The GCD Charter

• We are building a simple database that will be easy to use and understand, easy to add to, and easy for people to contribute to.

• We will include information on creator credits, story details, and other information useful to the comic book reader and fan.

• If we are able to take this to its ultimate conclusion, this database will contain data for every comic book ever published.

• This project is for us, and the people like us. We will use this as a comic-book database which can be searched and sorted. The database will be a resource for fans, hobbyists and collectors, with no commercial objectives.

Objectives and Guidelines:

For content:

• We intend to catalog key story information, creator information, and other information which is useful to readers, fans, hobbyists, researchers.
• Our goal is to include all the comic books ever published.
• We will use a broad definition of Comic Book; a comic book is 50% or more art and/or pictures which tell a story. (If there is a question, that book can be included. This definition eliminates any electronic comics. It includes small print run fanzines & minicomics.)

For structure:

• It will be simple, but useful.
• The structure will be designed around computerized tools.
• It can be used by casual users and doesn't require special knowledge or expert assistance for interpretation.
• It will be capable of evolving as new needs are found.

For availability:

• Available in ASCII text formats.
• Available over the Internet.

For organization of the group:

• We are a volunteer organization of hobbyists.
• This is not a commercial endeavor, and will not become one.
• Indexing the sum total of all comic books is a huge project. Without heroic effort, it can't be done by one person or even a small number of people.

Our operating principles are designed to allow a large number of people to collaborate in a simple and easy way to achieve our ultimate goal. Many hands make light work, and many hands will be required for this.

Since the beginning, we have indexed over 70,000 comic books. When we consider international comic books, it is clear we have a gigantic project ahead of us.

The Grand Comic Book Database is an evolving project which operates as a volunteer organization. It is expected that capabilties, needs and methods will evolve as the project matures and technology moves forward. Decisions on changes will be made by consensus.

Coordinators:

Membership Coordinator - currently Ken Lemons Public contact point Recruits more contributors Answers questions Data Coordinator - currently Ken Lemons and L. Jámal Walton Collects data Keeps and maintains central datafiles and controls revisions Puts together different pieces from different sources Monitors inputs and outputs Decides on format for results Random checks on accuracy Final say on data or format standards Reserve Coordinator - currently Matthias Hofmann Accepts reservations Distributes reservation lists The Board: Mike Nielsen - Board Chairman Lou Mazzella - Secretary Ray Bottorff Jr Matthias Hofmann Jim Ludwig Mike Catron Per Sandell Tony Rose - Treasurer Will Allred

Guidelines for our operation:

We have a deadline (also known as a "mailing") for indexes not done through the Online Indexing program every two months, at the end of January, March, May, July, September, and November. This deadline is a loose one since most indexes are now done through the Online Index, so contact the data coordinator if you have any questions. Anyone who contributes complete, usable data for 100 issues or more is eligible to be considered an official member of the Grand Comic-Book Database. This membership will entitle you to voting rights in all future GCD elections and possible future benefits. Fulfillment of the 100-issue requirement can be spread over several deadlines.

Data will be made available via ftp and online. Because of the volume of data, we are not using email to distribute the master files.

Contributors should suggest what titles and issues they want to do. If these are not reserved by others, these issues are available for indexing. If contributors would like suggestions, we can provide them, of course. If you are not sure if the title you want to index has already been done, refer to our master list of completed indices, or ask us.

Data can be submitted in tab-separated text format on either IBM or Mac disks, or via e-mail. Several database or spreadsheet formats are also acceptable; check with the current data coordinator on your format of choice. Contributors cannot copy existing, published indexes without the permission of the copyright holder. Copyright laws and good manners prohibit such. If you have obtained permission, you must notate in the index the source of the material. Comic book covers from other sources (web sites or compilation CD's) are not allowed to be used unless you have obtained their permisssion. All efforts should be made to scan your own covers.

People should be reasonable in their reservation requests. We don't want a rushed or careless project, nor do we want to tie up a commitment to someone who will not deliver in a reasonable period of time. Our general rule of thumb is to look for a 25 issue commitment over a two-month time period. This is particularly true of new members who are indexing in our format for the first time. All reservations will be held for only 6 months. If you are unable to complete your reservation, and you need more time, you will need to reservate again the issues again.

Matthias Hofmann, reservation coordinator, will work with individuals in making reservations.

It is important to maintain the quality of the database. For this reason, the Coordinators may ask for verification regarding rare or unusual books. Verification will probably be in the form of a photocopy or a scan of the cover and indica page, or through independent confirmations, or another satisfactory method. This is to prevent non-existent comics from being entered into the database.

Because we intend this to be computer-seachable, we need to adhere to reasonable standards of consistency for our data. The required format is explained in the Format document. Through our email reflector, we can cooperate and collaborate to pool our knowledge and our collections. Members routinely ask for help in identifying unknown artists or locating the hard-to-find issue for example. This on-line collaboration is a big advantage in a project like the GCD.

Hope you find our project interesting and exciting. We do, and we hope you will join us in creating the Grand Comic-Book Database! Just contact Ken Lemons if you would like to join or if you have any questions. He can be reached by e-mail at: [email protected].

[rest added by Peter C, not part of the Charter, but maybe should be...]

From April 20, 2007 Email...

That we officially adopt the last 14 days of the month of October (12:00:00am GMT, October 18th to 11:59:59pm GMT October 31st) as the official period that people may announce their candidacy for the Board.

For 14 days from 12:00:00am GMT, November 1 to 11:59:59pm GMT, November 14 candidates will be able to campaign if they choose to.

Voting for Board postions will be held over 7 days from 12:00:00am GMT, November 15 to 11:59:59pm GMT, November 21.

Ray is the Senior Editor. This should be noted somewhere... as should the Senior Editors group.

The Board exists to help set and revise GCD policy, to make sure that all of the administrative roles are adequately staffed, and to identify problem areas and set up action committees to resolve them. Another way of looking at this is, they don't handle the day-to-day operations of the GCD, but they make sure that there are resources in place to handle them, and make sure that the project addresses areas of change when needed.