, the Board can comment and vote.


  • Old Business

    Susan handed out the language Jim Cross had drafted pertaining to the treasurer’s job description, as well as language describing the webmaster’s duties. She asked for a motion to create the position of webmaster. Dorothy moved that it be created and Brent seconded. The motion passed. Jennifer will serve in the role for a 2-year term, retroactive to January 1, 2009. Susan asked for a motion to approve Jim’s revisions. Dorothy moved that they be approved and Allison seconded. The motion passed.

    Georgette asked about progress in getting a storage unit for SCAA to be housed at SCDAH. Susan said that Elizabeth had tracked down a cabinet for us and that all that remained to be done was for Heather and Elizabeth to coordinate its delivery.


  • Next meeting

    At one time we had discussed having an informal meeting on the day of the Social, but there seems to be no need. The next meeting will be arranged at a later date.


  • Adjournment

    The meeting was adjourned at 11:16 a.m.