Membership

Libraries, archives, museums and cultural heritage institutions demonstrating a significant experience or level of commitment to Web archiving can apply for membership to the Consortium. Other consortia cannot apply for membership as a group; institutions within a consortium must apply individually. For information on how to apply, see Membership Inquiries below.

More about the Consortium’s organization and members
Membership Benefits Brochure (PDF)
Agreement (PDF)

General Obligations

Every member is expected to work collaboratively, within its country’s legislative framework, to identify, develop and facilitate implementation of solutions for selecting, harvesting, collecting, preserving and providing access to Internet content. Members are strong advocates for initiatives and legislation that encourage the collection, preservation and access to Internet content.

The Consortium provides a forum for sharing knowledge about Internet content archiving and to achieve Consortium goals, members:

• Develop and recommend standards;
• Facilitate the development of appropriate and interoperable, preferably open source software and tools;
• Raise awareness of Internet preservation issues through activities such as conferences, workshops, training events and publications.

Membership Obligations

Every institution will appoint a designated representative who will annually attend the Consortium’s General Assembly.

Depending on the activities and current work of the Consortium, members may volunteer or be asked to serve on the Technical Committee. The Technical Committee, composed of no more than 10 members and appointed by the Steering Committee, are expected to be the leaders and experts involved in the core areas of research and activity as defined in the Consortium Strategic Plan.

Members (at least two are required) can propose a project, such as software development, and define its methods of funding. Proposals are made to the Technical Officer, who shall take the proposal to the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will decide whether or not to undertake the project. Members may also form a working group to carry out specific research in a more flexible and informal manner. Working groups work under the supervision of the Consortium’s Technical Committee.

As a complementary contribution apart from the membership fee, each member may bring further support to the Consortium. This support can take the form of a financial contribution, industry collaboration or human expertise.

Costs

Membership fees are divided into three bands dependent on each institution’s annual operating budget.

The participation fees are set as follows:

Membership Inquiries

Membership applications for 2009 will be accepted August 1, 2008 through September 30, 2008. To apply, send a brief description of your organization’s web collection and preservation interests and activities, and the name and email address of a primary point of contact to . Applications are reviewed and accepted by the Consortium’s Steering Committee. Applicants will be contacted by mid-October 2008 about the status of their membership.