Meetings

Rules of Order

Introduction to Robert's Rules of Order

A short, easy-to-read guide to the basics.

Survival Tips on Robert's Rules of Order

From the California State Associations of Parliamentarians and regularly updated, but you'll have to ignore the flawed design. Tips on topics from by-laws ("The best advice anyone can give you is to become familiar with the Bylaws and Constitution of your organization.") and agendas to the six steps in every motion and ways to amend a motion. Briefly stated tips that can keep your meeting in order.

Robert's Rules of Order Motions Chart

Charts describing the purpose of a motion, the wording you use, whether it requires a second, etc. The first table for main motions will probably be the most useful.

Cagle's Parliamentary Procedure

"The homepage provides basic instruction on important topics in Parliamentary Procedure, an opportunity to ask a real Parliamentarian questions, and a link to Questions & Answers I have received and given"--an excellent, clearly-presented resource. Includes advice on making meetings work and making committees work.

Effective Meetings

Meeting Wizard: Your Meeting Planning Center

A site devoted to planning and holding good meetings from the makers of an online meeting tool. Some of the useful information you'll find here in addition to tips for effective meetings are sections on meeting agendas, taking minutes, and chairing meetings.

Effective Meetings

A series of exercises produced by The New England Regional Leadership Program that a group can do to evaluate and improve meetings and group work, including training. Some of the topics: Nominal Group Technique, General Assessment of Needs, The Facilitator's Role, Choosing the Best Training Activities to Meet an Objective, and Reaching Your Community. An unusual resource, elements of which can be used independently in a variety of contexts.

The Basics of Designing and Facilitating Meetings

From MIT, a nice guide to planning and facilitating meetings. Be sure to follow the links to get the most from this site. You might also want to explore the other Learning Topics that MIT provides.

Effective Library Board Meetings

Administrative Essentials #5 from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction provides information on preparing an agenda and conducting a meeting.  A sample agenda and links to additional resources are provided.

Open Meetings

A Guide to Wisconsin's Open Meetings Law

A brief overview is given along with a link to the Open Meetings Law Compliance Guide.

Wisconsin's Open Meetings Law and Library Board Closed Sessions

This site describes the WI Open Meetings Law as it relates to library board meetings and closed sessions.  There are detailed instructions on the requirements for conducting a closed session meeting and links to relevant documents.

League of Wisconsin Municipalities

16 frequently asked questions about open meetings law.

Taking Minutes

Write Minutes, not Hours

Several basic points to consider about the nature of minutes and minute-taking.

An Important Skill

What you need to do when you take minutes, organized around what you need to do before, during, and after the meeting. From about.com<

Tips for Taking Minutes

From the Communications Committee of the Association of College and Research Libraries.