Scribe: Lynn Leith
Status: Approved by the General Meeting on May 7, 2004 in Zurich
The meeting was opened by Ingar Beckman Hirschfeldt, President, at 9:00 a.m. She welcomed the meeting participants and briefly explained the meeting process. Ingar introduced Marijke Van Bodengraven.
Marijke Van Bodengraven, Director of FNB, welcomed all delegates to the Netherlands and Amsterdam. She expressed pleasure to be back working closely with the DAISY Consortium. A brief history of Amsterdam, and the Dutch love of tulips and flowers was given.
Maarten Verboom, on behalf of FNB, welcomed the delegates and described the practical arrangements. He indicated that if people at the GM were not yet registered for the Conference they may do so still. An invitation to the two planned social events was given.
Each person attending introduced themselves and their affiliation. The voting members also identified themselves as such. The people attending were:
11 of 12 Full Members were present. The General Meeting had a quorum.
The voting Members representatives were:
Keun-Hae Youk has sent deepest regrets that she is not able to attend the meeting. We send her our greetings.
Ingar introduced Norma Toucedo, representing the World Blind Union (WBU). Norma thanked the DAISY Consortium for the invitation and is happy to be here on behalf of the WBU. She said she has felt very involved in DAISY since the very beginning and that access to information is a basic human right. WBU is very interested in strategies aiming to provide this right to access to information. Norma said that Kicki Nordström, president of the WBU, sends her regards to the DAISY Consortium. Ms. Nordström is hoping for closer coordination between DAISY and WBU. Norma closed by saying that we are all hoping for more information in local languages for all people who are visually impaired.
Ingar indicated that the DAISY Consortium is also hoping for a closer relationship with WBU.
At this point in the meeting Hiroshi Kawamura, Board representative for The Japanese DAISY Consortium, and Monthian Buntan and Dipendra Manocha arrived. Hiroshi confirmed he is a voting member and Monthian and Dipendra introduced themselves.
The agenda was approved.
Lynn Leith was approved as scribe.
The Paper gm0304_item4.doc was distributed by email in advance of the General Meeting.
RESOLUTION: That the minutes of the previous General Meeting, held in Toronto May 14 2002, be confirmed.
The minutes were approved.
The paper, gm0305_item5-1.doc was distributed by email in advance.
Bernhard gave a short summation on the financial papers, composed of operating income and expense, and the auditor's report. Total income and total expenses for the year resulted in a negative balance which is less than what had been projected for the budget which was approved last year. The $48,000 US loss is due to the rate of exchange from Swiss Francs to US dollars. Bernhard noted also that as most of DAISY Consortium capital is in US dollars, this portion of the loss is not a real loss, but that it is reported as such in the books. He also noted that the Consortium spent less money than expected last year. One position was unallocated and we therefore didn't spend those funds. We also spent $50,000 less than expect in software development. The DAISY Consortium worked well in a financial perspective last year. He closed by explaining that the result of operating income and expense leads to the Balance sheet.
RESOLUTION: That the Statement of Accounts, recording income and expenditure for the calendar year 2002, be received.
The resolution was approved.
The Paper gm0305_item5-2.doc was distributed by email in advance.
Bernhard stated that the Balance sheet shows balance of $380,000 US. George Kerscher asked if that $380,000 US is carried over to this year, and Bernhard confirmed this.
RESOLUTION: That the Balance Sheet, for the year ended December 31 2002, be received.
The resolution was received.
The Paper gm0305_item5-3.doc was distributed by email in advance.
RESOLUTION: That the Auditor's Report, recommending that the General Meeting should approve the Statement of Accounts and Balance Sheet for 2002, be received and noted.
The resolution was approved and noted.
RESOLUTION: That the Auditor's Report be received, and that the Annual Accounts and Balance Sheet for the year 2003 be adopted.
The resolution was approved.
The Paper gm0305_item6.doc was distributed by email in advance.
Ingar Beckman Hirschfeldt, President of the Consortium explained that the Annual Report is made up in part from the reports of the Board Committees. She then named the five Board Committees. The forming of these committees has been very healthy for the Consortium and has had positive results. It has lead to relationships with NLS in development of DAISY 3. There are many new Members and Friends during this year also. Ingar invited comments or amendments. None were forthcoming.
RESOLUTION: That the Annual Report for the year 2002 be adopted.
The resolution was adopted.
RESOLUTION: That the General Meeting discharges the Board for the year 2002.
Bernhard explained the meaning of Discharge of the Board and that it is a legal requirement by Swiss law.
The resolution was approved.
