PLASC Meeting Minutes 2019 February 14

Public Library Archives and Special Collections (PLASC)
Section of the Society of American Archivists

Meeting Minutes

Teleconference (WebEx)

February 14, 2019


In attendance: Lauren Algee, Suzanne Im, Petrina Jackson, Heather Lanctot, Angela Stanley


Purpose of Meeting: Share findings and recommendations for moving forward with creating and implementing our outreach/communications plan.


1. Finalizing plans for implementable products from our outreach / advocacy explorations

  • Lauren: Discussion of Twitter handle options.

    • Angela agrees Twitter handle could be more descriptive. Angela votes for PubLibArchives.

    • Lauren to send out poll for steering committee members to vote on handle.

  • Angela has been investigating options for advocacy. 

    • Considering putting together a Quick facts document built on some samples and models from Georgia State Library.

      • Could have more versatile use rather than conveying a specific message.

      • Shared Georgia Public Library Service infographics: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yI0C43ycrsyvvv7gnS-1KhuTrT5dhzA7

      • Angela unsure what PLASC’s inaugural message should be. 

        • Who is our intended audience? Membership or agencies?

        • Lauren cited survey respondents wanted guidance on how to advocate within as well as outside of their organizations.

    • Public library-specific elevator speech.

      • Angela will send a draft of elevator speech. 

      • There is not a lot of national aggregate data about public library archives, so Angela is finding it difficult to come up with an impact statement. She sees the need for a broader/national dataset. Will Keep on backburner for next year.

      • Heather asked about conducting a survey through SAA to obtain datasets on public library special collections and archives. Lauren says there may need to be a more organized effort as well as funding to obtain a better sample size.

      • Angela will make a list of datasets she wishes she had to make the Quick Facts document. 

        • Can use it to make a narrow list of questions in case the section decides to pursue funding for a larger survey.

  • Heather found an ALA PDF document called the Library Advocate’s Handbook that can be used to inform PLASC’s advocacy toolkit

    • Tried to find other advocacy resources that exist.

    • Tried to check for dead links on the legacy PLASC wordpress; she questioned how much hyperlinking would be beneficial? 

    • Lauren: Suggested submitting advocacy page to Internet Archive to ensure longevity.

    • Heather is getting a template together for bookmarks in Microsoft Word format

  • Suzanne learned from Matt Black that:

    • All Steering Committee members have edit permissions on the microsite by default.

    • There is no microsite comment notification system.

    • It is possible to add the PLASC SAA connect page onto the microsite manually.

      • One could manually add a link to community page either in the body of a page on the microsite or using the group menu links that appear on the right sidebar.


2. Preparing for elections / next year's staffing (intern?)

  • Web coordinator (committee member) can just be appointed by PLASC steering committee. Options: put a call out on the listserv, or PLASC can add in via next election.

  • Possible projects for intern (SAA funded): 

    • Evaluations 

    • Research /environmental scan around public library archives?

  • Petrina will follow up on how much time is given to intern positions.


3. Looking ahead to this year's annual meeting

  • Annual meeting: Lauren and Angela plan to be in attendance. 

  • Discussion of outreach in Texas to bring more public library archivists to the section meeting.

    • Organize a local event to bring together section members? 

    • Collaboration with Austin Public Library? 

    • Lauren called on steering committee to think about what kind of program, lightning talk, or other type of session should be planned for the annual section meeting.

  • Angela suggested tabling at the conference for PLASC as an outreach endeavor.


4. Other business

  • Petrina: Had a virtual council meeting. The date for SAA elections has been extended. 

Next meeting: 

 

Lauren will send out Whenisgood poll for next meeting, and will touch base with Patricia.