Digital Medievalist: Bylaws

Preamble

  1. The name of this organisation is 'Digital Medievalist' (hereafter abbreviated 'DM').
  2. The primary purpose of DM is to be an international community of practice supporting 'digital medievalism', which is understood to be an interest in the creation, use of, or research using digital objects relating to the Middle Ages.
  3. DM will have other purposes and objectives as decided by the DM Board. These include:
    1. To publish a free online open-access peer-reviewed journal entitled 'Digital Medievalist' as a high quality publication of work of interest to digital medievalists.
    2. To organize events of interest to digital medievalists. For example, occasional conferences sessions as an outlet for scholarly discussions of interest to digital medievalists.
    3. To host a wiki to record information of use to digital medievalists.
    4. To provide an online mailing list (dm-l) as a forum for members of DM to discuss digital medievalism.
  4. DM shall be a non-profit organisation, any funding received will be used to enable DM to further its purposes and objectives.

Membership

  1. Membership in DM is open to anybody interested in its goals.
  2. Membership is conferred by subscription to DM mailing list (dm-l).
  3. Subscription to the DM mailing list, and therefore membership in DM, may be suspended or revoked by the Director or his/her delegate (subject to confirmation by the Board) for inappropriate behaviour on the list. A person whose membership has been suspended or revoked for cause must reapply to the board for readmittance.
  4. Individual members have the right to vote in DM elections and such issues as the board shall decide to poll the membership on.
  5. Members who meet additional eligibility criteria (see 3.3) may stand for positions on the DM Board.

Board

Organization and Responsibilities

  1. DM will be governed by a Board elected by its membership.
  2. The Board shall elect a Director annually from its ranks (see 4.0 below), and appoint subcommittees and officers as necessary for the efficient running of the project.
    1. Under normal circumstances, these subcommittees and officers should include:
      1. An editorial committee responsible for the production of the DM journal.
      2. An editor or editors responsible for overseeing the operation of the DM wiki.
      3. A moderator/moderators for the dm-l listserv.
      4. An organiser/organisers for planning conference and poster sessions.
    2. Membership on these committees need not be exclusive: individuals may serve on more than one committee and the board may assign all tasks to a single executive committee if it sees fit.
    3. The Board may delegate these tasks to participating members and others if it sees fit, although it shall retain final responsibility for all decisions.

Term

  1. The Board shall consist of eight members, with each member elected for a two year term.
  2. Terms on the Board shall be staggered so that four positions are open for election each year.
  3. Elections shall be held annually.
  4. Board members may resign from their commitments at any time but are expected to give adequate notice.
    1. If the resigning member has served less than 50% of his or her original term, the Board shall hold a special election.
    2. If the resigning member has served at least 50% of his or her original term, the Board at its discretion may decide
      1. to hold a special election;
      2. appoint a replacement;
      3. leave the position vacant.
    3. Members appointed or elected to replace a resigning member will serve for the remainder of the original member's term, at which point they will be eligible for re-election.

Eligibility

  1. In order to stand for election, candidates for the DM board must fulfil two conditions:
    1. They must be members of DM.
    2. They must have made a demonstrable contribution to the project within the previous year. Such contributions might include:
      1. Non-trivial editing or page creation for the DM wiki.
      2. Inclusion in a sanctioned DM event (such as presenting in a conference session sponsored by DM).
      3. Publishing of an article in the DM Journal.
      4. Equivalent contributions (to be considered at the time of candidacy).
  2. Potential candidates are responsible for providing evidence of appropriate contributions to the project if requested by the Board.

Director

Election

  1. The Board will elect a Director annually from among its members at the first meeting after the annual elections.
  2. Reelection is permitted, though no person may serve continuously as Director for more than 6 years in a row.
  3. A vote of non-confidence in the Director requires a 2/3 majority of the Board. After a successful vote of non-confidence, a new Director shall be chosen to serve out the remaining term from the Board membership.
  4. A vote of non-confidence in the Director does not affect his or her membership on the Board.

Duties

  1. The Director will convene, determine the agendas for, and chair meetings of the Board and its subcommittees. He or she will also be a member ex officio of all such sub-committees as the Board shall constitute. The Director may delegate these tasks.
  2. Executive decisions made by the Director can be overturned through a 2/3 vote of the Board.

Journal

  1. There shall be a journal of record overseen by the DM editorial committee which shall publish worthy articles of note.
  2. The focus of the journal shall be of research in the use of digital media that is of interest to medievalists, regardless of whether this research is focussed specifically on medieval projects.
  3. The editorial committee will be appointed by the Director on the advice of the board.

Mailing List

  1. There shall be an e-mail mailing list hosted by DM which shall serve as a forum for discussion by those interested in digital medievalism.
  2. The DM mailing list shall be open to anyone interested in digital medievalism.

Wiki

  1. There shall be a wiki hosted by DM in order to act as a repository of information collected and edited by the membership.
  2. The Director will appoint administrators for the wiki as and when they are needed.
  3. Anyone wishing to provide useful contributions to the wiki will be allowed to.
  4. Disputes concerning edits of the wiki will be settled by the wiki administrators and by appeal if necessary to the Board, whose decision will be final.

Events

  1. DM will organise events befitting its mission, such as conference sessions at important relevant conferences.
  2. DM should not be held responsible for any financial obligations resulting from the organisation of such events.
  3. Although events will usually be organised by members of the Board, the Board may appoint delegates for particular events.