April 1994

NASIG Newsletter, Dec 1994

Published on 04/02/94

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April 1994

May CONCURWW SFSSIOWS WORKSHOPS 0 0 Birdie M a c L e ~ a n BaileyMowe Library University of Vermont Burlington , VT 05405 Phone: 802-656-2016 Internet: , USA POLICY FOR MEETIN - NASIG E X E C W E B O W M&IITES NASIG CoMhnlTEE CHARGES. NASIG C O NHW NASIG MEMBERS I ,~ REPORTS OF SERIALS-RELATEU ANNOUNCEMENT GE NASIG REGIONAL COUNCIL COO REPRESWATNES NASIG CoMMITlzEVOLUNTEER FORM R s 3 30 ice in the past three y NASIG Nominatin has been unable to run a competi the presidency. Both times a numbe mg members were nonunated for several with sufficient experience or "be " to understand the complex issues nges we face and to know how the organizatio In both instances the , after first considering tho ere nominated for the presi o f d i s t s for the ballot, directly appr of well qualified, active members. despite all of the best efforts o Nominating Committee, we again idential candidate on the 1994 ballot. rson's April 1992 Pres' the challenge of finding N were willing to run for several reasons why highly qual decline the nomination: lack of time, ds to afford travel to board meetings, lac ss to sm..mn services. lack of confidence. an lack of information about what the job actual1 . . We are extremely lucky that this year's candid Julie Gammon, is a highly-qualified individual has served NASIG in several capacities, som With a visible leadership role in the serials an isitions communities. I have no doubt that be an outstanding president. Still. 1 am wncerned - as is Julie, who would have preferred t . , Bave competition on the ballot - - that every year Nominations Committee seems to face an ardu task in getting members to run for our presidency Readers should ask, "What steps is the NASIG Board taking to address this situation?" Below. I will review Ann's list of reasons nominees can't see their way clear to run,and address these reasons in light of current policy and practice. LACK OF TIME. This is perhaps the most difficult of the reasons to address. Most NASIG members (be they librarians or commercial members) have experienced cutbacks in their institution's workforce and are contending with new and expanded responsibilities. Moreover, every one of us is stretching and struggling to adapt to an everchanging information enviroment. We spend enormous amounts of time and mental effort learning new technologies that enable us to do our jobs more effectively and efficiently. Finally, we have families and friends we actually like to see from time to time! In point of fact, there are few of us who are able, even if we are willing, to take on the three-year responsibility of NASlG Vice h s i d e n t l h s i d e n t Elect. The board addressed the time issue at its February meeting. We talked about what absorbs the president's time and talked about what kinds of assismce can be offered. The first thing we discussed is the not inconsiderable amount of work which is clerical in nature. For instance, the president spends a fair amount of time writing letters and orgauizing a mass of written and/or electronic communication. More importantly, the president's time and efforts are expended on management duties that require intellectual effort and constant, wideranging communication. The NASlG president is called upon daily to interpret NASIG policies, to assist in reviewing or developingprocedures. to react to new idcas and challenges. and to advise on the next step in implementing numerous activities. To accomplish all of this, the president has to be in contact with other officers and board members, with committee chairs and committee members, with liaison organizations and our proceedings publisher, and with individual NASIG members. Communication is the big consumer of time, but in my mind it is also the great joy of the NASlG presidency since it allows me to work with and to get to know so many wonderful serialists. Some strategies the board discussed for lessening the amount of time the president has to devote to the job: 1) Providing the president (and other NASlG principals. including committee chairs with significant organizational workloads) modest financial support to hire "contract labor" to assist with filing, typing, photocopying. or similar activities. 2) Delegating more management responsibility to and empowering board members to a greater extent than we have. 3) Shifting significantresponsibility to members who are not either officers or board members by delegating responsibility for task l i e program planning to a committee and having a board member liaise with the group. rather than serving as its chair. 4) Sharing more presidential duties with the vice-president, who will be relieved of responsibility for program planning. We believe that these measures will significantly cut the amount of time the president needs to invest in the organization on a daily basis. Our officers and board members are actively seeking ways to assist the president and make the job more doable. LACK OF mTNDS F (...truncated)


This is a preview of a remote PDF: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1047&context=nasig

April 1994, NASIG Newsletter, 1994, pp. 1, Volume 9, Issue 2,