Southeast Chapter Annual Report 2022
submitted by Laura Williams
Current Roster
- Jake Schaub, Past-Chair (2022)
- Nurhak Tuncer, Member-at-Large (2022)
- Laura Williams, Chair (2023)
- Sarah Griffin, Member-at-Large (2023)
- Amanda Scott, Secretary-Treasurer (2023)
List of Previous Goals and Progress Made
- Continue SEMLA Oral Histories project. SEMLA has for some years been involved in gathering oral histories of past SEMLA Chairs to be presented both in Breve Notes and posted on the SEMLA website. However, we are currently two behind schedule, and wish to rectify this. Instilling a sense of institutional history is desirable in defining an identity for a community, and this project is one small way of pursuing that goal.
- Description of overall progress: This initiative is still in process and we would like to reinstate this goal for the 2022-2023 year.
- Continue planning the SEMLA 2021 Annual Meeting for 14-15 October 2021. We had negotiated and deferred this in-person meeting one year ago, again to take place at Emory University. As the year has progressed and the Delta variant has gained prominence, it again appears this would be an impossibility. SEMLA has opted to host a virtual meeting once more. Despite the lack of in-person interaction, virtual meetings have the ability to expand attendance well beyond those with the necessary means, and include those from beyond the borders of our membership proper.
- Description of overall progress: We offered a rich program again this year for our 2021 Annual Meeting, hosted virtually by library staff at Vanderbilt University.
- Continue to pursue virtual means for maintaining a sense of community among the membership. Since our membership cannot meet in person during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, individual members of SEMLA have opted to host virtual meetings for anyone who wishes to attend and interact. This goal is in the interest of maintaining some sense of community in a medical and social environment that may not foster it otherwise.
- Description of overall progress: SEMLA members have continued to meet periodically through Zoom on Friday evenings. These meetings bring together people from across our membership, including student members and retirees, to maintain a sense of community, catch up with one another, and informally discuss issues of mutual interest.
- Transition the SEMLA webpage to a Wordpress environment. The SEMLA webpage still lacks an SSL security certificate. This goal entails cooperation with the MLA Webmaster in creating a base Wordpress environment that the SEMLA Webmaster can then flesh out as well as otherwise reorganizing the site. Having a secure, useful, and professional-looking web presence is essential in today’s day and age. A good one can attract new members, and a bad one may deter them.
- Description of overall progress: This goal is still pending because of ongoing issues with the MLA WordPress migration.
- Investigate revamping the “Music Collections of the Southeast” listings on the SEMLA website. This listing of collections is severely out-of-date. We know that others outside the music library community have been referencing it, and bringing it into line is a priority. Accomplishing this goal effectively, however, is dependent upon the larger migration of the SEMLA website to WordPress, for which we require the assistance of MLA.
- Description of overall progress: The migration of the SEMLA website has not yet occurred. We are still committed to this goal and would like to reinstate the goal this year, with a focus on assessing the audience and information needs provided by this resource, and how we might reshape it accordingly once the SEMLA website migration is accomplished.
List of Future Goals
- Bring SEMLA Oral Histories project up-to-date with additional interviews.
- Strategic Planning Objective 2.3 Sustain member contact throughout the year.
- This initiative would help to preserve institutional history, foster cohesion among members, and to share this aspect of member information through our online chapter newsletter, Breve Notes.
- Transition the SEMLA webpage to a WordPress environment.
- Strategic Planning Objective 2.3 Sustain member contact throughout the year; Strategic Planning Objective 2.4 Support members working in various disciplines within an organization that also includes aspects of music librarianship.
- Work on this goal would establish a more secure and professional forum for member communication, and would provide important information about the mission and activities of the chapter, benefiting new and student members as well as those working in a variety of disciplines. This goal is contingent on the successful completion of the MLA WordPress migration.
- Review the “Music Collections of the Southeast” listings on the SEMLA website, assessing the audience and information needs provided by this resource, and how we might reshape it accordingly once the SEMLA website migration is accomplished.
- Strategic Planning Objective 2.3 Sustain member contact throughout the year; Strategic Planning Objective 2.4 Support members working in various disciplines within an organization that also includes aspects of music librarianship.
- This has been a useful resource for sharing collection profiles among chapter members, and also providing information to an external audience. However, it has been many years since it has been updated, and would benefit from a re-evaluation of its audience and use to determine the most effective approach to re-vamping the resource and re-shaping it in ways that will meet current needs and interests.
- Explore options for hybrid meetings; host the first SEMLA hybrid Annual Meeting in October 2022. In addition to identifying the technology needed, we are committed to assessing the results of this meeting, modifying our approach accordingly and establishing some best practices for hybrid meetings.
- Strategic Planning Objective 3.5 Prioritize accessibility at all MLA events; Strategic Planning Objective 2.3 Sustain member contact throughout the year; Strategic Planning Goal 4: Support members working in various disciplines within an organization that also includes aspects of music librarianship.
- Realizing this goal will enable us to provide broader and more equitable access to SEMLA meetings. We recognize that many people who work in the field of music librarianship or related fields may not be able to attend our meetings in person because of a variety of issues including, but not limited to, health and accessibility challenges, lack of funding, and work/family conflicts; we would like to put our meetings within reach of anyone who would like to connect with the activities of our chapter.
- Explore options for digital voting.
- Strategic Planning Objective 3.5 Prioritize accessibility at all MLA events; Strategic Planning Objective 2.3 Sustain member contact throughout the year.
- We amended Chapter Bylaws in 2021 to allow for digital voting options. This would enable members to vote anonymously and would be a means of making voting more accessible to all of our members. We have begun investigating digital voting tools that would meet our needs and plan to implement a digital voting system for our October 2022 election.
- Review onboarding documents for new SEMLA officers and the calendar for chapter officer activities.
- Strategic Planning Objective 4.3: Develop and/or formalize on-boarding for new members, new committee members, and committee chairs.
- Reviewing and refining these documents will improve our ability to onboard new members, as well as providing information helpful to all officers to understand the expectations, timeline, and interdependencies of chapter work throughout the year.