Statutes of the EuDML Initiative

Preamble

The European Digital Mathematics Library (“EuDML”) combines data, tools and services initially assembled or created in the project The European Digital Mathematics Library that was co-funded by the European Commission from February 2009 to January 2013. Access to EuDML content is provided by a central search engine allowing easy and unified access and retrieval of the mathematical literature. The EuDML services provide a gateway to the electronic publications and repositories of participating data providers, while the latter retain full responsibility and control over the creation, maintenance and the access provisions of their data collections. In as far as the EuDML service indexes or stores metadata records (and/or full texts) of its participants, these data are used strictly in accordance to the stated aims. The aim of the EuDML Initiative is to ensure maintenance and further development of EuDML.

Article 1: The EuDML Initiative

  1. The EuDML Initiative (“Initiative”) is a non-incorporated association according to German Civil Code.
  2. The Initiative has its seat in Berlin, Germany.

Article 2: Purpose and Objectives

  1. The purpose of the Initiative is to provide a digital mathematics library (DML) for the worldwide scientific community as a public service in order to
    a) help scientists locate the information that is distributed in various digital repositories and discover information related to their work in an optimal way,
    b) encourage the public in using it as a public resource of knowledge,
    c) offer the service for free on web,
    d) aim for comprehensiveness in the field of mathematics.
    The basis for such DML is provided by the results of the EuDML project.
  2. The Initiative will
    a) encourage content providers to join and integrate their content to the DML,
    b) adapt to using new information technologies and invite subjects interested in contributing to research and development for the continuous evolution of DML to join,
    c) develop or join research and development projects aiming at improving its services to the user community and will encourage its members to get involved in such projects.
  3. The Initiative adopts and promotes the EuDML Policies, Guidelines and Standards which form the Annex of these Statutes and are based on internationally accepted standards and trends, adapted to the special needs of mathematical publications.
  4. The participation of the European Mathematical Society (EMS) in the Initiative should ensure that the DML services are based on sound scientific grounds and shall remain under control of organizations representing the public and scientific interest.

Article 3: Membership

  1. Membership in the Initiative is open to any legally and contractually competent natural or legal person willing to support the objectives of the Initiative by providing any of the following:
    a) digital content, i.e. integrating (at least partially) their digital collections of high scientific quality mathematical publications in the DML and maintaining and expanding access to these publications through the DML service according to the EuDML Policies, Guidelines and Standards;
    b) technological development equipment and services for maintaining the DML central services and developing other technical services and tools to be used in the DML;
    c) scientific, financial, strategic or political support to the Initiative and its activities.
  2. By joining the Initiative the member agrees to accept the Statutes and adhere to the EuDML Policies.
  3. The Initiative may conclude agreements and memoranda of understanding with third parties in the name of the members in order to enlarge the content or improve the services of the EuDML.
  4. Members of the Initiative are not obliged to make any financial contributions. Each member cares for its own costs.
  5. Applications for membership should be directed to the Executive Board through any of its members. The Executive Board will submit the application to the General Assembly which will decide in a reasonable time whether the applicant will be granted the state of membership.
  6. The founding members of the Initiative are
    • The European Mathematical Society
    • FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institut für Informationsinfrastruktur GmbH
    • Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling, University of Warsaw
    • Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble 1
    • University of Birmingham
    • Institute of Mathematics and Informatics BAS, Sofia
    • Institute of Mathematics of the ASCR, v. v. i., Praha
    • Ionian University, Corfu
    • Società Italiana per la Matematica Applicata e Industriale
    • Unione Matematica Italiana
    • Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen
    • Masaryk University, Brno

Article 4: Rights and Duties of Members

  1. Without prejudice to other rights set out in the Statutes or in applicable laws (see Article 13), members have the right to:
    a) take part in the activities of the Initiative, in particular in the meetings of the General Assembly,
    b) examine the documents regarding the activities of the Initiative, as well as request and obtain from the Executive Board information on the development of such activities,
    c) resign from the Initiative.
  2. Members have the duty to:
    a) take part in the activities necessary for the satisfaction of the objectives of the Initiative, e.g. delivery of data for EuDML on a regular basis,
    b) comply with the decisions of the bodies of the Initiative, with the Statutes and the applicable legislation.
  3. Members have the responsibility for their technical and scientific contributions.

Article 5: Termination of Membership

  1. Membership may be terminated by resignation, expulsion or dissolution (of legal persons).
  2. Termination of membership by resignation is possible upon written notice submitted to the Executive Board six months prior the date of termination. Any data from the content entered into EuDML prior to the effective date of termination may be retained and re-used for EuDML.
  3. Any member acting rudely against the interests of the Initiative may be excluded from the Initiative at any time by decision of the General Assembly.

Article 6: Bodies of the Initiative

  1. The bodies of the Initiative are the General Assembly, the Chair of the Initiative, the Executive Board, the Scientific Advisory Board and the Technical Committee.
  2. The executive body is the Executive Board. It is advised by the Scientific Advisory Board and supported by the Technical Committee.
  3. All bodies of the Initiative can meet via telecommunication if appropriate. A positively identified member of the body shall be considered present.

