June 26, 2000
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

The meeting was called to order and the Agenda distributed at 10:00 am.

I. Morning Session

• In attendance: M. Hopper, D. Hirsch, C. Murphy, J. Weinberger, J. Simon, J. Rodgers, L. Wilkins, R. Dougherty
  Absent: M. St. Germain, M. Gaston

II. Minutes

• The minutes of the Nov. 1999 Executive Board meeting were distributed. (In the absence of the Secretary’s notes, which were somehow lost, the distributed minutes are based on Hopper’s notes. These may be supplemented also by J. Simon’s of the same meeting. These minutes were accepted as read.

III. Announcements

• The next general meeting of MEMP membership will be 1:00–3:00 pm, Fri 17 Nov. 2000 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, 1000 West Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista (Orlando), FL . The room will be Sierra 2. The Board will meet from 10-11 am in the same location.

(The MELA meetings will precede, on Thursday, November 16.)

IV. Reports

• J. Simon distributed the MEMP Financial Statement (1999 and YTD 2000) with attached FY 2000 commitments spreadsheet and list of titles received and on order. Funds available total $7,276.
• (See http://www.crl.edu/areastudies/MEMP/collections/mempprojects.htm for descriptions of recently proposed and purchased collections.) James also noted that Wisconsin had dropped their membership in MEMP; while Emory was named as a possible candidate for membership.
• It was noted that earlier issues (before vol. 5) of Bayrut Taymz (vendored by Bay microfilm) might be available from the editor or Harvard’s collection. David Hirsch stated that he would investigate the possibility of obtaining Bayrut Taymz vols. 1–4 from Bay Microfilms. The Turkish paper Dunya, held by Harvard was approved for filming and budgeted for $600 in FY 1993. Michael Hopper indicated that he would confirm if LC had filmed or had a hard copy. Liwa’ al-sadr filming is complete, and the film is available for loan from CRL/MEMP. David Hirsch will check to see if later issues of Liwa’ al-Sadr are available for filming. MEMP commitments include: The Ahali newspapers purchase from UK (27 reels and guide/index on disk to be converted to pdf for distribution). Algerian newspapers cost is higher than the $2000 estimate. Chaqueri collection of Iranian opposition materials is currently being cataloged at Harvard. Preliminary cataloging has been completed for 350 titles of approximately 1100 titles in the collection. al-Hatif (Najaf), J. Weinberger reports that Princeton’s holdings are missing 100 issues from an otherwise complete run (See handout of holdings being filmed in house at Princeton.). Iran and Nawbahar, conditionally accepted on the list of commitments, may be available in facsimile. It is suggested that both remain on the list.
• Iran opposition papers: filmed in house Harvard Kuwayt al-yawm, official gazette of the Kuwaiti government is also conditional. LC has committed to film. It should be removed from the list, pending confirmation by Chris Murphy.
• CRL cannot catalogue MEMP materials. They need to be contracted out. It is recommended that MEMP continue to have other MEMP members undertake the cataloguing. M. Hopper will distribute a list of titles in need of cataloguing to members.
• International Coalition on Newspapers (ICON) is a group of 13 institutions, including the British Library, LC, National Library of Canada, CRL, University of Washington, University of Florida, Harvard, University of Illinois–Chicago, and others. ICON sponsored a Symposium on Newspapers and recommended the establishment of a permanent body for preservation and access for newspapers. CLR will administer an NEH-funded $365,000 grant for preservation and access of international newspapers held in US. OCLC will be the host utility. A project manger hired, and a union list will be produced.