RESOLUTION: To recognize The Swedish DAISY Consortium as a full member. The Swedish Consortium consists of the former full members TPB, The Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille and SRF, The Swedish Association of the Visually Impaired plus nineteen county libraries, the university libraries of Umeå (19) and Mälardalen and The Swedish Association for Persons with Difficulties in Reading and Writing/Dyslexia, FMLS.
The resolution was approved.
RESOLUTION: To recognize that The Danish National Library for the Blind shares a Full Membership with the Danish Association for the Blind.
The resolution was approved.
RESOLUTION: To recognize The Japanese DAISY Consortium as a full member. The Japanese Consortium consists of the former full member JSRPD and associate members Nippon Lighthouse and Institute for DAISY editing.
The resolution was approved.
RESOLUTION: That the decision of the President, to accept the following organizations as Associate Members of the DAISY Consortium, be ratified.
The decision of the President was ratified.
All Associate members were welcomed
The resolution was approved.
RESOLUTION: That the joining of the following organizations as DAISY Friends is noted with pleasure.
The resolution was approved and the new Friends were welcomed.
The date was corrected from the date given in the Agenda. The articles stated that TPB would have the right to hold presidency for the first period of the Consortium. Ingar has been in the position for eight years. It is up to the Consortium to elect a new president. Ingar indicated that it is a fantastic position, and the person who is the president is very fortunate. She indicated that it has been very rewarding to work for the DAISY Consortium. She gave a brief and short history of the beginnings of the DAISY Consortium and it's initial goal to join libraries for the Blind and Visually Impaired. These have been fantastic years for Ingar, and she is happy to leave the position now and follow it at more of a distance. In 2002 Full members were asked to put forward candidates for the position of President. One candidate will be presented at this meeting. Ingar introduced Elsebeth Tank as a talented and skilled leader, and an experienced president of an association of librarians in Denmark. The DAISY Consortium is an association, and the members decide the future of the association. Ingar asked that Elsebeth be accepted as president with acclamation.
RESOLUTION: To elect Elsebeth Tank, DBB with acclamation.
The resolution was approved.
The incoming president, Elsebeth Tank, addressed the meeting as follows. Elsebeth said that she is honoured and grateful that the members of the DAISY Consortium have shown confidence and have chosen her. She will have an opportunity to slowly learn from Ingar over the next 6 months as President Elect. She assured the members that she would do her best. She has known DAISY since 1998, since she was appointed director of DBB. The results of what has been accomplished have gone far beyond her expectations in 1998. It is an option to pinpoint problems, and criticize, but these weaknesses do not affect DAISY, in it's international work, plans and so on. She is looking forward to working with staff and members of the Board. Elsebeth said that holding the presidency of the DAISY Consortium will be not only challenging but enriching, demanding, and tiring, she expects it will also be a lot of fun. Her main priorities (key issues) are as follows:
Elsebeth stated that we need to wish one another good luck and companionship. Ingar will step down at the end of 2003, although Ingar will have much to do in the next 7 months. Elsebeth said to Ingar that the Consortium wishes to thank her for all she has done and contributed; that she is a key person, without whom the DAISY Consortium would not have existed as it does today. We want to thank you. Elsebeth presented Ingar with a gift made by a famous Danish jeweler. It is a daisy pin and earring set.
Ingar replied with thanks and said that she feels very confident leaving the Consortium in the hands of Elsebeth.
RESOLUTION: That the names of the twelve persons serving on the DAISY Board of Directors and the Full Members which they represent are noted as follows.
The resolution was approved.
RESOLUTION: To thank RNIB for providing the Consortium with Secretary General and administrative support during the past two and a half years.
Ingar provided a short background of RNIB's agreement with the Consortium to contract for staff to work with the DAISY Consortium. In Toronto, Peter Osborne was appointed to the position of Secretary General. Louise, and Jennifer were brought on staff. RNIB has announced that they will leave that responsibility. The Board has the responsibility to find a new Secretary General. We understand that the situation at RNIB has made it impossible for this relationship with Peter Osborne and Louise Hallsworth to continue. It was very positive for us to have Peter. We are aware that Peter has had a tremendous amount of work to do. Ingar presented Peter with a stuffed animal and explained the history of giving stuffed animals to departing Board members.
Peter thanked the DAISY Consortium for the five and one half years working as Board member and staff and said that without the dedication of DAISY Consortium staff who work 24-7, much of the work that gets done would not get done. He said that the staff is the most dedicated.
Ingar explained that Jennifer Sutton has been working for the Consortium under RNIB hat. The Board decided yesterday that she will be hired directly by the DAISY Consortium and will continue on staff, with Miki, Lynn and Markus.
