Sunday, November 15, 2009
Present: Jenna, Kate, Melissa (sort of facilitator/notetaker), Natalie, Ray
1. Posters. Jenna is in possession of some quantity (she is going to check) of posters hand-printed by Alana Kumbier. (Sorry, no link to the image -- it's somewhere on Facebook, though apparently not on the Rad Ref group page.) We decided to keep one for tabling purposes; see who within the collective would like to buy one for him/herself; and then, if there are any left over, see whether Bluestockings would be willing to sell them on consignment on our behalf.
2. Next salon. Two topics were mentioned, RDA (Resource Description and Access) and a reprise of "what makes a radical librarian radical." People felt that RDA would be good for the next one, while the "rad librarian" discussion could wait until the weather will be nicer and more people might turn out. (People who want to talk about RDA being totally hardcore in the face of inclement winter weather by comparison, I suppose.) Kate said that Rick Block spoke at the recent New York Technical Services Librarians (NYTSL) meeting -- she said he was great but wondered if it would be too much of a learning curve to have a good discussion about such an intricate topic with non-experts. Natalie will approach Rick Block and ask if he would be interested in participating in a "guided discussion" with Rad Ref during the January winter break. (Update: He is, and we are working out the details.)
3. Possible series at the Brecht Forum. Kazembe (outreach coordinator at the Brecht Forum) had mentioned to Angie a couple of months ago that they may be interested in giving Rad Ref multiple time slots to host some kind of series of...something (film screenings and discussions? panels? library rants?). Melissa will reach out to him to ask what he had in mind. Kate suggested "Slow Fires" as a possible film to screen. This would fit with a discussion afterward about the transition to digital resources (analogous to the transition from card catalogs to OPACs). Someone also brought up the subject of "why free/open source software in libraries?" which could be a regular salon topic or a part of this hypothetical Brecht series.
4. Rad Ref website upgrade. Melissa will ask Steven at ABC No Rio whether we can book Saturday 12/12 in the Computer Center for the first stage of an upgrade and updating of the Rad Ref site. She will also create a simple survey to get more Rad Reffers to voice what they'd like to see changed/enhanced on the current site.
5. ALA Midwinter Meeting. The 2010 ALA Midwinter Meeting will be held in Boston (January 15-19), which is rather close to NYC. Jenna will contact the Boston Rad Ref folks to see if they're organizing anything (traditionally, Rad Ref has some kind of get-together on the Saturday night during ALA conferences).
Next meeting: (hopefully) Saturday, December 12, 1-5 at ABC No Rio, specifically to brainstorm about the next version of the website