Report

1. It is necessary for the Printing and Publishing Committee to increase its membership. For this, it would be helpful to encourage other interested members within TIMA to join the Committee. Once there is momentum, it will be possible to delegate tasks to different members. This division of tasks should take place during the next TIMA meeting.
2. Ways to encourage membership: TIMA, and the Printing and Publishing Committee in particular, may begin to establish and develop links with academic publishers, who may be invited to become members. This may be done by contacting and inviting relevant commissioning editors at relevant publishers, e.g. Brill, OUP, CUP, EUP and Peeters.
3. Compiling a list of standards relating to good practice in relation to printing and publishing: For this, it will be helpful to invite papers on the subject to be presented at the next meeting of TIMA. It will also be helpful to have a brainstorming session in the meeting specifically on the subject, to solicit thoughts from TIMA members on this.
4. In its first meeting, the Printing and Publishing Committee recommended the establishing of an online catalogue of published MSS. The Committee looks forward to hearing from the Executive Committee with regard to this recommendation.
5. The Committee also recommended that a committee of subject-specialists be set up to undertake a survey of manuscripts and texts by subject. Again, we would be interested in receiving comments from the Executive Committee with regard to this recommendation. If TIMA decides to go ahead with any of these two recommendations, then the Printing and Publishing Committee will consider ways to take this forward. In this case, relevant resources will be required and working groups will be set up.

Ayman Shihadeh
7 February 2007