Working with Team DLF

THE DLF ORGANIZER'S TOOLKIT HAS MOVED. THE UPDATED TOOLKIT IS AVAILABLE ON DLF'S WEBSITE

“Reach out to DLF staff and former leaders to find out as much information [as you can]. They are your best resource when first getting started.” —Cristela Garcia-Spitz

“DLF is amazing—don’t hesitate to reach out to them if you have an idea!”—Elizabeth Joan Kelly

“They email back so fast. It’s wild.”—Rachel Appel

The Digital Library Federation is purposefully lightly staffed. This means that we welcome your creative thinking about the best ways to get things done—no process or system is set in stone, and you are not required to use technologies we offer or work to a certain timeline in order to get our support. (We are also allergic to red tape.)

How We Can Help

Team DLF is always available to help with:

• Forming new groups and initiatives, and discussing needed levels of DLF support
• Facilitating collaborations with other DLF groups and committees, and making connections beyond the immediate DLF community, including (among others) to the NDSA
• Creating editable pages on the DLF website and wiki, or creating and hosting other web resources
• Communications and visual branding, including signal-boosting: promoting your group’s activities through DLF’s various social media channels, calendars, and lists
• Setting up an email list, scheduling a conference call, or facilitating a Twitter chat
• Options for open access publications, both online and print, including through CLIR
• Managing your data, with connections to DLF’s Github and OSF repositories
• Planning and organizing an in-person meet-up at the annual DLF Forum
• Creating cross-pollinator opportunities to connect your conference or community to ours
• Providing limited financial sponsorship or in-kind contributions to good causes
• Brainstorming next steps for your group and consulting on ways to build and maintain momentum
• Learning from each other, and answering any questions about DLF you may have!

Do I have to be a member? Does our project have to be "official?"

We happily support and amplify far more community-based activity than is represented elsewhere on this wiki or on our website. If you're doing great work that needs a boost but not a "home," don't hesitate to contact us. We won't co-opt or DLF-brand you.

We also work with energized, committed teams regardless of the institutional affiliation of their participants. You don't have to be part of a DLF member organization to lead or join a working group.

That said, everything Team DLF does depends on the financial support of our members. If you are in a position to influence institutional membership decisions, we'd be extremely grateful for your advocacy!

Contacting DLF

You can always reach individual staff members directly, but we encourage first contacts to the whole team, at info@diglib.org.

Scheduling Meetings on CLIR+DLF's Zoom Account

DLF Working Groups are encouraged to schedule their meetings on the CLIR+DLF Zoom account. To set up your meeting, email staff at info@diglib.org with the following information:

• Name of meeting
• Date, time, and recurrence (if scheduling recurring meetings)
• Whether your meeting needs to be recorded

Table of Contents

1. About DLF and the Organizers' Toolkit
2. Working with Team DLF
3. Starting a New Initiative or Working Group
4. General Facilitation and Goal-Setting
5. Facilitating for Diversity and Inclusion
6. Communications and Consensus
7. Preventing and Managing Burnout
8. Gathering Info/Building Enthusiasm
9. Planning an In-Person Meetup
10. Setting Up Year-Round Meetings
11. Planning Virtual Meetings and Webinars
12. Talking and Writing
13. Organizing and Sharing Your Work
14. In a Nutshell