ARLIS/NE Spring Meeting
Joint Meeting with VRA/NE
Peabody Essex Museum Library
Salem, Masscusetts
May 22, 2006

Welcome: Megan Battey, of Middlebury College and Chair of VRA/NE, welcomed the group and thanked Kathy Flynn of PEM, Marci Hahn, Melody Ennis, Brooke Henderson, and Rachel Beckwith for their work in organizing the meeting.

Introducing New Officers: Rachel Beckwith introduced the new officers, Brooke Henderson (Vice President/President Elect) and Robert Garzillo (Treasurer, not in attendance), and introduced the returning officers: Kathy Ritter (Past-President, not in attendance), Linda Zieper (Newsletter Editor), Anne Reid (Secretary), Christina Jedniziak (Webmaster), and Rachel Resnik (Listserv Manager).

Treasurer's report: Rachel Beckwith presented the Treasurer's report on behalf of Robert Garzillo. The checking account balance as of 4/30/06: $1,732.96. The two-year CD balance as of 5/16/06: $4,826.94. The one-year CD balance as of 5/16/06: $3,489.15. ARLIS/NE contributed $300 towards the welcome party at Banff.

Secretary's Report: 2006 Membership: Anne Reid reported 100 current members for 2006. The 100 members includes 81 renewals from 2005, two lifetime members, and sixteen new members, eleven of whom joined after attending the March ARLIS/NE careers panel at Simmons. ARLIS/NE and ARLIS/NA Membership: ARLIS/NA provided ARLIS/NE with a list of New England NA members. Of those 85 NA members, 53 are ARLIS/NE members. ARLIS/NE members in attendance were asked to encourage their colleagues to join ARLIS/NE.

Focus: Linda Zieper asked that news be sent to her (lzieper@umassd.edu) by June 10 for the spring issue of Focus.

Bylaw Change Ballot: Ballots were distributed for the changes to the bylaws (changing Chair and Vice-Chair to President and Vice-President and the addition of a Public Relations Officer). Ballots were also mailed on May 22 to members.

Simmons Career Panel Report: Anne Reid organized a ARLIS/NE careers panel on March 22 at Simmons College in conjunction with Amy Lucker's Art Documentation class. Anne thanked Rachel Resnik and Brooke Henderson for helping with the planning, and thanked GSLIS student Darin Murphy for helping at the panel. Approximately 40 students attended the panel, including students in Amy's class, other Simmons GSLIS students, and outside guests. Eleven of those who attended joined ARLIS/NE. Anne asked those who attended the panel who were at the meeting to stand to be recognized and encouraged members to reach out to these up and coming art librarians.

The panelists included: Deborah Barlow Smedstad, Head Librarian, William Morris Hunt Memorial Library, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Laura Haxer, Public Services Librarian, Morton R. Godine Library, Massachusetts College of Art; Richard McElroy, Acquisitions and Serials Librarian, Morton R. Godine Library, Massachusetts College of Art; Katharine Ritter, Director, New Hampshire Institute of Art Library; and Alix Reiskind, Visual Resources Librarian, Frances Loeb Library of the, Harvard Graduate School of the Design.

A second career panel is being planned for the GSLIS at Mount Holyoke campus in conjunction with Martha Mahard's Art Documentation course being taught during the summer 2006.

New England SACO funnel: Angela Sidman of Clark Art Institute reported that Clark is participating in the New England SACO funnel. Penny Baker at Clark is the liaison with the Library of Congress; anyone who would like to contribute subject headings should send them to her.

Auction catalogs, commercial gallery publications, and related materials: Alison Dickey of the Currier talked about the possible collaborative storage solutions, retention policies and cooperative projects for auction catalogs, commercial gallery publications, and related materials in New England art libraries. Debby Aframe, John Teahan, Bob Garzillo, and Georgia Barnhill met to discuss earlier this year. There is discussion of doing a survey to determine what materials are held by which institutions, possibly eventually leading to a union list.

ARLIS/NA conference report: Brooke Henderson reported that the national conference at Banff, Alberta Canada, May 5-9, was a great conference, with 488 participants and vendors. Of the attendees in the room, approximately 12 attended Banff.

ARLIS/NA Chapter Affiliation Agreement: Ann Whiteside reported on the affiliation agreement. The agreement was set up two years ago for the legal protection of ARLIS national and chapters. Per the agreement, all chapter members must be members of national. There was a breakout session at Banff for chapter leaders to discuss. Affiliation agreement packets will be sent by June to chapters and should be signed and returned by the end of June. Ann stressed that this is a final, legal document that must be signed by chapters. Members in attendance raised concerns about losing members due to the national membership requirement. The question of 'subscriber' status was raised. Ann said that national would help chapters with membership, including the possibility, for example, of funneling chapter memberships through national membership.

Awards: Rachel Beckwith reported the award winners: Christina Jedniziak, Freitag award; Janis Manzo, the Sieibel award; and Rachel Resnik, the travel award. There was a small applicant pool this year. Rachel encouraged students and all members to apply, event if already partially funded to travel.

Fall Meeting: Brooke Henderson asked for ideas for the fall 2006 meeting. The new ICA was suggested as a location with the topic of collection development for contemporary art. ARLIS/NE and VRA/NE are discussion the possibility of another joint meeting for spring 2007 at RISD.

Special Project Funding: Brooke Henderson encourage members to look a the ARLIS/NA website for information of funding for special projects that would promote the chapter and ARLIS. The deadline for applications is September 30.

Web Pages: Rachel Beckwith thanked Christina Jedniziak for her work on the ARLIS/NE website (www.arlisne.org). Christina encouraged members to use and bookmark the site, as well as to provide her with feedback and suggestions.