GODORT Business Meeting
Andrea Sevetson Presiding
Carol Bednar, Recording
1997 ALA Midwinter Conference, Washington, D. C.
February 17, 1997: 2:00 p.m.- 3:15 p.m.
Washington Convention Center, Room 32

Andrea Sevetson called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. She introduced the head table Judy Horn, Treasurer; Carol Bednar, Secretary; and Edward Swanson, Parliamentarian.

Approval of the Agenda
The Agenda was approved as presented.

Approval of the Minutes
The minutes of the Annual Business Meeting to be published in the September 1996 DttP p. 165-168, were approved as written.

ALA Presidential Candidate
Sevetson noted the arrival of ALA Presidential Candidate Kenneth Dowlin and that the agenda would be changed to allow him to speak to the group at this time. Mr. Dowlin spoke and provided the group with handouts.

Announcements
The Chair announced that MAGERT would like two representative from GODORT to serve on a GIS Subcommittee of MAGERT. Any GODORT member interested in serving a one or two year term of the subcommittee should contact Sevetson. Names will need to be approved by GODORT's Steering Committee. Sevetson announced that the deadline for the June issue of DttP is April 1. She announced that a suggestion bag is in the back of the room for those wanting to give suggestions or comments. Those pertaining to a specific committee will be sent to chair of the committee. Attendance sheets were circulated.

Treasurer's Report
Treasurer Judy Horn distributed Budget packets. Horn reviewed the Budget process noting that the ALA fiscal year runs from September to August. At each Annual Conference we approve budget for the next year. At the Midwinter Conference we can make some changes in allocations, but may not change the bottom line. When approved expenditures are made, members send receipts to the treasurer who forwards them to Patricia Muir at the ALA Washington Office. In turn, the receipts are forwarded to ALA, then the expenditure is paid. Every month ALA submits a performance report to the Treasurer. There is a time lag for the performance report of approximately three or four months. Horn noted the closing information for the 95/96 budget which indicates a deficit for the year but a positive fund balance. Horn has asked Patricia Muir to seek clarification regarding a possible double-debit in the meal function line. If an error is found, Horn will issue a corrected budget. Horn expects that expenditures will exceed revenues this year. Horn presented the budget for 1997/98 which was approved at the Annual Meeting in New York. At the Second Steering meeting there will be an opportunity to move budget lines around; however, the bottom line cannot be changed. Horn presented a rough budget for 1998/99. She will work with the Budget Committee to make revisions for the 1998/99 budget which will be voted on at Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The treasurer requested notification if any member of the Steering Committee anticipates changes in the 1998/99 budget.

Introduction
Sevetson introduced Patricia Muir, GODORT's liaison to the ALA Washington Office.

ALA Presidential Candidate
Sevetson noted the arrival of ALA Presidential Candidate Ann Symons changed the agenda to allow her to speak to the group at this time. Ms. Symons spoke and provided the group with handouts.

Legislation Committee
Sevetson changed the agenda to move the report of the Legislation Committee to the top. Chair Dan O'Mahony reported that the committee had three resolutions and two additional action items for the business meeting. He drew attention to additional items in the Legislation Committee packet including information regarding revision of U.S.C. Title 44 and the development of case studies on government information titles no longer in the public domain. O'Mahony also noted that included in the packet is a draft resolution on planning for the preservation of government information which is focused on the state and local levels. The Legislation Committee wants to work with other units in ALA to refine the resolution and will probably bring it forward at the Annual Conference in San Francisco. O'Mahony made the following motions:

1. Move that GODORT endorse in principle the "Resolution on Funding Census Data Collection and Access." Cindy Etkin suggested that wording in point one under "resolved" be changed from "earlier" to "recent". O'Mahony will convey the intended meaning to the Committee on Legislation. Motion carried.
   

   RESOLUTION ON FUNDING CENSUS DATA COLLECTION AND ACCESS
   Resolved, That the American Library Association urge Congress to appropriate adequate funds to the Census Bureau for Census 2000 to provide for:
   (1) the collection of comparable detailed demographic, social and economic data which is consistent in scope with data from earlier censuses, and
   (2) census data in usable formats and public access at a basic level of service, and
   (3) no-fee access for the public through Federal Depository Libraries for all census products and services.
   Endorsed in principle by ALA/COL/GIS (2/17/97)
   Endorsed in principle by ALA/GODORT (2/17/97)

2. Move that GODORT endorse in principle the "Resolution on No-Fee Access to State and Local Government Legislative and Regulatory Information.". There was no discussion and the motion carried..

