The first chapter meeting that I attended was in Lubbock, Texas in 1998. My colleague, and friend, Beth Dodd, whom I had met while we were both employed at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University, encouraged me to participate since I had just completed my MLIS degree and was newly hired as the co-director of the School of Architecture’s Audio Visual Resources Collection at The University of Texas at Austin. Soon I was introduced to Laura Schwartz and the three of us piled into Laura’s car and headed west. At that time, I could not have predicted how the journey to Lubbock would influence my professional development or how the chapter would evolve over the ensuing years.
When my term as president began this January, I decided to assess, in broad terms, where the chapter had been, where it is currently, and how it might evolve. Using this approach, vice president/president elect Sam Duncan and I developed a platform that will help guide my term as president and ensure continuity so that when Sam begins his term in 2007, he can carry the plan forward.
While assessing the chapter’s history, I turned to The Medium that was published following the 1998 meeting in Lubbock (v. 24, no. 3/4 [fall/winter 1998]). I found evidence of how the chapter was reinventing itself, how it was shaping the image it was presenting to the world via the Web, and how this trajectory would influence activities in the coming years.
The chapter was undergoing its name change, shepherded by Janine Henri, from ARLIS/Texas to ARLIS/Texas-Mexico. The name change became official in 1999 and recruitment activities followed, resulting in the formation of the Mexican Librarian Recruitment Committee, chaired by Jacqui Allen. The committee successfully applied for ARLIS/NA grant funding to bring two Mexican librarians to the chapter’s 2001 annual meeting in Albuquerque. However, beginning in 2002, recruitment efforts to attract additional Mexican members were not fruitful. Still, the chapter stayed committed to its goal, and by 2005, chapter members Charles Burchard and Selene Hinojosa had translated the membership form and the president’s message on the Web site into Spanish.
Sam Duncan’s redesign of the chapter’s Web site debuted at the Lubbock meeting in 1999, and Sam proposed that The Medium be marked up using HTML in order to make it available online. Sam also identified the need for the chapter to pursue an independent Internet Service Provider to host the chapter’s site. Sam’s redesigned chapter Web site received numerous accolades from both inside and outside the chapter; by 2000, new issues of The Medium were posted electronically and mailing ceased. Our chapter’s new site also helped encourage thinking at the Society level about the image ARLIS/NA wanted to present to the world via the Web. Sam’s continued involvement in the chapter’s Web-related activities resulted in his development of the Society’s site for the annual conference in Houston in 2005. Sam introduced a content management system that allowed for dynamic site updates and the capability for users to search the program by keyword and create customized conference schedules. This revolutionary approach to managing annual conference information via the Web harkened a paradigm shift that has influenced the way the Society’s Web site for this year’s conference in Banff has developed.
“Plus ca change, plus c’est la même chose.” Jean Baptiste Alphonse Karr, a French critic, teacher, philosopher and novelist of the 19th century gave us the oft-used and well recognized adage: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” The issues that I wish to address during my term as president have to do with recruitment and the chapter’s Web presence and how it relates to broader issues that the Society should address. These are not new issues. However, as technology evolves, we have the ability to harness it to cultivate new and exciting ways to recruit members and to create a Web presence that better meets our members’ needs.
Part of my historical assessment of the chapter included a conversation with Janine Henri about the impetus to change the chapter’s name. What Janine told me was very illuminating. Up until 1999 when the name of the chapter was changed to include Mexico, there was no administrative structure in place to accommodate Mexican members of ARLIS/NA who might want to participate in the society at the regional level. According to Janine, the name change did not obligate the chapter to add Mexican members to its ranks. Instead the change simply provided a means for Mexican members to have a voice regionally. Even so, chapter members devoted a great deal of time and energy to recruit Mexican members and the chapter has continued to shore up the bridge between Texas and Mexico by providing translated portions of the chapter’s Web site. The door to membership in the chapter was opened in 1999, and it remains open in 2006.
In order to more effectively recruit chapter members who are current or new members of the Society, I have asked that the mechanism in place at the Society level to channel information about potential members be examined since we have not received such information on an ongoing basis. As a result of my request, this is being addressed and all the Society’s chapters should be receiving reports on a monthly basis that will help facilitate recruiting efforts. In concert with this change, I plan to pursue the creation of an informational packet that the chapter could distribute to potential members as a recruitment tool. Finally, I would like to reach out to former members and encourage them to rejoin the chapter.
Sam mentioned at the meeting in Marfa last year that he was interested in refreshing the chapter’s Web site aesthetically as well as from a functional perspective. During the first part of this year, due to Sam’s efforts, our Web site’s appearance has changed to include a new logo and also takes advantage of technological innovations to help us more effectively manage our content. In particular, Sam has employed a more efficient means of producing and organizing The Medium and also a better system of managing member profiles. Thanks go to Sam for devoting the time and energy to research the best approach for the chapter’s site and for lending his design skills to transform the chapter’s online image. Sam will more fully report on his efforts elsewhere in this issue of The Medium.
Another issue that was identified in Marfa and will be pursued during the coming year relates to how chapters’ Web sites relate to the Society and to what degree the Society should centralize the technical infrastructure that supports chapters’ sites. Our chapter’s site is hosted by an independent Internet Service Provider (ISP) so the existence of the site is not contingent upon the ability of the individual who is serving as the chapter’s Web master to convince his or her institution to host the site. Having the site hosted by an ISP provides continuity from one Web master to the next. However, this is not the model followed by all the Society’s chapters. A centralized model would provide stability and continuity for chapter sites even when regional Web masters change. This is a position that the chapter has advocated and I am pursuing this issue through the appropriate channels to reach the Board with our concerns.
In addition, because our chapter hosted the Society’s annual conference in 2005 and we were responsible for the Web site, it is now incumbent on our chapter to maintain the site in perpetuity. Again, it makes sense from an administrative perspective to have a centralized means to address issues of continuity and perpetuity for annual conference sites. This too is an issue that I have called to the Board’s attention on the chapter’s behalf and I will keep you apprised about how this issue is addressed by the Board.
Preparations for the annual meeting have already begun; details will be forthcoming. The dates are October 20-October 22, 2006. Currently the proposed itinerary has attendees arriving in Austin on Thursday, 10/19, meeting in Austin on 10/20, departing Austin on 10/21 and traveling to San Marcos and then onto San Antonio. Attendees will depart from San Antonio on Sunday, 10/22.
Thanks to those of you who have volunteered to assist with local arrangements in each of the three cities that we will visit.
Finally, I want to thank you, my colleagues, who have helped me to develop professionally and who have given me the opportunity to serve first as the chapter’s secretary, then as vice-president/president elect, and now as president. My hope is that you will find the upcoming meeting in Austin, San Marcos, and San Antonio inspirational and that it will help guide you on your professional path in the same way the meeting in Lubbock did for me.
I look forward to serving you in my current role helping to guide the chapter as it continues its evolution.
Elizabeth Schaub