Possible domain names:
houstonarchivists.org
archivistsofthehoustonarea.org

Current set up:
· FREE: Rice hosts the website for free @ www.rice.edu/fondren/woodson/AHA
· Updates and maintenance can only be done by Rice people
· There is no central "AHA" e-mail address to give people

Reasons to purchase domain name and space:
· Updates and maintenance can be done by any AHA member from anywhere (currently only Rice members can edit web page from Rice computers)

· Web address would be easier to remember -- for ex. www.houstonarchivists.org

· A central e-mail would be available -- such as archivists@houstonarchivists.org --
which would be a lasting method of contact for the general public to use, and we could print it in our publications without fear of it becoming out of date
The e-mail account would be checkable by assigned AHA member(s) and accessible from anywhere

"Mailing List" feature might work like a listserv and reduce need for Yahoo list which has been troublesome for people

Cost ca. $100 per year
· Register domain name: $9.95 per year @ EZ WebHosting (www.ez-web-hosting.com/domain.htm) or verio.com/hosting/shared/dnr/index.cfm
· Webspace options @ EZ Web Hosting:
Economy: $5.95 per month @ 24 months = $142.80 for 2 years ($71.40 per year) with 100MB storage (we currently use 2.5 MB)

Is it worth ca. $100 per to AHA to have a central e-mail address (such as askanarchivist@houstonarchivists.org) and centrally maintainable web space?
Is 2005 the year to begin this or should we table this till 2006? Rice will continue to offer the free web space, so that is not an issue.

Consider that we plan in 2005 to step up the community outreach efforts by developing the speakers bureau and speaking to small groups all over the area / and to develop the website into something partly for the general public (preservation info / links especially) and partly for ourselves.