IAML International Association of Music Libraries

 

Minutes of Council Meeting held Sunday 18 and Thursday 22 June 2006 at Artisten, Göteborg, Sweden.

Present: (in both sessions unless marked by I or II)

Kathy Adamson, President, UK & Ireland Branch; Otlu Marie Alsvik, Observer (II); Tsuneko Arakawa, President, Japanese Branch (II); Jon Bagüés, Observer (II); André Balog, Observer (I); Chris Banks, Chair, Working Group on Hofmeister XIX, Observer (II); Sabina Benelli, Observer (I); Ole Bisberg, Danish Branch representative (II); Zdravko Blazekovic, Observer (I); Maureen Buja, Editor, Fontes Artis Musicae, Observer; Jolanta Byczkowska-Sztaba, Polish Branch representative; Jim Cassaro, IAML Vice-President, Chair Programme Committee; Richard Chesser, Chair, Constitution Committee; H. Robert Cohen, Director, RIPM (II); Mary Wallace Davidson, President, US Branch (I); Elizabeth Davis, Observer; David Day, Chair Bibliography Commission; Nienke De Boer, Observer (I); Johan Eeckeloo, Belgian representative; Inger Enquist, Observer; Cecilia Erdös, Observer (I); Karl Erik Ericsson, Observer (I); Michael Fingerhut, Observer; Gert Floor, President, Netherlands Branch; Roger Flury, IAML Secretary General & New Zealand Branch representative; Gabriele Gamba, Observer (I); Daina Gauja, Observer (II); Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi, IAML President; Aurika Gergeležiu, President, Estonian Branch; Elizabeth Giuliani, Chair, Commission on Audio Visual Materials; Antony Gordon, Chair, Cataloguing Commission and Information Technology Committees; José Carlos Gosález-Lara, President Spanish Branch; Jane Gottlieb, Observer (I); Kristina Hako, Observer (I); Alison Hall, Observer; Dominique Hausfater, IAML Vice-President; Susanne Hein, President, German Branch; Veslemöy Heintz, President, Swedish Branch; Ruth Hellen, IAML Vice-President & Chair, Outreach Committee; Luuk Hoekstra, Observer (II); Katherine Hogg, Observer (II); Berit Holth, Observer (II); Stanislaw Hrabia, Observer; Joachim Jaenecke, Chair, Research Libraries Branch; Thomas Kalk, Observer; Adélaïde Kientzi, Observer (I); Christina Koch, Observer (I); Julija Eglė Krišciunaitė, Observer (II); Wolfgang Krueger, Chair, Commission on Service & Training; Hanneke Kuiper, Chair, Public Libraries Branch (I); Jutta Lambrecht, Chair, Broadcasting & Orchestra Libraries Branch (II); Tamara Lapteva , Observer (I); Anne Le Lay, Chair, Libraries in Music Teaching Institutions Branch (I); Deborah Lee, Observer (II); Thomas Leibnitz, President, Austrian Branch (I); Anders Lönn, Observer (II); Barbara Dobbs Mackenzie, RILM Editor-in-Chief; Eglė Elena Marčėnienė, Observer; Jerry McBride, Observer; Tatjana Mihalić, Croatian Branch representative (II); Simona Moličnik Śivic, Observer (I); Mariola Nałeçz, Observer; Jana Navrátilová, Czech Branch representative (I); Michèle Noirjean-Linder, Observer (II); Geraldine Ostrove, Observer; Paul Peeters, Observer (I); Pio Pellizzari, Observer (II); Zuzana Petrášková, Secretary, Czech Branch (I); Emilija Rassina, President, Russian Branch (I); Rupert Ridgewell, Chair, Working Group on Access to Performance Ephemera, Observer (II); John H. Roberts, IAML Past-President & Chair, Publications Committee (I); Karin Savatović, Swedish Branch Representative (I); Martie Severt, IAML Treasurer; John Shepard, Chair, Archives and Music Documentation Branch; David Sommerfield, Chair, Working Group on ISBD and Music; Geoff Thomason, Observer; Pam Thompson, IAML Previous Past-President (II); Yasuko Todo, Observer; Jaakko Tuohiniemi, Observer (I); Rigby Turner, Observer (II); Montserrat Urpi Cámara, Observer (II); John Wagstaff, Observer (II).

The President of IAML, Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi, welcomed Council Members and observers to the meeting.

 

1. Minutes

The minutes of the Warsaw Council Meeting had been circulated to Council members.

