Looking for historical meeting minutes using Robert's rules

[Guest Joanna Hagstrøm]

Hi everyone

I'm writing my thesis in sociology on meeting facilitation techniques, and for my historical analysis I I would like to collect historical meeting minutes, in which Robert's rules were used. Do anyone know how to find such minutes?

Kind regards,

Joanna Hagstrøm

[Chris Harrison]

If there are any organizations you have in mind you can look them up online and/or contact them directly to determine if their meetings are conducted using RONR.  That information should be located in their Governing Documents (Bylaws, Constitution, Articles of Incorporation etc) probably near the end of the document.  If RONR is used hopefully the minutes of their meetings are available to the public.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

3 hours ago, Guest Joanna Hagstrøm said:

I would like to collect historical meeting minutes, in which Robert's Rules were used.

Do anyone know how to find such minutes?

Your starting premise is faulty.

One's minutes will not reveal whether the minutes so generated were generated under any given parliamentary authority.

Minutes written prior to 1876 and post-1876 (the year of publication of the First Edition of Robert's Rules of Order) won't reveal which parliamentary authority was binding at the meeting hour.

In the 1800s, the parliamentary authority could have been Kerfoot or could have been Reed.

But the minutes won't reveal which one.

[Shmuel Gerber]

On 5/10/2016 at 10:23 AM, Guest Joanna Hagstrøm said:

I would like to collect historical meeting minutes, in which Robert's rules were used. Do anyone know how to find such minutes?

On 5/10/2016 at 2:02 PM, Kim Goldsworthy said:

Your starting premise is faulty.

One's minutes will not reveal whether the minutes so generated were generated under any given parliamentary authority.

Obviously, Ms. Hagstrøm is probably interested in finding minutes of meetings in which Robert's Rules were used. Additionally, she might be interested in collecting minutes that were prepared in societies that use Robert's Rules, which definitely has rules about how minutes should be prepared. Nobody asked about whether the minutes themselves will demonstrate which parliamentary authority was used at the meeting or for guiding the preparation of the minutes.

So I say that your conclusion, rather than the OP's premise, is faulty in that addresses a question not asked.

[J. J.]

On 5/10/2016 at 10:23 AM, Guest Joanna Hagstrøm said:

Hi everyone

I'm writing my thesis in sociology on meeting facilitation techniques, and for my historical analysis I I would like to collect historical meeting minutes, in which Robert's rules were used. Do anyone know how to find such minutes?

Kind regards,

Joanna Hagstrøm

You might try here:  http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/msscfa/pr/sc22749.pdf

There are copies of the bylaws, so you could check the parliamentary authority. 

[Kim Goldsworthy]

Analogy.

Quote

". . . I'd like to collect minutes where The Chicago Manual of Style was used . . ."

Q. If I were to produce two sets of minutes, where

(a.) one set of minutes where The Chicago Manual of Style was used, and

(b.) one set of minutes where The Chicago Manual of Style was not used,

how could you tell the minutes apart?

***

Q. If one set of minutes was prepared using Gardner's Modern American Usage, and if another set of minutes was prepared using The AP Style Book, then how could you the minutes apart?

 

[Shmuel Gerber]

14 hours ago, Kim Goldsworthy said:

Q. If I were to produce two sets of minutes, where

(a.) one set of minutes where The Chicago Manual of Style was used, and

(b.) one set of minutes where The Chicago Manual of Style was not used,

how could you tell the minutes apart?

Hardly anybody uses a stylebook without making particular exceptions, but assuming that every rule in the book was followed without exception, and assuming we know which edition was used, it would probably be simple to tell. For example, if the minutes said ". . . the President . . ." rather than ". . . the president . . .", then it would not be in full compliance with the practice recommended in the current edition of the Chicago Manual.

14 hours ago, Kim Goldsworthy said:

Q. If one set of minutes was prepared using Gardner's Modern American Usage, and if another set of minutes was prepared using The AP Style Book, then how could you the minutes apart?

Assuming you mean Garner's Modern American Usage (or the current edition, Garner's Modern English Usage) and The Associated Press Stylebook, it would be very simple. Garner's recommends using the serial comma (e.g., red, white, and blue), whereas AP says to omit the serial comma in most cases (e.g., red, white and blue).

Now, what does all this have to do with the question asked, which was whether anyone here knows how to find historical minutes of meetings that used Robert's Rules? (Answer: It has nothing to do with it.) No one asked about determining the parliamentary authority from reading the minutes themselves.

[Kim Goldsworthy]

16 minutes ago, Shmuel Gerber said:

Now, what does all this have to do with the question asked, which was whether anyone here knows how to find historical minutes of meetings that used Robert's Rules? (Answer: It has nothing to do with it.) No one asked about determining the parliamentary authority from reading the minutes themselves.

>> I would like to collect historical meeting minutes, in which Robert's rules were used.

Q. If I were to have minutes from the pre-1900 era, then how would the original poster (Joanna H.) tell whether that organization had used Reed, or Kerfoot, or Robert?

Q. What is the proof that the 1899 Pasadena Rose Parade Society had used any parliamentary authority of any kind, given a copy of their 1899 minutes?

[Josh Martin]

13 hours ago, Kim Goldsworthy said:

>> I would like to collect historical meeting minutes, in which Robert's rules were used.

Q. If I were to have minutes from the pre-1900 era, then how would the original poster (Joanna H.) tell whether that organization had used Reed, or Kerfoot, or Robert?

Q. What is the proof that the 1899 Pasadena Rose Parade Society had used any parliamentary authority of any kind, given a copy of their 1899 minutes?

None at all, especially considering that most minutes are not written with full compliance of whatever authority the society is using.

This is why no one has suggested looking at the minutes alone. Mr. Harrison suggested reviewing the society's bylaws or contacting the society itself to determine what parliamentary authority the society used.

[Dan Honemann]

Everyone is way ahead of me on this, since I have no idea as to what is meant by "historical meeting minutes, in which Robert's rules were used."

[Gary Novosielski]

On 5/13/2016 at 7:48 AM, Daniel H. Honemann said:

Everyone is way ahead of me on this, since I have no idea as to what is meant by "historical meeting minutes, in which Robert's rules were used."

I'm with you.  I suspect that even if I knew what it meant, I would wonder how reading the minutes of a meeting would give me insight into the "facilitation techniques" that may have been used during the meeting.  

Minutes are a record of what was done, not how it was facilitated.