Newberry Library Hosts DS Board and Annual Meetings

The 2019 Fall Board and Annual meetings of Digital Scriptorium were held on Thursday September 26 – Friday September 27 at the Newberry Library in Chicago.

The all-day meeting of the Board focused on final preparations for the Annual Meeting, a preliminary planning grant proposal for DS 2.0, and governance issues pertaining to Board assignments. In attendance were 6 out of 7 members of the DS Board of Directors, plus the DS Technical Host, who sits ex officio (without vote) on the DS Board. The following day, the Annual Meeting was exceptionally well-attended by the DS Board, members of the DS Advisory Council, representatives of several DS member institutions, visiting guests and invited speakers. The DS Annual Meeting is generally hosted by a member institution, but this year the DS Board decided to hold its fall meetings at a non-member institution, and the Newberry Library was an ideal place to invite potential members and other interested parties from the Chicago area and Midwest.

The meeting was called to order by Debra Cashion, President and Executive Director of DS, who introduced Alice Schreyer, Roger and Julie Baskes Vice President for Collections and Library Services of the Newberry Library. Schreyer gave a welcome message and discussed plans in progress for a Chicago area exhibition of manuscripts, in the manner of Leaves of Gold (Philadelphia, 2001) and Beyond Words (Boston, 2016). The schedule for the day was organized into two sessions, morning (9:00 am to 12:00 pm) and afternoon (1:30-4:30 pm), with a 1.5 hr break for lunch in between. The morning session focused on business, including various reports from the Board, and the afternoon session included guest presentations and a classroom exhibit of Newberry manuscripts. Although the number fluctuated during the day, the meeting attendance totaled 27: a complete attendance list is included in the meeting Minutes (posted on the Governance page of this website).

The afternoon presentations were as follows:

● Lia Markey presented on the Newberry Library’s Center for Renaissance Study

● Daniel Gullo and John Meyerhoffer presented on vHMML (Hill Museum and Manuscript Library cloud image store server and manuscript cataloging website)

● Daniel Meyer, Special Collections at the University of Chicago, presented on University of Chicago special collections

● Sue Steuer, Manuscripts at Western Michigan University, presented on manuscripts from WMU, newly voted into DS membership at this meeting

James Marrow had also planned to give a presentation about Newberry manuscripts and plans for the Chicago area manuscripts exhibition, but he was absent due to illness. We hope to hear more about this exhibition soon! The presentations were followed by a snack break and a special exhibit of manuscripts from the Newberry Library collections, organized by Suzanne Karr Schmidt and Chris Fletcher. After the exhibit the remaining time was used to discuss the location for the next Annual Meeting, which was decided to be held at the University of Pennsylvania in Fall 2020. Before adjournment, Cashion reminded everyone of their invitation to attend a reception at Les Enluminures, 980 North Michigan (One Magnificent Mile) Suite 1330, Chicago, just two blocks East of Newberry. She thanked the Newberry for their hospitality and everyone for coming, contributing presentations, and making donations to fund the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 pm.

All photos by Lynne Grigsby, UC Berkeley, DS Technical Host.

Manuscripts displayed are from the Newberry Library Collections.