Meeting Minutes, 2015 December 09 (I&A Steering Ctte.)

I&A Steering Committee

2015 December 09

Conference Call

Last Meeting Follow-up:

1)      Blog (Christine).  One “Steering Share” blog post (each one introducing a steering committee member) will be published every two weeks.  We have a schedule, and two posts are ready.

2)      Website (Laurel).  October conference call minutes are ready to be posted.

3)      Illinois Museums issue (Wendy).  SAA is discussing next steps with the Midwest Archives Conference (MAC).

4)      Possible Models of Practice (I&A Research Teams; I&A Polls).  Wendy provided our draft of the Research Team model to SAA leadership.

New Business:

A.    I&A Research Team Pilot

1)      Discussion of five draft documents:

a)      Definitions and Missions for the “Legislators,” “Key Archives Topics,” and “News Monitoring and Awareness” teams

b)      Template for creating Research Posts

c)      Sign Up procedure for Research Team Leaders (steering committee members)

d)     Sign Up procedure for I&A Roundtable members

e)      Roster for listing leaders and members of each Research Team

2)      Initial thoughts:  specify a time commitment such as 3-5 hours per month; perhaps limit each volunteer to signing up for only one team; a statement of interest is probably not needed for the pilot.

B.     I&A Advocacy process and procedures (how I&A members can report and/or request help with an advocacy issue)

1)      Discussion of two draft documents:  “Advocacy Protocol” (Roundtable procedures) and “Advocacy Overview Template” (for I&A members reporting or seeking help with issues).

2)      Our protocol is modeled on procedures of the Regional Archival Associations Consortium (RAAC).

C.      I&A Wordpress site

1)      Site will launch the first week of January 2016 and start with one post a week.  [It launched:  see https://issuesandadvocacy.wordpress.com/]  This site is more user friendly for members posting blogs; it includes the official version of the Advocacy Toolkit; and it links to the SAA hosted microsite which contains official roundtable organizational documents (bylaws, minutes, etc.).

2)      The blog schedule for the first several months is mapped out; content will include “Archivists on the Issues” as well as the “Steering Shares” posts (see above).

D.    I&A Polls were discussed:  Should we ask members which issues interest them?  Or respond to breaking issues?  Or both?  Should polls be casual or widely distributed?  Discuss further in January.