 

2. Matters arising

There were no matters arising.

 

3. President’s report (Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi)

The President reported on his attendance at the International Music Council (IMC) World Forum in Los Angeles in 3-5 October 2005. He outlined the IMC’s serious financial problems and their determination to continue operations at a reduced level. Office costs had been reduced, mainly through redundencies, and other costs kept to a minimum. The new IMC President is Dr Richard Letts and, since he is based in Australia, it is hoped that he we will have the opportunity to meet him at our conference next year in Sydney.

It was a pleasure to meet IMC delegates from Latin America and valuable contacts were made with delegates from Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay and Venuzuela. Jon Bagüés is helping to maintain these contacts through the establishment of a Spanish-language forum on the IAML website.

In December, the President was a guest of the Spanish Branch to attend a day of meetings and seminars organised in Barcelona in memory of the late Joanna Crespi.

In September this year, he will attend a 2-day conference in Moscow to mark the 140th anniversary of the Taniev Library at the Moscow Conservatory.

For various reasons, a visit by the President and Ruth Hellen to the National Library in Armenia last year failed to materialise, but it is hoped that another visit can be rescheduled this year.

The President commented on the failure of the EU Amadeus Project to obtain finance to develop an intelligent search engine to search catalogues and music websites. However, he hoped that another application for funding would succeed.

 

4. Secretary General’s Report (Roger Flury)

The Secretary General reported on activities since the 2005 Council meeting in Warsaw.

Mid-year meeting. The Board held its mid-year meeting on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 March 2006 in the beautiful city of Parma, Italy. Prior to the meeting the Board was given a tour of the excellent multi-media exhibition at the recently renovated Palazzo Cusani which now houses several musical organisations under the title Casa della Musica. The exhibition traced the history of opera in Parma from the Teatro Farnese to the Teatro Regio.

The Board meeting was held at the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Verdiani and we were greeted most graciously by its Director Prof. Pierluigi Petrobelli. After a short tour of the library and a description of the Institute’s activities, we were able to begin our work in the most elegant of surroundings. The second day was spent at the Conservatorio di Musica "Arrigo Boito", where we were welcomed by the Director, Emilio Ghezzi. Our meeting was held in the office of the librarian and IAML Vice-President, Federica Riva; an office that also doubled as a repository for the Conservatory’s collection of historic musical instruments. If that was not inspiration enough for our meeting, we were also adjacent to the reconstructed studies of Arturo Toscanini, a graduate of the Conservertory, and Arrigo Boito, a former Director.

On behalf of the Board, the Secretary General thanked Federica Riva for making the visit so memorable and for ensuring that everything went smoothly.

Branches. The Secretary General emphasised how interesting it was to hear from branches throughout the year. He outlined again the procedures for presenting annual reports at conference and requested all branches to send their reports to him, if they had not already done so. Reports would then appear in abridged form in the IAML electronic Newsletter, and in full in Fontes Artis Musicae. He also asked members to keep their information up-to-date on the website by sending changes to both the webmaster and the Secretary General..

Treasurer. The Treasurer, Martie Severt, had indicated that he wished to step down from that position in 2007. The Board has established a search committee to seek candidates for the position. The committee consists of the Secretary General, the current Treasurer, President and one Vice-President (Jim Cassaro). An advertisement was distributed on IAML-L and placed on the IAML website. It will also be included in the next issue of Fontes to be mailed. Applications close on 30 September 2006. Interviews will be scheduled so that the name of the preferred candidate can be put to Council for approval in Sydney.

Publications. The electronic newsletter, under the editorship of Michael Fingerhut, has become a distinctive and important communication tool, not just for IAML information but for a much wider perspective on the musical world. Four issues have been produced (September and December 2005, and January and March 2006), and those members who have joined the IAML-L discussion list receive advance notification that it is available.

The Editor of Fontes would report on progress later in this meeting, but the Secretary General expressed his appreciation of Maureen Buja’s remarkable efforts to bring Fontes back on schedule. In particular I thanked her for remembering to keep him closely involved in developments.

Elections. In 2007, the IAML membership will elect a new President and four Vice-Presidents. Three current Vice- Presidents - Dominique Hausfater, Ruth Hellen and Federica Riva –have served two full terms and are therefore not eligible for re-election. The fourth Vice-President, Jim Cassaro, will have served just one term, and is eligible to be nominated for re-election.