   RESOLUTION ON NO-FEE ACCESS TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY INFORMATION
   Resolved, That the American Library Association affirm the necessity to retain no-fee, equitable, and ready access to legislative and regulatory information disseminated by state and local governments in any format, and be it further
   Resolved, That the American Library Association communicate this policy to state chapters and appropriate organizations.
   Endorsed in principle by ALA/COL/GIS (2/17/97)
   Endorsed in principle by ALA/GODORT (2/17/97)

3. Move that GODORT endorse in principle the "Resolution: IFLA, Human Rights and Freedom of Expression." There was no discussion and the motion carried.

   RESOLUTION, IFLA, HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
   Resolved, That ALA work with other associations and institutions that belong to IFLA to develop positions in support of human rights and freedom of expression because such matters are central to the ability of librarians and libraries to serve the needs and interests of their users world wide.
   Sponsored by ALA/International Relations Committee
   Endorsed in principle by ALA/COL/GIS (2/17/97)
   Endorsed in principle by ALA/GODORT (2/17/97)

4. Move that the Chair of GODORT ask the President of ALA to write a letter to the appropriate members of congress requesting that Congress restore the necessary funds to provide each Regional and one library in each state without a Regional with a printed edition of the bound Congressional Record through the 105th Congress and also to restore funds necessary to allow all selecting depository libraries with print copies of the bound Congressional Record Index. There was no discussion and the motion carried.

5. Move that the Chair of GODORT write a letter to the Public Printer expressing our appreciation to T.C. Evans and the staff of the Government Printing Office for their work in extracting the electronic file of the text of USC Title 44. There was no discussion and the motion carried.

Action Items from Task Forces

Federal Documents Task Force
Cindy Etkin, Chair, made the following motions:

1. Move that the GODORT Chair write a letter to the Librarian of Congress and the Deputy Librarian of Congress reaffirming the value of the Documents Expediting Project. There was no discussion and the motion carried.

2. Move that the GODORT Chair write a letter to Carl Redd, on the occasion of his retirement, expressing GODORT's appreciation for his years of service to the Federal Depository Library Program and the Government Printing Office. There was no discussion and the motion carried.

3. Move that the GODORT Chair write a letter to the Joint Committee on Printing, the Senate Rules Committee, the House Oversight Committee, and the Legislative Branch Appropriations Committee expressing GODORT's concerns with the privatization of and licensing restrictions applied to government information. The letter should include the fact sheets by the Federal Documents Task Force Working Group on Issues Affecting Access to Government Information. There was no discussion and the motion carried.

4. Move that the GODORT Chair write a letter to the Chair of the Joint Committee on Printing asking that the Government Printing Office print and distribute to depository libraries the title pages to the bound serial set beginning with the 105th Congress. Etkin indicated that this would allow Depository Libraries wanting to bind the individual publications in the serial set to have appropriate titles pages for the bound set. There was no further discussion and the motion carried.

International Documents Task Force
Chair Duncan Aldrich thanked Michael Oppenheim for a wonderful job as IDTF Secretary and Mike McCaffrey-Noviss for creating and maintaining the IDTF web site. Aldrich made the following motions:

1. Move that the Chair of GODORT write a letter to the appropriate UN bodies to express gratitude for their implementation of the UN-I-QUE search engine on their Web site; to encourage them in their approach to further electronic access to UN information; and to express concern about long-term access to UN publications and documents. There was no discussion and the motion carried.

2. Move that the Chair of GODORT write a letter of inquiry to the appropriate office at the Center for Research Libraries concerning the future of the transferred foreign countries' official gazettes microfilming program, formerly managed jointly by the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress. Specifically, what are CRL's plans for continuing to acquire and microfilm these documents, and providing access to them? Also, what roles, if any, will the NYPL or LC continue to play in this heretofore cooperative project? There was no discussion and the motion carried.

