Bylaws
of the Marxists Internet Archive (M.I.A.)
§ 1. Contributors
A. Volunteers: M.I.A. volunteers have agreed to abide by the M.I.A. Charter and Bylaws. Volunteers transcribe or translate works, and add supporting information – historical context, editorial footnotes, etc. – subject to the agreement of the section Administrator. Volunteers can work in any section and transcribe works for any author we currently have or add a new author archive as administrator for that archive. The responsibility of every M.I.A. volunteer is to:
1. Safeguard material from any modifications or alterations from the original text, and repair any typos in the text.
2. Ensure material is not under copyright, or secure permission from the owner of the copyright to republish the material on the Marxists Internet Archive indefinitely. Ensure this permission is documented with the published material.
1. Help and Coordinate volunteers in their transcription/markup efforts.
2. Collect material from volunteers, upload it to the archive, and set the appropriate links and indexes. An administrator can never refuse to upload original materials of that archive which is eligible for inclusion and is provided in satisfactory format by a volunteer.
3. Reply to mail regarding the archive in a timely manner.
4. Ensure HTML and links in their section are working.
5. Continue the same responsibilities of every M.I.A. volunteer.
For further details on these responsibilities, see the Administrator’s Guidelines
§ 2. Steering Committee
The Steering Committee is the ultimate decision making body of the M.I.A.. The Committee decides issues such as modification of the ByLaws, financial issues of all kinds, disputes with other organizations, and similar matters.
1. All M.I.A. administrators and volunteers are members of the Steering Committee.
2. All members of the Steering Committee are subscribed to the mia-list email list.
3. All administrators and volunteers may exercise a single vote.
4. Any administrator or volunteer may raise an issue for discussion and decision.
5. It is the responsibility of the Secretary to facilitate discussion and decision-making on the Steering Committee.
6. The Steering Committee always aims to achieve consensus informally, before moving to a formal vote. Voting shall open for a period of 2 weeks.
7. Formal motions are decided by a 3/4 majority of votes cast.
§ 3. Administrative Committee
A. Responsibilities: The members of the Administrative Committee have shown through consistent work on M.I.A. that they are capable of carrying out necessary administrative tasks. They have server permissions to make changes to anywhere on the M.I.A.. They ensure the smooth running of the server, keep the server technology up to date, ensue administrators have SFTP access, answer general enquiries sent to the M.I.A., assist administrators and volunteers as required, encourage new volunteers and enlist new administrators, manage the budget, ensure we deal with legal matters, and similar activities.
B. Eligibility: Anyone who shows themselves capable of fulfilling necessary duties and has consistently contributed to M.I.A. for at least one year is welcome into this committee. Members may join and remain on the Admin. Ctee. by consensus of Admin. Ctee. members but subject to Steering Ctee. decision in the event of a dispute.
C. Correspondence Secretary: One member of the Admin. Ctee. shall be chosen by consensus to take responsibility for first response to general enquiries to the contact email address, referring the enquiry to the relevant Administrator or inducting the person as a new M.I.A. volunteer or administrator.
This position is responsible for creating and varying permissions for each volunteer and maintaining the mia-list.
C. Technical Secretary: One member of the Admin. Ctee. who has high level server skills will take responsibility for server management, with the assistance of appropriate members of a Technical Committee.
D. