General FAQ
1.1: What is the GCD?
The Grand Comic-Book Database (GCD) is an ongoing international project to build a detailed comic-book database that will be easy to use and understand, and also easy for contributors to add information to it. This fully searchable and sortable database includes information on creator credits, story details, and other information useful to the comic-book reader, fan, collector, and scholar. If we are able to take this project to its ultimate conclusion, the database will contain data for every comic book ever published in every country around the planet. It is available to all through the World Wide Web at the GCD home page. Note that the GCD is a database for "comic books", rather than a database for "comics", because it is limited to books and periodicals (of any size or binding) whose contents are 50% or more comics art. Comics in newspapers, web pages, or other publications that do not meet the above criteria are not indexed here, although publications that reprint newspaper strips, web strips or magazine cartoons and meet the official criteria may be indexed. For more information, see the GCD Charter.
1.2: Is the GCD a commercial entity?
No. The GCD is strictly a non-profit, non-commercial, fan-based volunteer effort.
1.3: When was the GCD started?
The GCD was started in 1994 by Bob Klein and Tim Stroup. Jon Ingersoll, Tim Tjarks, and Gene Reed joined shortly afterward. The project started as an offshoot of the Amateur Press Association for Indexing (APA-I) mailing group. Originally the GCD data was exchanged on computer disks. Soon Jon Løvstad of Norway joined up and GCD access on the Internet was born.
1.4: What is the GCD "Board" and how can I contact it?
The "Board" refers to the GCD's Board of Directors.
The "Board" is a group with a maximum of nine members who help run the GCD. There are elections every year in which either four or five of the Board members are elected to two-year terms by the GCD membership.
You can e-mail the GCD Board directly.
If you are on any of the GCD discussion lists Email Lists FAQ, you can ask questions there and a Board member will usually respond.
1.5: What is a "member" of the GCD? Do I have to become a member to get access to data from the GCD?
The GCD Charter states that there are three ways to qualify as a member of the GCD:
(i) Submitting a requisite number of new and/or corrected indexes or cover scans, as specified in the current operating guidelines. (see the The GCD Charter) (ii) Performing an administrative task, such as coordinating reservations, administering submissions, maintaining web sites, etc. (iii) Serving in any capacity or performing any task deemed worthy of membership by a majority vote of the board, including but not limited to providing regular assistance or background information that further (i) or (ii) above, creating or maintaining software tools, and serving as an active member of a temporary sub-committee.
To find out whether you have qualified for membership, contact GCD Board member and membership coordinator Ken Lemons, who can be reached at: [email protected] <----- should this be Lou Mazzella? or someone else?
Membership in the GCD was previously required in order to be able to download GCD data files for personal use. This requirement has been dropped, and anyone may now browse the website or request the GCD data files strictly for personal (non-commercial) use.
Membership in the GCD is not a requirement for joining and participating in the GCD-provided mailing lists - anyone may sign up and participate in the list discussions. There is currently one direct "benefit" for GCD members - eligibility to vote in Board elections. GCD members also "benefit" from the knowledge that we are contributing to a free, non-commercial resource that is regularly used by comics fans and researchers of comics history.
1.6: Whom do I contact for more information about the GCD?
For more information about the GCD, you may contact GCD Board member and membership coordinator Ken Lemons, who can be reached at: [email protected] <---- still correct? Should this be a whole FAQ on its own with who to contact for various reasons???
1.7: Whom do I contact to report problems with the website?
To report problems with the website, you may contact GCD Board member and web-master Jon Løvstad, who can be reached at: [email protected]
1.8: I would like to use data and/or cover scans from the GCD. Who owns the copyright to these items?
A: GCD Data - The GCD is an original compilation and database which by reason of the selection and arrangement of its contents constitutes an intellectual creation as defined by Copyright Law, and is protected as such. The data itself is copyrighted jointly by those who did the original work and the GCD. The data can be used as long as the GCD (and the original indexer if known) is credited as the source.
B: GCD Cover Scans - All cover images are copyrighted by their respective current copyright holders. Copyrights are typically held by the publisher on work-for-hire properties, by the creator(s) on creator-owned properties, or by a third party in the case of licensed properties. Copyright details can usually be determined from the indicia of comics.
If you wish to download and use cover scans from the GCD website, please credit the GCD and the person who posted the scan (if known). Please do not "leech" bandwidth by linking directly to the cover image files on the GCD website.
1.9: Does my country have a local GCD chapter? How do I start an international chapter?
National GCD chapters exist for the following countries:
GCD Deutschland: http://www.garcke.de/GCD/
GCD Italia: http://www.ubcfumetti.com/gcd/
GCD Norge: http://www.comics.org/norway/
GCD Sweden: http://www.lysator.liu.se/gcd/
To start an international chapter for another country, contact the GCD Board
They will be more than willing to offer any help and assistance needed. However, be forewarned:
If you do wish to start a GCD chapter, you will be considered not only the liaison between your country and the GCD proper, but you will also be the main Coordinator of data for your country. It may entail a good bit of work. We would recommend that you take upon this task only if you truly enjoy indexing comics and helping others do so as well.
The following info was brought over from the page that was labelled Charter, but it wasn't the 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.