RESOLUTION: To elect George Kerscher as the New Secretary General
Ingar described some of the history of the Consortium hiring George as the first DAISY staff member. She said that we know that it would be fantastic to have George in this combined position, ensuring he has enough support from staff and Board. When George was hired and after the first Sigtuna meeting, the DAISY Consortium took its new positive path forward. With the new arrangement with RFB&D, George will work for RFB&D 25% and DAISY 75%. In addition the Consortium has asked for a longer contract that will end at the end of 2004. The Board will see to it that the Secretary General gets additional support for the tasks that are to be done by the Secretary General.
George accepted the position and named the staff in their positions, stating that no staff positions are directly related to the names of Board Committees. The contribution of the Consortium Members allows the DAISY staff to do a lot more than they could do themselves. He said that it's a job for everybody rowing in unison. His goal will be to get everyone rowing and working together.
The resolution was approved.
Maarten mentioned additional information regarding the BBQ at the FNB facilities. Details to get to FNB will be given tomorrow. Additional practical arrangements were also given.
Francisco Martinez Calvo informed those at the meeting that at the container on exhibit, there are also CDs containing DAISY books, Don Quixote in Spanish and The Little Prince in five languages, produced by ONCE. They are available for people to take.
Paper gm0305_item12.1.doc - Peter Osborne
Peter Osborne explained that we would normally receive a strategic plan at the GM, but we are at an interim stage, and therefore the purpose of the submitted paper is to propose some strategic issues. The purpose of the paper is that we consider any major issues that the DAISY Consortium should address over the years ahead, for example, to what extend should the DAISY Consortium focus on international developments; to what extent should the DAISY Consortium principally be run for the benefits of its membership; and, to what extent should it focus its main resources in achieving DAISY for All.
Stephen King said that he thinks Peter is correct. Now that we have set the standards and organizations are implementing DAISY, we need to sit back and figure out exactly what we should do next. We have agreed to our role in establishing a "global library." Is this our goal, to establish the global library, or is that IFLA?
Ingar replied, saying that we will do strategic planning at the next Board meeting, with the plan presented at the next General Meeting. Ingar thanked Peter for speaking to the paper.
Paper gm0305_item12.2.doc
The Board Committee chairs presented their goals for 2003 - 2004.
Stephen King presented the Standards Committee goals, indicating that he had not had a great deal of input into the document. Lynn Leith edited and pulled it together, and George Kerscher's input is obvious. DAISY 3 is our future. So far no one is producing DAISY 3.0 books, and if they are, they don't know if they are valid. We have a number of steps in place to get to this goal. We also have folks who were producing 2.0 who need to convert these to 2.02. Migration tools are needed. As a standards organization we know George has spent a lot of time working with the Open eBook Forum. Mpeg standards have a great deal of impact. The link between Mpeg and DAISY is not as strong as some others. Therefore part of our objective is to augment this relationship and to a lesser extent develop our working relationship with W3C and Open eBook Forum. There is also the question of reducing the type of membership with the Open eBook Forum from full to Associate member. We need to think about submission of the DAISY standard as ISO.
Larry Skutchan asked the questions: Is the DAISY Consortium looking at any other audio formats other than mp3? Has the board looked into alternative compression algorithms other than mpeg? Stephen replied that we have always looked at any system that may be possible. George said, yes, we have looked at others. Mp4 is very interesting and has potential, but it is encumbered by rights. Og Vorbis is open, it is interesting. Tom McLaughlin will be doing a presentation on possible compression systems at the conference.
Francisco Martinez Calvo presented the Implementation Committee Goals. He explained that they are divided into different areas such as software, training, etc.
There were no questions regarding the presentation of the Implementation Committee goals.
Maarten Verboom presented the Marketing Committee Goals. A slide presentation with descriptions was given. The Committee has major objectives. In Toronto last year the Marketing Committee had a very fruitful meeting. They developed the following objectives:
A summary of the results of this past year was given:
Maarten read out the list of new Members and new Friends. He then presented the goals for 2003.
Maarten described a scenario with a young person with dyslexia accessing DAISY books.
Hiroshi Kawamura presented the Developing Country Goals. He explained that the main purpose of the Board Committee is to develop proposals for approval by the Board, and that at that point they would largely be given to staff to implement. The strategic approach is to reach out to developing countries. At least 80% of people with print disabilities are in developing countries, people with a visual impairment, dyslexia, or a physical disability such as a motor disability. The promotion of reading is a key issue. DAISY is an excellent tool for the promotion of reading in general. It is possible that DAISY books will not meet the standard if we do not ensure that the standard is maintained. We have to avoid fragmentation as we reach out to developing countries. This is why we value Associate membership.
With the DAISY For All Project, fund raising has been very successful (reference the GM paper). It is intended for support of developing countries. The grant is from the Nippon Foundation and the project begins March 2003 and ends March 2004. With the successful outcome of the first year, Nippon will provide full funding for the originally proposed five-year project.
