Bylaws

Bylaws

Governance

Meeting Minutes

Digital Library of the Caribbean
By-laws (Revised November 2009)

I. NAME

The organization shall be called Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC), representing the cooperative body established to develop a collection of digital archives, artifacts, and library materials.

II. MISSION

dLOC's diverse partners will serve an international community of scholars, students, and citizens by working together to preserve and to provide enhanced electronic access to cultural, historical, legal, governmental, and research materials in a common web space with a multilingual interface.

III. PURPOSE AND VISION

The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative of partners within the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean that will provide users with access to Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections. dLOC comprises collections that speak to the similarities and differences in histories, cultures, languages and governmental systems. Types of collections include but are not limited to: newspapers, archives of Caribbean leaders and governments, official documents, documentation and numeric data for ecosystems, scientific scholarship, historic and contemporary maps, oral and popular histories, travel accounts, literature and poetry, musical expressions, and artifacts.

IV. MEMBERSHIP

Types of Membership

1. Institutional Members
   
2. Institutional Membership in dLOC is open to libraries, archives, museums, research centers, associations, publishers, and vendors that meet the eligibility criteria. Each institution shall be represented by a single member, the Institutional Representative. An Alternate member will serve in the Institutional Representative's absence.
   
   Eligibility
   Institutions are eligible to join the organization based on the following criteria:
1. Willingness to contribute collections and to make these freely available to the project.
2. Availability of appropriate collections with Caribbean content.
3. Willingness to comply with common standards.
4. Willingness to designate a representative to manage local participation.

Partners in the project may: 1) contribute digital content to a centralized repository; 2) make their digital collections available to dLOC through compliance with the Open Archives Initiative (OAI); and/or 3) contribute metadata and contextual resources to support materials in dLOC.

1. Associate Members
   Associate Membership is open to individuals, organizations or institutions that have appropriate collections of Caribbean content but do not have the resources or expertise to digitize the collections.  Associate members may submit their content into dLOC through current institutional members who will make provide representation on their behalf at governance meetings.
   
   
2. Inactive Members
   Members not contributing to dLOC for a period of 5 years will be considered inactive. The Executive Committee will review membership annually at general meetings and will notify members of inactive status. Inactive members may be reinstated upon request by a majority vote at annual general meetings.

V. MEETINGS

a. General Membership Meetings

The general meeting of the members of dLOC shall be conducted once a year, in proximity to the Association of Caribbean University, Research and Institutional Libraries (ACURIL) annual conference.

b. Executive Committee Meetings

The Executive Committee shall meet once a year, in proximity to the ACURIL annual conference or at another mutually agreed upon time and place.

c. Advisory Board Meetings

The Advisory Board shall meet once a year, in proximity to the Caribbean Studies Association annual conference.

d. Special Meetings

Special meetings of the membership and/or the Executive Committee may be held by direction of the Executive Committee.

e. Quorum

The quorum will be a simple majority of the members participating in the annual meeting. Quorum is required for a vote, and members may attend and vote virtually. Ex-officio members are not voting members, and the Chair of the Executive Committee will only vote when required to break a tie.

f. Participation

Meetings are open to members of the organization.

g. Meeting Notification

Meetings will be announced to the membership and/or associated parties at least two months prior to the scheduled meeting through appropriate dLOC email list(s).

VI. GOVERNANCE

dLOC is governed by an Executive Committee which oversees all project activities, a Scholarly Advisory Board which provides guidance to the Executive Committee, and a group of Contributors working toward dLOC's continued success and sustainability. The Governing structure shall consist of an Executive Committee, Advisory Board, Executive Director, and sub-committees.

a. The Executive Committee

The Executive Committee shall be the governing body of dLOC. The Committee shall consist of nine members elected from the institutional representatives by the general body, one institutional representative from one of the host institutions, and the Chair of the Scholarly Advisory Board for a total of 11 members. Terms of office shall be staggered, 2-year terms. A majority shall constitute a quorum of the Executive Committee.

i. Governing Authority

The Executive Committee shall engage in policy-making, planning and fundraising efforts, and shall oversee the work of the Executive Director. The Committee will convene sub-committees who report to the Executive Director, and will select the members of the Advisory Board.

ii. Officers

The officers of the Executive Committee shall be Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary. Officers will be elected by the members of the Committee.

iii. Officer Roles and Responsibilities

The Chair of the Executive Committee shall:

1. Preside over general membership meetings;
2. Develop the general membership meeting agenda;
3. Serve as ex-officio member of the Advisory Board.

The Vice-Chair shall serve as Chair in the absence of the Committee Chair. Other duties include:

1. Serve as liaison to the Advisory Board;
2. Assist the Committee Chair by representing the Committee at meetings upon request.
3. Move into the Chair position for 2 years after serving as Vice-Chair for 2 years.