The Secretary General reported that a call for nominations had been sent out with the Preliminary Programme for the Göteborg conference, and had also been circulated through IAML-L and the website. The deadline for nominations had been 17 June 2006 and the names of the candidates would be revealed later in the Council Meeting.

Correspondence. The Secretary General thanked the many members who had communicated with him over the past year and hoped that the difference in time zones had not created any problems. The greater part of the year’s correspondence had related to the Göteborg conference. The programme had gone through twenty-two editions to reach the final version. It was a miracle that there had been so few errors, but he apologised in particular for the omission – through some mysterious gremlin - of Mathias Auclair's paper on the Ballet suédois archive in Paris. This paper was singled out, not only to help correct the error, but to show how – despite taking every precaution – mistakes do happen.

He thanked Veslemöy Heintz and Pia Shekhter for so patiently dealing with all his enquiries, and commented that it is difficult enough to shape a conference for just one organisation, but to bring together three international organisations required an enormous amount of goodwill, patience and diplomacy. Therefore, IAML owed a huge debt of gratitude to Jim Cassaro who, as Chair of the Programme Committee, had shown tremendous patience, tact and diplomacy under sometimes trying conditions.

During the year the Secretary General received the IFLA Journal, ISO Focus, Elsevier Library Connect, newsletters, journals, and numerous emails from IAML members and other organisations. He responded to most messages directly, or forwarded them to the appropriate person within IAML for reply. He thanked those members who so willingly help with this aspect of our work.

Yearbooks and directories. Updates had been supplied for publications in which we are listed. These included The Haworth Press, The College Music Society, The Bowker Annual, The Bibliothekskalender 2006, Yearbook of International Organisations, Musical America, IFLA, Associations Canada, International Literary Marketplace and The Europa World Yearbook.

Similar information had been requested by the International Music Council. As the President had reported, the IMC had undergone significant change in the past twelve months and the questionnaire that they had distributed was part of a project intended to build profiles of their member institutions.

Website. On the IAML website, updates had also been made following the elections of Branch Officers and Chairs of Commissions at Warsaw. The list of countries with IAML branches had been standardised to match the one in the IAML printed directory. Some changes had also been made to the Guidelines for Conference Organisers.

The Secretary General thanked the Webmaster, Gabriele Gamba, for dealing with all his requests in such a prompt and serene manner, and expressed his envy of Gabriele’s ability to appear completely unflappable.

Other correspondence. During the year the Secretary General was asked to supply a letter of authorisation for the Australian Branch to become an incorporated society – a procedure that would assist them with the organisation of the 2007 conference.

The UK & Ireland Branch had kindly sent a copy of their special Golden Jubilee newsletter – issue no. 50 - containing articles by some familiar names; Pam Thomson, Chris Banks, Alison Hall and Brian Redfern. The same issue also notes Ruth Hellen's retirement after a 37-year career.

Acknowledgements. Thanks are due to Almut Boehme, Thomas Kalk, Anne Le Lay and Dominique Hausfater for providing - or offering to provide - translations throughout the year. For some reason, translations always seem to be needed urgently, so the Secretary General is particularly appreciative of their prompt responses.

Finally, the Secretary General expressed his appreciation of the dedicated and hard-working IAML Board. They took their role very seriously indeed and it was an honour for him to be able to support their endeavours.

 

5. Treasurer’s report (Martie Severt)

The Treasurer’s report had been circulated by email to Council before the conference.

The main points from the report were that we had accumulated funds owing to the fact that Fontes had been behind schedule. There had been a decline in income from membership, largely due to cancellations from institutions who had not received issues, but also due to lateness of some branches in paying their dues. IAML has very few other ways of making money, except from sales of advertising and the provision of mailing list labels.

Expenses were also considerably less than expected, because fewer issues of Fontes had been printed. Next year, with Fontes back on schedule, we should have a more representative set of accounts. We should also be aware that the contract with A-R Editions might need to be renegotiated.

The Treasurer asked for Council approval to take a motion to the General Assembly to increase fees by 2% in 2008. This would increase the fee for members from €57 to €58 and personal members from €34 to €35. This was seconded by Kathy Adamson and approved with one abstention. institutional

The President reported that the Board had discussed the honoraria paid to the Treasurer, Secretary General, Webmaster, Editor of Fontes and Editor of the Newsletter. These Honoraria payments have remained static for some time and the Board agreed to seek Council permission to raise them to the following levels:

€1000 each for the Webmaster and the Editor of the Newsletter
€2000 each for the Treasurer, Secretary General and Editor of Fontes

There was considerable discussion on the topic. Gert Floor felt that the roles of the Webmaster and Newsletter Editor were equal to the other positions. Pam Thompson and Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi both disagreed. The present holders of those positions, Gabriele Gamba and Michael Fingerhut both felt that an increase in their honoraria was not necessary. John Roberts commented that honoraria do not compensate for the time spent on the tasks. The President added that the payments were ‘symbolic’ only.

