DIGITAL EXHIBITS EXPLORE COLLECTIONS

Committees

Standing Committees

Advisory Committees and Working Groups


STANDING COMMITTEES


EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The Executive Committee provides general oversight of the Chicago Collections Consortium Board of Directors. It acts on behalf of and makes decisions for the Board of Directors between Board meetings and shares all of its meeting minutes with the Board of Directors. The Committee shall have and exercise the authority of the Board of Directors in the management of the corporation and will consist of two or more directors and such other persons as the Board of Directors designates, provided that a majority of the committee’s membership are directors.

Ellen Keith, Chicago History Museum, (Chair)
Jeanne Long, Chicago Collections Executive Director (ex officio)
Rob Karpinski, DePaul University
Leora Siegel, Chicago Botanic Garden
Marianne Ryan, Loyola University Chicago
Devin Savage, Illinois Institute of Technology

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AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE

The Audit and Finance Committee is concerned with all matters related to budget priorities, allocations, and general financial planning for and auditing of Chicago Collections. The Committee is responsible for preparing and presenting the annual Chicago Collections budget to the Board of Directors for approval. It also audits the Chicago Collections accounts annually and reports the results of the audit to the Board of Directors and general membership. The Committee shall have and exercise the authority of the Board of Directors in the management of the corporation and will consist of two or more directors and such other persons as the Board of Directors designates, provided that a majority of the committee’s membership are directors.

Rob Karpinski, DePaul University (Chair)
Rodney Chambers, University of Illinois Chicago
Ellen Keith, Chicago History Museum

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NOMINATING AND GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

The Nominating and Governance Committee nominates members for the Board of Directors and studies, reports on, and makes recommendations to the Board of Directors on all matters pertaining to organization governance. The Committee shall have and exercise the authority of the Board of Directors in the management of the corporation and will consist of two or more directors and such other persons as the Board of Directors designates, provided that a majority of the committee’s membership are directors.

Marianne Ryan, Loyola University Chicago (Chair)
Rob Karpinski, DePaul University
Linda Naru, University of Illinois Chicago

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ADVISORY COMMITTEES AND WORKING GROUPS


COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE

Externally, the Communications Committee is responsible for communicating the vision, mission, goals, and current activities of Chicago Collections by reporting and promoting consortium news, resources, programs, events, and recognitions using the Chicago Collections newsletter, website, and social media accounts. The Communications Committee is responsible for collaborating with other Chicago Collections committees, the Board of Directors, and the Executive Director, to promote greater awareness of the work of the consortium to all of our audiences through the placement of relevant stories and announcements in local and national media.

Internally, the Communications Committee is responsible for assessing the state of internal communications at Chicago Collections. Collaborating with the Executive Director and Portal Manager, the committee will develop strategies and approaches to improve communications where gaps and issues are identified. The group will help make certain that individuals and groups in the Chicago Collections community feel represented and informed about consortium matters relevant to their roles, needs, and interests.

Maggie Cusick, Chicago History Museum (Co-Chair) 
Jeanne Long, Chicago Collections (Co-Chair) 
Rachel Cole, Northwestern University 
Emily Minehart, Henry Crown & Company Archives

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CONTROLLED VOCABULARY COMMITTEE

Chicago Collections Consortium’s controlled vocabularies help end-users discover content through EXPLORE Chicago Collections and provide a way for archivists, librarians, and other library staff to organize content through Metadata Hopper, the portal administrative tool. The Controlled Vocabulary Committee works to integrate perspectives from a number of different areas including archives, cataloging, public access and services, and user experience to support the creation and maintenance of these controlled vocabularies. This includes tasks such as:

  • Keeping up to date with changes in how things are described, including updates in other controlled vocabularies
  • Reviewing content and search trends in EXPLORE Chicago Collections to determine if new tags are needed or if current tags need to be changed
  • Soliciting and reviewing proposals for new tags
  • Maintaining documentation on the controlled vocabularies, including information on how to apply tags and how they map to other controlled vocabularies
  • Providing training and support on the controlled vocabularies

Jessica BrodeFrank, Chicago Collections (Co-Chair)
Erin Matson, Chicago History Museum (Co-Chair)
Jeremy Bucher, National Hellenic Museum
Brigid Crawley, Chicago History Museum 
Stephanie Fletcher, Illinois Institute of Technology
Kate Flynn, University of Illinois Chicago 
Mingyan Li, University of Illinois Chicago
Greer Martin, Loyola University Chicago
Gretchen Neidhardt, Northwestern University - The Feinberg School of Medicine 

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COOPERATIVE REFERENCE COMMITTEE

The Cooperative Reference Committee works to advance access, knowledge, and use of collections held at Chicago Collections’ member institutions. Participants include generalist and subject-specific reference librarians and archivists from member institutions.

