Procedural Guidelines

of the

International Federation for Digital Scholarship in the Humanities

(IFDiSH)

1. Governing Rules
   1. These guidelines are intended to guide the startup of the Federation: they are not intended to replace the existing bylaws of any of the constituent organizations represented by the Federation, though they may eventually be reflected in a revision of the bylaws governing the ALLC's public charity, which is the legal and financial vehicle for IFDiSH (see below, II.1). In the event of a conflict between these guidelines and the bylaws of a constituent organizations, the conflict will be resolved by the executive board of the constituent organization in consultation with the governing board of the Federation.
   2. Major changes to these guidelines (and eventually, to the IFDiSH bylaws) or to the IFDiSH publishing plan need to be approved by the boards of constituent organziations.
2. Governance
1. IFDiSH and ALLC (the public charity): The IFDiSH Steering Committee, upon appointment, will become the board of the foundation that ALLC has registered as a public charity in the UK; ALLC (the charity) will eventually change its name to IFDiSH, and as necessary, adjust its bylaws to reflect the spirit of these guidelines.
2. Representation: Proportional representation is the principle that governs appointment to the IFDiSH Steering Committee, and proportionality is based on the income each chapter accounts for, in the total income to IFDiSH, including indvidual and institutional subscriptions. In the abstract, the amount of income required per seat on the Steering Committee is arrived at by dividing the total annual income by the number of Steering Committee members desired (we choose to begin with 6; the number can be changed in the future, with the consent of constituent organizations). Any member organization that accounts for a fraction of one unit shall be considered to account for one unit. Under this formula, at present, $4K of income provides for one seat on the Steering Committee/foundation board, and given current income levels, ALLC has three seats on the Steering Committee, ACH has one, and COCH/COSH has one.
3. Classes of Members: The Steering Committee will include "voting members" and "non-voting members." All members of the Steering Committee should be members of one (or more) of the constituent organizations. All terms, for both kinds of members, are for three years, and all terms are renewable.
4. Appointments: Voting members of the IFDiSH Steering Committee are appointed by the executive committee or council of the organizations they represent. They do not need to be members of those executive bodies in order to serve. Appointments are for three years, renewable. Organizations with more than one representative should stagger appointments to ensure some continuity in representation: at the outset, this can be accomplished by appointing some members to (renewable) terms of less than three years. Non-voting members are appointed by the voting members of the Steering Committee.
5. Roles for Voting Members: The voting members will include a chair (elected by voting members), a secretary (appointed by the chair; keeps the minutes, is responsible for setting meeting agendas, subs for the chair as necessary), and additional members, as dictated by the formula for representation.
6. Other roles: Other roles, which may be filled either by voting or non-voting members, include a chair of the publications committee (acts as managing editor overseeing all IFDiSH publications), and a Chair of the conference committee (chairs a committee whose membership is appointed by member organizations, with one representative from each organization; solicits proposals for conferences, maintains CFP template, maintains conference protocol, maintain reviewing infrastructure). The one post which must be filled by a non-voting member is that of treasurer (manages IFDiSH funds; should be a member of all associations, membership paid by IFDiSH).
7. Responsibilities: The IFDiSH Steering Committee, which is also the board of trustees for the ALLC foundation, will be responsible for:
1. managing the foundation, in compliance with its consitution and bylaws, and in the best interest of all constituent organizations of IFDiSH;
2. overseeing the publishing operations of IFDiSH, in compliance with the charter of the Committee, and in the best interests of IFDiSH constituent organizations;
3. overseeing the income distribution to IFDiSH constituent organizations, in compliance with the charter of the Committee, and in the best interests of IFDiSH constituent organizations;
4. consulting with the executive committees, councils, or boards of constituent organizations on important strategic planning issues;
5. presenting the executive committees, councils, or boards of constituent organizations with resolutions for approval (by majority vote of the executive bodies) when the Steering Committee needs to significantly alter the publishing or financial practices of IFDiSH, or its charter.
3. Nature and selection of IFDiSH constituents:
1. IFDiSH members are organizations (not individuals).
2. New constituent organizations will be admitted by unanimous vote of IFDiSH Steering Committee.
3. IFDiSH constituent organizations are focused on digital scholarship in the humanities.
4. New constituent organizations should represent global regions rather than nations, but practical considerations are paramount in this regard.
5. New constituent organizations will normally require individual subscription to Literary and Linguistic Computing (LLC) by their members. If the IFDiSH Steering Committee permits them, however, new constituent organizations with their own income-producing publications may be permitted without this condition, if they agree to share income from their publication according to IFDiSH principles.
6. "Affiliated organizations" may be designated, and need not require subscription to LLC, but also will not be included in income distribution by IFDiSH.

Drafted May, 2004 by Lorna Hughes (president, ACH), Harold Short (chair, ALLC), and John Unsworth (immediate past president, ACH).