The motion to ask the General Assembly to increase honoraria payments was passed. There were three abstentions.

The President added some comments on the position of Secretary General. The current term of office ends in 2007, and the Board has invited Roger Flury to continue for a further two years. A letter has been sent to the National Library of New Zealand requesting their continued support for this. We are optimistic that this will be given.

 

6. Fontes Artis Musicae (Maureen Buja)

Maureen Buja, Editor of Fontes, reported that during 2006, three years of issues had been completed in one year. By 2007 we should be back on schedule. All of 2004, 2005 and most of 2006 would be mailed to members by the end of the year, beginning with a posting soon after the conference. The indexes for volumes 47 to 51 would be sent to members as separate prints. From volume 52 (2005) onwards, we will revert to the usual practice of placing the index in the final issue of the year.

Some issues will be mailed together to save on postage costs and to make a real showing of visibility for Fontes.

The lack of production of Fontes had meant a decrease in membership as noted by more than one national branch over the past few years. It was hoped that delegates would be able to go back to any of the libraries in their country that had ceased to be members and make an argument for their rejoining.

Upcoming Issues. The Editor commented that it is nice to talk about “Issues” and not have it mean “Problems”. 2005 issues will see articles on the Cello Collections at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the sad history of a Lithuanian music archive in Chicago, an affectionate picture of the Hungarian scholar Janos Kapati, a thought-piece by the editor of the now-completed Collected Works of Marin Marais, and an article on Music Thesauri that was first presented at IAML Oslo.

Niels Krabbe discusses Carl Neilsen and other Danish composers, Glenda Goss talks about the letters written to Jean Sibilius and found in the Sibelius Library, Peter Low from New Zealand writes about a survey of composers thoughts on text setting done in a 1910 journal, and Alla Semenyuk writes on Russian editions of works by the Polish diplomat and composer Michał Kleofas Ogiński in the holdings of the Russian State Library. That issue will also hold a memorial to the late Lenore Coral, written by her friend and fellow-IAML attendee, Gerry Ostrove.

The 2005 issues continue with papers given at the Warsaw meeting on Old-Russian Chant Manuscripts in the Warsaw National Library by Galina Malinina and the vast archival treasures of the royal-electoral court of August III. We have an article on the New York lieder of the German composer Otto Dresel and we close 2005 with Gerry Ostrove’s important list of Recent Publications.

2006 opens with an issue on Outreach, which comes from Ruth Hellen’s session in Warsaw, with articles on Outreach from Hungary, the United States, and France, giving us the views of both people who extend Outreach and people who receive it. From Nigeria, we have a proposal for the rescue of their endangered folk music heritage. Chris Walton contributed an article on reference works on music originating in Africa.

After all the Warsaw reports, we will have an issue, based on a number of conferences in Russia, that forms a wonderful examination of the wealth of material in Moscow and St. Petersburg, edited by Pamela Thompson. This is the culmination of many years of conferences held in St. Petersburg and Moscow and opens the doors to the holdings of many Russian libraries.

Reviews. Every issue also has reviews.

Issues currently in the works will include an article on the French composer and performer Reynaldo Hahn and provide the first complete works list, an article from Brazil on Exchange Data, and an entire issue on South Africa.

Reports. The Editor appreciated all the time everyone devoted to getting their Conference reports into Fontes and encouraged everyone who writes a report to give it to her immediately.

Future Plans and Ideas. The Editor told delegates that they should let her know if their interests were not being addressed by the contents of Fontes. She had received some queries from public libraries about more articles on subjects of interest to them and would be interested in similar ideas. If members feel that they have found something or done something that is of interest to the membership, Fontes is the place to record it. A brief abstract could be put into the Newsletter, with the full details published later in Fontes.