V. LC Report: C. Murphy

• LC Arabic Pamphlets Collection is sorted by area, subject, titles. The question of the need to create bibliographic targets for the filming was raised, if they have not, indeed, already been created. The question was asked whether CRL could complete the targets. If LC has (seen) the finished targets, while CLR does not have language-skilled staff, then LC might better get this done. To complete the project, LC might need more funds. Some funds leftover could be combined with LC funds already identified. In addition to funds for producing targets, LC will need additional funds for actual filming. James has put up a list of the titles in the LC Arabic pamphlet project on the website, but he is not sure that it is complete. Additional funding proposal will be submitted to MEMP membership. Current LC filming activities now about 100 + Middle Eastern newspapers in all languages, mostly Arabic, produced mostly in-house at the rate of about $85000/year . Others titles are outsourced , e.g., Overseas Operations is undertaking filming of other titles in New Delhi. Refer to the OvOP web page for information on overseas filming activities: Newspapers and other serials on Microfilm. The list is ordered geographically, including Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia . The LC Law Division also films official gazettes of many in Middle Eastern countries.
• LC has purchased much of Middle East Documentation Center (MEDOC) material on film.
• British Library’s Islamic Mss. collection on film will be purchased by LC, pending its obtaining complete funding. al-Ahram is being filmed by LC in Silver Halide. (al-Ahram itself–the company–is also filming, but the question was raised if this product is also SH or diazo?.) LC is mostly current in filming, perhaps a six month back-log exists. The question was asked if LC Cairo will begin microfilming? The answer is very possibly not, as LC’s Washington filming backlog has been kept small (through outsourcing and in-house efficiency). Therefore there is less incentive to do so. The was a discussion of efforts to eliminate filming duplication e.g., LC and al-Ahram filming al-Ahram; al-Nahar, Cumhurriet, etc.
• Discussion of the possibility of urging LC to publish microfilm holdings information along with cataloguing. The Board discussed composing a letter in support of LC efforts to make available publically current holdings and titles. Should MEMP sponsor an intern to inventory LC holding and produce a list? Also, MELA should support R. Dougherty as President to bring the issue up with the MELA Board.

VI. Afternoon Session

• M. Hopper: Global Resources Program Update: ARL handout describing AAU/ARL Global Resources Program
• D. Hirsch: MEMP Iraqi Newspapers Committee. A list of Iraqi newspaper titles held by the Dayan Center Press Archives recommended for filming in MEMP was distributed. Added to list A is Sawt al-Ahrar, 1946–195/64 from the Dayan Center. List B: Iraqi exile, Europe etc. titles, including al-Nida’ printed under Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. The question was asked if LC is filming Baghdad Observer. MEMP needs to secure cost estimate from the Dayan Center and coordinate filming activities with LC’s holdings and filming. To be added is al-Iraq al-Hurr (London), 1994–current (Dayan has 1-57 (1991-97).).
• Other titles suggested for filming include: Barid al-Janub (London), a (south) Yemen opposition post-unification newspaper. Since this is a small inexpensive project, we need to locate any other holdings and bring back the issue to vote at the Fall MEMP meeting.
• M. Hopper: MEMP white paper was distributed before the meeting and was discussed. The attached "MEMP Questions" were also brought up for discussion. The overall goal as guiding principal is opportunistic and designed to enable MEMP to get what it can when it is available for filming. The concept of centrality of access rather than general ownership should also guide MEMP’s activities.
• Among the discussions that followed were: other microfilm projects’ activities were discussed and compared to MEMP’s: CAMP, NARS, LAMP, "gray material" which is archival materials on human rights in Argentina, South Asia, grants to deliver electronically. MEMP should leap on the opportunity presented by the Dayan Center. SAMP has purchased portable camera and in the Fall will film personal papers, i.e., materials other than newspapers. There is nothing preventing MEMP from going further afield, e.g., a joint venture with the Slavic East Europe project with Eastview, or Ross and IDC. Should MEMP venture into the area of digitization of materials? For example, color that is not captured on microfilm images of cartographic text, etc. Preservation filming vs. digitization reformatting is an as yet unresolved issue. External factors, scholarly idiosyncracies, interests, competition, etc., all influence MEMP’s directions of collection development. There should be a MEMP weblink on the MELA site or on individual sites. We should explore digital options: MEMP is now largely a print-based filming operation rather than images. It was asked how well known is MEMP outside the narrow circle of Middle Eastern Studies Librarians? CRL leadership is interested in area studies and in pursuing grant possibilities along the lines of MEMP’s goals and activities. MEMP needs to be kept informed on LC filming activities in cooperation with CRL and vice versa. We should recommend Armenian titles for filming under MEMP.
• New Business and future directions were discussed, including collection directions, ATC’s efforts in Georgia, Armenia, Central Asia to supply newspapers on film, Princeton’s filming of Jumhuri Islami and Risalah. Criteria for inclusion in filming should be broader than the usual, i.e., content and scholarly value. It was suggested that MEMP prepare a pilot study on establishing a CRL regional filming center for the next MELA meeting.

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