Responsibilities:

  • Provide reference services for information requests received via EXPLORE Chicago Collections or forwarded to the committee via emails from Chicago Collections staff.
  • Create thematic research guides highlighting member institutions’ collections and more generally the use of archival collections
  • Create and maintain FAQs on Chicago Collections Consortium website.
  • Identify and maintain a list of contacts at all member institutions to assist with the coordination of workflow and outreach.
  • Provide training for new committee members.
  • Meet at least once a quarter.
  • Annually review guidelines for services.
  • Collaborate with other working groups on organization priorities and initiatives.
  • Advise the organization on strategies to help improve the user experience with EXPLORE Chicago Collections.
  • Advise the organization on reference platform development and its usage, and create tools necessary to maximize the organization’s impact.

Michelle McCoy, Chicago Public Library (Co-Chair)
Catherine Uecker, University of Chicago (Co-Chair)
Alexis Burson, DePaul University 
Jo Ellen Dickie, The Newberry Library 
Ellen Keith, Chicago History Museum
Kinsey Major, The Newberry Library
Geoff Morse, Northwestern University
Kellee Warren, University of Illinois Chicago

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DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

The Development Committee develops strategies and tactics to generate the required funding to sustain Chicago Collections. It closely follows the work of the Board of Directors and other committees to find activities that present funding opportunities; identifies, researches, and evaluates potential funding agencies and other revenue streams; and assists in drafting grant proposals and other fundraising materials. The Committee shall consist of such persons as the Board of Directors designates and may or may not have directors as members. It may not act on behalf of the corporation or bind it to any actions but may make recommendations to the Board of Directors or to the officers of the corporation.

Sharon Bostick, Retired, Illinois Institute of Technology (Chair) 
Mary Case, Retired, University of Illinois Chicago
Maggie Cusick, Chicago History Museum
Jeanne Long, Chicago Collections 
Bernie Reilly, Retired, Center for Research Libraries

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DIGITAL RESOURCES AND COLLECTIONS COMMITTEE

The Digital Resource and Collections Committee (DRC) charge is to guide and develop online resources that facilitate learning through materials found in Chicago Collections Consortium (CCC) member collections. Additionally, the DRC also serves to identify subject gaps inclusive of underrepresented historical records in the Explore Chicago Collections (ECC) portal and serves as a resource for outside agencies seeking guidance on archival preservation best practices and/or identifying appropriate repositories for their collections. The committee shall consist of such person as the Board of Directors designates and may or may not have directors as members. It may not on behalf of the corporation or bind it to any actions but may make recommendations to the Board of Directors or to the officers of the corporation.

Digital Resources include:
Digital Exhibits
The DRC serves as the advisory committee for exhibit curators that manages and facilitates the collaborative digital exhibit process from proposal to promotion. The responsibilities of the committee include:

  • Soliciting of digital exhibit ideas among members
  • Reviewing collaborative digital exhibit proposals
  • Managing the schedule of digital exhibits
  • Setting up and supporting digital exhibits in Scalar
  • Acting as liaisons (If needed) for exhibit designers and contributing institutions
  • Reviewing and testing completed digital exhibits
  • Coordinating with the Communications Committee to create a plan to promote any new digital exhibit
  • Ensuring the exhibit is migrated from private to public view

Libguides
The DRC creates subject guides on a variety of topics of interest to the CCC community, anchored by member collections in ECC.

  • Work with the Cooperative Reference Committee to identify inquiry topics
  • Work with CCC member organizations to add relevant content to guides
  • Seek recommendations for guides from Chicago Public School representatives and Chicago Metro History Fair staff

Curriculum Guides
The DRC supports the creation of curriculum guides that accompany digital exhibits.

