Membership Information: How to Join the SMETE Open Federation
Benefits of Membership
By participating with the SMETE Open Federation, collections and services can influence the information marketplace for public access to digital libraries for SMET education by leveraging the Federation. At the same time, they can strengthen their own identity and retain their community.
Members of the SMETE Open Federation participate in shaping the policies and practices of the information market place while supporting traditional library values such as open access to information. The trend is for digital libraries to collaborate in order to influence rules, practices and prices in the marketplace rather than be a centrally managed "union catalog" that controls access to collections and collect revenue from this access. In today's world, a single player (digital library) is unlikely to have the power to assert sufficient positive feedback to control the direction of the marketplace. The collaborative model allows libraries to decide their own business models and rights within the information marketplace.
By participating in the SMETE Open Federation, member collections achieve a collective presence, and, more importantly, deliver access to SMETE resources and services in a manner that best meets their local community's needs. The SMETE Open Federation exists to assist member collections and services deliver valuable resources and services to their own user communities by marshalling and sharing with one another the technology and service options that respond to these needs. Your membership and participation in the SMETE Open Federation opens up new opportunities for collaboration. The cooperation among federation members, combined with the technological innovations of the members, leads to the desirable outcome that end users view the SMETE Open Federation Digital Library as the place to come for resources for science, mathematics, engineering and mathematics education.
Participating members of the SMETE Open Federation receive valuable services in return for their contributions. In the short term, the value partners receive may be as simple as a quality record to use in their collection or as complex as a service such as a personalized instructional curriculum development tool. Over time, as more collections and service providers participate in the SMETE Open Federation, partners will have increased access to expertise, tools, technology and services that alone they could not support to meet the growing sophistication of their community's needs. The SMETE Open Federation is the means to the integrative distribution for these services, stools, etc., instead of being the end itself.
Ultimately, the value of participating in the SMETE Open Federation draws from the synergies of shared technology and community development that can only be achieved through the active engagement of all members.
Types of Participation
Participation in the SMETE Open Federation is divided into two type of membership. As a Partner, the member actively engages in the development and/or operations activities of the SMETE Open Federation and commits resources to these activities. An Affiliate member collaborates in one or more Program Areas, but does not need to commit resources to those activities. Typically, Affiliate members are new or emerging projects which have not reached sustainability.
Regardless of the type of membership, organizations interested in participating with the SMETE Open Federation need to satisfy the following guidelines:
- Demonstrate a clear alignment with the mission and objectives of the SMETE Open Federation.
- Identify mechanisms for integrating project or activities of the SMETE Open Federation into their existing initiatives.
- Have an existing successful track record in working in collaborative projects.
- Offer resources or support to assist in the advancement of the SMETE Open Federation.
- Follow the terms and conditions outlined in this membership guide.
Partner
Partners of the SMETE Open Federation participate in the strategic growth and direction of the SMETE Open Federation. For example, at a Partner-sponsored conference, a Partner may hold a workshop on the application of digital libraries to a specific SMET educational community. Or, a Partner may develop and offer to other partners, software to meet one of the specified objectives in the Technology program area.
Partner Privileges: Each Partner will have one seat on the Steering Committee. Partners will be featured prominently in all SMETE Open Federation marketing materials. Partners are able to recommend, select and approve new Partners. Partners participate in a yearly meeting to set the milestones and strategy of the SMETE Open Federation.
Partner Requirements: Because a Partner in the SMETE Open Federation is responsible for a set of negotiated deliverables, each Partner must designate a Project Manager to coordinate activities between the SMETE Open Federation and the Partner's organization. Other personnel or resources in the Partner's organization should be coordinated through this Project Manager. The Project Manager works closely with a dedicated representative from SMETE.ORG Headquarters to accomplish jointly agreed upon goals, milestones and deliverables.
Process for Becoming a Partner: An organization interested in becoming a Partner in the SMETE Open Federation should contact Dr. Alice M. Agogino (agogino@smete.org). The organization and the SMETE.ORG Headquarters will negotiate and devise a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the organization and SMETE.ORG Headquarters detailing mutual deliverables and responsibilities. For example, an MOU might describe a collaborative research project, such as a grant from the National Science Foundation, or be a sub-contract to SMETE.ORG Headquarters to conduct a specific service or produce a specified product.
Affiliate
Affiliate members to the SMETE Open Federation actively engage in one or more of the Program Areas, but do not actively participate in setting or meeting the milestones and deliverables of the SMETE Open Federation.
Affiliate Privileges: An Affiliate may participate in workshops and workgroups in a particular Program Area(s). These activities may include adding materials, performing peer reviews of content and services, or running beta tests of software developed by the SMETE Open Federation. In doing so, the Affiliate member builds connections with professional organizations and influences the development of the program areas in the SMETE Open Federation. Generally, however, Affiliate members do not formally exchange resources with SMETE.ORG or Partners, nor is there a formal agreement drawn up.
Affiliate Requirements: Other than meeting the general guidelines, there are no additional requirements for Affiliate members.
Affiliate Responsibilities: Affiliate members should actively engage in one or more program areas, designating representatives from the Affiliate's organization and must support the work of those representatives commensurate with the workload.
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