Business Meeting 2017
AGENDA
1. Apologies for absence
2. Minutes of the previous meeting (circulated)
3. Matters arising not dealt with elsewhere on the agenda
4. President’s report
5. Secretary’s and Treasurer’s reports
6. Bibliography and Encomia
7. International society business
8. Publicity and social media
9. Subscriptions
10. Branch meetings 2018 and 2020
11. Election of President
12. Any other business
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF 10 APRIL 2017
Present:
Ruth Harvey (President), Miranda Griffin (Secretary), Sarah Carpenter, Anne Cobby, Patricia Gillies, Eleanor Hodgson, Linda Paterson, Karen Pratt, Katherine Olley, Adrian Stevens, Victoria Turner.
1. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Emma Cayley, Rebecca Dixon, Jane Gilbert (Treasurer), Linda Gowans, Amanda Hopkins and Paola Scarpini.
2. Minutes of the previous meeting
These were approved, with the amendment that the volume of Encomia published in 2016 in fact covered 2010-11, not 2013, as stated in the minutes.
3. Matters arising not dealt with elsewhere on the agenda
It was noted that the proceedings from the Triennial Congress in Lisbon had been published.
4. President’s report
The meeting noted with regret the death last summer of our colleague Peter Noble.
The President had been unable to attend the International congress in Lexington; she thanked Karen Pratt for summoning an informal meeting of British Branch members there.
The main item to report concerned Encomia. The President reported that Beverley Evans will be the new General Editor of Encomia; she will be stepping into the role when Logan Whalen finishes work on the issue of Encomia now in progress (Logan will be taking over the role of international President of the ICLS). Richard Trachsler, the outgoing international President, had been in touch with Ruth to propose new guidelines for compiling Encomia, to reduce the workload for bibliographers: he stipulated that abstracts for entries are desirable but not indispensable; Encomia should not duplicate other annual bibliographies (for instance, those produced by the International Arthurian Society, the Société Rencesvals), unless there is a particular emphasis on courtly material; editors of volumes should be approached for a list of abstracts.
Ruth reported that she was taking early retirement, and would be stepping down from her role as President. She thanked the members of the Society for their support.
5. Secretary’s and Treasurer’s reports
The Secretary reported that she regularly communicates with the 60 registered members on jiscmail. Most communication in the past 18 months concerned Encomia and Florence Bouchet’s survey. The jiscmail is used sparingly for information about the national and international branch conferences, as well as information about conferences and publications which may be of interest to members. Miranda thanked Ruth for all her work as President.
Jane Gilbert had given her apologies, and will send her treasurer’s report through at a later date. The meeting agreed that the British Branch preferred to use Society funds to subsidise attendance at branch meetings by postgraduates and independent scholars.
6. Bibliography
Since Linda Gowans stepped down as Bibliographer, she has proved, as predicted, to be literally irreplaceable. The British Branch still has two specialist contributors – Natasha Romanova for French and Anglo Norman, and Pam Williams for Italian – who now send their material directly to the General Editor. Ruth will email Natasha and Pam to check that they still wish to carry on in their posts. In terms of finding bibliographers, the problems articulated at the Warwick meeting in 2015 still apply: it is difficult to fill posts, or to ask colleagues to take on this unpaid work which is not recognised by the REF and uses valuable research time. While Richard Trachsler’s proposals go some way to alleviating the burdens of bibliographical work, finding members to take on the role is still difficult.
7. Encomia
Encomia is now available online. In 2016 the British Branch purchased 54 online and 6 hard copies. The price paid to Librarie Garnier Classiques for Encomia 34-35 (2012-13) was £886 (including bank charges). This represents a price of €17 per online copy, €29 per hard copy (this is the reduced price for ICLS members; the price for non-members is €6 more for both kinds of copy). Members were urged to order online rather than hard copies to reduce costs. However, a new system of charging for Encomia will be introduced for the next issue, with Garnier charging the ICLS €6 less per copy provided for members, in order to reduce bank fees and currency related fees.
Although the responses to the survey had been sent to Florence Bouchet, the results of the survey were unknown.
Issue 34-35 of Encomia covered work published in 2010-2011; the next issue, on which Logan Whalen is currently at work, will cover 2012-13. It is hoped that this issue will appear this summer.
After discussion, it was agreed that British Branch members themselves should send entries to General Editor (Logan Whalen for now; Beverley Evans when he steps down). It was further agreed that the Secretary would email members once or twice a year to remind them to send in their entries. Ruth will email Beverley to consult her about the best format in which to send entries. The meeting agreed to ask the incoming President, along with the Secretary and Treasurer, to raise this issue at the next Triennial Congress.
8. International society business
The next Triennial Congress will be in Exeter in 2019. Karen Pratt was thanked for presenting the Exeter bid at the Lexington congress in July 2016.
9. Publicity and social media
Paola Scarpini maintains the Twitter feed and the Facebook page. Paola having given her apologies, the conference was livetweeted by Cory Hitt, a St Andrews postgraduate. The meeting expressed its thanks to Cory.
10. Subscriptions
There were no plans to raise the subscriptions: members were reminded that subscriptions were due on 1 June, and urged to pay by direct debit/standing order if possible, to take advantage of the lower rate.
11. Branch meetings 2018 and 2020
The 2018 meeting is scheduled to take place in Liverpool. Miranda reported that Rebecca Dixon has indicated that she is happy to organise it. 9-10 April was tentatively suggested as the best date in 2018. The Triennial Congress will take place in Exeter in 2019, so there will be no separate British Branch meeting. Miranda Griffin offered to host the 2020 branch meeting at St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge; the meeting accepted this offer.
12. Election of President
In the light of Ruth Harvey’s early retirement, nominations had been sought. Emma Cayley was nominated by Miranda Griffin, seconded by Ruth Harvey, and elected unanimously and enthusiastically.
13. Any other business
The meeting thanked Vicky Turner for organising a stimulating and well-run conference.
The meeting thanked Ruth Harvey for all her work as President. (Post-meeting note: Vicky and Ruth were both presented with gifts at the dinner after the meeting).
MG 18/04/2017
