Business meeting
RUSA MARS Products & Services Committee
ALA Midwinter Convention: San Diego, California
Sunday, January 11, 2004
U.S. Grant Hotel: Pavilion Ballroom
11:30a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Minutes
Present: Deborah Bezanson (Co-Chair), Van Houlson (Co-Chair), Dianna
McKellar, Roleeta Nandan, Steve Ostrem, Leslie Dillon
Absent: Katherine Downton, Lanette Hart
Open Forums vs. Programs:
The business meeting, which followed the Committee's discussion forum
entitled Library Instruction in the Courseware Environment, began with
comments on the differences in open forums and programs. It was determined
that open forums are less formal and are listed in the official Program as
meetings but contain no further descriptions. The forums presented by the
Products and Services Committee are intended to provide open dialogues and
communication between librarians and vendors, giving a broader perspective
of pertinent issues.
Venues for Publicizing Discussion Forums:
Listservs
MARS Box located in the Convention Center for Fliers
Cognotes
Updating the Products and Services Committee's Web Site:
In the past, the Committee has updated its web site frequently and has
put PowerPoint Presentations from guest speakers on its site. The committee
member who was hosting the site at his institution is no longer a member of
the Committee, and since that time, it has been difficult to have the site
updated. The site has not been recently updated. The ultimate goal is to
have the site hosted by ALA. Until that is achieved, Susan Hocker, the
Committee's liaison from ExCom, has volunteered to host the site for up
to 3 years. Susan can be contacted at
shocker@lib.muohio.edu.
New Webmaster for MARS:
It was noted that MARS is interviewing for a webmaster. Those interested in
the position should be put on the MARS-L listserv, where the position is
expected to be advertised.
Virtual Committee Meetings:
Methods of increasing communication between committee members prior to
upcoming conferences were discussed. Many committee members currently use
Tutor.com's Virtual Reference Toolkit software to provide their virtual
reference services. Prior to the upcoming ALA Annual Conference, committee
members may utilize the meeting room feature of this software to have
virtual meetings and discuss plans for the Conference.
Socials and/or Additional Committee Meetings:
Additional ideas for increasing communication between committee members
include gathering informally during the ALA Conference at a function such
as the MARS happy hour prior to the Committee meeting or having two Committee
meetings during the Conference.
Scheduled Committee Meetings for the Upcoming ALA Conference in Orlando:
The Products and Services Committee of RUSA MARS will meet on Saturday,
June 26, and Sunday, June 27, 2004 from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Submitted by Dianna McKellar
University of Delaware Library
RUSA MARS
Products & Services Committee