In discussion with the Publications Committee and others, there will be slight changes to the organization of Fontes. It used to be that the issue just before the annual meeting contained a wealth of information about the country to be visited and the issue just after the meeting was full of papers presented at the meeting, often covering the similar topics to those in the national issue. Because there is so much to explore in our field, it has been decided that the national issue will be combined with the post-meeting papers. This will give the local arrangements committee a respite from trying to produce both a national issue and an international meeting at the same time and will enable Fontes to present an issue focused on other topics.

The Swedish National Issue was given to the Russian issue mentioned above, guest edited by Pamela Thompson. The Australian National Issue will be dedicated to a National Issue for South Africa, guest-edited by Chris Walton. An issue on private libraries is a possibility, and the Editor would welcome any suggestions from members for this. She already had articles lined up from the Villa I Tatti Library in Florence and the Octavian Society Collection of Richard Strauss-iana in Hong Kong. Suggestions for future National and Special Issues would be gratefully accepted.

Finally, Maureen Buja expressed her thanks to Dominique Hausfater and Wolfgang Krueger for their unstinting help over the year in providing ready translations for the dozens of abstracts that came flooding their way. She also thanked all the committee Chairs who produced their copy for the Oslo meeting again after it was lost in John’s move from the UK to the US. Kathleen McMorrow and Joan O’Connor were dedicated indexers, producing very good work at very little notice. For general support, the Editor thanked Michael Fingerhut, Martie Severt and, especially, Roger Flury.

Above all, however, she thanked the members of IAML for their support of Fontes – it is everyone’s contribution that makes this our journal.

 

7. Presidential and Vice Presidential nominations (Roger Flury)

The Secretary General reported that he had received one nomination for President and eight nominations for Vice-Presidents.

The candidates are:

• For President; Martie Severt
• For Vice- Presidents; Jon Bagüés (Spain), Chris Banks (UK & Ireland), James P. Cassaro (USA), Michael Fingerhut (France), Aurika Gergeležiu (Estonia), Elizabeth Giuliani (France), Stanislaw Hrabia (Poland), Jutta Lambrecht (Germany).

No further nominations were received and therefore, under the Rules of Procedure, which state that there should not be more than eight candidates, a pre-election ballot was not required. Elections would again be conducted by postal ballot, with CVs and ballot papers being distributed with the first issue of Fontes in 2007. The CVs would also be posted on the website. [According to the Rules of Procedure, ballots must be sent out no later than four months before the General Assembly, with a return postmark date of not less than two months before the 1st Council meeting.]

 

8. Nominations for RISM Commission mixte

John Roberts explained that Christoph Wolff had taken over the Presidency of RISM in late 2004. He is sensitive to the concerns of the International Musicological Society (IMS) and IAML that the governing structure had not been representative of these two sponsoring bodies. The Commission mixte represents both organisations but is also a corporate body under German law, which receives the grants that have been supporting the RISM office for the A/II project. The Commission mixte equals a Verein, which has its own Vorstand (Board) consisting of the officers and up to two other people.

Christoph Wolff has decided that the Commission mixte should be reconstituted to include four representatives each from IAML and the IMS, selected by those organisations. Our two current representatives are Catherine Massip and John Roberts who are also on the Vorstand. Therefore we are allowed two more members, and the Board has put forward, for Council approval, the names of Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi and Chris Banks as our two additional representatives. The IAML President has already been attending meetings in his capacity as IAML President and as an authority on cataloguing.

The matter was thrown open for discussion. Joachim Jaenecke enquired what the term of office would be. John Roberts replied that this had not been established yet, but he was working to have this quantified. Gert Floor asked what the role of the Commission mixte members was. John Roberts replied that they were mainly a consultative and advisory body, having input into discussions on new projects, finances, contracts etc. John Shepard enquired if the President and some members of the Commission mixte were meeting more regularly now with heads of National Branches. John Roberts replied that they are developing a way for members of national groups to meet with representatives of the central governing structure, rather than simply with members of the editorial office. This was a very healthy development and an improvement in communication.

Veslemöy Heintz suggested that RISM could learn from the Rules of Procedure that exist for RILM, RIPM and RIdIM. John Roberts replied that Christoph Wolff had certainly accepted this in principle. It was a question of when they could be developed at a formal meeting. Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi felt that it was good to see RISM re-emphasising the roles of its sponsoring organisations.

The Secretary General proposed the motion “That Council approves the nomination of Chris Banks and Massimo Gentili-Tedeschi to join John Roberts and Catherine Massip as IAML representatives on the RISM Commission mixte”. Seconded by Pam Thompson. This was passed with 2 abstentions and none opposed.

