ALCTS Network News v5n38 (June 22, 1993) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/ann/ann-v5n38 ISSN: 1056-6694 ALCTS NETWORK NEWS An electronic publication of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services Volume 5, Number 38 June 22, 1993 In this issue OSTF -- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS CHIEF COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS OF LARGE RESEARCH LIBRARIES DISCUSSION GROUP ************************************************************************** OSTF -- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS [Editor's note: In May, AN2 carried the full report of the ALCTS Organizational Structure Task Force (OSTF); the report was also published in the _ALCTS Newsletter_, Vol. 4, no. 4, which reached most members in early June. As noted in yesterday's AN2 (Vol. 5, no. 37), the report will receive considerable attention from the ALCTS Board of Directors, the ALCTS Organization and Bylaws (O&B) Committee, and the six section executive committees. ALCTS President Liz Bishoff has prepared these answers to frequently asked questions about the proposed restructuring to faciliate discussions the ALA Annual Conference. If you have further questions at the conference please look for Arnold Hirshon (ALCTS Past President), Jennifer Younger (ALCTS President-Elect), or Liz. If you have questions or suggestions about the Bylaw changes, please see Arnold. The most expeditious means of contacting them will likely be a note in their folders at the ALCTS desk in the ALA Offices.] 1. MISSION STATEMENT: Will the mission statement, approved January 1993, be on the ballot with the bylaws change? There are no plans to place the mission statement directly on the ballot for membership approval, as it was approved by the Board of Directors. This new mission statement will be incorporated in the bylaws (Article II) to reflect the current mission/object of the association. We also can include it in the ballot information as background information. 2. OSTF REPORT DISPOSITION: Will we vote on OSTF report? The ALA Parliamentarian has advised that we receive the report at the Saturday meeting of the Board of Directors, and that we refer it to the ALCTS Organization and Bylaws Committee (O&B) for implementation recommendation. At the conference, O&B will be asked to bring to the Board a set of proposed Bylaw changes that would reflect the implementation of the Board's final decisions concernding the OSTF recommendations. The Board may choose to accept the OSTF recommendations in whole or in part, OR may choose to amend some or all of the OSTF recommendations. Will the membership vote on the OSTF report? No, they will vote on the bylaws changes. 3. BYLAWS: What do the Bylaws cover? The Bylaws lay out the organizational structure--the Board and its composition; sections, including the initial sections and a means for establishing and dissolving sections; standing committees, task forces, etc. The only committees identified in the Bylaws are the nominating and organization and bylaws committee and section executive committees. Specific task forces, committees, will not identified in the Bylaws; however, a means of creating, reviewing and dissolving them will be. When will Bylaws be distributed? The Organization and Bylaws Committee chair has prepared a preliminary draft of the Bylaws based on the recommendations in OSTF report to serve as a starting point. The Committee will be modifying the Bylaws based on input received prior to and during the Conference and their own deliberations. Copies have been distributed to the O&B Committee, Section Chairs, and ALCTS Board of Directors. Copies will be available at the Saturday Board meeting and from the Conference ALCTS Office. Can the Bylaws be changed? Yes. The O&B recommendation can be modified by the Board during its discussions. Can the Bylaws be modified further in the future? Yes. The Bylaws can be modified in the future following the method prescribed in the Bylaws. 4. I am concerned about some of the specific recommendations in the OSTF report for the mapping of some of the current committees and discussion groups. Are the recommendations in the appendix final? No. The OSTF did preliminary mapping to illustrate what a possible structure could look like. Changes at the committee and discussion group level would only take place if the Bylaws changes are approved by the membership.If the Bylaws are changed, then the 1993-1994 Organization and Bylaws committee will review all current committees, discussion groups, etc. and make recommendations to the Board. The actual changes to committees, focus groups, and task forces would require approval by the Board of Directors. 5. TIMETABLE: Will the Board place the Bylaw changes on a special ballot this fall OR wait until the 1994 spring ballot? If the membership vote is taken in the fall, and it passes, the 1993/94 O&B Committee will begin the work of establishing the division and sections committees, task forces, etc. with a preliminary report at the 1994 Midwinter meeting and a final report by the 1994 Annual Conference. If the Board approves the new organization, it could be in place July 1, 1994. If the vote is taken in the spring, and it passes, the 1994-95 O&B Committee will develop the committees and task forces, etc. The Board can vote at Midwinter or Annual conference, 1995. Implementation would be in July, 1995. If Bylaw changes are to be put before the membership, the Board will need to decide at the New Orleans Annual Conference as to which schedule will be followed. 