Article 7: General Assembly

  1. The General Assembly is the body with decision-making powers. It is formed by one representative of each member of the Initiative.
  2. The tasks assigned to the General Assembly include the following:
    a) decision on applications for membership to the Initiative,
    b) decision on expulsion of a member,
    c) election and dismissal of members of the Executive Board from persons suggested by members of the Initiative, except for the member representing the EMS who will be nominated by the Executive Committee of the EMS,
    d) election and dismissal of the Chair of the Initiative from the members of the Executive Board,
    e) election and dismissal of the chair and the other members of the Technical Committee from persons suggested by members of the Initiative,
    f) issuing instructions to the Executive Board,
    g) decision on modification of the Statute and the dissolution of the Initiative.
  3. The General Assembly shall meet regularly, at least once a year. It shall be convened by notification in writing by the Executive Board at least four weeks prior to the meeting date. No member objecting, notification may be sent out via e-mail. Notification of the General Assembly shall include an agenda of the meeting. Guests may be invited to advice without votes.
  4. The Executive Board should convene the General Assembly upon written and justified demand from at least 30 % of the members of the Initiative sent to a member of the Executive Board.
  5. The General Assembly may decide to meet on-line. The decision shall specify the circumstances of this meeting, also with regard to the vote.
  6. Decisions by the General Assembly shall be taken by way of a simple majority of the votes. In case of a tie the vote of the Chair of the Initiative decides. Decisions of the General Assembly with regard to the modification of the Statute and the dissolution of the Initiative shall be of no effect unless passed by a majority of three quarters of the votes cast.
  7. Any proposal to amend the Statute shall be sent in writing to all members at least two months before the meeting of the General Assembly.
  8. The General Assembly shall meet under the chairmanship of the Chair of the Initiative, who, in case of not being able to attend the meeting, may be substituted for by one of the Executive Board members.
  9. Extraordinary meeting of the General Assembly shall be convened if it is deemed in the interest of the Initiative. It may be called for by decision of the Executive Board, of the General Assembly or by written and justified demand from at least 30 % of the members of the Initiative sent to a member of the Executive Board. The meeting must take place within four weeks of the receipt of the demand.

Article 8: Chair of the Initiative

  1. The Chair of the Initiative shall be elected by the General Assembly for period of two years. The Chair of the Initiative remains in office until the election of the next Chair of the Initiative. Reelection of the Chair is permitted.
  2. The Chair of the Initiative represents the Initiative in conducting legal or other affairs.

Article 9: The Executive Board

  1. The Executive Board is composed of the Chair of the Initiative, the Chair of the Technical Committee and three other persons representing members of the Initiative.
  2. The Executive Board must always include a person nominated by the Executive Committee of the EMS.
  3. The elective members of the Executive Board shall be elected by the General Assembly for period of two years. They can be elected repeatedly.
  4. The Executive Board shall have general charge of all matters concerning the Initiative except for those assigned to the General Assembly. The tasks assigned to the Executive Board include in particular:
    a) management of the current affairs including Initiative strategies and policies, copyright and ownership management according to advices of the Scientific Advisory Board,
    b) execution of the decisions of the General Assembly,
    c) appointment of the subordinate committees entrusted with the special tasks within general framework of the Initiative,
    d) preparation and convention of the General Assembly.
  5. The meetings of the Executive Board shall be convened in writing by the Chair of the Initiative or by any other entitled member of the Executive Board. Delivery by fax or e-mail will suffice.
  6. The Executive Board constitutes a quorum, if all members of the Executive Board have been invited to the meeting and the Chair of the Initiative and at least two other members of the Executive Board are present.
  7. The Executive Board shall decide by simple majority of votes. In case of a tie the vote of the Chair of the Initiative decides.

Article 10: The Scientific Advisory Board

  1. The role of the Scientific Advisory Board is to supervise the scientific and technical quality of the EuDML services.
  2. The Scientific Advisory Board is appointed by the EMS so that it includes at least one representative of a member of the Initiative.
  3. The Scientific Advisory Board
    a) advises the Executive Board on scientific matters, strategic orientations and priorities for further development of the content and service with regard to needs of different target users,
    b) helps the EMS Executive Committee organizing evaluation of the EuDML among EMS member organizations, takes part in the evaluation, and brings in the feedback of the mathematical community,
    c) works out recommendations for the development of EuDML with regard to the content and the organization of the Initiative and presents them regularly to the Executive Board and to the EMS Executive Committee.
  4. The Scientific Advisory Board meets at least once a year.
  5. The EMS sets up the rules for the Scientific Advisory Board acting.

Article 11: Technical Committee

  1. The Technical Committee supports the continuous running of EuDML services being responsible for the coordination of technical developments, technical standards and workflows, and the technical operations of the system.
  2. The Technical Committee is composed of the Chair of the Technical Committee and four other members representing technological equipment and service providers or other members of the Initiative. The members of the Technical Committee shall be elected for period of two years. They can be elected repeatedly.
  3. The Chair of the Technical Committee is member of the Executive Board, assures cooperation of these two bodies, informs the Executive Board regularly about current technical state and submits proposals of necessary measures for the EuDML services maintenance and development.
  4. The Technical Committee will especially care for the following issues: system-level maintenance (hosting), application-level administration (operations), data security, technical support for information providers, content ingest and aggregation, general workflow management, including enhancers, continuous dissemination, first level end-user support, content level quality control and feedback, service level quality control and feedback, uptime monitoring, generating and reviewing statistics, software maintenance, software development.
  5. Meetings of the Technical Committee shall be convened in writing by the Chair of the Technical Committee. Delivery by fax or e-mail will suffice.
  6. The Technical Committee constitutes a quorum, if all members of the Technical Committee have been invited to the meeting and the Chair of the Technical Committee and at least two of other members of the Technical Committee are present. The Technical Committee shall decide by simple majority of votes. In case of a tie the vote of the Chair of the Technical Committee decides.

Article 12: Dissolution of the Initiative

  1. In case of dissolution of the Initiative, each current member will receive a complete copy of the last version of the EuDML system including all data.
  2. The EMS shall take necessary measures to preserve the EuDML system and to keep it running.

Article 13: Miscellaneous and Severability Clause

This Statute has unanimously been decided on as Statute of the Initiative by the members listed in Article 3 (7) and becomes effective after signed by all of them.