The number of members in developing countries is growing. The Developing Countries Committee will include members from these Associate Member organizations. DAISY for All has already started to show positive results. The Committee will contact all developing country Members to participate.
WSIS will be held in December 2003. The Developing Countries Committee will have a booth in collaboration with the Swiss DAISY Consortium, to illustrate the importance of developing countries in the DAISY Consortium. All documents from WSIS will be provided in DAISY format at the conference.
Ingar Beckman Hirschfeldt briefly noted the goals.
Paper gm0305_item12.3.doc
RESOLUTION: That the Annual Work Plan be received.
George explained that he has taken the goals and pulled the information into one document, identifying the responsible person and, identified resources with expectations of when the work will take place. Over the years the DAISY Consortium has had many goals and project plans, but often it has been too much to accomplish with existing resources. We are trying to capitalize by working with projects going on in other organizations. In relation to the goals for the current year, Validator developments will require additional resource. There is a great deal of work to be done with XML support materials and with the adoption of XML language that is in that standard. The driving force of DAISY 3 is the XML behind it. George also added that he cannot stress enough the importance of our Web site as a communication tool. The Work plan is constantly being revised. He will produce monthly reports for the Board in relation to the activities identified in the Work Plan.
The resolution was approved.
Report from the Treasurer. The Paper gm0305_13.1doc was distributed by email in advance.
Bernhard Heinser made one comment in relation to the budget. The income of $986,000US to date is due to the DAISY for All project funded by the Nippon Foundation. The income from this grant is expected to be more than $620,000 for this one-year period.
The Paper gm0305_item13-2.doc was distributed by email in advance.
RESOLUTION: That the budget for 2003 be received.
Bernhard stated that the budget must be approved. On the income side it is based on the number of members, now totaling approximately 70. The budget is based on current membership fees. The Board is aware that it should reduce member costs and increase income without changing its goals to ensure a stable future for the DAISY Consortium. To be able to move forward we need a stable financial footing. We have reduced travel costs in the budget to do this. In addition we had increased income from new members. The 2003 budget shows a $13,000US positive balance (Bernhard had initially indicated a positive balance of $10,000US, but then corrected the figure given). For the first time in years, the Board presents a balanced budget. He noted however that for the end of 2004, we are expecting a negative balance of $40,000 US.
Stephen King stated that it is great that we have developed a balanced budget, but that there are a number of things in the Work Plan that still need funding, for example, the Validator tool. We should not get complacent as we need to end up with a balanced budget at end of 2004, and still fund the validator tool and other projects which may require funding to be achieved.
The budget was approved.
RESOLUTION: That the membership fees be maintained at their current levels:
The resolution was approved.
RESOLUTION: That the fee for Friends will be changed. Paper gm0305_13.3.doc - Peter Osborne
Peter stated that the Consortium has found that not all companies or organizations can afford the $2,500 US fee. The purpose here is to agree that the minimal level of friendship would have a fee of $1,000. Educational institutes and not-for-profit organizations would be able to join at this level. DAISY Consortium production software is not provided by the Consortium to Friends at either level of Friendship.. It will be effective January 1, 2004.
The resolution was approved
RESOLUTION: That the budget for 2003, with forward estimates through 2004, be adopted.
The resolution was approved
The Paper gm0305_14.doc prepared by Hiroshi Kawamura was distributed by email in advance of the General Meeting.
RESOLUTION: To thank Hiroshi Kawamura for conducting this project funded by the Nippon Foundation
Hiroshi noted that Section 2 of the document states the goals and objectives of the project, and he provided a summary of these for those present.
The original proposal had been for six focal points, but the current grant only covers two. The two selected for this year are Thailand and India. Almost 40% of the first fiscal year was cut from the proposal. Reorganization is therefore being done. We already have two staff in place for open source work: Markku and Marisa. This year is a test year for this project. If we prove that it is relevant and important, Nippon will extend the grant for four more years. If not, there will be no funding beyond this year. Some of the goals for this year are:
The resolution was approved
In the closing remarks on the afternoon of May 15, Ingar asked Bernhard Heinser to come forward. Bernhard announced that the DAISY Consortium General Meeting May 10 in 2004 will be held in Switzerland. SBS has a new building, and they would like take this opportunity to show their new facility to fellow DAISY members. He invited the people present and all other members to come next year.
RESOLUTION: To happily accept the invitation from The Swiss Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired to have the General Meeting 2004 in Zurich.
The resolution was approved
Ingar urged members to read DAISY News to get information about Consortium activities and updates, and also to contribute to it. She also pronounced the Board's appreciation to the staff.
The participants of the General Meeting are welcome.