Meeting Minutes: August 23, 2002, Birmingham, AL

Co-chairs: Kate Colligan and Katherine Fleming

SAA Annual Conference, August 23, 2002

Present:

Co-chair Kate Colligan, University of Pittsburgh; Sherree
Bonaparte, National Museum of the American Indian; Rebecca
Hankins, University of Arizona; Julia Hendry, University of
Illinois at Chicago; Kathryn Allamong Jacob, Schlesinger Library;
Lauren Kata, Wayne State University; Sara Love, Athens
State University; Lucinda Manning; Fernanda Perrone,
Rutgers University; Elizabeth Russey, Union Theological
Seminary; Janice Ruth, Library of Congress; Mattie Sink,
Mississippi State University; Alison Stankrauff, Wayne State
University; Ellen Swain, University of Illinois at U-C; Susan
Watson, American Red Cross; Susan Woodland, Hadassah; Kathy
Young, Loyola University; and Tanya Zanish-Belcher, Iowa
State University.

Megan Sniffin-Marinoff, Schlesinger Library, attended the
meeting as SAA Council liaison. Co-chair Katherine Fleming was
unable to attend SAA.

Business Meeting:

Co-chair Kate Colligan welcomed the group and indicated that she
would lead the meeting in the absence of Katherine Fleming who was
unable to attend. She announced that Ellen Swain will serve as co-chair
for 2002-04, and Sarah Keen will serve as web manager for the
Roundtable. Colligan alerted the Roundtable to an oral history mapping
project, conducted by staff at the National Women's Oral History
Database at the City University of New York. She and the group had
questions concerning the construction of the project's questionnaire
that will need to be addressed. She also raised the possibility of
establishing a Roundtable listserv and upgrading the website.

SAA Council liaison Megan Sniffin-Marinoff invited members to
contact her with questions and concerns for Council. She discussed the
work of the SAA Task Force on Electronic Publications which is looking
at how SAA groups communicate. She encouraged the group read and
respond to its draft statement.

In the absence of Valerie Brown, Kathy Young reported on Loyola
University's project to produce a directory of women's collections and
repositories. Now documenting women in the second wave of feminism, the
project received 58 responses from its initial survey. Only 19 of the
58 responses are from "women centered" repositories. Currently, staff
is seeking funding to continue the project. The Roundtable also
discussed the advisability of updating and automating the women's
manuscript and archives guide produced in 1977. Members discussed the
possibility of taking on this project as a Roundtable activity.
Colligan asked Kathy Young to provide her with an outline of the
project for consideration.

Each attendee introduced herself to the group and provided a brief
description of projects and/or activities in her archives. </p>
<p> Janice Ruth, co-chair of the SAA Program Committee 2003, encouraged
the Roundtable to submit session proposals to the committee. She
discussed the theme of the conference and provided an overview of the
submission guidelines. The Roundtable also discussed the usefulness of
email discussion about session proposals prior to the SAA conference.
Speaking as a member of the Program Committee and of the Roundtable,
Ruth mentioned that Program Committee membership would be receptive to
women's collections session proposals.

The Roundtable opened discussion concerning possible session
proposals. Suggestions included sessions focusing on the Schlesinger
Library's 60th anniversary; activities of the Women's History Museum in
DC and/or the National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas; and
western women writers' collections. Colligan will contact SAA about
setting up a listserv after the meeting so members can continue session
proposal discussions.

Guest speaker Lola Hendricks of the Birmingham Civil Rights
Institute did not attend the meeting. Meeting adjourned.

Submitted by Ellen Swain - September 15, 2002.