FEBRUARY 2007 MINUTES

8 February 2007
Tucson, Arizona

 BOARD MEETING

Board members present:  Virgil Lueth, Anna Domitrovic, Tony Kampf, Penny Williamson, Jamie Newman, Terry Huizing,  Jean DeMouthe         

2:08 pm called to order by president V. Lueth

Lueth went over the agenda for the general meeting.

Domitrovic presented the 12-month budget report. The Society’s CD went into a money market account. She asked for input from the board regarding a new 9-month CD into which she wanted to put $6,000.

Kampf said he would print out the German request for assistance prior to the general meeting.

Open curator/collection manager positions were discussed: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Colorado School of Mines, and Calif. State Mining & Mineral Museum.

DeMouthe suggested that the SMMP case for next year’s Tucson show be “other classic U.S. localities”, to pick up some of the places not involved in the theme cases.  The theme for the 2007 Denver show is the Leadville mining district, so she proposed an SMMP case of “lead minerals.”

Lueth discussed the proposed series of Best Practices documents. Penny Williamson proposed one on traveling with minerals.

Terry Huizing reported on SMMP Europe and its meeting at the Munich show.

The 6th International Conference on Mineralogy and Museums (M&M6) will be held in 2008 in Golden, at the School of Mines. Jim Hurlbut will speak to this at the general meeting. Paul Bartos will be gone from CSM by then, and his replacement will run that meeting.

George Harlow asked to speak about the Academy of Natural Sciences - Philadelphia (ANSP) collection at the general meeting.

Board terms expiring this year: Jean DeMouthe, Tony Kampf and Paul Bartos. In addition, Peggy Ronning resigned with one year remaining on her term.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:47.

GENERAL ANNUAL MEETING

Meeting called to order at 3:04 pm by president Lueth.

Lueth welcomed members and guests, made introductions of the Board. Introductions were made around the room. He called for a vote on the Denver minutes, which was moved, seconded, and unanimously approved without corrections.

There were forty-one (41) people present, representing thirty-one (31) different institutions in seven countries.

Domitrovic gave the treasurer’s report. The long-term accounts continue to improve, since interest rates have been going up a little. Domitrovic asked for dues, and presented a printed membership list for people to check for errors.

The 225-year-old Mineralogical Collections of the Technological University Berlin are in jeopardy. The university has proposed giving up all of its geoscience collections. SMMP members and other colleagues are asked for letters of support. Lueth said he would compose a letter from SMMP as a whole, but encouraged individuals to write also.

Staff openings in mineralogy exist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California Mining & Mineral Museum (Calif. State Parks), Colorado School of Mines, Denver Museum of Nat. History, and Harvard University. It is uncertain whether all of these positions will be filled.

DeMouthe reported that the SMMP case in the main show, “Unusual Opals from Unusual Places,” was getting good reviews.  The proposed topic for the SMMP case in the 2007 Denver show is “Lead minerals” which will be in keeping with the Leadville, Colorado show theme.

Lueth introduced Tony Kampf as the webmaster, and said that the list-server is available to all SMMP members. He reported that the first “best practices” document, on sampling, will be posted on the web. He requested topics and said that this will be an ongoing series, needing volunteers from the membership to write them. Williamson promised to have a draft of the first best practices document, "Traveling with Minerals", finished by the Denver show.

Lueth reminded members that the grant program exists, and that proposals must be submitted by the 1 August deadline. No proposals have been submitted to date.

Jim Hurlbut reported on M&M6 meeting to be held at the Colorado School of Mines in Sept. 2008, just prior to the Denver mineral show. The M&M6 web page is up and running, and the first circular is supposed to be out by the end of February.

George Harlow & Jeff Post said they were going to produce a letter to the Mineralogical Record regarding the sale of the mineral collection from the ANSP (Philadelphia Academy), in response to an article by Wendell Wilson.  Harlow asked that anyone having first-hand knowledge of the situation at ANSP or the aftermath of the sale to please contact him.

The Weinman Mineral Museum is undergoing expansion and will become TELLUS: the Northwest Georgia Science Museum. The Weinman will close this summer and reopen in 2008, with about 7,600 square feet of mineral displays.

Richard Herd asked for members’ help in writing a justification for keeping collections. He also suggested that SMMP set up protocols for the identification of specimens brought into museum by the public.

Julian Gray (Weinman Museum) proposed posting museum goals, philosophies and policies on the web site.

Charles Langmuir (Harvard) said that justification for mineral museums must involve making the collections more accessible, by creating databases on the web, and within the museum/university community. He encouraged the formation of a common web platform for all mineral collections.

Mary Johnson made a strong statement regarding the importance of collections.

The Geoliterary Society announced its meeting at 3:30 Friday.

A general election was held, with the following results:

• Jean DeMouthe - reelected to board
• Tony Kampf - reelected to board
• Terry Ottoway - new board member (one-year term / taking Peggy Ronning’s place)
• Jeff Post - new board member (three-year term)

• Jean DeMouthe - reelected secretary
• Anna Domitrovic - reelected treasurer
• Terry Huizing - reelected vice president
• Virgil Lueth - reelected president