UDC Consortium Membership

Why join the UDC Consortium | Executive members | Licensees | Associate members | How to join?

WHY JOIN THE UDC CONSORTIUM?

1. Overview

1.1 Introduction. The UDC Consortium (UDCC) is a self-funded, non-commercial, organization. It was officially founded and registered with the Kamer van Koophandel Haaglanden (the Chamber of Commerce in The Hague district) on 24 December 1991 as a Stichting, registration number 41157140. (In English, Stichting is interpreted as "a sort of charitable foundation", but this interpretation might be misleading in other languages. For guidance, the UDCC is not subject to corporation or similar business taxes, but it is registered for VAT [BTW in The Netherlands] and, if it employs staff, it will be liable for salary and salary-related taxes.) 

The Statuten (Articles of Association) and Byelaws registered at the time of its foundation define the Consortium's objects and core working principles. The working language of the UDCC is English and it operates under Dutch law.

An Executive Committee determines the strategy and policy of the Consortium's activities and assigns priorities and budgets. Day to day administration and management of UDCC activities rests with the UDCC Director who is responsible to the Chairman of the Executive Committee.

The Articles of Association define the Consortium's objectives, as follows.

Objects

Article 2

2.1     The object of the foundation is to direct the development and dissemination of the Universal Decimal Classification (hereinafter also referred to as: "UDC") in the best interests of its publishers and users.

2.2     The foundation tries to realize those objects by:

a.       protecting the intellectual property of the UDC;

b.       setting up activities which are conducive to the financial viability of the UDC;

c.       organizing and planning the UDC as a means of representing the universe of knowledge, providing for its development and maintenance, and protecting its integrity;

d.       enabling, supporting or commissioning the development and publication of new UDC editions, and of UDC products or related products;

e.       promoting the applicability of the UDC in all possible fields;

f.        authorizing changes to the contents or structure of the UDC;

g.       effecting and encouraging the dissemination of information about the UDC, UDC products and services;

h.       effecting a system to respond to enquiries about the UDC and its application;

i.        fostering cooperation and common policies between UDC publishers, on the basis of the foregoing.

2.3     The structure of the foundation is such that

a.       every participant (hereinafter also referred to as: "Member") keeps control over his own publishing and/or other activities;

b.       the Consortium may own intellectual property rights to the UDC, and the Consortium is entitled to issue publication licences on terms to be fixed by the Executive Committee.

In order to meet its declared objectives, the UDC Consortium maintains a range of working relationships with different communities, including its Executive Members, its Licence Holders, its new Associate Members and the users of UDC.

1.2 Executive Members and Licensees. Each of the Executive Members and the Licensees directly serves the interests of their own user, or other customer, communities. They each have the opportunity, therefore, to act indirectly as channels of communication between the UDCC and those communities. The UDCC regards feedback from such communication as highly valuable, because it comes from actual users.

In order to meet key objects in 2.2 above (e.g. items d, e and g) the UDCC reviews applications from various parties who wish to make use of the UDC for their own purposes. Successful applicants will be able to demonstrate that their proposed use of the UDC data and structure will exploit directly the benefits of the UDC, for example in a new translation or for access to a particular community, or in the development or use of other tools or applications. In particular, computer-based applications are an appropriate vehicle for use of UDC because of its clear analysis and synthetic structure. In many instances, it is possible to conceal the complex workings of the classification from the end user while delivering valuable services related to classification or information search and retrieval. (For more information see Licence Application and Guidance on Licences .)

1.3 Associate Members. The Associate Member class is intended to suit a variety of needs; for example, Associate Members could be individual users or groups of users in a particular community, e.g. a library, company or industry. At the other extreme, they could be commercial distributors or booksellers.

An individual user or a user group might have a very specific interest in some or all of the classification and its application. Users might wish to identify the need for changes, or contribute to development of those parts of the UDC they use most, or are most expert in. They might wish to contribute articles on their use of the UDC for publication on the UDCC web site or in Extensions and corrections to the UDC. They might wish to work with the UDCC or, through the UDCC with others, to generate new publications, products or services related to the UDC.

On the other hand a distributor might be interested in extending his range of products, or reaching a wider audience of customers, or expanding business through targeting a subject-specific audience.

For more information see Associate Membership.

1.4 Communication between members. The UDCC provides space on its web site for users to publish their names and their specific interests. This helps them to communicate with each other as well as with the Consortium in order to share knowledge and skills, or to raise queries among like-minded groups or individuals.

There is also a separately-hosted User Forum that operates via e-mail that can be joined at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/udc-forum.html.

2. Executive Members

2.1 Responsibilities. Each Executive Member is a significant legal entity that publishes and promotes editions of the UDC in their native language. They represent their language's interests in the UDC and the Consortium's business.

Each Executive Member commits funding annually to support the UDCC and its agreed research and development programme.

They also contribute substantial effort to manage the Consortium's business through Executive Committee meetings three or four times a year.

