BOARD OF PUBLICATIONS
Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2011
The ACB Board of Publications met via teleconference on Monday, October 3,
2011 at approximately 9:10pm EDT. Members present were: Paul Edwards -
Chair, Marcia Dresser, Judy Jackson, Jenine Stanley, Ken Stewart; Ex officio
members: Berl Colley, Bob Hachey; Absent: Ron Milliman. ACB
Staff/Contractors present were: Sharon Lovering; Absent: Larry Turnbull. A
number of observers also participated in the call.
Minutes:
Ken moved to approve the September minutes. The motion was seconded and
adopted.
DAISY Committee:
Berl reported that the committee has encountered some difficulty in
formatting issues of the Braille Forum. Earlene Hughes is working with IRTI
on these issues.
Leadership Training:
Berl reported that the committee continues to work on the July 6 leadership
training. There will be no sponsorship for travel or pre-conference hotel
rooms as of yet. The committee will meet in October to work on the agenda.
Jenine Stanley represents the BOP on this committee.
Web site Committee:
Jenine reported that the ACB Store web site's roll-out was delayed by some
complications with the software. Larry is awaiting shipping weights on items
to adjust the shipping calculation function. The site is expected to go live
in mid October.
Larry, Pratik Patel and Earlene continue to work on the issue of a
dedicated donation system. Updating a Drupal donation module has not worked
as expected but work continues to customize it to meet our needs.
A question was raise from the audience about time lines for adding resources
and other information to the site. Jenine explained that the original ACB
web site had a great deal of information, including back issues of the
Braille forum, convention audio and a number of documents. This information
is being added to a structured work plan for Earlene to add content. One of
the tasks of the BOP's Web site Committee is also to set up permissions and
training for others to add content. This function is currently being
planned.
Internet Oversight Committee:
Bob reported that activity on all lists is going well. He is currently
looking for a substitute co-moderator as Michael Malver is not able to
continue his role due to scheduling conflicts.
Editor's Report:
Sharon reported that the braille embosser in the national office is
currently not working. Mitch Pomerantz announced that the ACB Board of
Directors voted at its October 1 meeting to allocate funds for the purchase
of a new braille embosser. Melanie Brunson has secured $4,000 toward this
purchase. The ACB Board allocated additional funds not to exceed a total of
$11,000 for the purchase of an appropriate embosser.
Sharon sought guidance from the BOP regarding 2012 issues of the Braille
Forum.
Ken moved that the BOP recommend publication of 10 issues of the Braille
Forum consisting of 9 32-page issues and 1 48-page issue being designated as
the Conference and Convention Issue for the publication period of 2012. The
motion was seconded and adopted.
Sharon posed the question of what to do regarding the demise of cassette
tapes. Paul noted that ACB currently has a 2-year contract to produce the
Braille Forum on cassette and no action or discussion need take place at
this time.
BARD Format:
Paul announced that a contract to produce issues of the Braille Forum in
BARD and Web Braille formats for our web site is approximately two weeks
away. The Braille Forum will not appear on the BARD web site's magazine
listings however until after the first of the year due to web site changes
at NLS.
Jenine will provide a report on downloads of the Braille Forum from ACB's
web site at the BOP's December meeting.
ACB Mission Statement:
Paul noted that the mission statement for ACB is approved by the ACB Board
though the BOP does have opportunity to comment. Jenine announced that the
ACB Board will be undergoing a long range planning exercise in which it will
develop a revised mission statement.
Name Change for the Braille Forum:
The BOP held a lengthy discussion with input from the audience regarding the
procedure for any proposed name changes to the Braille Forum. The BOP
recognized its obligation to bring such name changes before the membership
through the Constitution and Bylaws Committee in the form of amendments.
Judy moved that the BOP recommend to the ACB constitution and Bylaws
Committee an amendment proposing a name change for what is now called The
Braille Forum, to the ACB Forum. The motion was seconded. A roll-call vote
was taken as follows: Edwards, Yes; Dresser, Yes; Jackson, Yes; Stanley,
Yes; Stewart, Yes. The motion was adopted.
Ken moved that BOP Chair Paul Edwards speak with the chair of the
Constitution and Bylaws Committee about crafting an amendment regarding the
Braille Forum name change. Tom Mitchell offered to assist in this effort.
The motion was seconded and adopted.
BOPEEP:
No issues were reported in any of the formats of the Braille Forum.
Copyright:
Ken asked that a brief discussion be held at the next meeting regarding
questions about the existing copyright statement. He agreed to submit his
questions and some points to stimulate discussion to the BOP list prior to
the meeting.
Resolutions Index:
A question was raised from the audience regarding the indexing of ACB
resolutions. Paul noted that he will check with Eric Bridges as the staff
person responsible for this function. Jenine noted that the current web
site's search function provides a very easy way to locate resolutions using
a number of criteria from name and number to key words.
Braille Forum Content:
Judy requested a discussion of Braille Forum content during the next
meeting.
Follow-up On ACB Radio Advertising Issue:
Paul reported that he has discussed the points raised during the September
BOP meeting regarding advertising on ACB Radio to the ACB Radio Management
Team. This group continues to explore advertising plans. Paul will report
back to the BOP at its November meeting.
Ken asked how people who have submitted issues or questions to the BOP
receive feedback. Paul noted that it is the person's responsibility to
follow up with BOP members and check the minutes posted to the ACB web site
to obtain feedback.
ACB Mid Year Meeting Planning:
The BOP discussed several possible topics for Mid Year presentations.
Braille Forum content is a topic for our Friday evening meeting. A
presentation on what we have learned from our various initiatives over the
past several years is a possible topic for a panel presentation during the
ACB presidents meeting.
Paul will make sure that the BOP's meetings and presentations are included
in any publicity or other statements about the Mid Year meetings.
Jenine will secure audio equipment with Lane Waters for the Friday evening
BOP meeting.
New Business:
Candidates Page:
Jenine encouraged all BOP members and guests to get in touch regarding
suggestions for the 2012 Candidates Page. She will post such announcements
to the various ACB lists as well.
Term Listings:
Based on a request from Ken, Sharon and Marcia will look at the effect on
all formats made by listing the terms of office for ACB Board and BOP
members in each issue of the Braille Forum.
Ken will collect the raw data on each member's term and expiration date.
Jenine will have this information listed on the appropriate web site pages.
Press Room:
Paul will ask 2012 Convention Coordinator Janet Dickelman about the location
of the Press Room.
Next Meeting:
The BOP will next meet on Monday, November 7 at 9:00pm Eastern time.
Adjournment:
Jenine moved to adjourn at approximately 11:25pm EDT. The motion was
seconded and adopted.
Submitted by Jenine Stanley
October 9, 2011