The Secretary shall:

1. Record and distribute minutes of the Membership, Advisory Board and Executive Committee;
2. Handle correspondence as required;
3. Maintain membership roster.

iv. Elections and Terms of Office

1. Election shall be by secret ballot during the General Membership Meeting.
2. Representatives from active institutional members will be eligible for election to the Executive Committee.

v. Vacancies

A vacancy in any office because of death, resignation, removal, disqualification or otherwise, shall be filled by the institutional alternate. A new institutional representative shall be appointed by the institution.

vi. Removal

Any institutional representative may be removed for cause from the Executive Committee at any time by the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting Executive committee members then in office.

b. Advisory Board

The Advisory Board shall consist of seven members appointed by the Executive Committee. The members of the Board will be skilled in relevant academic disciplines, in curriculum development, and/or in technical issues. The Board will provide guidance to the Executive Committee and the Executive Director by reviewing proposals for collections, nominating collections for inclusion, reviewing standards developed by sub-committees and assisting with future funding sources. Professional expertise of members of the Board will reflect the current issues being addressed by the organization. Terms of office shall be staggered, 2-year terms, with the exception of the first term, at the end of which three or four members of the Advisory Board will be invited to remain on the Board for a third year. Members may be re-elected.

c. Executive Director

The Executive Director shall be hired by the host institution with counsel from the Executive Committee, to develop and coordinate activities of the Digital Library of the Caribbean as directed by the Committee. The Executive Director shall have managerial, fiscal, and library experience and be located at a host institution that is a member of the organization.  The responsibilities of the position are to:

1. Coordinate activities of project managers located at participating institutions;
2. Liaise with legal counsel to clarify and resolve issues of jurisprudence;
3. serve as an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee and the Advisory Board; (ex-officio members are non-voting members)
4. Promote activities of dLOC ;
5. Report to the Executive Committee and to the membership on the affairs of the organization;
6. Seek sustainability through active grant writing and fundraising efforts;
7. Maintain the active records of the organization
8. Approves the work of the subcommittees and acts on the recommendations
9. Be located at a host institution that is a member of the organization.

VII. STANDING COMMITTEES

Standing Committees shall be appointed by the Executive Committee from among the membership. All recommendations and minutes of Sub-Committees and ad hoc Committee meetings shall be forwarded to the Executive Director for approval and action. To carry out its work, the Digital Library of the Caribbean may have additional task forces which will be charged with specific responsibilities or tasks. These may be suggested by the membership of the organization as a whole, by the Executive Director, or by the Advisory Board.

1. Technical Standards and Training Committee
   The Technical Standards and Training Committee shall establish standards for digitization that include cataloging, metadata and markup, and deployment issues.
2. Teaching and Outreach Committee
   The Curriculum and Development Committee shall plan and consider future priorities and initiatives of the organization.
3. Development Committee
   Development Committee shall plan and consider future fiscal priorities and initiatives of the organization and implement fundraising initiatives.

VIII. BYLAWS, GOVERNANCE, AND LEGAL COUNSEL

a. Bylaws

1. Amendments to these bylaws may be proposed by the Executive Committee, the Executive Director, or by the membership. Proposals shall be submitted to the Executive Director and reviewed by the Executive Committee. All proposals submitted shall be presented to the membership and may contain Executive Committee or Executive Director recommendations.
2. Amendments will be considered at the annual membership meeting. Notice containing the text of any proposed amendment shall be sent to the membership at least 30 days before the meeting at which it is to be discussed.
3. These bylaws may be amended by a simple majority of voting members.

b. Parliamentary Procedure

All matters of procedure at any meeting of the Committees, or the membership shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order (latest edition). These rules of order may be suspended by a vote of two-thirds of the voting representatives present.

c. Legal Counsel

Legal counsel shall be made available to dLOC by the institutions represented on the Executive Committee on a voluntary basis.

IX. FINANCES AND RECORDS

a. Dues and Fees

Each member shall be assessed annual membership dues according to a fee-structure and schedule determined by the Executive Committee. Implementation of dues and fees will be determined by an amendment to the by-laws.

b. Fiscal Year

The fiscal year will begin 1 October each year and end 30 September of the following calendar year.

c. Finances

dLOC shall operate with money received from a variety of funding sources to include grants, membership dues, contributions from member institutions and donations to maintain the organization.

d. Registration Fees

The Executive Committee will have the right to establish fees to cover the cost of annual meetings.

e. Records

All active records of the general membership meetings, the Executive Committee and the Advisory Board, shall be maintained at the office of the Executive Director.

f. Disposition of Assets

In the event that the dLOC is dissolved, any remaining funds in the Treasury shall be disbursed to the Institution of the Executive Director for the sole purpose of preserving and maintaining the organization's records. In the event that the dLOC is dissolved, the University of Florida shall continue to serve in its role as the technical partner as the contact for the Florida Digital Archive for continued stewardship of dLOC's digital assets.

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Information below is not part of the bylaws, but rather the governance section of the website.

