CIDL By-laws (2004)

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1. Name

The name of this body is the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries, hereinafter referred to as "CIDL".

2. Legislative Authority

CIDL was created through the voluntary participation of Canadian libraries under the authority of the Treasury Board's Joint Projects Agreement.

3. Purpose

The nation's collective digital library and public information resources encompass materials that originate in electronic form, now undergoing accelerated growth, and materials that libraries and other entities have converted to electronic form through digitization. Many libraries supplement their holdings of electronic resources through provision of organized network links to remote electronic resources.

The development and management of these three forms of digital library resources promise to be a costly, labour-intensive, and challenging long-term objective for Canadian libraries.

The aim of the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries is to increase communication to improve the standardization of digitization practices among Canadian libraries. This will decrease duplication of effort, and increase the accessibility, interchangeability, and longevity of their digital collections. A collaborative effort will respect both local priorities and capabilities; and foster the development of significant research material for the benefit of Canadians and those seeking Canadian information. CIDL will focus on practical activity, such as promoting the adoption of common structures, protocols, and proven best practices. CIDL will look for opportunities to capitalize on the economies and political leverage that comes from collaborative activity.

4. Mission

The Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries will promote, coordinate and facilitate the development of Canadian digital collections and services in order to optimize national interoperability and long-term access to Canadian digital library resources.

5. Objectives

The objectives of the Canadian Initiative for Digital Libraries are to:

1. formulate and implement strategies toward increased communication, awareness and education on digital library matters;
   
   
2. identify and make known digital library standards and best practices;
   
   
3. explore licensing agreement issues;
   
   
4. explore methods to better coordinate efforts among institutions and to avoid duplication in the development of digital resources;
   
   
5. resolve digital library issues that are particularly Canadian in context, such as bilingualism;
   
   
6. prepare guidelines for the application of present copyright legislation and the development of position statements with respect to intellectual property in a digital environment;
   
   
7. establish relations with other stakeholders involved in the information chain from creation to archiving: creators and publishers, industry suppliers (software, hardware and telecommunications), users; archives, museums, cultural agencies, government agencies at the federal, provincial, regional, and municipal levels;
   
   
8. raise the profile of Canadian digital library activities, both within Canada and internationally.

6. Membership

CIDL is a bilingual national alliance of Canadian libraries and related not-for-profit organizations that agree to participate in its purpose, mission, and objectives. Eligible members are libraries and not-for-profits that represent one organization or constituency (e.g., school board, municipality, academic institution).

To support the work of CIDL, and to offset administrative costs (i.e. project development, translation, printing) an annual membership fee will be levied. The two membership levels are:

1. Full Members have voting privileges (one per institutional member) and are eligible to seek election on the CIDL Steering Committee. Full Members participate in working groups and all activities associated with CIDL.
   
   
2. Associate Members neither have the right to vote in Steering Committee elections, nor the right to have a voting seat on the Steering Committee. Their designated delegate may participate in working groups and activities associated with CIDL, other than those directly related to the governance of CIDL through a Steering Committee. Associate Members may be invited to attend the annual Steering Committee meeting as observers.
   
   
3. Full members vote on the annual CIDL fee structure.
   
   
4. The use of funds collected from CIDL members is authorized by the Steering Committee. The funds are normally used for the direct costs associated with CIDL studies, services, and products.

7. Sponsorship

CIDL welcomes for-profit and not-for-profit organizations as sponsors. A basic annual fee, as determined from time to time by the Steering Committee, will be levied. The amount of contributions in excess of the basic annual fee will be eligible for a charitable tax receipt.

1. Sponsors neither have the right to vote in Steering Committee elections, nor the right to have a voting seat on the Steering Committee. Sponsor delegates may participate in working groups and activities associated with CIDL, other than those directly related to the governance of CIDL through the Steering Committee.
   
   
2. Sponsors will receive marketing and promotional benefits as outlined in their annual sponsorship agreement.

8. Steering Committee

The Steering Committee shall be made up of at least seven (7) CIDL Full Members. At least six will be elected from the senior library staff of the Full Members. The seventh, or additional, member will be the Librarian and Archivist Canada (or his/her representative) in an ex officio capacity. Each of the six (6) duly elected voting members will designate a delegate to the Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee's responsibilities are to:

1. provide planning direction to CIDL;
   
   
2. set CIDL policy regarding participation, funding, scope, duration and deliverables;
   
   
3. encourage and facilitate broad membership, as well as to promote active involvement by member organizations;
   
   
4. promote CIDL developments in appropriate forums in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors;
   
   
5. develop partnerships with other groups as appropriate;
   
   
6. oversee CIDL subcommittees and coordinate deliverables;
   
   
7. consider and, as appropriate, pursue recommendations furnished by the subcommittees and the membership;
   
   
8. ensure that the CIDL membership is regularly informed of the workplan and status of ongoing tasks;
   
   
9. ensure that CIDL activities and findings are made available on its public Web site;
   
   
10. administer and account for CIDL funds; and,
    
    
11. evaluate the efficacy of CIDL work and structure.

