Special Library Section 1999 Annual Report
In 1999 the Special Libraries Section conducted a highly successful advanced technology workshop, co-sponsored the second annual special librarians day at the SCLA conference, and participated in all the board meetings of the Association.
Officers for 1998–1999 included Chair Jeanette Bergeron, Information Consultant; Vice-Chair Leon Gyles, University of South Carolina Springs Business Library; Secretary Karen McMullen, South Carolina State Library Reader Services. All officers participated in the Dec. 5, 1998, SCLA board retreat. Jeanette represented the Section in four other board meetings and Karen participated in one.
The Section began the year with a financial deficit from sponsoring one of the more expensive, and successful, speakers at the 1998 conference. This deficit was erased and funds for a 1999 conference speaker were raised by hosting a workshop on “Access for the Sophisticate: Working with Visual Basic” Friday, April 30, 1999, at the South Carolina State Library. The workshop was led by Jennifer Stuckey, 17 participants attended, and over $1000 was raised before expenses.
For the 1999 Annual Conference Dec. 1–3 on Hilton Head Island, the Special Libraries Section sponsored the Friday morning session “Licensing Electronic Resources: What You Need to Know Before Signing.” Dr. Kathleen Eisenbeis, Eisenbeis Management Consulting, offered practical advice to help librarians successfully negotiate the legal jargon of licenses and also presented an overview of legal terms and definitions related to electronic licensing. Over 50 persons attended.
SCLA Special Libraries Section members also participated in the annual networking dinner Thursday, Dec. 2, held in conjunction with the South Carolina Chapter of the Special Libraries Association (SC/SLA). Twenty-five special librarians attended the event, which was also a baby shower for Vice Chair Leon Gyles and his wife Suzy.
Other events in the SCLA “Special Librarians Day” co-sponsored with SC/SLA included an SC/SLA Board Meeting, the SCLA Health Sciences Section session on electronic journals, and the SCLA Awards Brunch. A sixth event, a tour of Gulfstream in Savannah, was cancelled on short notice by the host.
Jeanette Bergeron, chair, conducted a Section business meeting Dec. 3. Minutes from the 1998 business meeting were approved. Jeanette announced that the treasury would have $200 after conference expenses. She also mentioned that the next full convention was scheduled for Spring 2001 in Myrtle Beach with the school librarians and that there would be a business meeting in Columbia in Fall 2000 with continuing education sessions.
The Section also discussed and approved a resolution in response to Gulfstream’s cancellation of the site tour, which had been booked prior to Dec. 22, 1998* (an email regarding the Gulfstream booking is included in Section’s official archives). There were concerns because the event had been widely publicized on the Web, no serious reason was given for the cancellation, and there was an appearance of poor planning on the Section’s part. The Resolution expressed “great disappointment in Gulfstream’s non-support and encouraged all librarians to follow through conscientiously on the commitments they make.”
New officers for 1999–2000 were elected: Chair Leon Gyles, Oglethorpe Business Library; Nancy Taylor, South Carolina State Library Board of Trustees; Secretary Karen McMullen, South Carolina State Library Reader Services.
—Submitted by Karen McMullen, Secretary, December 14, 1999