NASIG Chronology

1984

April. Sixteen American Librarians attend the UK Serials Group Meeting. John Riddick begins to think about a similar organization for North America.

June. Becky Lenzini and John Riddick form a Study Group to investigate the feasibility of a North American Serials Group.

1985

July. General information meeting held at DePaul University in Chicago. Sufficient interest warrants moving forward with plans for a conference in 1986; Bryn Mawr College is selected.

An Ad-Hoc Executive Council was formed, with John Riddick (Central Michigan) and Becky Lenzini (then with Faxon) were co-chairs. Tina Feick (Boley) was vice-chair, Susan Davis (SUNY Buffalo) was Treasurer, Marilyn Gonsiewski (Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo) was Secretary. Lenore Wilkas became the first Newsletter Editor.

Dues were set at $15. Membership solicitation began.

October. A Site Selection Committee was appointed for the 2nd conference: Tina Feick, John Riddick and George Lupone (Cleveland State). Site visits were done in Ohio.

1986

January. Vol.1, no.1 of the NASIG Newsletter appears.

Leigh Chatterton (Boston College) and Mary Beth Clack (Harvard) are appointed as Conference Program chairs.

Denison University in Granville, Ohio, selected as the site of the 2nd conference.

May. Second issue of Newsletter appears. Draft Bylaws distributed. Membership reaches 324.

June 22-25. 1st conference at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, is a huge success, and remains the highest ranking conference in NASIG history.

November. First elections. Bylaws approved.

December. Oglethorpe University in Atlanta as the site of the 1988 conference.

1987

June 14-16. 2nd conference at Denison University, Granville, OH. First Fun Run/Walk.

Student Grant Program established. First recipients at 1988 conference.

December. A survey was sent to all the membership to obtain feedback on the directions NASIG should take. Response rate was 22%.

1988

January. NASIG is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in the state of New York.

Proceedings of the 2nd conference are published.

June 4-7. 3rd conference at Oglethorpe University, Atlanta, GA, is a sell-out. First Catalogers Discussion Group is held.

The Board requests a change in the terms of office for officers, and asks the membership to allow the current Board to serve an additional year while a Bylaws change is voted upon.

June. A new NASIG logo in blue is designed to include Mexico.

December. Revised Bylaws mailed for vote. Bylaws were approved.

1989

Newsletter to appear bimonthly.

Spring. Elections for 1989/90 (start of staggered 2 year term).

June 3-6. 4th Conference at Scripps College, Claremont, CA.

October. First Membership Directory published.

December. Lenore Wilkas resigns as Newsletter Editor.

1990

Membership brochure published.

June. Jean Callaghan (Wheaton) appointed Newsletter Editor.

June 2-5. 5th Conference at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

1991

April. Bylaws revision adopted.

June 14-17. 6th Conference at Trinity University, San Antonio, TX

1992

Another Membership Survey -- 57% response rate !!

Directory of Back Issue Dealers compiled by Beth Holley is published.

March. 17. The Birth of NASIGNET. NASIG enters the online age.

June 18-21. 7th Annual Conference University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL. Joint program day with the Society for Scholarly Publishing.

September. NASIG obtains permanent address

Ellen Duranceau (MIT) appointed Newsletter Editor.

Late 1992/early 1993. NASIG Gopher established. Contents consist of Bylaws, Proceedings for 1992 conference, Newsletter issues.

1993

June 10-13. 8th Annual Conference at Brown University, Providence, RI.

June. The Board adopted a policy that discourages scheduling other events that would conflict with the NASIG conference including preconference workshops and other NASIG events.

Elaine Rast appointed first NASIG Archivist.

Work began on developing a Conference Planning Manual.

1994

January. NASIGNET and Beyond, electronic networking manual, published.

Febuary. "Vision Statement: NASIG 2000" developed. Bylaws revised.

"Guidelines for Financial Support for NASIG" adopted.

June. Two new awards announced for 1995: NASIG Horizon Award for new serialists, and the NASIG Founders Research Grant for research to be presented at a future conference.

June 2-5. 9th Annual Conference at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

October. Maggie Horn (University of California, Davis) becomes Newsletter Editor.

1995

June 1-4. 10th Anniversary Annual Conference at Duke University, Durham, NC. Theme is "Serials to the Tenth Power: Tradition, Technology, and Transformation."

December. NASIG 2000 Strategic Plan published as a supplement to the Newsletter.

NASIGNET moves from the American Mathematical Society to the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

1996

January. A Mentoring Program will be a part of the 11th Annual Conference, under the auspices of the Continuing Education Committee.

February. Human Resources Directory forms are distributed.

June 20-23. 11th Annual Conference at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.

1997

February. Electronic Communications Committee decentralizes NASIGWeb to allow committees to publish their own material on the website.

Task Force appointed to investigate a permanent storage site for NASIG archives.

May 27-June 1. 12th Annual Conference is held at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

October. Board recommends each committee review should annually review the pertinent sections of the Strategic Plan and make suggestions for change as appropriate, and requests each committee prepare a status report on the goals set forth in the plan for that committee.