 

9. General Assembly Agenda

The Secretary General outlined the proposed Agenda for the General Assembly and Closing Session to be held on Friday afternoon at 14.00. In particular, he reminded members that there would be reports from the “R” projects and the Chairs of Working Groups. Branch and Commission Chairs did not need to report on the week’s activities, but were welcome to announce any new initiatives or significant developments. However, they should notify the Secretary General in advance.

There would also be an opportunity to remember colleagues who had passed away during the year; Antanas Auskalnis (Lithuania), Djurdjica Break-Lugaric (Croatia), Joanna Crespi (Spain), Albert Dunning (Netherlands) Ian Ledsham (UK & Ireland) and Maria Prokopowicz (Poland).

 

10. Outreach (Ruth Hellen)

The Outreach Committee organised a Spanish translation of the Outreach pages and this was now on the website, thanks to the work of Jon Bagüés and Gabriele Gamba. It is hoped that more translations will follow.

Last year in Warsaw, the Outreach Fund supported thirty delegates, including twenty-two from Poland. At Göteborg, the fund - along with donations from delegates - is supporting attendees from Cuba, Armenia, Belarus, Lithuania, Hong Kong, Poland, Ukraine and Serbia. Colleagues from Palestine, South Africa and Ukraine are being helped by RISM, The Swedish International Development Co-Operation Agency, and Uppsala University. Ruth Hellen expressed her gratitude to all those who had helped to make this possible.

A conference edition of Outreach News had been prepared and was widely available throughout the conference venue. It contains news of activities in the Netherlands, USA, Sweden, France, Serbia & Montenegro, Lithuania, Hungary, UK & Ireland, Nigeria, Poland and Japan. Ruth Hellen hoped that next year she would be able to produce an even larger newsletter. Any additional news could be added to a post-conference edition on the website.

 

11. Electronic communications

a) IAML-L. Anders Lönn reported that IAML-L was still housed at Cornell University, thanks to Bonna Boetcher who is the current Music Librarian (successor to Lenore Coral) and chief moderator. There are 580 subscribers at present. There is no sign yet of the new software that was proposed last year. When it arrives, it may offer the ability to archive messages.
Anders Lönn felt that it was time for him to step down from his role, and he asked the Board to discuss this at their next meeting.
[The new software was subsequently announced on IAML-L in July 2006]

b) Website. The Webmaster, Gabriele Gamba, reported on new developments on the website. New software allows IAML officers to directly update pages and there are some FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) being developed to assist in the updating process. The Broadcasting & Orchestral Libraries homepage was now operating and, thanks to the Braidense Library, we had a new, more powerful, server with plenty of space.
Some links needed updating on the site and there was still a need for some French and German translations for some pages. There were also some earlier national reports missing, and the Webmaster urged members to help supply them if possible.

c) Newsletter. The Editor of the IAML Newsletter, Michael Fingerhut, reported that conference reports were slow to arrive and this delayed the first post-conference issue of the Newsletter.

Referring back to the website, he also emphasised the need to preserve the websites of earlier conferences. Some of these were already lost to us. He also felt that proceedings should be published annually. Maureen Buja suggested that we put all previous programmes on the site as a stopgap measure. That would give us a history of conferences, particularly from the days before websites.

Antony Gordon commented that the New Zealand and Berkeley sites were both lost. John Roberts thought that some sites may be archived locally and could be retrieved. Inger Enquist reminded members that the IAML Archives had this in paper format. Conference websites could be uploaded to the IAML website once there was no further need to update the programme. Elizabeth Giuliani asked if there had been a proper search of the Internet archive to find the missing sites. French sites had been archived since 1995, and the same was true of other countries.

Mary Wallace Davidson suggested we follow the ISMIR procedure by indexing the programme by author with links to abstract or the full text. Inger Enquist was concerned that few electronic documents meet archival standards, but we could recover documents and migrate them. Gert Floor said it was important to get speakers to submit their papers promptly. The President suggested that we add instructions to the Guidelines for Conference Organisers, suggesting that the website should be made available to the IAML Webmaster for hosting on the homepage.

There was some discussion that the need to submit fully rounded conference papers might result in some loss of spontaneity, and that not all papers were actually worthy of preservation. Pam Thompson suggested that the Publications Committee investigate this, especially as issues of copyright were involved. Not all speakers would approve of their papers being put on the Internet for “eternity”.

