Will attendance and participation by those other than the willing and converted be strongly suggested by ARLIS/NA Leadership? If this effort is merely the same group in a new package, what will be the point? I would also like to hear how committees will be accountable to President Starr's call to action. Miguel -----Original Message----- From: AllenT [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 3:39 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [ARLIS-L] Diversity Meeting in Baltimore Dear ARLIS/NA Colleagues, The Diversity Forum in Baltimore (Sunday, March 23rd in McKeldin) seeks to engage interested Society members in discussing the possibilities we might explore in the future to attract a more diverse membership, and indeed, a more diverse group to the art information professions. The literature of librarianship certainly offers many studies and surveys which have covered this topic for other areas of librarianship, and the current diversity score card for our professions is exceedingly low! During this one-hour session, we will discuss past Society efforts in this area, the possibility of forming a task force, the possibility of a Society-sponsored survey and subsequent paper on the topic, and hopefully the many more good ideas on this subject that are lurking in the brains of our creative and engaged members! For those of your who plan to attend the Forum, please think about the following questions and issues: Revisit ARLIS/NA policies regarding diversity. Revisit ARLIS/NA strategic plan statements about diversity. ARLIS/NA in context: Where do we stand in comparison with other information professions with regard to diversity? How do we recruit a more diverse population to our professions? How best to systematically organize ourselves in this effort? How can the organization make an impact in this area? How can diverse interests be represented in all parts of our Society? How have other organizations addressed lack of diversity in their memberships? I look forward to seeing you in Baltimore very soon! Yours sincerely, Allen K. Townsend Vice President/President Elect, ARLIS/NA Librarian Amon Carter Museum 3501 Camp Bowie Blvd Fort Worth, Texas 76107 Phone: 817 989 5073 Fax: 817 989 5079 All opinions are my own and not those of my employer __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask] __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]