Minutes of the Annual Meeting 15 SEPTEMBER 2006
Sonoma County Wine Library, Healdsburg, California
Hosts: Sonoma County Wine Library, Bo Simons.
Convened: President Bo Simons called the business meeting to order at 10:15 a.m. in the meeting room of the Healdsburg Public Library. He welcomed all in attendance and asked all to introduce themselves.
In Attendance: Bo Simons (Sonoma County Wine Library), Callie Konno (Sonoma County Wine Library), Karen Holmes (Sonoma County Wine Library), Gail Unzelman (Wayward Tendrils Quarterly / Nomis Press), Nina Wemyss (Napa Valley Reserve Library), Robert Zerkowitz and his guest Steven Schechner (Wine Institute Library), Rick Robison ( Sonoma State University Library), Marty Schlabach (Cornell University), Mary Jean Welser (Cornell University), Helene Crane (Napa City Library), Sami Lange (Library Student at San Jose State University, Imagery Winery), Dr. John Hopkins and Dr. Faranak Dadfarmay (Razi Wine Library & Museum, Dallas TX).
The Wine Librarians Assn. Bo briefly reviewed the history of the founding of the Wine Librarians Assn (WLA). The WLA was founded in 1996 by Tammy Lau (California State University, Fresno) and Axel Borg (U.C. Davis). The impetus to incorporate in 2002 as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization came with a gift of money from Darrly Corti that enabled the production of The Brady Book. Selections from the Unpublished Writings of Roy Brady, edited by Thomas Pinney, and published in 2003. Sales from this venture have given us a treasury and the means to pursue further projects in our mission “to preserve the history of wine.” The group, hosted at a member site, meets once a year. There is a mailing list at yahoo, and a website has been discussed.
Financial Report: Treasurer Callie Konno passed out financial statements and reported the bank balance, as of 1 September 2006: $16,049.53. A recap of the financial activities from May 2005 to present showed: Revenues $2,116.51; Expenses $505.92.
Membership Report: Gail Unzelman, Membership Chairman, reported a membership roster of 45. Membership renewals ($20 / year) will go out shortly, along with a current Membership Roster.
Book Sales: Gail Unzelman reported. The Brady Book: Of the 250 copies printed, only 3 copies remain unsold. The 7-volume California Viticultural District History series: 20 sets ($135 per set) and two individual Napa District volumes ($20 each) have been sold.
Individual Member Reports:
HELENE CRANE, NAPA CITY LIBRARY, reported the Napa City Library is expanding its wine book collection as a service to the many patrons who request wine literature. Antiquarian and rare books will remain in the realm of the Napa Valley Wine Library in St. Helena. Suggested titles to add to the collection, or duplicate copies of books now in member libraries, would be appreciated.
RICK ROBISON (Reference Coordinator), SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, announced that a full run of Wines & Vines had been donated to the collection, and that the archives of local historian Gaye LeBaron have been deposited in the library, and digitized. The library also has an extensive collection of photographs of the “1906 Earthquake” that have been digitized and catalogued. Rick demonstrated how these images can be accessed from the university library website.
ROBERT ZERKOWITZ, WINE INSTITUTE LIBRARY, reported that some 1100 images (of approximately 1500, from the 1880s to the 1960s) have been entered into a searchable database, and will be available to W.I. members and outside researchers. Robert’s guest, Steven Schechner, has been a Wine Institute intern, working on the photo database, while pursuing his library degree.
JOHN HOPKINS and FARANAK DADFARMAY, physicians in Dallas, TX, with a special interest in wine and its beneficial uses in everyday health, informed us of their work with the American Heart Association and Texas A & M University. They have founded the Razi Wine Library & Museum, and are actively seeking wine books for the library.