Kathy Adamson reminded everyone that Michael Fingerhut’s original suggestion was just to preserve authors, titles and possibly abstracts. The President added that the original websites should also be preserved, and referred the whole issue to the Publications Committee for consideration and the provision of some guidelines.

 

12. Relationships with other organisations

a) IFLA. The Board has prepared a letter to the IFLA President to demonstrate our interest in their activities. We have often had difficulty in attending their meetings, but Aurika Gergeležiu represented us at the 2005 meeting in Oslo and will do so again in 2006. We now have a voice at conference, particularly in our areas of greatest interest - bibliography, cataloguing and ISBD.

b) IMC. The President referred back to matters raised in his Presidential report.

c) ICA and the IAML Archive. The IAML Archivist, Inger Enquist, reported that she was making an effort to collect documents for the archives in Stockholm from IAML officers. This has involved the sending of circular letters and emails. We have received the papers of many important ‘IAML-ites’ such as Barry Brook, Alison Hall, Lenore Coral and Joachim Jaenecke. The inventory will be updated this autumn and can be accessed through the IAML homepage.

She reminded delegates to send in their files when work is finished and to date documents – it is easy to forget when tasks were done. It is also better not to use coloured paper, tape or paper clips. Guidelines for the archiving of electronic documents can be found on the homepage.

Each year, the Archivist is supplied with a copy of the homepage on CD to keep a record of how our organisation wanted to represent itself to the world. She was also considering the addition of a IAML chronology to the homepage and asked for feedback on its usefulness.

Over the past year she has helped IASA with advice on technical matters. They will probably copy our system for their archive in Stuttgart.

After its reorganization, the ICA places more focus on regional branches, but there are still special sections such as the one for international organisations, for records management and archival professional associations and, since 2004, a section for literature and art archives. There had been no response to our request for music to be included in a section for cultural archives, although there is already a section for architectural records.

The ICA sometimes sends us questionnaires and surveys. The latest, for example, was on electronic records in the archives of international organisations. They are trying to move from theoretical discussions to more practical matters such as creating and implementing guidelines and developing a certification process for archivists. An outcome from the ICA meeting in Abu Dhabi last November was an agreement for the wider dissemination and translation of their Code of Ethics.

The next conference will be held in Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles) in November 2006. The theme will be “Sharing memory through globalization”, with the focus on three topics: migrations, slavery and colonization/decolonization. In addition there will be sessions devoted to special topics, e.g. terminology, and meetings of special groups, e.g. the Professional Associations section.

The Section for International Organisations (SIO) has surveyed the membership about electronic records. Our IAML archive differs from such organisations as the UN or the IMF not just because of our size, but because our documents are voluntary contributions and we cannot prescribe how they are set up or which software is used. SIO have their own meeting in Thessaloniki, 3-6 October 2006.

Inger Enquist also reported on the financial difficulties of the ICA. They are considering an increase in fees for some of the richer category A members (i.e. member countries). We are a category B member (i.e. professional organisation), so we may not be affected by this increase.

d) IASA. No report

e) ISO. Anders Lonn reported that the main item on our agenda in ISO is the ISMN, and this is currently undergoing revision. A draft of these changes has been received and a message will be sent to IAML-L when he has had an opportunity to study the document more closely. One change that has been announced is the replacement of the letter “m” with the number 979 to make the whole number come out to thirteen. That will take effect immediately. This will not change the calculation of the check digit and will require no revisions.

f) EBLIDA. The President reminded members that this was the European Bureau of Library and Information Documentation Associations – a lobbying association for libraries within the EU. Richard Chesser had nothing to report.

g) IAMIC. No report.

h) ISMN. Dr Walravens’ report on ISMN had been read by Joachim Jaenecke at the Information Session.

 

13. Publications Committee

The Chair of the Publications Committee, John Roberts, reported that they are primarily concerned at the moment with the ongoing publications of the organisation, which are reported on separately by their editors. They are continuing to work on a set of guidelines for the usage of the IAML website. It is envisaged that the website will contain the programme and abstracts for each individual conference. It is hoped that this will not add any responsibilities on delegates other than to provide a complete programme and abstracts for all papers.

The Committee is also discussing the issue of content relating to conference papers which members might want to see on the site sooner than they can appear in Fontes. This will require some editorial effort from the relevant Chair to ensure that a paper is in an appropriate state to appear on our website. In particular, it should be checked by a native speaker of the language in which it is written. It should also be in a format that will allow it to be posted on the site without major intervention from the webmaster. These are all additional responsibilities of the Chairs.