2.2 Opportunities and benefits. Executive Members have collective responsibility on behalf of the Stichting UDC Consortium for shaping its policy and strategy and for managing the finances, marketing and promotion, current and future maintenance and research and, especially, for safeguarding the integrity and currency of the UDC.

They ensure that the Statutes and Byelaws are obeyed and maintained.

In recognition of their financial and expert commitment, Executive Members are granted the highest range of benefits, including:

·   the right to publish any edition of the UDC in their native language,

·   a free copy of the latest MRF each year,

·   a free copy of Extensions and corrections,

·   free licences to translate or distribute Consortium publications (such as The UDC : a guide to its use) in exchange only for royalty payments,

·   primary right to participate in joint projects (either with other Executive Members or on behalf of the Consortium) and share the costs and benefits.

2.3 How to become an Executive Member

The Articles of Association and Bye-laws identify the expectations and requirements for Executive Membership, and their responsibilities. In particular, Executive Members are organizations that have a major interest in the quality and prosperity of the UDC and agree to contribute management effort to the Consortium.

Applicants for membership will need to file a written application setting out their request and including their undertaking that they will comply with the Articles of Association. The application will be reviewed by the Executive Committee.

Among other things, successful applicants will be able to show that:

·   they are, or intend to be, a major publisher or other major user of UDC in a country/language not already represented by another Executive Member

·   they will commit to pay annual membership fees in advance

·   they will commit to give one whole year's notice of withdrawal and to pay the full annual fees during that period of notice

·   they will commit to attend Executive Committee meetings, usually in The Hague, usually 3 times a year, but possibly more if there is a need.

Please contact the UDCC Director for a copy of the Articles of Association and Byelaws and for initial discussions and if you have any questions.

3. Licensees

3.1 Responsibilities. In most cases a Licensee is a body approved by the Consortium to publish or apply one or more specific editions of the UDC to meet their local demands.

Each product needs a specific licence, for which a specific fee is payable each year and specific terms apply.

Each licence is valid for a defined period, normally not less than one year. Unless due notice is given, it will be renewed automatically each year on payment of the annual fee. Changes can be accommodated via a fresh application. As a licence is required for each specific product or use, some Licensees have more than one licence.

The UDC Consortium takes great care to ensure that each licence is exclusive and that there is no duplication, overlap or conflict of interest between the licences issued to any of the Licensees and between any such licence and the rights of any Executive Member.

3.2 Opportunities and benefits. Licensees do not have rights to take part in the executive decision making process.

A Licensee can contribute comments on any issue concerning the UDC and the UDCC welcomes contributions for publication in Extensions and corrections to the UDC, such as articles or proposals concerning the UDC or its use, or feedback from the Licensees user community.

In return for their financial commitment and promulgation of specific editions of the UDC, Licensees are granted a range of benefits, including:

·   the right to publish the agreed, specific edition of the UDC,

·   a free copy of the latest MRF (Master Reference file) each year,

·   the right to apply for licences to translate or distribute Consortium publications (such as The UDC: a guide to its use) in exchange for an up front fee plus royalty payments,

·   the right to subscribe to Extensions and Corrections to the UDC

·   the right to participate in joint projects (either with others or on behalf of the Consortium) and share the costs and benefits.

3.3 How to become a Licensee

There are two simple steps to the process.

a) To help you decide if you need a licence and, if so, what kind of licence, please examine the guidance on licences .  If you have any questions, contact the UDCC Director.

b) Download an application form , complete it and send it to the UDCC Director.

4. Associate Members

4.1 Responsibilities. The "responsibilities" of Associate Members are different from those of Executive Members and Licensees. They include:

·   Payment of an annual Associate Membership fee (at different levels for an individual, for group membership (e.g. a company or organization, for up to 10 named individuals), or for a distributor (who must agree to meet minimum sales targets, but who can gain additional discounts by exceeding them)

·   Collaboration in promotion of the UDC or any joint (i.e. shared) activities or other mutually-beneficial promulgation relating to the UDC

·   Willingness to contribute articles from time to time for the UDCC website or for E&C

·   Potentially, sharing exhibition, display or stand space or the costs of attendance at others' events (e.g. exhibitions, presentations)

·   Any other mutually-beneficial activity to be agreed with the UDCC.

4.2 Opportunities and benefits. Whether you are an individual, a member of an existing group within a company or business sector, or an organization, business or commercial concern, the UDCC wants the class of Associate Member to provide a way for you to benefit from joining a wider community within the UDCC.

That community could be dealing with topics or applications that are similar or related to yours, could have skills or experience to mutually share, or could work collaboratively to build solutions to common problems within the scope of the UDC Consortium's operations.

The full range of general and optional benefits is available in Associate Membership.

4.3 How to become an Associate Member

It could not be easier to join!

Download an application form , complete it and send it to:

The Director
UDC Consortium
PO Box 90407

2509 LK The Hague
The Netherlands

Fax: +31 70 314 0450 attn UDC

Email: mail[@t]udcc.orgClick on the link but please remove the
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part of the email address