To Give or Not to Give?: An Answer to the Question

This will be the first post of seven or eight regarding discussion and action items to be considered by the SAA Council at its upcoming June meeting.

Dr. Frank Boles, SAA president, has proposed an action item to Council regarding the release to SAA members of materials Council will be considering at upcoming meetings. Dr. Boles' proposal calls for a policy that materials indeed be released, with appropriate delay for Council to see the materials first. This has been Dr. Boles' professional attitude since he took office. I have never had a problem getting materials that Council is considering. I just get anxious when I don't get them right away, but that is just me.

The actual proposal states:

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THAT the following policy be adopted and incorporated into the appropriate section of the Council Handbook:

All material distributed to Council members prior to any regular or special meeting of the Council shall also be made available to SAA members in a form and timeframe consistent with the release of the material to Council members. Material may be withheld from distribution to the membership if, either by law or in the opinion of the Executive Committee, it affects the privacy of individuals or institutions;

THAT this policy become effective for the August 10, 2009 Council meeting, with appropriate notice given to SAA leaders and members.
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This is a big move for SAA. They are joining our sister organization, the American Library Association, in a spirit of openness to their members. Boles points out that ALA is one of the two organizations that he looked at when investigating what to do with the question of whether to release materials to members or not. The other group was the American Historical Association, which Boles points out does not release board materials to its members and has no plans to do so.
I think that Dr. Boles has continued a move to an era of openness in communication with SAA members. In decades past, the Council met from afar and it took weeks or longer to disseminate information to SAA members. There was no other way other than putting it in the society journal. Costs for mailing Minutes of Council meetings would have been very high.

But now, in an era of instant communication, it is possible to communicate almost instantly. In fact, now that Council member Tom Hyry is on Twitter, I'm going to email him and ask him to tweet the Council meeting when he is there. That will be a first.

I hope all SAA members who read this will email their Council members and tell them to vote yes on this proposal. In fact, email Tom Hyry and ask him to tweet the Council meeting.