News
1996 PAM Business Meeting
June 11, 1996
Bob Seeds
The meeting began at 7:30 a.m. with a breakfast sponsored by the American Physical Society (APS). Diane Fortner, chair, thanked the APS for sponsoring our breakfast as well as the Institute of Physics (IOP), another division sponsor. Guests Harry Lustig, Gail Gronlund, and Maria Lebron, APS representatives plus John Long and Jeremy Cowhig, IOP representatives were introduced. The SLA Board proctor was Dorothy McGarry.
After the current officers and chairs were introduced and thanked, it was noted that the previous business minutes as well as the treasurer's report and the division annual report, which summarized committee accomplishments, were approved and published in the PAM Bulletin of May, 1996. There will be no PAM Division award this year.
"Netiquette" guidelines discussed last year have been incorporated into the PAMnet welcome message. Diane Fortner received a response from OCLC to our letter about IP recognition and use data for their Electronic Journals On-line (EJO) saying that it was a top priority and that they were working on webscript checks. PAM Bulletin Online was launched successfully with the May, 1996 issue.
The Board approved titling the electronic version of the Bulletin, PAM Bulletin Online. Both paper and electronic versions will continue this coming year, but the number of paper copies sent to SLA Headquarters and Division chairs may be reduced.
The PAM Web Manager, a newly approved position, will be Kathleen Robertson.
PAMnet difficulties were discussed including the possibility of moving to another site to stabilize it and with perhaps a new list owner. Since most problematic subscribers are coming from America On Line, it was decided to close the subscription list. It is estimated that currently there are 350-400 PAMnet subscribers. An informal survey of attendees about the use and importance of its archive was taken.
The PAM sponsored programs for Seattle '97 Conference were announced. The number of hospitality suite open houses was discussed. Since there are several opportunities for other social events at the Seattle Conference, the number of traditional suite hospitality evenings may be reduced.
Molly White, Alice Primack, and Jack Weigel served as the nominating committee. There was a motion to accept the slate. It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved. The officers and terms for 1996-97 are: Joanne Goode, Chair; Liz Bryson, Chair-elect; Diane Fortner, Past-Chair; Pam Yorks, Treasurer (through 98); and Bob Seeds, Secretary (through June 97). Thurston Miller will continue as Bulletin editor and Mary Strife will become assistant editor.
David Stern is serving on the SLA-wide nominating committee. The Executive Board wants to establish more liaisons with PAM relevant publishers. Members were encouraged to continue to enrich the PAM website to make it "the first truly authoritative location developed by discipline-specific librarians!"
It was suggested from the floor that the Mathematics Roundtable be more an open discussion and less dominated by publishers. The discussion that followed included a number of affirmatives to that. Informal seating and a longer (double?) time slot was also recommended. The idea of combining a vendor expo or topical discussion with the hospitality suite was raised as another venue to accommodate these apparently competing program needs.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Seeds, Secretary