Minutes, 13 October 1996 Recorded and mailed by Susan Marie Groppi ------------------------------------------------------ The minutes start with mention of an abortive lecture on the value of coerced promises, directed at Mr. Tymoczko, but the meeting itself started with an abortive betting pool on the length of the meeting, conducted by Mr. Tymoczko. Discussion opened with the state of the library card catalog. I've proposed a switch to an index card catalog to augment/replace the current computer system. As mentioned at the last meeting, the computer is beyond help. An index card system has several benefits: it's more compact than the computer, it allows for better record-keeping, it's friendly, and people can write comments about the books. Possible suggestions for electronic options were brought up--we could upgrade the software, but the computer can't handle it. We could upgrade the computer, but that's complicated. We could put it on the web, but accessing it from the library would then be more trouble than it's worth (no ethernet, no phone line, incompatible computer, etc.). I'm very much abbreviating the discussion for the purposes of the minutes, but there was a lot of discussion and confusion on various options available to us. A vote was taken, and it was decided that we will create an index card catalog to supplement the computerized one. A further vote was taken, after more discussion, and we decided that the index card system will be the comprehensive catalog, with the electronic version updated off of the card catalog. A further vote was taken and it was decided to send a delegation of some sort to the MIT Swapfest to look for a cheap computer. Chris Hall openly twitched and cringed at the proposed spending cap of $250. Alan Sundell rendered the entire issue moot by offering to lend his old computer to HRSFA for this purpose. He later revised this offer--he's donated the machine. This means that we're now looking for a nice copy of Filemaker Pro for PCs. If this summary of the discussion wasn't satisfactorily clear, email me (not the list) and I'll clarify any questions you have, but I think I've caught the important points that needed recording. Final Decisions on the Library Issue: --The index card catalog will be implemented and will be our primary card catalog. --The computer that was formerly Alan's will house the electronic card catalog, which will be used for other purposes (like updating the web page version, which is coming any day now). Moving on. Chris Hall has our nice card-stock membership cards. Trade your old paper ones as soon as possible. The $7.14 expenditure for the card-stock version was approved. Aaron Mandel reports: ID4 has been red-tagged by HRTV. A motion is made to kill Shane Owara, who freely admits to being responsible. Of the re-released Star Wars trilogy, we don't have Star Wars itself tagged, but we have Return of the Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back. Susan Groppi announced that the SIG interest lists are finally available. Being clever, I forgot to bring them. If you're a SIG leader or just acting as one, contact me (groppi@hcs) to set up a way that I can get them to you. SIG REPORTS Writers: It's unclear whether Susannah or Cyrus is leading Writer's SIG, but one of them will be contacting people sometime this week. If you're interested in Writer's SIG but didn't check off this fact on your membership form, contact Susannah (smandel@fas) or Cyrus (ccmody@fas). B5: "Last week, we are all Kosh." Meeting this week in Dunster B-12, but ha, it's over by now so that was useless information to include in the minutes. Watching, I believe, "Coming of the Shadows" and "GROPOS" and the new episode "Grey 17 is Missing". Gaming: -- In (I believe) Aaron Landry's campaign, Claudia is smitten and blind, Kyle was smitten but stood back up. -- Mage: "You are SO HOSED." --mliskov -- Contact Kyle (kniedzw@fas) if you're interested in a new Ars Magica campaign -- Lee Valentine is starting a new campaign, contact either Kyle or Dan if you're interested. Cool Movie: This week, Dr. No. "A tropical island, a beautiful woman, and a mad scientist. What more could you ask for?" --chase tingley. Watch hrsfa-announce for another exciting message from the Cool Movie PSIG people. Magic: Now has a semi-permanent meeting place. Fridays in Loker, 8 pm until whenever they throw you out. Milk and Cookies: Moiraine further discussed the Milk and Cookies plans that she's been mailing the list about, and mentioned that she's considering a holiday themed one. Beat Up Shane SIG requests to borrow the co-chair staff. Turn Attention to Tyg! (he's not a sig, he's a tyg!) Alexei gives a touching speech to the effect that we're going to miss Tyg terribly when he abandons us for the vast wasteland that is Silicon Valley. Shane makes an early exit when it becomes apparent that munchies are imminent. Claudia discusses lifetime memberships. Apparently some have been granted as lifetime memberships, some have been granted as -permanent- memberships (as in, a HRSFA member even beyond the grave). For consistency and coolness, all lifetime memberships are declared to be permanent ones. They cost $50 for students, $100 for non-students. The meeting was then adjourned to munchies. Shane's life was spared when he started doing orgo on the chalkboard--he's obviously punishing himself far more than we ever could. -- Susan ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "The body is a dance. Hating the dance interrupts the choreography." -HS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ groppi@hcs.harvard.edu -=- http://hcs.harvard.edu/~groppi