Government Publications Librarians of New England
Minutes of the September 27, 2002 Meeting
at Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.

The business meeting preceded the Census 2000 presentation.

David Piontkowski, Director of the Williams College Library greeted the attending members.

Treasurer's Report: The total cost of the May 2002, Census Workshop was $424.
                                That leaves $401.92 in our savings account.
                                Our CD currently has $1076.85

Future meetings of the 2002/2003 year:

December 6, 2002 is at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.  
•    Donna Koepp will speak on the Serial Set Project
•    Karyn Valley, President of NELA, will provide information about what is required
      to become associated with NELA and what might be the benefits.  There will be an
     opportunity for discussion and questions.
•    There is the possibility of a demonstration of the Harvard GIS map project.

March 7, 2003, (we hope to have the March meeting in Connecticut, but we need a volunteer host.  Please, contact Betty Febo if you are willing to host this meeting)
 Katia Cohen from Geolytics will provide a demonstration of Geolytics census products.
•    Further discussion concerning affiliating with NELA.

May 9, 2003, is at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.
•    Program to be announced

Wellesley will be discarding its volumes of the Federal Reporter and the Federal Supplement from 1973-2002.  Anyone who might be interested in obtaining them should contact Betty Febo.

The business meeting was adjourned with the arrival of Ana Maria Garcia, the presenter for the Census 2000 American Factfinder.

Ms. Garcia spoke on the various census geographies from blocks to national.  She mentioned some of the differences between the 1990 and 2000 censuses and the problems that arise when trying to do time series studies.
She explained the different types of information that the different summary files provide. Knowing this information makes it easier to access specific types of census data.
Ana also informed the group about what types of information, estimates and projections would be covered in the period between censuses.
Finally, Ms. Garcia demonstrated searching techniques using American Factfinder to locate different types of census data.
Ana Maria Garcia was extremely informative and presented the material in a clear, organized and humorous manner.  She expressed an interest in returning for a demonstration of the Allocate software, when the census CDs are available and she has mastered its intricacies.

Attendees:

Len Adams          University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Lise Albury          Norwich University
Kathleen Berry     Boston College
Ann Carle             Pierce Law Center
Cathy Dwyer        University of New York at Albany
Betty Febo            Wellesley College
Pam Hays              Harvard University
Tim Hays             U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Barbara Mento       Boston College
Rebecca Ohm        Williams College
Hans Raum            Middlebury College
Mark Scott             State Library of Massachusetts
Bette Siegel           State Library of Massachusetts
Ruth Sweet            Troy Public Library
Jim Walsh              Lexis/Nexis