MINUTES
COSELL BUSINESS MEETING
San Juan, PR
March 30, 2000

I. Call to order at 6:10 p.m.

Present: 46 people from 25 schools

II. Minutes

On web site. Approved.

III. Nominations Committee Report - Pauline Aranas

Committee members were Trish Cervenka, Reba Best and Steve Hinckley. Trish Cervenka sent the slate of nominations to Secretary Nancy Strohmeyer via email on February 16, 2000. The slate included Jack Bissett from Washington and Lee University for Secretary and Pamela Melton from the University of South Carolina for At-Large Board Member.

IV. Election Report - Nancy Strohmeyer

Forty-five ballots were mailed on February 24, 2000, and twenty-four were returned by the March 17 deadline. The election was not contested, so both nominees were elected.

V. Introduction of Board - Pauline Aranas

Anne Klinefelter and Nancy Strohmeyer are leaving the Board. Pauline Aranas, Mary Lou Corbett, Mark Bernstein, Rebecca Trammell, Rosalie Sanderson, Bill Beintema, Jack Bissett and Pamela Melton make up the current Board.

VI. Treasurer's Report - Bill Beintema

None submitted at meeting.

As of July 6, we have $3,141.14 in the treasury. 2000 Dues received totals $780.00. We donated $500 to SEAALL for the 2000 SEAALL Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico.

VII. Membership Report - Bill Beintema

None submitted. Pauline welcomed Sally Wise, the new library director at the University of Miami, to the region.

VIII. Old Business

A. Consortium Agreements - Pauline Aranas YPB -

Pauline announced that there had been an increase in sales at the mid-year point. We may try to increase our discount if use continues to increase. Pauline suggested possibly inviting Ann-Marie Breaux, our YPB representative, to speak to COSELL members at our meeting in Atlanta.

CIS - CIS wanted to change our invoicing process to a single consortium invoice. Pauline was assured by Scott Eller that CIS will continue to do individual invoices. They are adding the Statutes-at-Large to the Universe pricing. Instead of the $995 retail or the $495 law school prices, we would pay $445 with our consortium discount.

B. COSELL Web Update Pauline Aranas

Pathfinders are on the web site, now. Also collection strengths. Mark Bernstein is the new Board liaison for Web concerns. We tried some new communication mechanisms. The chat room was not very successful; only the webmaster's messages appeared. We may try again later.

IX. New Business

A. Bylaws Amendment - Pauline Aranas

The following notice was sent with Election information. Quorum present at Business Meeting. Amendments passed unanimously.

"The Board recommends that we change Article Six, Sections One and Three of our Bylaws. These sections relate to the office of Vice-Chair. Currently, the Bylaws do not specify whether the holder of that office automatically becomes Chair of the association. In recent years, COSELL has adopted the practice of nominating the current Vice-Chair as a candidate for the office of Chair. The Board recommends incorporating this practice into the Bylaws.

The suggested amendments affect Article Six, Sections One and Three as follows.

ARTICLE SIX. OFFICERS

Section One. Designation of Officers. The officers of the corporation shall be a Chair, Vice-Chair Vice-Chair/Chair Elect, a Secretary, and a Treasurer.

Section Three. Vice-Chair. Vice-Chair/Chair Elect. In the absence of the Chair, or in the event of the Chair's inability or refusal to act, the Vice-Chair Vice-Chair/Chair Elect shall perform the duties of the Chair, and when so acting shall have all the powers of, and be subject to all the restrictions upon, the Chair. The Vice-Chair Vice-Chair/Chair Elect shall perform such additional duties as may from time to time be assigned by the Chair or by the Board of Directors. The Vice-Chair/Chair Elect shall automatically become Chair at the end of his or her two year term."

B. SEAALL Annual Meeting, Puerto Rico - Pauline Aranas

COSELL support

We donated $500 to SEAALL for the Annual Meeting. We received a letter from SEAALL President Steven Hinckley acknowledging and thanking us for our donation.

Program

Program B-1, "Out with the Old and In with the New? Policies for Superseded Materials," was suggested by COSELL. It resulted from the Technical Services Roundtable.

C. Roundtables 1999 Developments - Pauline Aranas

The Program idea above came from the 1999 Technical Services Roundtable.

D. Roundtables 2000 Reports

The Board decided to change the structure of the 2000 Roundtables, using specific subjects for discussion instead of job designations. The always active Technical Services roundtable was the only job oriented one retained. We will keep the subject orientation next year as well, although the subjects themselves may vary.

The full reports of the leaders of the Roundtables will be added to the COSELL web site. Some highlights from the oral reports follow.

Teaching Legal Research - Anne Klinefelter

Had 16 attendees. Discussed dealing with books vs. electronic format, Shepard's, CD-ROMS, online products like LOIS and Versus, when it was best to teach various skills, should we teach Bluebook format, getting involved with the first year program, incorporating upper years and recent grads as experts to discuss practical use of materials.

Proposed programs on citation and Duke's Bridging the Gap program, which evaluates students' progress, anticipating what they need to know.

Technical Services - Corrine Jacox

Had 15 attendees. Discussed what vendors libraries were using and problems with them. Decided not to develop an email distribution list because one exists through AALL.

Proposed program on developing macros to attempt to find commonality.

Webmasters/Web Design - Janet Sinder

Had 11 attendees. Discussed what staffing existed among libraries and how sites were set up, whether outside designers were used, who controlled content and design, what content should be. Encouraged libraries to add research links to COSELL website.

Proposed program on evaluating software for web design.

Collection Development - Ed Edmonds

Had 20 attendees. Discussed written policies, how technological advances affected purchase choices, formal/informal relationships with other libraries, law and university. Discussed adding links to written policies to COSELL website. Also, thought detailed annotated state practice guides added to the website would assist all libraries in making better decisions on purchasing practice materials for other states. Details should include what was actually used by attorneys if choices exist.

X. Announcements

Pauline thanked the outgoing members of the Board

XI. The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.