  • Reviewing guides to accompany digital exhibits that are geared to grades 6-12
  • Working with the Communications Committee to promote guides

Leanna Barcelona, University of Illinois Chicago
Kathleen Feeney, University of Chicago
Catherine Grandgeorge, Newberry Library
Kevin Leonard, Northwestern University (Co-Chair)
Jeanne Long, Chicago Collections
Michelle McCoy, Chicago Public Library 
Emily Minehart, Henry Crown and Company Archives (Co-Chair)
Jamie Nelson, DePaul University
Mindy Pugh, Illinois Institute of Technology
Dawn Roberts, The Chicago Academy of Science/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Kathy Young, Loyola University Chicago
Megan Keller Young, University of Illinois Chicago (Co-Chair)

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MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

Building on the work and recommendations of the Organization & Governance Work Group, the Membership Committee identifies potential members for Chicago Collections and recommends policies to the Board of Directors relating to membership. This includes criteria for full and affiliate members; responsibilities of full and affiliate members; membership dues structures; and other membership concerns as needed. The Committee shall consist of such persons as the Board of Directors designates and may or may not have directors as members. It may not act on behalf of the corporation or bind it to any actions but may make recommendations to the Board of Directors or to the officers of the corporation.

Renée Saito, Alliance Française de Chicago (Co-Chair)
Leora Siegel, Chicago Botanic Garden (Co-Chair)
Jeanne Long, Chicago Collections
Mikaela Meza, Chicago Transit Authority
Cheryl McIntyre, Paul and Jean Harris Home Foundation
Janet Olson, Retired, Northwestern University

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PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE

The Programming Committee is responsible for long-range planning and general oversight of Chicago Collections' public programming and services. It identifies, develops, recommends, and supports the implementation of activities such as virtual and physical exhibitions, seminars, workshops, and the development of other educational programs and resources that build upon Explore Chicago Collections, highlight member collections, and further facilitate the discovery of Chicago’s history and culture. The committee consists of such persons as the Board of Directors designates and may or may not have directors as members. It does not act on behalf of the organization or bind it to any actions but makes recommendations to the Board of Directors or to the Executive Committee. 

Devin Savage, Illinois Institute of Technology (Co-Chair)
Molly Szymanski, (Co-Chair)
Pamela Hackbart-Dean, University of Illinois Chicago
Jeanne Long, Chicago Collections
Roslyn Mabry, Chicago Public Library
Matthew Messbarger, Office of the City Clerk, City of Chicago 
Jason Nargis, Northwestern University 
Liv Koreman, Newberry Library
Cheryl Ziegler, Union League Club Chicago

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SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS COMMITTEE

The Systems Development and Analysis Committee assists with the maintenance of Explore Chicago Collections and Metadata Hopper as well as supporting the workflow of content into Explore Chicago Collections.  

This work may include tasks such as evaluating potential enhancements, designing and implementing minor code changes, building simple tools, and creating wire frames for new features. This committee will build a community at Chicago Collections Consortium member institutions of people who know how Metadata Hopper and Explore Chicago Collections function and can provide insight and feedback on ways these systems can be improved to better support users.

To carry out this work, the committee assesses any suggested changes to functionality gathered by the User Support and Assessment Committee and:  

  • Reviews the requested changes to determine what is most feasible and beneficial 
  • Determines what changes are out of scope and may be candidates for future grant work 

Alan Barry, University of Illinois Chicago
Jessica BrodeFrank, Chicago Collections (Co-chair)
Kate Flynn, University of Illinois Chicago (Co-chair)
Charles Blair, University of Chicago
Jamie Carlstone, Northwestern University
Tracy Seneca, University of Illinois Chicago
Adam Strohm, Illinois Institute of Technology

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USER SUPPORT AND ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE

The User Support and Assessment Committee acts as a liaison between the Systems Development and Analysis Committee and users of systems and tools developed by Chicago Collections Consortium (CCC). Those systems include but are not limited to Metadata Hopper and Explore Chicago Collections. The committee provides training and support, including:

  •     Creating and maintaining supporting documentation
  •     Developing and teaching workshops on how to use the systems
  •     Other training and support, as needed

The committee is also responsible for collecting feedback on CCC developed systems and tools. This feedback may come from users and other CCC committees and is intended to anticipate evolving needs and what new features are needed. To support this work, the committee may conduct user assessment activities such as focus groups, user testing and other analyses. The committee will convey that information to the Systems Development and Analysis Committee for further analysis and possible implementation.

Jessica BrodeFrank, Chicago Collections (Co-chair)
Kate Flynn, University of Illinois Chicago (Co-chair)
Allison Look, Illinois Institute of Technology

Updated: 10-07-2024