The Board of Publications met in person at the ACB midyear meeting at the Holiday Inn in Arlington, VA. Members present: chairperson Paul Edwards, Nolan Crabb, Marcia Dresser, Judy Jackson, Ken Stewart; ex officio member Berl Colley; ACB staff/contractors Sharon Lovering and Melanie Brunson. Many guests were also in attendance. Members absent: ex officio members Bob Hachey and Ron Milliman, and contractors Annette Carter and Larry Turnbull.
Chairperson Edwards called the meeting to order at 7:45 PM EST. The minutes of the February 6 teleconference were adopted as read with three corrections.
Copyright Statement
Melanie explained the aspects of copyright law germane to ACB. Because ACB Radio broadcasts a lot of material that originates on other networks, Paul and Nolan rewrote the ACB copyright statement to reflect this. After a lengthy discussion, Marcia moved and Judy seconded to adopt this revised statement. The motion carried.
ACB Web Site
The site is in need of a major overhaul. Many important things did not get transferred over when we changed to the Drupal management system. Many members are upset that the back issues of The Braille Forum are not on the new site; this will be accomplished as soon as possible. ACB is committed to creating and maintaining a dynamic, current Web site that is updated often. Time-sensitive information must be a priority, and there is a list of things that must be on the site at all times. The site needs to be visually appealing because it is an important public relations vehicle. ACB is prepared to have Annette work up to 30 hours a week while this overhaul is completed, and she will be given priorities.
Midyear and Summer Presentations
We reviewed our plan for the presentation to be given by the BOP at the ACB presidents meeting on Saturday, February 25. Paul will update the group on BOP initiatives; Nolan will provide tips to newsletter editors; Marcia will discuss the issues surrounding The Braille Forum. The BOP workshop at the 2013 ACB convention, which will probably take place on Thursday, July 12, will be a "forum on the Forum" to solicit feedback on what the Forum ought to be and to give folks another chance to discuss the proposed name change.
Forum Content and Proposed Name Change
The BOP will contact John Huffman, interim chair of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, regarding the proposed Braille Forum name change to The ACB Forum. Regarding content, Judy suggested that we have "corners" such as a parent corner and a teacher corner. It was felt that this would work better on the Web site because these topics are dynamic and would be fodder for a great deal of discussion. A member of the audience suggested that we capture the debate generated on the lists and make it available to more of our members. Ken suggested that the last five recipients of the Freeman Award be invited to be writers or stringers. Several questions arose: What constitutes The Braille Forum in the 21st century? Is it a publication of record (organization and affiliate news) or is it a publication of interest to everyone who is blind or visually impaired?
Possible Upcoming Project
The BOP will look at the ACB mission statement and may come up with a vision statement. Steven Obremski will assist the BOP in this effort.
The meeting adjourned at 10:35 PM EST.
The BOP will not meet in March. The next meeting will occur via teleconference on Monday, April 2, at 9:00 PM EST.
Respectfully submitted,
Marcia N. Dresser, Secretary