State and Local Documents Task Force- No report.

Awards Committee - No report.

Budget Committee - No report.

Bylaws Committee
Chair Aimee Quinn noted that the version of the Bylaws on the Web show a contradiction between Article 15, Sections 2 and 3. Sevetson and Swanson agreed to check on the matter and report back at the second Steering Committee Meeting.

Cataloging Committee - No report.

Education Committee - No report.

GITCO - No report.

Membership Committee
Chair, Jill Moriearty announced that the action item regarding T-shirts would be deferred to the Second Steering meeting.

Nominating Committee - No report.

Program Committee
Chair Dan Barkley moved that GODORT cosponsor the 60th Anniversary Gala of SORT (Staff Organizations Round Table). Cosponsorship involves no expenditure on GODORT's part. The gala will be held at the Annual Conference in San Francisco on Sunday, June 29, 1997 at 6:30 at the Chinese Buffet Restaurant, 1169 Market Street, San Francisco. Tickets are $15. There was no discussion and the motion passed.

Publications Committee
Chair Ann Miller announced that Documents to the People (DttP) is advertising for a Distribution Manager and column editors. Interested persons should submit a letter of application to editor Edward Swanson or Ann Miller before the May 1 deadline. Miller noted that there are vacancies on the Notable Documents Panel for Federal, International and State and Local Task Force members. There are two vacancies for Federal members, two for State and Local, and one for International Documents Task Force Members. Those interested should forward their names to their task force coordinator Task Force Coordinators will send the names to Publications Chair Miller. The panel will be set by the Annual Conference in San Francisco. The new chair of notable documents panel is Barbara Ceizler-Silver.

Rare and Endangered Government Publications - No report.

Ad Hoc Committee on Continuing Education Fund - No report.

Ad Hoc Committee on Organization
Chair Sandy Peterson noted that the report of the Committee's first meeting is contained in the packet. The Committee held a public hearing on February 18, 1997. Peterson will post a summary of the meeting which had a question and answer format to GOVDOC-L. Peterson urged members to review this as a serious proposal and post comments to GOVDOC-L. An additional hearing which will involve all three groups: ASCLA, ILERT and GODORT, will be held during the Annual Conference in San Francisco on Monday afternoon from 2-4 p.m. If the proposal goes forward, a ballot will be mailed to the entire GODORT membership.

Chair Peterson made the following motion:
Move that the Chair of GODORT send a letter to ALA Councilors regarding the ALA Structure Revision Task Force Report including the following points: GODORT prefers in ranked order the following options for the restructuring of Council membership:

Option F - Delegate Assembly

Option C - Some Round, Less Large

Option A - Thirds GODORT also believes that training of future leaders of the association is vital; that such training be conducted for chair elects immediately following election, and that advantage should be taken of existing documents in the creation of orientation manuals and guides.

Sevetson noted that she attended a luncheon for Chairs on Saturday and that these issues were discussed. She believes the letter will be well-timed. There was no further discussion and the motion carried.

Ad Hoc Committee on GODORT Web Presence - No report.

Liaison reports
Sevetson noted that liaison reports are contained in the packets which were distributed at the meeting

Old Business
Bernadine Abbott Hoduski reported that the Freedom to Read Foundation is still working on the litigation regarding the Communications Decency Act and that they are appreciative of money donated by GODORT. Hoduski noted that she is a trustee of the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund which provides direct financial aid for the support, maintenance, medical care, and welfare of librarians who are threatened with loss of employment because of their stand for the cause of intellectual freedom. She urged GODORT members to consider contributing to the fund.

New Business
Diane Garner moved that the Chair of GODORT write a letter of thanks to Michelle Visel for the wonderful job she does scheduling meeting for GODORT. The motion carried.

Jim Veach asked if it is known what Round Table members are running for ALA Council. Sevetson said that when the ballot is issued, the names will be forwarded via GOVDOC-L.

Sevetson noted that GODORT lost two very special people in January: Jim Connelly and David Rozkuszka. Their obituaries will appear in the March DttP.

Dan Barkley moved that Chair of GODORT write a letter to Barbara Ford requesting Round Table Liaisons to the Appointments Committee. Motion carried.

The meeting adjourned at 3:15