Welcome

Elizabeth thanked everyone for coming. Jim distributed copies of the proposed budget. Suzanne distributed updated officers' manuals.

Approval of minutes

There were no corrections to the minutes. Mike moved that they be approved and Suzanne seconded. The motion passed.

Treasurer's Report

Jim reported that we had received another $45 for the fall conference and that the expense for the awards came to $143.63. Not giving the Archivist of the Year award, which usually carries a cash prize, made the awards less expensive this year. In all, the profit for the conference was $733.45. The draft budget for 2007 contains historical budget data since 2001. Jim noted the line for “General and Administrative” expenses, which he said includes items such as printing brochures. The budget also figures on two issues of the newsletter per year, which does not always occur. The fall conference is usually more expensive than the spring workshop, but about $3400 will cover both. Anyone with questions about the budget should contact Jim. Jim said that the general trend of dues income was down, with fewer paying each year. Elizabeth asked how many non-members were registering for the conferences. We haven't tracked that data, but Kate suggested sending membership packets to any who came to the conference and encouraging them to join. Mike discussed the database of names and addresses he has, which includes members but also past members/workshop attendees who are not current members. It contains about 275 names. There was discussion about whether to send everyone on the list a membership brochure and/or conference brochure. Elizabeth moved to approve the 2007 budget as proposed and Kate seconded. The motion passed.

Membership Report

Membership Officer Henry Fulmer was absent. Elizabeth reported that he would need to have additional directories printed, because some people at the fall conference apparently took multiple copies. Henry is preparing to send renewal notices. Kate had 150 membership brochures printed up. There was further discussion about the mailing list database, who should receive the brochures, and if members should instead be contacted by email. Kate said the email list has only about 80 people, and the listserv has even fewer. Mike said he had tried to cull the mailing list of those he knows have left the state or passed away. Elizabeth suggested he circulate the list to the Board for further editing and possible additions, but pointed out that, unlike Mike's list, Henry's mailing of the directory and renewal forms was directed solely toward members and was not intended for the recruitment of new members. Debra and Suzanne proposed that Mike's database could include sister organizations' members, such as SCLA, PALMCOP, CALM, SAA members in the state, etc. SCLA members are listed on their website, and SAA members can be looked up at archivists.org. Kate suggested sending a message to library and public history graduate students via their listserv.

Director's Report

Elizabeth reminded the Board that Mike gave a lengthy report on the fall conference at the last Board meeting. Mike turned the discussion to the spring conference/workshop. Jim said that if we want to choose a complicated program with a lot of preparation, we may want to save that for the fall. The date of the spring meeting was discussed, with care to avoid religious holidays, school vacations, the SCLA meeting, etc. The consensus dates were April 10-12 or April 17-19. Mike asked Heather to check on availability of the building before we proceed to invite any speakers. Suggestions for topics included: digitization, finding aids, Greene & Meissner's article on less processing, backlogs, best practices for processing. It was agreed that the processing topics would be more suitable for a conference in the fall than a spring hands-on workshop. Debra suggested a workshop on exhibits, particularly in working with smaller collections -something that would be appropriate for someone planning exhibits for a local South Carolina history room in a public library. Mike mentioned that Clemson has an exhibit curator who works within a small budget and who might be willing to speak. Elizabeth said the workshop could address lighting, the use of original documents/items, security issues, design, how to decide on the quantity of materials, loan agreements, etc. and that it might be good to do a panel discussion on exhibits as an afternoon session. There was discussion about how a “workshop” differed from a “conference” and if a workshop should have a plenary session. It was suggested that the second afternoon session could be a hands-on digitization session, hosted at the Archives and History Center or at USC, where attendees actually learned to use scanners and other equipment. Heather said she was not sure how easy it would be to host such a group at the Archives' digitization space. Elizabeth said that Kate Boyd's space was big enough to host only a small group, and that parking at USC would be a challenge. Everyone was reluctant to ask attendees (especially from out of town) to find their own way to USC and to find parking. Suzanne suggested having a morning plenary session and lunch at the Archives, and then using a van to bring participants to USC for the afternoon scanning session. It was decided that the morning session could be an overview of digitization, and have the hands-on digitization at USC and the exhibits discussion as concurrent afternoon sessions. The exhibits session could cover using scanned surrogates instead of originals, and that would help tie the various sessions together. Elizabeth said she would talk to Kate Boyd and Doug King at USC about presenting, and Mike will talk to Clemson's exhibits curator. The subject of the lunch menu was brought up. Mike said he and Heather would get together to plan it. The vegetarian entrée will be repeated, if possible, and he will look into an entrée choice besides chicken. Jim suggested a question on the registration brochures about which entrée registrants would prefer.

Newsletter and Webpage

Old Business

A. Audit: Suzanne said no one had volunteered to serve on the audit committee since the fall conference where it was announced. Past treasurers Beth Bilderback and Lauren Decker will be asked to serve, although Lauren is no longer a member of SCAA. Jim will also serve, as will C.J. Cambre. Three members may be adequate, although Elizabeth said she would defer to C.J.'s wishes, since he is the chair.

B. Brochures: Kate asked if she should order more than the 150 membership brochures she had just received. The morning discussion about the mailing list was revisited. It was decided that only conference brochures need to be sent to the larger list, members of SCLA, etc. for the time being, rather than membership brochures.

C. Mailbox: The new mailing address has been submitted to be added to the website.

D. Procedure Manuals: Suzanne had already distributed the manuals. They have been updated and the endowment information added. Two unbound copies were added to the archives.

New Business

Elizabeth asked if it had been definitely decided not to host an SAA workshop. Mike said he had not really looked into it, but knew that SOLINET is sponsoring one in Charleston soon, with each registrant paying a couple hundred dollars. He thought it might be duplication of efforts if we try to host one, but we could wait to see how that goes. Jim said that it would be a good idea just to talk further with SAA, to see what the possibilities are for workshop topics and dates. He said that small institutions might be willing to scrape together enough money to send representatives, but that such a workshop would be of more interest to large institutions and out-of-state people. Mike offered to talk with the contact person for the SOLINET event. Kate suggested a survey question in the membership brochure about types of workshops people are interested in. The ideas for the next fall conference were discussed, including Greene & Meissner, and a program helping archivists talk to HVAC professionals about climate control. Dorothy pointed out that the ideas were related, as Greene and Meissner advocate relying on climate control instead of active conservation work in collections. Elizabeth suggested having attendees note the temperature and humidity in their own repositories ahead of the session. Debra suggested a session which provides information about some of the special collections repositories around the state, or about programs such as History Day and Teaching American History. Jim said it would be good to help repositories know how to help those working on History Day projects, for example, or how to take best advantage of Archives Week by planning events, publications, etc.

Date for next meeting

The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for Feb. 22 or 23, at the Archives. It was later set definitely for 10 a.m., Feb. 22.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 2 p.m.