GOVERNANCE

dLOC's governance structure allows project partners to retain their individual identities while contributing to a greater digital library initiative. With official policies described in the dLOC Bylaws, dLOC is governed by an Executive Committee which oversees all project activities, a Scholarly Advisory Board which provides guidance to the Executive Committee, and Training and Technology Specialists, all working toward dLOC's continued success and sustainability.

Executive Committee

Representatives from each partner institution vote to elect nine of the eleven members of the Executive Committee consisting of representatives from the partner institutions. The final two Executive Committee members are: 1) one institutional representative from one of the host institutions (2004-2013: FIU is the Administrative Host Institution and UF is the Technical Host Institution); and, 2) the Chair of the Scholarly Advisory Board. The Chair of the Scholarly Advisory Board and the Host Institutional Representative are voting members of the Executive Committee, but they are not eligible for Chair/Office of the Executive Committee.

• Chair: Jean Wilfrid Bertrand, Director, Archives Nationales d'Haïti (ANH)
• Vice-Chair: TBD
• Secretary: TBD
• Host Institution: Laurie Probst, Dean of Libraries, Florida International University (FIU)
• Scholarly Advisory Board Chair: Dr. Cristina Eguizábal, Director of the Latin American & Caribbean Center, Florida International University (FIU)
• Member: Margo Groenewoud, Director, University of the Netherlands Antilles Library
• Member: Maureen Newton, Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
• Member: Dulce María Núñez de Táveras, Library Director, Pontificia Universidad Madre y Maestra
• Member: Astrid Britten, Director, Biblioteca Nacional Aruba
• Member: Barry Baker, Director of Libraries, University of Central Florida (UCF)
• Member: Dr. Mark Greenberg, Director of Special & Digital Collections, University of South Florida (USF)
• Member: Joy Ysaguirre, Chief Librarian, Belize National Library Service and Information System (BNLSIS)
• Past-Chair (non-voting): Judith Rogers, Manager, Learning Resources and Faculty Technology Services, University of the Virgin Islands (UVI)

Scholarly Advisory Board
The Scholarly Advisory Board, made up of academics and professionals in the fields of Caribbean Studies and Digital Libraries, provides guidance on collection development, collection accessibility, and technical issues. The Scholarly Advisory Board consists of seven members appointed by the Executive Committee, and convenes once a year in proximity of the Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) conference. The Scholarly Advisory Board provides guidance to the Executive Committee and the Project Coordinator by reviewing proposals for collections, by nominating collections for inclusion, and by reviewing standards developed by sub-committees.

• Chair: Dr. Cristina Eguizábal, Director, Latin American and Caribbean Center; Professor, Political Science; Principal Investigator, CNDL (dLOC PI, 2005-2009), Florida International University
• Co-Chair: Dr. Phillip Williams, Professor, Director and Professor, Center for Latin American Studies; co-PI, CNDL, University of Florida
• Dr. Alejandra Bronfman, Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada
• Dr. Eric Duke, Assistant Professor, Department of Africana Studies, University of South Florida
• Lloyd Gardner, Manager, Environmental Support Services; Environmental Specialist, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
• Adolfo Gonzalez Henriquez, Sociologist; Scientific Advisor, Biblioteca Digital del Caribe Hector Rojas Herazo, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, Colombia
• Dr. Jo Ann Harris, Professor, Literature, Communication & Culture, Georgia, Institute of Technology
• Dr. Leah Rosenberg, Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of Florida
• Dr. Chantalle Verna, Assistant Professor, Depts. of History and International Relations, Florida International University
• Ex-Officio Member: dLOC Executive Director (Brooke Wooldridge, Florida International University)
• Ex-Officio Member: dLOC Technical Director (Laurie Taylor, University of Florida)

Training & Technical Specialists

• Project Director: Brooke Wooldridge
• Project Co-Directors: Judith Rogers, University of the Virgin Islands, and Gayle Williams, Florida International University
• Technical Director: Dr. Laurie Taylor, University of Florida
• Programmer: Mark Sullivan, University of Florida
• Metadata Control Director: Laila Miletic-Vejzovic, University of Central Florida
• Training Specialist: Lourdes Santamaria-Wheeler, University of Florida
• Educational Outreach: Liesl Picard, Florida International University

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Meeting Minutes

• Executive Committee Agendas and Meeting Minutes
  • Full list of all agendas and minutes
  • 2 June 2011
  • 2 June 2010
  • 16 September 2009
  • 29 February 2009
  • 16 September 2008
  • 5 June 2008
  • 18 April 2008
  • 29 February 2008
  • ACURIL 2007
  • Pre-Planning Meeting Photo
• Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
  • 18 April 2008
  • 31 May 2006
• General Partner/Member Meetings (scheduled as part of the ACURIL IT SIG Meeting)
  • 2011 ACURIL IT SIG and dLOC General Partner/Member Meeting Minutes
  • 2011 ACURIL IT SIG Report
• Digital Library of the Caribbean TICFIA Grant Reports (2004-2009)
  • March 2006
• Prior versions of the dLOC By-laws:
  • PDF, revised November 2009
  • revised 10 October 2006
  • revised 30 December 2005