1997 Business Meeting Minutes

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered
Health Science Librarians

Special Interest Group (SIG) of the
Medical Library Association

26 May 1997

Twenty members were in attendance. These included: Jack Adcox, Rick Barry, Kathleen Bennett, Michael Bennett, Bill Fleming, Tom Flemming, Tony Gibbons, Jane Grossman, Sally Harvey, Emily Hull, Bill Karnoscak, Jamie Lamkin, Robb Mackes, Len Shapiro, Dorrie Slutsker, Jean Sullivant, Bryan Vogh, Karen Zundel

Meeting came to order at 4:05 p.m.

Those in attendance introduced themselves.

Sally Harvey and Bill Karnoscak acknowledged the officers and volunteers who made significant contributions to the SIG throughout the last year:

Thanks were given to the Local Arrangements coordinator for arranging accommodations for the group.

Jackie Anderson was also acknowledged for her general assistance and ongoing support of the SIG.

45 people attended the dinner social at Jack's Bistro on Sunday 25 May 1997.

There was no Treasurer's report

Bill Fleming reported that there were 3 newsletters produced in the last year. He asked that he be notified if anyone had problems with the electronic transmission of the documents. He asked that in the coming year that more people contribute items. He asked that if anyone needed/wanted back issues or future issues sent to them via U.S. Mail to contact him. He also promised to print the answer of the puzzle in his last newletter in the next one.

Robb Mackes reported that approximately 70 people attended the SIG's program featuring Simon LeVay. He thanked all of those who gave him advice, especially Karen Zundel, Jean Sullivant, Bill Karnoscak, Jerry Perry, and Sally Harvey.

Sally Harvey and Bill Karnoscak reported on the informal Vision Session held earlier in the day:

• Many ideas for projects were developed and discussed.
• Bill Karnoscak, Emily Hull, and Robb Mackes volunteered to work on a Mission Statement for the SIG, keeping the current Position Statement intact.
• Sally will compile all of the information gathered in the session and post it to the listserv.
• One of the ideas which came up was addressed by Tom Flemming. In order to keep appropriate track of our membership, boost our appearance by updating the member list on the web site, and at the same time respecting the privacy of those who feel that they cannot be on an open list of members, Tom suggested creating two membership lists: a "closed" list which would contain the list of all those who are members of the SIG, but would ONLY be available to the co-chairs. It would not be printed or displayed in any fashion. The other list would be an "open" list which would be used on the web site or for when MLA asked to see a membership list. Tom will send an e-mail to the listserv asking those to choose whether or not they would like to be on the "open" or "closed" list.
• Bill Karnoscak informed those new to the group that to join the listserv one needs to contact Ann Farrell (farrell@mayo.edu) and ask to be added to the MLALGB listserv. In the future, a SIG FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) will be sent to new members of the listserv. This FAQ, which was another project discussed at the vision meeting, will be worked up by volunteers.
• It was decided that the SIG would have an informal vision meeting every year to help identify problems and work on future projects without having to lengthen the business meeting.
• Any additional comments or ideas from those who couldn't make it to the meeting could be sent to Sally via e-mail for inclusion in her report.

Karen Zundel reported on prospects for the 1998 program. As Brian Smith has had to give up the chair of the 1998 Program Committee, Karen has assumed the role. She attended the committee meeting for 1998 program planners. She announced that the theme of next year's annual meeting will be "Visions of the Future-Reflections of the Past". Karen contacted the Human Rights Campaign and reported that their response was nothing less than enthusiastic. They can tailor a presentation on a wide variety of topics (some that were mentioned were confidentiality, the Internet, and homophobia) for any time range. The best part is they charge no fee. Using this as a springboard, Karen hoped to talk with a representative from either the Government or Consumer Health Sections at the program committee meeting, but they were not represented. A number of suggestions were discussed, mainly having the HRC speak on the history of healtcare legislation in keeping with next year's centennial theme. Karen will keep up the dialog and work with her committee (currently Anne Seymour, Steve Grove, Jane Grossman, and Rick Barry) and have something to submit by the June 18 deadline.

Since there was one person per nominated office (Co-chair (female), Co-chair (male), Program 1999, Social Activities 1998) a vote was taken to acclaim this slate of officers. The newly elected officers are:

The Local Arrangements Coordinator spoke about current and future accommodations. He explained the reasoning for choosing the Pacific Plaza. He acknowledged there were a few problems with the arrangements, but overall (considering the location, the price, and the breakfast) the Pacific Plaza was fine. Taking into account some of the concerns that were addressed, namely the underavailability of rooms with 2 beds, Richard identified a candidate for next year's meeting in Philadelphia. The Holiday Inn Express is on Walnut Street (considered to be in "the gay area" of Philadelphia) and is 5 minutes away from the Marriott and/or the Convention Center. The rate is $100 for single or double (many more doubles will be reserved). The hotel has a fitness center and a pool. His supervisor was in Philadelphia recently and gave the place a positive report. Those in attendance agreed that having the Local Arrangements Coordinated affiliated with a travel agency was a great boon for the group and agreed to leave the arrangements to him.

Bryan Vogh and Chris Shaffer have agreed to jointly take over the SIG's web presence. Speaking for them both, Bryan presented a number of ideas he and Chris were hoping to implement.

Robb Mackes thanked Sally Harvey and Bill Karnoscak for the two years they have spent leading the SIG.

The meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m.

MLALGBT Home
This page was last updated on September 15, 2004. Credits