MARTY SCHLABACH, CORNELL UNIVERSITY, presented a web-tour of the Mann Library at Cornell and the Core Historical Literature of Agriculture (CHLA), a digital collection of historical books and journals on U.S. agriculture published between the early 19th and mid-twentieth centuries. http://chla.library.cornell.edu/c/chla/browse/r.html Some 1800 books have been entered into the digital collection. Marty offered that the WLA members submit a list of wine books that should be considered for digitizing to create a sub-collection of core wine and grapes material; he would welcome this participation in the program. The university has an in-house scanner, and the cost of processing a book into the system is about $200. Discussion followed on the project and how to involve other wine libraries to perhaps select the first 100 wine books. Marty suggested the “first step” is the WLA’s yahoolistserve — all members are encouraged to register so they can be kept informed (see note on first page).
GAIL UNZELMAN announced the recent publication of Sonoma County Wineries, an Arcadia Publishing “Postcard Series” book. Some 200 postcard images tell the story of Sonoma County wine, from the earliest days of the padres to the “Little Old Winemaker—Me” of Italian-Swiss Colony. Cost of the book is $20 and proceeds go to the Wine Library Associates of Sonoma County, the support group of the Sonoma County Wine Library.
Pacific Wine & Spirit Review Project — Progress Report:
BO SIMONS gave us an update on the ongoing project to digitize this highly important 19th / 20th century wine journal. The most complete run of the PW&SR is at San Francisco Public Library, where Susan Goldstein, City Archivist, has been contacted. She has received a grant from the Open Content Alliance to scan and digitize important materials at the library for a very nominal fee of 10-cents a page. Top priority to her is the library’s holdings of the San Francisco Business Directories, but she recognizes the PW&SR is an invaluable wine reference resource, and has added it to her recommended titles. The cost to scan and digitize, in a searchable format, the PW&SR would be approximately $2500, and the WLA has promised funds for this. Copies of the CD would be made available to libraries and other researchers who requested it. We would like the project to move forward. Following discussion it was suggested that Bo draft a letter to Susan Goldstein expressing WLA’s support for this project and a plea for urgency.
Relazione di un Viaggio d’Istruzione negli Stati Uniti d’America [Narrative of a Fact Finding Trip to the United States] by Guido Rossati, 1900. 548 pp.
BO SIMONS proposed that WLA might consider a project to translate and publish this significant, but neglected, resource that offers a detailed portrait of the American wine industry at the turn of the century. Printed on poor paper, the very few known copies are in various stages of deterioration. Marty Schlabach has scanned the Cornell copy, and this is available for translating purposes. It was decided we should proceed to find a translator, and get estimates for costs for the translation and for the printing. It was also suggested that perhaps some of the important men in the wine industry, especially those with an Italian background (John DeLuca, Henry Trione), could be approached for their financial support. There was a consensus to investigate this project thoroughly.
Speaker: Nate Garhart, Copyright Attorney
Following lunch, Nate Garhart, partner in the San Francisco law firm, Coblentz, Patch, Duffy, & Bass, and a specialist in trademark and copyright issues, spoke to us regarding copyright law in general, and libraries and copyright, specifically. During his talk, he invited questions as they arose, and we enjoyed a lively, very informative session. A brief summary: Nate outlined the four areas of “intellectual property” protection: trademark (brand name),copyright (author’s original work), patent (the invention), others (trade secrets, etc). He noted copyright law is “murky and ambiguous,” and during his tenure as an attorney in this field, he has never seen a library brought to court for infringement. He covered the “fair use” defense of copying materials (again, murky, according to the law), but includes 1) Nature of the use (educational, non-commercial); 2) Nature of the work copied (a creative, fanciful novel, as opposed to dry facts/statistics); 3) Amount of material copied (paragraph? chapter? whole book?), but there is no standard rule for this “amount”; 4) Affect on the owner’s market. A copyright lasts a finite period of time: At this time, books published prior to 1923 are in the “public domain.” We were all interested to learn that photographs are under the same rules of copyright. In reference to postcards: postcard photos are not protected by copyright and are in the public domain … he has never seen a court case to suggest otherwise. And, on a public domain book, there is no such thing as a reprint copyright. Nate invited all WLA members to contact him if they have further questions. .com” nag@cpdb.com
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m. Bo welcomed the members to join him in a tour of the wine library.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Unzelman, Secretary
