Mission and Purpose
The Digital Information LifeCycle Interoperability Standards Board (DILCIS Board) is responsible for the ongoing maintenance, dissemination and enabling uptake of the specifications developed by the E-ARK project (2014-2017):
- Common Specification for Information Packages;
- E-ARK Submission Information Package Specification;
- E-ARK Archival Information Package Specification;
- E-ARK Dissemination Information Package Specification;
- Content Information Type Specification: SMURF (Semantically Marked-Up Records Format).
Further the Board is responsible for:
- Coordinating the creation or registration of any additional Content Information Type Specifications either within or outside the DLM Forum;
- Collaborating with the Swiss Federal Archives in maintaining the SIARD format for the archiving of relational databases.
In regard to all of these products the Board is responsible for maintaining a web presence, providing a central access point for all relevant resources, raising awareness in archival interoperability, coordinating revisions of the specifications, and facilitating communication with all relevant stakeholders.
Board membership
With the exception of co-opted Members (see below), appointments to the Board shall take place on the date of the Annual General Meeting of the DLM Forum.
The Board shall consist of between five and ten members including the Chair, and Deputy Chair (Chair Ascending) of the Board. Membership is not limited to DLM Forum members. However, at least 50% of Board members (including the Chair, and Deputy Chair) must be DLM Forum members, or employees of DLM Institutional Member organisations.
The Board is led by the Chair, supported by a Deputy Chair both of whom must be recommended by the DILCIS Board, and ratified by the DLM Forum Executive Committee. Members who form part of the 50% who come from the DLM Forum Membership shall, upon appointment, be ratified by the DLM Forum membership. All other Board members are approved by a majority decision of the current members of the Board (decision making will be carried out on the basis of majority voting by all eligible members of the Board. In the case of a tied vote, decisions will be made at the discretion of the Chair).
Members of the Board will normally serve a three year term, after which their position will be opened up for nomination. One third of the Board is appointed each year. (When the DILCIS Board is first formed, one third of the regular members serve for one year, one third for two years, and one third for three years.)
The Chair of the board will serve a term of one year, at the end of which, the position will be filled by the Deputy Chair. Each year a Deputy Chair will be nominated by the DLM Forum Executive Committee. Previous Chairs will be eligible for re-nomination to the post of Deputy Chair no sooner than one year after leaving the post of Chair.
The Board shall also include :
- a non-voting representative of the DLM Forum Executive Committee
- the immediate outgoing chair
Additional co-opted members may be appointed at any time by the Board until the next Annual General Meeting of the DLM Forum.
Duties and responsibilities
The responsibility of the Chair and Deputy Chair is to ensure the overall operation of the Board, to prepare annual work plans and reports, and to coordinate the work of other Board members.
Each Board member will be responsible for one (or more) of the products falling within the remit of the Board, or will fulfill specific tasks (for example, the coordination of training activities, dissemination and communication) across all products. Regardless of the number of actual Board members, it is the responsibility of the Board to ensure that each product has at least one Board member clearly assigned to it.
Each Board member is expected to set up working groups consisting of experts appropriate to their assigned product or task. There working groups will be responsible for ensuring the relevance and timeliness of product documentation, training and dissemination material; requesting and gathering change requests about the product, discussing these internally, and preparing change proposals for consideration by the Board. Change management will be conducted following international best practices.
The Board will be responsible for:
- approving (or rejecting) change proposals;
- approving (or rejecting), and registering Content Information Type Specifications;
- ensuring that all information made available through Board communication channels is appropriate and coherent.
The Board will supported by the DLM Forum secretariat, whose responsibility it will be to maintain reasonable communication between the Board and the DLM Forum, taking notes of Board meetings, and providing support to the Board.
Meetings
Meetings will take place at least four times a year. Typically, this would comprise:
- Two face-to-face meetings during DLM Forum member meetings;
- Two teleconferences held between DLM Forum member meetings.
Activity planning
In order to ensure transparency, the Board commits to developing annual work plans which highlight prioritised actions and which will be received at the Members’ Annual General Meeting.
The Chair will present a progress report at each DLM Forum member meeting (twice a year) and will prepare an annual progress report for dissemination on the Board website.
Funding
Board members (including the Chair and Deputy Chair) act on a voluntary basis, supported by their respective institutions.
The DLM Forum will provide appropriate support for maintaining the infrastructure needed to maintain the Board website and communication channels.