BOARD OF PUBLICATIONS
Meeting Minutes
September14, 2009
The ACB Board of Publications met via teleconference at approximately 9:25pm (EDT) on Monday, September 14, 2009. Members present were: Paul Edwards, Jenine Stanley, Marcia Dresser, Judy Jackson and Ken Stewart; Ex Oficio Members present: Ron Milliman, Larry Turnbull and Michael Malver; ACB Staff present: Sharon Lovering.
Agenda:
Ken moved to adopt the amended agenda as presented. The motion was seconded and adopted.
Minutes:
Paul will resend the July meeting recordings to Jenine who was unable to download them in August. Ken moved to adopt the August minutes as submitted. The motion was seconded and adopted.
Indexing Contract:
Paul presented information about Ebsco Subscription Services, a company from Massachusetts that provides, free to ACB, indexing services that would allow the braille forum in complete issues and individual articles, placement on a number of university databases. The company requires that each issue of the Braille Forum be sent in standard PDF format. They will then index entire issues and individual articles for use in databases. This service is designed to give ACB’s publication a wider audience than the basic search tool found on our web site. Melanie Brunson also asked that the BOP provide guidance on what type of software would best assist Sharon to prepare each issue. Ken moved that the BOP approve Paul’s recommendation to contract with Ebsco Subscription Services, giving them permission to index and place the Braille forum on various databases. The motion was seconded and adopted. The BOP also recommended that Sharon look into Adobe Acrobat Professional, Version 9 as a means of providing files in PDF format and also updating production in general.
Social Networking Sites:
Donna Pomerantz gave a presentation on social networking sites and the California Council of the Blind’s efforts to establish guidelines for setting up and maintaining such sites. Facebook and Twitter were the primary sites discussed. There is currently an ACB Facebook page established by a student, not officially sanctioned by ACB. Donna noted that Facebook pages are like mini web sites where content can be controlled at a number of levels, allowing organizations to give access to only certain parts of the site from the outside. Twitter uses brief text, 150 characters or less, to convey news or direct traffic to other places. After much discussion, the BOP agreed that it is important for ACB to have a presence on social networking sites. Paul proposed forming a committee to establish guidelines and possibly set up a BOP page on Facebook and Twitter as examples while recommending specifics for the formation of ACB’s own sites on these services. Jenine will chair this committee with Paul, Pratik Patil and Michael Malver of the Internet Oversight Committee. Donna will provide the BOP with guidelines from the CCB as soon as they have been approved. She will also provide additional material on aspects of Facebook and social networking for non-profit organizations.
ACB Radio:
Larry reported that he is forming a PR Committee to reach out to affiliates to gather news and encourage streaming of conventions. All archives have been moved to the new server. Larry also noted that he took disciplinary action against an ACB Radio Friends list member involving a temporary ban. Paul encouraged Larry to publicly specify this action and any time limits associated with bans so that list members will better understand the list rules.
Internet Oversight Committee:
Michael Malver, chair of the Internet Oversight committee, reported that the committee plans to meet prior to the next BOP meeting and that administration of the various ACB lists is going well. Ken Stewart was reappointed as BOP representative to this committee.
Editor’s Report:
Sharon will be meeting with Potomac Talking Book Services to discuss the transition from cassettes and other issues. The pending shortage of actual cassette tapes and players forces ACB to begin plans for transitioning the audio production of the Braille forum and ACB Reports to another medium such as CD. Because the issues exceed 79 minutes in length, production will involve two standard audio CDs per issue. However, if mp3 files are used on a data CD, a number of formats can be included on one CD. Using mp3 files would also allow people to speed up content as they can on cassette players, something not available on most standard audio CD players.
Web Site Task Force:
Paul reported that the content management tool has been ported to the ACB servers and is compatible with our associated operating systems and is ready for design use. Jenine moved that the following people along with herself have access to the design tool initially: Pratik Patil, Earlene Hughes, Geoff shang. She will provide Chris Gray with these people’s names and he will set up access codes. The motion was seconded and adopted. This will be a two-step process with initial design then more open testing for accessibility by wider audiences within the Web Site Task Force.
BOPEEP:
Marcia noted that National Braille Press has changed the size of its paper in braille production from 28 lines per page to 25 lines. Ken reported that CCLVI approved a resolution at convention regarding large print in the Braille Forum. Paul noted that neither he nor Sharon had received this resolution. Ken asked about the input from readers on font styles. Sharon reported so far a 50/50 split between those favoring Arial or Verdana font.
Here and There Column:
Ken asked about the wording of the column’s title in the table of contents of the August issue. The BOP had agreed that the title should read “Edited by” rather than “By”. Sharon noted that the August column was submitted prior to the BOP ruling but that the September column was properly titled.
ACB Board Meeting Summaries:
Ken asked about summaries of ACB board meetings for the past year. Paul reported that he is trying to get them to Sharon and will write a public apology to readers regarding their absence. Marcia plans to get the most recent meeting summary to Sharon by the end of September.
Staff Goals:
Paul reported that he has finished the set of goals for the ACB Web Master and will be sharing them with ACB President Mitch Pomerantz prior to beginning meetings with Earlene Hughes and Melanie Brunson who has already seen and approved of them. He will also share these goals with Jenine as part of the Web Site Task Force.
Vice Chair:
Ken was appointed Vice Chair of the BOP to preside over meetings should Paul not be available.
Next Meeting:
The BOP will meet next at 9:00pm (EDT) on Monday, October 5, 2009.
Adjournment:
Marcia Dresser moved that the meeting be adjourned at approximately 11:50pm. The motion was seconded and adopted.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jenine Stanley, Recording Secretary