2007 Annual Minutes

American Library Association Annual Meeting

RUSA | RSS | Research and Statistics Committee

Washington, DC – June 2007

Hotel Washington – Ballroom

Meeting Minutes

 

In Attendance: Char Booth, Janelle Hedstrom, Heather Tunender, Anne Moore, Ellen Safely, Holly McCullough, Linda Shippert, Carolyn Radcliffe

 

  1. Welcome and Introductions

 

  1. Review of Agenda

    1. Agenda was amended with minor revisions.

 

  1. Review of Midwinter 2007 Minutes

    1. Minutes were reviewed and approved.

 

  1. Review of Committee Roster and Appointments

    1. Anne Moore will assume the position of committee chair.

    2. Holly and Carolyn are rotating off, Char joining and Linda will be the new intern.

 

  1. Reference Research Forum

    1. Overview of nuts and bolts of RRF.

                                                              i.      Equipment reserved and hopefully taken care of.

                                                            ii.      Handouts printed, attendance of roughly 150 expected.

    1. One of the speakers has requested sound, which may require some jury-rigging.

    2. Presenters are ordered as follows:

                                                              i.      Evaluating the Quality of IM

                                                            ii.      Libraries and MySpace

                                                          iii.      Ready Reference in Chat

 

 

  1. Proposal – David Tyckocson (California State University Fresno)

    1. Proposal to potentially revise how Research and Statistics committee responds to research: supplement the research forum with the ability to sponsor research on allocation/grant/award basis, leading potentially to a RQ article and/or presentation.

    2. R&C Committee asked to generate a plan for how this might work in practice.

    3. Allocation figure – $10,000 thrown out. “Thousands of dollars, one thousand a minimum.”

    4. Award would work similar to a granting agency – request a proposal, costs, and budget.

    5. Could create a larger influence on the field of research, rather than simply showcasing as in the RRF.

    6. Plan concept/proposal should be ready by October 1, if possible, for RUSA Executive Board budget discussion.

    7. How to structure the allocation? Begin with one award as a trial; potentially expand the project in subsequent years?

    8. Discussion of the how funds would be allocated – level of detail required from proposals needs to be determined, but may depend on higher-up decisions. Potentially work on a half up front, half upon completion stipend process (streamlines process, requires less scrutiny throughout).

    9. Suggestion to potentially work with the Hot Topics Forum to generate research theme for proposal.

    10. How open should the proposal field be – within RUSA? Within ALA? Idea that RUSA membership be included in grant/award (if applicable).

    11. Proposal should include a section on publicity at beginning of process to generate applications.

    12. Suggestion to gather examples of other library grants and generate best practice ideas.

                                                              i.      Amigos – OCLC grant for the Southwest Fellowship Grant.

                                                            ii.      Everyone search for concise, streamlined grant proposals.

                                                          iii.      Look at vetting and accountability process after funds are allocated.

 

  1. 15th Anniversary of RRF

    1. Preliminary discussion of the 15th anniversary of the forum – suggestion to combine proposal for granting funds for research with 15th Anniversary.

    2. Timeline for grant proposal in practice: review grant at Annual, give the recipients an entire year to complete research before showcasing their work.

    3. Discussion of reasonable expectations for a timeline – is a year a valid expectation?

    4. Deadlines – May 1 as proposal deadline, following publication schedule of RQ?

 

  1. Planning for Future Forums

    1. Business as usual for Midwinter, discuss publicity of new initiative at next meeting.

    2. Call for Proposals – last few years an early publicized deadline then second call for proposals worked best (most proposals are generated after the first deadline).

 

  1. Planning for Reference Research Review

    1. Suggestion for blog or other electronic format RRR with open URL (COINS) links – matter will be investigated for discussion at Midwinter.

 

Minutes compiled by Char Booth, 23 June 2007.