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DCMI Advisory Board

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Charter

The DCMI Advisory Board gives advice to the DCMI Directorate on all technical and strategic issues that occur during the operation of the DCMI. The Advisory Board has a dual role in the DCMI: an internal role to assist in and advise on the developments that take place within DCMI, and an external role to liaise with the stakeholder community and other global metadata initiatives. These roles are further detailed below.

1. Internal role

The Advisory Board is the primary source of expertise that can be drawn upon to lead DCMI activities, to serve on task forces, and provide timely technical reviews of proposals that emerge from working groups.

It has an important role in reviewing charters and activities of Working Groups. This role puts specific emphasis on recognizing and signaling potential conflicts between activities, suggesting specific coordination between Working Groups, and proposing specific contacts with individuals, groups or organization outside DCMI.

The Advisory Board advises the Directorate on all technical and strategic deliverables and will maintain strong links with the Usage Board that is primarily responsible for semantic issues.

2. External role

Advisory Board members are ambassadors of the DCMI. Some of the members maintain links between stakeholders in the DCMI community and the Directorate; other members ensure liaisons with other metadata and content communities. Members who provide those links have a dual responsibility: to serve as a voice of their constituents to raise issues in the DCMI, and to assist in communicating the results of DCMI activities back to the community.

Advisory Board operation

The Advisory Board operates by mailing list (closed discussion group with public archive), face-to-face meetings at the annual DCMI Workshop/Conference and at additional meetings as might be deemed necessary by the Directorate, telephone conferences and other forms of electronic communication.

The Advisory Board has no formal voting procedures and operates on a principle of consultation, striving towards consensus. The Directorate, if it goes against consensus of the Advisory Board, will do so with appropriate explanation and justification. In case of conflict the Board of Trustees can be asked to act as arbitrator.

Appointment of AB members

The Advisory Board will be comprised of:

• Working Group Chairs
• Official liaisons to other metadata activities
• Representatives of DCMI Affiliates, stakeholder organizations, regional centers and communities
• Invited experts appointed by the DCMI Directorate

The members of the DCMI Directorate are ex officio members of the Advisory Board, as is the chair of the Usage Board. The Advisory Board is chaired and convened by the DCMI Managing Director. One or more vice-chairs can be appointed as necessary.

Commitment of Advisory Board members

Members of the Advisory Board commit to the stated mission and principles of the DCMI. They must be able to assign appropriate resources to their duties, at least expressing their funded opinions on issues that are brought before the Board.  Members are expected to be involved on a regular basis in discussions of the Advisory Board, either attending meetings or participating in other scheduled communications (e-mail, teleconferences, IRC) that are provided as alternatives to travel.

Term of Service

AB members will be appointed for 3-year renewable terms. Advisory Board members may step down if their professional or personal circumstances so require.

Current Membership

The current members of the Advisory Board are listed here.