Project Governance

The project's governance includes a Steering Committee, as well as a series of working groups, which will be established during the first phase of the project.


CCLP Steering Committee Terms of Reference


Charge and Tasks:

The CCLP Steering Committee will guide the work of the Collaborative Collections Lifecycle Project (CCLP) and advise the project’s Principal Investigators (PIs) from NISO, Lehigh and PALCI in achieving CCLP’s stated deliverables and goals as defined in the grant application to IMLS, including advisement on project strategy and operations, sharing of expertise, participation in project activities, feedback gathering, and development of planning processes, governance, and community models needed to sustain CCLP efforts following the completion of this project.


The Steering Committee may adopt rules and procedures, not inconsistent with any laws or conditions of the IMLS Grant that supports this project, nor with any NISO procedures or policies, that it considers necessary to conduct the group’s business and activities. The Steering Committee may organize committees and working groups, and may disband them as deemed appropriate. The initial tasks include, but are not limited to:


  • Developing and articulating a shared understanding of the project’s scope of work

  • Identifying key stakeholders to serve in various project working groups and committees;

  • Identifying, prioritizing and articulating stakeholders’ high level strategic needs and requirements

  • Guiding, monitoring and supporting the efforts of a NISO-managed working group that will recommended practices and infrastructure for optimizing collaborative collections activities

  • Refining and guiding project plans to meet established goals, priorities and needs in alignment with the project’s schedule and budget

  • Creating guidelines for and establishing partnership/engagement opportunities with key organizations;

  • Recommending a long-term governance model to support business and community needs

  • Advising on the development of business models for technical infrastructure and governance approaches to support sustained success;

  • Advising on communications and marketing efforts


Membership:

The Steering Committee will consist of no fewer than 7 members and no more than 25, with no more than 2 representatives per organization. The Steering Committee should aim to reflect the diversity of the project’s primary stakeholders with priority given to those who have the time and capacity to dedicate. Key organizational perspectives may include those representing:

  1. Publishers/Content-providers

  2. Chief Library Decision-makers / Budget managers

  3. Library Collections Strategist

  4. Software Developer and/or Library Technology Service Provider

  5. Consortium Strategist / Collaboration Expert

  6. Industry Research Expert


Members will serve the full term of the project (from appointment until the end of the grant period, expected to be August 2025). Following the completion of the grant period, this group may continue to operate and terms for Members will be decided by a vote of the Steering Committee. Members of the Steering Committee will initially consist of a core group of representatives from participating partner organizations specified in the IMLS grant award and invited participants, with appointments made by the project’s PI organizations. The Steering Committee may elect to add additional members as needed, with a simple majority vote if consensus cannot be reached. The Steering Committee may grow within the stated size limitations, and may elect to include new members representing additional identified partners and stakeholders contributing to the project and sharing the project’s purpose and vision. The Steering Committee may also include non-voting ex officio advisors selected because of particular expertise and value to the governance of the CCLP.


All members of the Steering Committee shall agree to be bound by NISO’s Intellectual Property Rights Policy and Conflict of Interest Policy, with participants recusing themselves where conflicts in decision making arise. For the sake of clarity, the Steering Committee will aim to work toward consensus, defined as the lack of strenuous objection, for any decisions requiring a vote. In the absence of consensus, each organization represented on the Steering Committee receives one vote, though multiple representatives may be present. All votes will be decided on a fifty-percent-plus-one basis not counting absent or abstaining members.


Operational Decisions:

Authority for all operational and grant administration decisions will necessarily reside with NISO and co-PIs Lehigh and PALCI, and will be based upon the active participation and advice of the Steering Committee, with input from other groups created by the Steering Committee for this purpose. A representative (or representatives) will be appointed by the project PIs will serve as the Chair of the Steering Committee and shall have general supervision of the business, activities, and decision-making of the Steering Committee. The group will have support of the NISO project management team, who will contribute to the administration of the group. After the initial grant period has concluded, decisions about further operational decisions will be reviewed and approved by the Steering Committee.


Appeals:

Matters related specifically to the grant and its administration shall be decided by the Grant PIs in consensus. Financial matters related to the project shall be decided by NISO staff in collaboration with the PIs. Technical standards related matters taken up by a vote of the Steering Committee that are focused on the standards development may be appealed by members of that group. Any appeal will be reviewed by the NISO Architecture Committee with the addition of the three co-PIs, ex officio as voting members for the purposes of this review. The decisions of the NISO Architecture Committee will be final.


Meetings:

Regular meetings of the Steering Committee will be held online and in-person in places to be determined by the Steering Committee. A quorum of a simple majority of members will be necessary and sufficient to hold meetings and conduct business. Meetings may be held by telephone conference call or video-conferencing, or other similar forum that allows all participants to be recognized and heard. Any decisions requiring a vote outside of meetings with a quorum may be made either via email or via NISO’s balloting system with sufficient time allowed for review and discussion. A schedule of Steering Committee meetings will be posted and regularly updated on the CCLP website, and all Steering Committee members will be notified by email of scheduled meetings at least seventy-two (72) hours in advance of each meeting. Written recorded minutes of Steering Committee meetings, discussions, decisions, and other activities will routinely be made publicly available through the public-facing CCLP website. The public minutes may be redacted in parts to protect privacy or other sensitive information as deemed necessary by the Chair or co-PIs.


Formation of other committees & groups


The Steering Committee may designate one or more committees or working groups. Each committee will record written minutes of its meetings and make these minutes available to the Steering Committee via email, the CCLP website, or other means acceptable to the Steering Committee. Unless specified otherwise, a quorum of a simple majority of members of these committees and working groups will be necessary and sufficient to meet and conduct business. These committees and groups shall conduct business and decision making using the same rules and procedures used by the Steering Committee.