Meeting of the General Assembly, Thursday, May 27, 2004, Madison, Wisc.
1. Welcome and opening remarks (A Green)
The meeting was called to order 12:36, with 125 members present
A Green welcomed members to the conference, and to the general assembly. She reminded members that the constitution requires of this business meeting to process activities of the past year and prepare for the next.
2. Approval of the minutes of the General Assembly May 29, 2003
The following amendments to the minutes of the 2003 General Assembly were noted:
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- Should read “S. Holloway” rather than Holoway
- 8.2 Should read “The committee is no longer active”
- 9.3 Should read “The 2005 conference will be held …” rather than 2004.
MOVED to accept minutes as amended. Moved: T Trost; seconded: C Humphrey. The motion CARRIED.
3. Matters arising from the minutes (A Green)
There being none, the president remarked on the excellent vital signs of the Association, and the excellence of the conference arrangements. She specifically thanked C Severt and J Linden, for their work on local arrangement and the conference program.
4. Reports of Regional Secretaries
i. Africa - The African Secretary has resigned. Refilling this position will be part of nominations and elections this fall.
ii. Australia - S Holloway was unable to attend. The regional report will be posted on the IASSIST web site. ASSDA is expanding, adding a qualitative data archive and a business data archive. Have installed the Nesstar server. There have also been breakthroughs in access to government data. Training workshops have been held in Australia and New Zealand.
iii. Canada - B Wandschneider: Report will be on the IASSIST web site in next week or two. A meeting of the Canadian Association of Public Data Users (CAPDU) is scheduled immediately after IASSIST, in Winnipeg, in conjunction with the Conference of the Social Sciences and Humanities, He mentioned developments in the areas of the National Data Archive, the DDI/DTD and the creation of CanDDI to promote DDI in Canada. Several Institutions have installed the Nesstar server. There are additional Research Data Centres (RDCs) in Canada. He also mentioned regional train-the -trainers meetings, and working towards a basic training program, with close to 100% participation at institutional level.
iv. Europe - M Wright: The European report will be amended with new information. Europe is at the bottom of a 3 year cycle coming up to a Euro conference. She mentioned the problems of maintaining and sustaining membership in Europe. The European report will have country by country reports. She specifically mentioned the Madiera project, the MetaDater project, etc. The report will be available on the IASSIST web site in a couple of weeks.
v. United States - P Adams: Ann Cooper passed away this year. US membership holding steady. 88 registrants at this conference. The secretariate collaborates with other data and data related organizations. SAA census survey included data archivists. IASSIST is a member of COPAFS - upcoming conference on data quality in fall. APDU conference in October. Data policy issues: Census Bureau has asked for comments on products from the American Community Survey, although there is little about microdata in the proposal.
5. Reports of Officers
i. President and vice-president - A Green: Report was given as part of the plenary today.
ii. Treasurer - W Thomas: The Association is in a good financial situation . Retained membership base higher than anticipated. Recent excellent conferences, have contributed to reserves. Have base of funds for Outreach, to implement the Strategic Plan, etc. Changes in treasury group: R Boily in Canada, J Dionne (US) stepping down this year. Selected S McKay to replace her . J Dionne was thanked for her contributions, which were critical to the success of the establishment of regional treasurer groups . B Wandscheider is working on a new membership database, to be unveiled this fall, and which will allow secretariats to better track membership and assist the activities of the assistant treasurers.
6. Reports of Committees
i. Education Committee - W Watkins: The report of the Committee will be made available on the IASSIST web site. Action plan for the next year includes a one day leadership workshop, based on the Canadian train-the-trainers. Expressed the importance of institutional support. Projects ongoing include repositories of training material. Adding section on training needs and resources. A report will also be prepared for the IQ outlining the activities of the committee.
ii. Membership Committee - S Giles: 249 members, represents a 13% increase. 102 have been members for at least 4 years. Looking at regional structure - proposal put forward to the Administrative committee to expand the Australia secretariate to include Australia and Pacific. Produced a brochure: IASSIST at a glance. Thanks to members of the committee, and C Perry who did the formatting, and P Baxter who put it on the web. The new membership database will make life easier, and allow members to change their own information as needed. Plans for next year: study strategic plan, generate ideas on how to implement.
iii. Publications and Communications Committee - L Neidert: The annual conference is a communications vehicle for IASSIST and a vehicle for membership participation - providing content to IQ, web site, in the form of media presentations for conferences, etc. C Perry was thanked for her work on web site design and layout. Volunteers for the committee are needed. Members are encouraged to participate in the work of the committee, provide content or content management. Thanks to all committee members. Volunteers should contact R Rice, KB Rassmussen, or L Neidert.
iv. Nominations and elections committee - P Burnhill: A full range of elections will be held this year: president, vice-president, and all secretaries, Canada, Europe, and US. Secretaries serve 2-year terms, and can stand for election for a second term. A Green will not stand again as president. Administrative committee members serve 4-year terms, half of the committee is elected in each election. Appointments not subject to election: treasurer, secretary, archivist, chairs of action and interest groups.
7. Reports of Action Groups
i. International Outreach Action Group - I Einowski: The objective of the action group is to assist data professionals from developing countries. Have brought 38 participants in 8 years - this year including T Yudina, and 2 additional persons who were unable to secure visas to the US. Have been action group for 8 years, and need to move this into something more permanent. About to propose the Action Group become a committee, as part of the IASSIST structure, within the provisions of the constitution. T Yudina - expressed thanks to the Outreach Action Group for supporting her attendance at this professional and friendly conference. Issued an invitation to Moscow in January 2005 for the 250th anniversary of Moscow University.
ii. Strategic Plan Action Group - B Block: Main directions of the strategic plan are education and preservation. A planning document was produced in collaboration with the membership, the administrative committee, and the members of the Action Group. Thanks to K McNeill-Harman who “walked the extra mile.” Actual document is 4 parts, this is only an abstract. Among many issues of importance, are education, outreach, and preservation. Membership is addressed in each of these directions. Added specific suggestions for implementation, but open for discussion and debate. The document includes a brief paragraph on implementing this plan. Welcome to all members to participate in this committee.
8. Reports of Interest Groups
i. Data Documentation Interest Group - R Nakao: the Action Group acts as a forum to disseminate information from the DDI Alliance to the membership. Looking at issues of documentation beyond DDI. Hope to provide solid basis for publishing, implementation of the strategic plan goals re documentation. To be placed on the IGs listserv, contact R Nakao.
9. Conference Reports
i. 2004 - C Severt
ii. 2005 - A Bayley/P Burnhill: IASSIST will meet with IFDO in Edinburgh, in a conference with theme: “Evidence and enlightenment.” P Burnhill is program chair for IASSIST , and is in dialogue with IFDO re an IFDO program chair. A Bayley is responsible for local arrangements. Persons to be responsible for plenaries, general concurrent sessions and hosts (organizers and chairs), poster coordinator, liaison with Outreach, are being recruited. A Bayley - workshops will be held May 24th, conference May 25-27. Arrangements will include an Icebreaker reception, and a banquet, but no boat trip. Accommodation in the conference hotel is expensive, but there are lots of alternatives. Followed by Highland weekend, a bus trip 100 km north of Edinburgh in Pitlochrie, 3 nights at a bed and breakfast. The conference web site will be active soon.
iii. 2006 - Administrative Committee has accepted a proposal from ICPSR in Ann Arbor, for May of 2006.
iv. 2007 - Notification of intention to submit has been received from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
10. Other Business (A Green)
There being none.
11.Move to adjourn
E Boyko: seconded: J Linden. The meeting adjourned at 13:30.