Latest revision as of 14:18, 11 February 2016

NDSA MEMBERSHIP MODEL

Membership

As an initiative of the Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP), the Alliance is open to United States government agencies, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and businesses with commitments and activities in the areas of collecting, preserving, or ensuring long-term access to digital content. International organizations are also welcome to join as affiliate members.

Term of Membership

The first term of membership expires December 31, 2013. The term of Membership will be for three (3) years thereafter.

Recommendations for Membership

Membership will be at the institutional level, but participation on Working Groups is open to one or more individual participants at the institution.
Applications are welcome from consortia, provided that there is a clear representative identified to participate from each consortium.
Applications are welcome from commercial companies and IT vendors, provided that these members agree to the values of the NDSA and understand that the NDSA requires all members to follow rules of neutrality.
International Organizations will have Affiliate status rather than full membership. (See below for different rights and privileges)
Membership should be open and the process by which new members can join is through:
- Application process via online form (see current form: http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/ndsaform/index.php)
- Review and processing by Secretariat
- Membership is contingent upon fulfilling the eligibility requirements

Eligibility

Members will have demonstrated a commitment to digital preservation.
Members will share the stated values of the Alliance.
Members will agree to maintain vendor neutrality.
Members will agree to participate in one or more working groups.

Rights and Privileges

Full Members

Members will have one vote on organizational and governance matters affecting the Alliance, e.g., voting for coordinating committee nominees, regardless of how many participants they contribute to the NDSA.
Individual participants will have effective decision-making power at the Working Group level, e.g., deciding on work plans and work products.
Members may send representatives to participate in NDSA annual meetings.

Affiliate Members

Member organizations may send representatives to participate in the annual meetings of the NDSA but do not have voting rights.
Members may participate in the work of the Working Groups at the Action Team level.

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+'''NDSA MEMBERSHIP MODEL'''
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-[[NDSA:Comment]]: Under eligibility, what does "maintain vendor neutrality" mean? --Amy Rudersdorf
-[[NDSA:Comment]]: By "Vendor Neutrality" we mean that the Alliance and the work products of the working groups will not promote nor discriminate against any realistic players -
+=Membership=
-either by making basic implementation too hard or by disallowing vendor-specific features or innovations or experiments, where appropriate. -- Michelle Gallinger
+As an initiative of the Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP), the Alliance is open to United States government agencies, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and businesses with commitments and activities in the areas of collecting, preserving, or ensuring long-term access to digital content. International organizations are also welcome to join as affiliate members.
-Given the extensive discussion over membership at the meeting, the  lack of wiki talk, or public e-mail exchange on this issue is surprising. I wonder if we
+==Term of Membership==
+The first term of membership expires December 31, 2013. The term of Membership will be for three (3) years thereafter.
+==Recommendations for Membership==
+* Membership will be at the institutional level, but participation on Working Groups is open to one or more individual participants at the institution.
+* Applications are welcome from consortia, provided that there is a clear representative identified to participate from each consortium.
+* Applications are welcome from commercial companies and IT vendors, provided that these members agree to the values of the NDSA and understand that the NDSA requires all members to follow rules of neutrality.
+* International Organizations will have Affiliate status rather than full membership. (See below for different rights and privileges)
+* Membership should be open and the process by which new members can join is through:
+** Application process via online form (see current form: http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/ndsaform/index.php)
+** Review and processing by Secretariat
+** Membership is contingent upon fulfilling the eligibility requirements
-At the last meeting, although discussion groups didn't come to consensus, there were a number of specific suggestions that weren't fully captured in the notes, and aspects of the original proposal that did did not result in any objection:
+==Eligibility==
+* Members will have demonstrated a commitment to digital preservation.
+* Members will share the stated values of the Alliance.
+* Members will agree to maintain vendor neutrality.
+* Members will agree to participate in one or more working groups.
-- allowing action groups to recruit participants from non-members
+==Rights and Privileges==
-- committing to transparency
---[[NDSA:User:Micah altman|Micah altman]] 13:12, 22 January 2011 (UTC)
+'''Full Members'''
+* Members will have one vote on organizational and governance matters affecting the Alliance, e.g., voting for coordinating committee nominees, regardless of how many participants they contribute to the NDSA.
+* Individual participants will have effective decision-making power at the Working Group level, e.g., deciding on work plans and work products.
+* Members may send representatives to participate in NDSA annual meetings.
-This version of the Membership Model was crafted after reviewing minutes of the meeting and trying to consolidate all of the concerns and wishes expressed at the December workshop.
+'''Affiliate Members'''
+* Member organizations may send representatives to participate in the annual meetings of the NDSA but do not have voting rights.
-We propose what we believe is a workable model that will address the desires of many to be open, inclusive and diverse. We have looked to the membership information that DPC provides for inspiration about how to be inclusive of commercial/IT vendors and international affiliates (see DPC Prospectus linked from here: http://www.dpconline.org/about/join), and have borrowed some of their language with their permission.
+* Members may participate in the work of the Working Groups at the Action Team level.
-We heard at the workshop some of the positives of going with this approach:
-*“NDSA is not a club” – speaks to the inclusiveness we encourage in our values statement.
-*Open, broad membership is a benefit: offers a variety of experiences, knowledge. Access to high-tech and international members benefits us all. Brings in stakeholders that could inspire innovation.
-*Institutions of any size may participate.
-*Without need to have CC or a membership committee review and vote on new members, members could join at any time (LC would process applications as they come in).
-*Encourages members to recruit new members, to think broadly about who might be encouraged to join.
-*This model allows for us to develop clearly stated “we share common values across boundaries” with international organizations and high tech companies and others who may not meet full eligibility requirements.
-*Brings in subject matter experts and specialists that would otherwise not be able to participate “officially.”
-*No perception of favoritism because we aren’t inviting or sponsoring others to join. Membership information on the NDSA site will clearly define what is “a demonstrated commitment to digital preservation.”
-*Clearly defines what the eligibility for international and commercial vendors memberships and expectations for membership.
-Although there was some discussion at the December meeting about a formal application review and a process for that, we are at this point recommending that we keep it lightweight and have the Secretariat review and process applications, particularly with this more open model where we would allow  all to apply. This model will also allow us to move forward now and we can review it in 3 years.