e-SALALM -- Your input needed

Hi all,
This is my first entry into the salalm blogosphere-- and how appropriate that I am writing about SALALM's digital future! I have posted a note to LALA-L describing my idea to form an ad hoc group within SALALM to explore ways to make our organization more electronic. Hopefully saving us some work and time and paper. I am pasting in the proposal below.

I invite you to send your feedback, either directly to my Columbia email (graham@columbia.edu) OR you can use the comments feature of this blog to share your thoughts. We will dedicate some time to this issue in the Town Hall meeting at the end of the SALALM conference, on the afternoon of July 8th. If you post or send a comment, I can bring that to the discussion, if you wish. I'll look forward to receiving your thoughts, in person or in bytes. Thanks! Pamela

Proposal and Charge for the e-SALALM Ad hoc Committee
July 2009
Submitted by Pamela Graham, SALALM President 2008-09

This proposal seeks to set up an Ad hoc committee (to be called the e-SALALM Group) to investigate, research, and recommend measures that could be taken to improve and increase efficiency in several SALALM functions via the use of technology. Over the course of the last few years, the membership and SALALM officers have expressed an interest in moving several key functions online and this theme surfaced in the 2007 PRI Survey. Shifting some of SALALM’s functions online will involve initial and ongoing costs, and will require an examination of available software and tools, and a consideration of several non-technological issues. I propose setting up a working group that can survey and review such options and issues with the goal of providing the Executive Board, the Finance Committee, and other relevant Committees with specific recommendations for pursuing any appropriate changes.

Possible categories of functions and activities to be reviewed: 

• Routine SALALM functions: Initial memberships and membership renewals, Conference Registration, SALALM election balloting 
  
• Publications: Newsletter, Membership Directory, Proceedings and other publications
• Publicity and Outreach: use of blogs, Facebook, podcasts, and other social networking tools to disseminate information and engage existing and potential members 
  
• Intra-SALALM communication: Group workspaces for committees/subcommittees; tools for sharing documents, minutes, and any project documentation etc.
  

Possible tasks for the e-SALALM can include the following: 

• Consult with relevant SALALM committees and with the membership as needed to gather information about priorities, questions, and concerns; determine whether some functions are already carried out online and recommend any needed practices or guidelines 
  
• Review other similar professional organizations’ websites; consult with colleagues to obtain advice and suggestions on software and appropriate technologies 
  
• Review possible tools and software; obtain information about technological requirements and costs 
  
• Consider non-technological issues including access, privacy, and the possible need for any changes in SALALM’s Basic Documents 
• Consider needs for any new institutional support, financial and human, to enact and sustain possible changes
  

Membership: The group will consist of a Chair and approximately 5 members. The group should include a mixture of persons with technological skills and experience, and those with strong familiarity with SALALM’s committees and functions. The committee will be populated by a combination of appointments and an open call for volunteers from the membership to serve.

Timeline for work: The group will carry out most of its work during the 2009-10 academic year. A brief status report should be sent to the Executive Board in January 2010. The group will deliver a report and recommendations to the Executive Board and Finance Committee two weeks before the SALALM LV conference so that these recommendations can be considered at the annual Executive Board and Finance Committee meetings. More complicated issues may require additional time for research and investigation so some of the e-SALALM group may carry over into the following year.