1998

January. Membership directory appears on NASIGWeb.

Marcia Tuttle International Grant established.

June 18-21. 13th Annual Conference held at University of Colorado at Boulder.

Steve Savage becomes newsletter editor.

November. NASIG photographer is solicited for the 1999 conference, and donations of pictures from earlier conferences are requested. Purchase of a digital camera for use by the NASIG photographer is approved.

1999

June. Board proposes to raise membership dues to $25, effective for 2000.

June 10-13. 14th Annual Conference held at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.

Membership renewal rate was 86% for the year.

2000

January. NASIGWeb is redesigned.

March. Newsletter begins quarterly publication.

June. New logo is presented.

June 22-25. 15th Annual Conference held at the University of California, San Diego, La Jolla.

Members are given the option of receiving the Directory in an electronic format only.

2001

January. Board discusses need for permanent location for archives.

Tina Feick agrees to chair the Strategic Plan/Vision 2010 Task Force.

May 23-26. 16th Annual Conference held at Trinity University in San Antonio.

2002

March. Newsletter becomes available only in an electronic format.

June 20-23. 17th Annual Conference held at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.

October. NASIG brochure is available in Spanish.

December. Step Schmidt digitizes the remaining issues of the Newsletter.

2003

June 26-29. 18th Annual Conference at Portland State University, Portland, OR.

October. Archives are moved to their permanent home at the University of Illinois.

Finance Committee begins the study of building a long-term plan for a financial reserve.

Access to Newsletter issues on NASIGWeb is no longer password-protected.

2004

June. Following the Board's request to reinvigorate the annual conference, PPC reinvents the program for 2004, and the result is the third highest rated conference program ever.

June 17-20. 19th Annual Conference, Milwaukee Hilton, Milwaukee, WI.

August. 20th Anniversary History Task Force activated.

October. Board proposes a dues increase to $75, as part of building a sound financial plan.

2005

January. The year begins with a draft of a financial plan, developed by Beverley Geer, Denise Novak, Mary Page, Jill Emery and Steve Savage. The plan is dependent on the increase dues proposal being accepted by the membership. There are 1,332 members in the database.

The agreement with the UKSG to provide NASIG members with a new, convenient source of information about the serials community is finalized, and Serials eNews will soon be available.

May. 20th annual conference "Roaring into our 20s" is held May 19-22 in Minneapolis, with numerous celebratory activities. Martha Burk makes a quilt of tee-shirts from previous conferences;it is raffled off and the winner is Rose Robischon. Susan Banoun, a first-timer, wins the free conference registration drawing. This raffle and the free conference raffle bring in $4,300.

The proposed dues increase ballot passes by 72.7%, tripling annual dues for regular members to $75. The new financial plan will go into effect, having been finalized by the Board in March.

The option for a printed copy of the Directory is eliminated from the renewal form.

July. The Board reaches consensus on the desirability of supplying CEC with a list of the top-rated conference programs, to investigate the possibility of taking some of these "on the road."

September. By Board vote, members affected by Hurricane Katrina will remain on the roster as members through June 30, 2006.

2006

February. The Membership Development Committee is formed, "to maintain or increase membership numbers each year once the optimal levels have been reached."

March. Despite the increased cost of dues, two hundred new memberships were received after the conference announcement was made, and NASIG finished the year with 1,253 members.

Kathryn Wesley becomes Editor-in-Chief of the NASIG Newsletter.

May. The 21st annual conference "Mile High Views: Surveying the Serials Vista," is held in Denver, May 4-7, at the Marriott City Center Hotel. Online evaluation is available for the first time. Vickie Stanton, University of North Florida, wins the drawing for a free full registration at the 2007 or 2008 conference.

Summer business supplement. NASIG Newsletter blog format is introduced.

December. Membership renewal goes online.

The Newsflash blog is viewed 719 times on December 1, a new "best day ever."

2007

March. Online renewals lag behind previous years, one possible explanation being that members may erroneously be thinking they have to pay online, rather than submitting a check. There are 1,119 members.

April. An extensive review of the bylaws culminates in four amendments being put to the membership. This review was to find language that would be a barrier to adopting technological developments for carrying out NASIG business. Proposed amendments would remove "by mail" references; replace the name of a committee with its action, rather than its name, making references more general and allowing for changes in committee names; and charges the Nominations and Elections Committee with setting an election calendar that accommodates the changing dates of the annual conference, allowing for adequate time to seek petition nominations, and lessens the period to challenge election results. All four amendments pass with better than 97% approval each.

After deactivation of non-renewing members, 781 members remain on the roster.

May. The 22nd Annual Conference, "Place your bet in Kentucky: the serials gamble," is held in Louisville, May 31-June 1, at the Galt House. Ronadin Lee Carey, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, won the free conference drawing at the business meeting, and Lisa Blackwell won the free conference drawing for completing her online evaluation.

Conference Proceedings are discontinued in a monograph version; they now will be exclusively available as journal issues of The Serials Librarian.

Maggie Rioux retires as NASIG Newsletter Profiles Editor, and Susan Andrews retires as "Title Changes" editor.