6. NAMES: The term "focus group" has an established definition, and in the marketing discipline, one that does not necessarily denote participant. Directors of libraries are less likely to fund a staff member to attend a focus group. Can this terminology be changed? Yes. This is an issue the O&B Committee can consider, if the bylaw changes pass. 7. DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Who will Directors-at-Large "represent"? Who will they report to? How will they report? How can we assure subject matter representation? This is one of the issues the Board will have to address. Directors-at-Large by their nature are to be representatives of the entire membership and therefore, accountable to the entire membership. The Board will need to consider how to ensure that future boards have adequate technical expertise for its deliberations. The O&B and the Board will have to give consideration to how to assure election of a representative group. 8. SECTION REPORTING STRUCTURE: What is relationship of Section Executive Committees and the task forces, focus groups, etc.? To ensure that ALCTS responds to issues in a timely manner, one of the major goals of the OSTF activities was to reduce turnaround time for programming and publication. With this goal in mind, the task force provided several proposals for how publications and programs could work. Several section chairs have indicated that a review of programs and publications should be done by section executive committees prior to going to publications or programming committees. The Board will need to consider carefully how this will all work, if the Bylaws pass. Other committees and task forces are likely to function in the same reporting manner as they do now. 9. CAN NEW COMMITTEES, ETC. BE ESTABLISHED AT THE SECTION LEVEL? Yes, the Bylaws will include a means of establishing and dissolving committees, task forces, etc. ************************************************************************* CHIEF COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS OF LARGE RESEARCH LIBRARIES DISCUSSION GROUP The Agenda for the Annual Meeting of the ALCTS CMDS Chief Collection Development Officers of Large Research Libraries Discussion Group will be held Saturday, June 16, 1993, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the New Orleans Convention Center #43. The Agenda includes the following. Reports on: Budget Survey (Deal) North American Title Count (Gould) Membership Recalculation (Biblarz) Nominating Committee (Wiemers) CMDS Continuing Education Programs (Ferguson) Electronic Text Centers: Jensen (40 minutes) Accounting for scientific, technical, and medical information: how are large research libraries covering the fields in the face of fiscal pressure (with follow- up discussion planned at Midwinter)--Keller ARL Task Force on Foreign Acquisitions: Keller Resource sharing and interlibrary loan: Farrell Guests: Shirley Baker (Washington University) Jaia Barrett (ARL) Joint Meeting with Collection Development Librarians of Academic Libraries: 11:30 - 12:30 National Panel: Jutta Reed-Scott (Association of Research Libraries); Marlys Rudeen (Center for Research Libraries); and Bill Sittig (Library of Congress). -- Karin Wittenborg 310-825-1201 ************************************************************************* ************************************************************************* ALCTS NETWORK NEWS (ISSN 1056-6694) is published irregularly by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, a division of the American Library Association. Editorial offices: ALCTS, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; Liz Bishoff, President; Karen Muller, Executive Director. Editor: Karen Muller (u34261@uicvm); Editorial Advisory Board: Liz Bishoff, Jennifer Younger, Arnold Hirshon; Editorial Assistance: Karen Whittlesey. ALCTS NETWORK NEWS is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the division. News items should be sent to the editor at Bitnet address u34261@uicvm. To subscribe, issue the network command "tell listserv@uicvm sub alcts [your name]." Back issues of AN2 are available through the listserver. To find out what's available, send the following command to LISTSERV@UICVM: send alcts filelist The ALCTS FILELIST contains the list of files with the EXACT filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue this command to the LISTSERV@UICVM: send filename filetype. Send questions about membership in ALCTS to the ALCTS Office, u34261@uicvm. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or education advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other reprinting or redistribution or translations, address requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. *************************************************************************