AGM - Minutes 2005

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of UK Serials Association
held on Tuesday 12 April 2005 at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

1. Chair's Introduction and Confirmation of Quorum

The Chair welcomed members and confirmed that the meeting was quorate.

2. Apologies for absence

No apologies were received.

3. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the UK Serials Association held on 30 March 2004

The minutes of the previous annual general meeting of the UK Serials Association, held at UMIST, Manchester, were accepted as a true and accurate record of the proceedings.

4. Matters arising

There were no matters arising.

5. Annual Reports of the Officers

The Officers' reports had previously been circulated to the members. The officers highlighted certain items as follows:

5.1 Chair

Keith Courtney noted that there had been great interest in attending the conference for 2005. The committee would be looking closely at venues and projected numbers for future years. The conference is already committed to the University of Warwick for the 2006 conference and he requested that delegates book early for this one. Keith Courtney thanked all the members of the Education and Marketing Subcommittees for their assistance over the past year. He also thanked Alison Whitehorn and Karen Sadler for their work in producing the conference.

5.2 Secretary

Lesley Crawshaw reiterated the necessity to book as soon as the programme is circulated for the 2006 conference. She also encouraged people to consider putting themselves forward to assist on the various UKSG subcommittees.

5.3 Treasurer

Paul Harwood reported the group had been able to continue to generate a surplus. He pointed out that any change of venues for future conferences may have financial implications, and this would be considered in the committee's discussions. He also reported that the Group had recently been subject to a VAT inspection, and that the outcome of this was still awaited.

5.4 Education Officer

Ross MacIntyre explained that the Education Subcommittee had expanded to widen the mix of experience. He reported the format of the Serials Resource Management seminars had been formalised and that the scenarios element was proving popular. The Roadshow programme had been expanded and was a little too full, and this would be re-examined in 2006. The E-Journal Technical Update courses launched in 2004 and led by Simon Inger were providing very positive feedback, and it was intended to run this course at the Charleston Conference in the USA later in 2005. Ross MacIntyre referred to the training questionnaire circulating at the conference and thanked delegates for taking the time to complete it.

5.5 Marketing Officer

Ian Middleton reported that the Marketing Subcommittee continued to try and identify the requirements of members and potential members in order to improve services such as Serials-eNews and the provision of seminars and he thanked delegates for assisting in the training survey. He pointed out that web usage is increasing. He thanked Lesley Crawshaw for her work on lis-e-journals and all members of the Marketing Subcommittee for their assistance in the past year.

5.6 Editors of Serials

Hazel Woodward reported that the March 2005 edition of Serials had just been released in electronic format and requested that any members who had not yet signed up for online access should do so now. She pointed out that print-on-demand copies were also available to those who wished to purchase them. She announced that a deal had been made with NASIG and a US-focused version of Serials-eNews would be sent to NASIG members. Hazel Woodward reported that the process of retro-digitisation of Serials was being implemented in phases, the first phase now underway was to retro-digitise back to Volume 8. Production of an E-Resources Handbook was also underway, edited by Graham Stone, Jayne Everard and Jill Taylor-Roe, which would be published in a dynamic form on the UKSG website. Chapters will be announced in Serials-eNews as they become available.

John Cox pointed out that he had requested print-on-demand copies of Serials and had not yet received the March issue. Hazel Woodward explained there had been teething problems with the printer and it was expected the print copies would be released shortly.

6. Appointment of the Honorary Officers for 2005/6

One nomination only had been received for each of the three Honorary (Executive) Officer posts and the following candidates were therefore re-elected unopposed:

7. Announcement of the Results of the Election for Members of the Committee for 2005/6

The three elected members of the Committee for 2005/6 were announced as follows:

Nancy Buckley (Blackwell Publishing), Terry Bucknell (University of Liverpool) and Alison McNab (University of Nottingham).

Continuing their tenure on the committee will be Christine Fyfe (University of Leicester), Tony Kidd (University of Glasgow), Ross MacIntyre (MIMAS, The University of Manchester), Ian Middleton, (EBSCO Information Services), Graham Stone (University of Bolton), Jill Taylor-Roe (University of Newcastle) and, as ex officio members, the Editors of Serials, Helen Henderson (Information Power Ltd) and Hazel Woodward (Cranfield University).

Keith Courtney thanked all those candidates who stood for election and reported that four co-options would be made to the committee in due course. He encouraged potential candidates to stand again in future years.

8. Any Other Business

It was queried whether AGM-related documents had been circulated to all members prior to the AGM and it was confirmed that all Authorised Representatives had been circulated with the relevant papers in plenty of time in accordance with the Articles of Association.

No other business was recorded.

Keith Courtney declared the meeting closed.