October. A new technology contract is signed in late October with ArcStone Information Services. Donnice Cochenour is project manager for this new association management system and web redesign.

2008

January. Early membership count is at 485.

The historical practice of Board members not presenting at the annual conference becomes policy.

March. The election process is online for the first time, as is the conference registration.

June. 23nd Annual Conference, "Taking the Sting out of Serials," June 5-8, Tapatio Cliffs Resort, Phoenix, Arizona. CafePress is used for online tee-shirt purchases and souvenirs. This is the first year that evaluations are online only; Mike Conrad, Chicago Public Library, wins the free registration drawing for completing the online evaluation.

NASIG-L is retired as NASIG moves into the Web 2.0 world with its new website.

August. The world financial turmoil hits, and NASIG is not exempt, losing $11,000 in its contingency fund account with Charles Schwab. The remainder of the funds is moved to a cash account for the time being.

December. Membership stands at 904 members.

2009

March. NASIG sponsors its first unconference, March 20th, at Hale Library, Kansas State University, Manhattan. Registration closes at 100 participants.

June. 24th Annual Conference, "Riding the Rapids through a Mountain of Change," June 4-7, Asheville, North Carolina. Economic cutbacks at institutions produces a lower attendance.

August. NASIG and the Association of Subscription Agents and Intermediaries enter into an informal agreement to exchange information of mutual interest.

Discussion opens regarding a new membership category, Institutional Member.

September. The Translators Resource Team is dissolved as a formal team, due to the irregular level of activity.

Fall. The new 2010 joint NASIG/UKSG John Merriman Award is announced, which will award a conference-swap to the winners.

December. The 25th Anniversary plans are announced, and a call for volunteers is issued.

2010

January. NASIG Open Access Proceedings Task Force recommends that, given the loss of revenue if we move to open access, action be tabled until next year and our economic situation reexamined at that time.

By-laws are changed to approve an organizational membership category, with 90% approval.

March. Current membership stands at 728.

June. 25th Annual Conference, "An Oasis in Shifting Sands," June 3-10, Rancho Las Palmas Resort, Palm Springs, CA. Thirty member interviews shown at the 25th anniversary celebrationare available to view on the NASIG Conference Youtube channel.

2011

February. NASIG-L list returns for general membership posts and discussion.

May. Created a formal job description and formed a search committee for a conference coordinator.

June. 26th Annual Conference, "Gateway to Collaboration," June 2-5, St. Louis, Missouri. The paraprofessional rate for registration was offered for the first time. NASIG created the position of photo historian and appointed Deberah England.

2012

February. Executive Board approves discontinuing the use of Discussion Forums linked from the NASIG Website.

April. Proceedings of the 26th annual conference published in Serials Librarian, v.62:no.1-4 (2012).

May. NASIG Continuing Education Committee offered a webinar "Effective Negotiations in the 21st Century. From Computer-Mediated Communications to Playing Hardball".

June. 27th Annual Conference, "Creating Harmony from Dis-Chord," June 7-10, Nashville, Tennessee. The Core Competencies Task Force presented their findings at the conference brainstorming session. NASIG conference presentations were posted on Slideshare.

December. NASIG Continuing Education Committee offered a webinar "Publisher Metadata in Library Systems and How it Helps the User".

2013

June. The 28th Annual Conference, "The Art of Information/The Architecture of Knowledge," June 6-9, Buffalo, New York.

2014

March. The NASIG Executive Board created the Birdie MacLennan Award, a yearly conference scholarship.

April. The 30th Anniversary Celebration Task Force is convened.

May. The 29th Annual Conference, May 1-4, Fort Worth, Texas.

August. The SERIALST listserv moved from its former server at University of Vermont to the NASIG server.

November. Members vote to change the by-laws to amend the name of the organization from North American Serials Interest Group, Inc. (NASIG) to NASIG, Inc. New vision and mission statements are also approved.

2015

May. The 30th Annual Conference, Washington, DC.

May 27. SSP (Society for Scholarly Publishing) and NASIG held a joint full-day program on “Evolving
Information Policies & Their Implications: A Conversation for Librarians & Publishers.”

2016

June. The 31st Annual Conference, Albuquerque, NM.

August. NASIG joined NISO as a voting member and appointed a Standards Committee.

2017

January. NASIG releases a Statement of Inclusion.

June. The 32nd conference: "Racing to the Crossroads" in Indianapolis, IN.

December: NASIG 2017-2021 Strategic Plan

2018

June 8-11: The 33rd conference: "Transforming the Information Community" in Atlanta, GA

June: NASIG on Demand: Features of the 2018 Conference. Video recordings of concurrent sessions that cover a variety of important topics touching on the conference theme of Transforming the Information Community.” Approved by the NASIG members at the members forum (formerly known as the Business Meeting)

June: Bylaws changes. These changes include: 1) changing what constitutes a valid online vote for future bylaw changes; 2) terms of office for committee members and circumstances for granting an exception; and 3) minor updates in language for clarity and accuracy (defining organization and name of the Nominations & Elections Committee).

July: Diversity Committee activated