The term of office of the elected members shall normally be for two years. Members may not be consecutively elected for more than two terms.

Elections will be held annually for vacant positions on the Steering Committee.

The Secretary of CIDL will be an ex-officio non-voting member of the Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee shall act on behalf of CIDL, approve the plans and monitor the workplan and budget of CIDL and its committees, and adopt operating procedures, as appropriate.

9. Chairperson

The Chairperson of the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries is elected by and from the Steering Committee.

10. Vice-chairperson

The Vice-chairperson of the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries is elected by and from the Steering Committee, and acts in the absence of the Chairperson.

11. Secretariat

The Director General of the Strategic Office, Library and Archives Canada, or a designee, is the Secretary of CIDL.

12. Nomination and Election of the Steering Committee Members

1. All Full Members of CIDL are eligible for nomination to the Steering Committee.
   
   
2. The Secretariat shall be responsible for the arrangements to hold and run the annual Steering Committee election. Nominations should consider nominees from different types of libraries, and from different parts of Canada. Elections shall be by secret ballot, and ballots shall be mailed to Full Members at least 14 days in advance of the announcement of the results. The Secretariat will announce the election results to the membership. The candidates who receive the largest number of votes shall be declared elected.
   
   
3. No fewer than three members shall be elected to the Steering Committee in any one-year.
   
   
4. When two or more candidates are tied for the remaining seat on the Steering Committee, a second ballot for the tied candidates will normally be held to fill the remaining seat.
   
   
5. A written report on the election proceedings shall be kept on file in the Secretariat.
   
   
6. When a vacancy occurs prior to the date of the annual election for the Steering Committee, the nominee from the most recent Steering Committee annual election who received the next largest number of votes shall automatically assume the vacated office.

13. Meetings and Communications

1. The Secretary will ensure that minutes of the Steering Committee (except those reporting in-camera sessions) are announced on the CIDL members' listserv. Summaries will be available on the Web site.
   
   
2. The Secretary will also ensure that all members receive information related to the projects, programs and activities of CIDL.
   
   
3. As appropriate, the Steering Committee will hold a meeting open to Full Members, Associate Members, Sponsors, committee conveners, working group leaders, and invited guests. Other CIDL meetings may be called by the Chairperson to ensure that CIDL members are kept informed and have an opportunity to raise issues of concern to the members.
   
   
4. The Steering Committee shall meet once yearly with additional meetings or teleconferences scheduled as necessary.

14. Working Groups/Committees

Working groups, either standing or ad hoc, will be formed as deemed appropriate by the Steering Committee or CIDL as a whole. Terms of reference will be developed by the Steering Committee, to which the working groups will be accountable. Normally, working group members will be nominated from the full and associate members of CIDL.

In general, the roles of the working groups will be to:

These groups may form smaller working groups or may commission reports or position papers to focus on specific issues or activities. The work of other relevant digital library task forces or initiatives should be examined, disseminated and adopted as appropriate.

1. Terms of Reference All committees shall be guided in their activities by written terms of reference. Terms of reference for working groups/committees may be established by the Steering Committee, or by committee members for approval by the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will review the work of the Committees at its meetings, and will, from time to time, review the mandate and terms of reference of the working groups/committees.
   
   
2. Officers Each working group/committee shall have a convener confirmed by the Steering Committee. Each formal committee shall ensure that secretarial duties are performed by its members.
   
   
3. Terms of Office for Working Group/Committee Conveners Terms of office for all committee conveners appointed by the Steering Committee shall normally be two years from the date of appointment. A convener may be re-appointed for only one additional term of two years.
   
   
4. Membership The convener of a working group/committee shall call for volunteers and confirm selection from the staffs of full and associate member libraries/institutions.
   
   
5. Length of Term of Membership The term of membership for all committee members shall normally be two years, normally only consecutively renewable for one term of two years. The convener of the committee will be responsible for the membership under the general direction of the Steering Committee.
   
   
6. Reports Each committee shall submit a workplan and budget for the forthcoming fiscal year and an annual report of the current fiscal year to the Secretariat. Both the workplan and the annual report shall include descriptions of its activities and projects and those of its working groups.
   
   
7. Working Groups and Projects In coordination with the Steering Committee, CIDL committees may organize working groups to study or carry out special projects within the committee's terms of reference. These projects should normally be of finite duration. These working groups and projects should be included in the annual workplan prepared for and approved by the Steering Committee.
   
   
8. Review of Working Groups/Committees A review of the activities and progress of all committees shall be conducted from time to time by the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee shall conduct this review with the assistance and cooperation of each committee. This assistance may be in the form of a report and/or recommendations. The review shall consist of:

As a result of this review and assessment, the Steering Committee may:

This review would ensure that no committee is redundant, and that no urgent issue related to digital libraries has been neglected.

15. Evaluation of CIDL

The Steering Committee will be responsible for conducting an evaluation of the effectiveness of CIDL at least every three years.

16. Amendment of Bylaws

The CIDL bylaws may be repealed or amended by the Steering Committee. The revised bylaws will be circulated to the CIDL membership for comment.