 

14. Copyright Committee

The chair of the Copyright Committee, Federica Riva, reported that the deadline was approaching this year for the first publication of the survey results. There will be an opportunity on the Copyright Committee web pages for Branches to update their reports with any new national developments.

 

15. Programme Committee

The chair of the Programme Committee, Jim Cassaro, reported briefly that there had been two meetings during the week. The first meeting vetted the suggestions for papers that had been submitted by the Australian Branch. The second meeting assigned papers to Chairs of Professional Branches and Committees. There will certainly be an interesting conference with a focus on Australian and Pacific Rim issues in many sessions. Again, there will be a keynote speaker and a Plenary Session that will highlight three digital projects in Australian libraries. The planning is in excellent shape and it looks as if we will have a spectacular programme.

Those members who were unable to attend should contact Jim Cassaro as soon as possible if they have suggestions for papers.

 

16. Constitution Committee

Richard Chesser reported that the Committee had a brief meeting to consider regularising the Rules of Procedure and the Constitution in minor ways to bring them more into line with current practice. He had prepared a draft document for consultation.

The Rules of Procedure and the Constitution both say that the Board gives a report at the GA, whereas that has not been our practice for a long time. The proposal is to remove these references from the documents.

When General Assemblies are more frequent than every three years, the Rules should be amended to make these annual reports. The text circulated is for notification that these amendments will be presented to the General Assembly for voting in a year’s time.

The President wondered why the membership would vote on a three-year budget, but on membership fees just for the forthcoming year. John Roberts suggested that, since the General Assembly had the power to raise the dues, the wording should simply reflect that the General Assembly will vote on any dues increase that is to be had, without specifying the years and periods; the main point being that this has to happen within the General Assembly meeting.

Pam Thompson wondered why the budget was to be presented to the GA, but not voted on. The President thought this did not quite reflect the intention. The Treasurer suggested it would be best if the budget were voted on each time the General Assembly meets, but there would still be three-year projections. Richard Chesser reminded members that there was no intention to change current practice, but only to bring the wording into line.

John Roberts felt that the rules should reflect what we intend to do. If we intend to meet every year, the rules should not say we should meet at least once every three years. Richard Chesser agreed to produce another draft, taking into account these issues.

The President felt that we should at least canvas opinion at this year’s General Assembly as to whether they would like annual meetings or not. Then we should make their feelings explicit in the rules.

 

17. Ad-hoc Committee

Richard Chesser reported that this space in the Agenda had been reserved in case there were any issues that needed to be raised. At this stage there was nothing to report.

 

18. General Assembly 2007

The President proposed that the next General Assembly would be held in Sydney, 2007. This was seconded by Veslemöy Heintz and approved unanimously.

 

19. Future conferences

The Secretary General reported that a formal invitation had been received from the Russian Branch to meet in Moscow in 2010. This was approved by Council with 1 abstention.

2007 Sydney 1-6 July (Australia)
2008 Naples 20-25 July (Italy)
2009 Amsterdam 5-10 July (Netherlands)
2010 Moscow (Russia)
2011 Dublin (Ireland)
2012 Århus (Denmark)
2013 Vienna (Austria)

 

20. Other business

Cataloguing Commission. Antony Gordon reported that, following discussion at the IT Committee session, a proposal was suggested for an informal working group under the auspices of the Cataloguing Commission. John Roberts felt that it was undesirable to take a formal step to create an informal group. It would be better to either have an informal discussion group or, better still, a formal Working Group. Pam Thompson felt that we should use IAML-L to discuss such matters before they come to conference.

Following some discussion on the wording, the Secretary General proposed that we establish “a Working Group on a music ontology under the auspices of the Cataloguing Commission to examine the possibilities for an extensive web ontology to cover the field of music.”

The motion was carried with 1 opposed and 11 abstentions.

It was intended that the Working Group meet electronically through the year with a meeting at the next conference that will examine progress and take a decision as to future directions. The initial task of the group will be to define the boundary of the initial musical universe to ensure that the project is, and remains, feasible. Work in this area is scaleable and extensible in the future. An invitation to join will be posted on IAML-L and transactions will be managed through a closed mailserv list or in a closed area of the IAML website.

Fontes. Maureen Buja made her annual plea for conference reports to reach her by 1st November or sooner if possible. She also reported that the first Fontes mailing will be later in July.

The Council Meeting was adjourned.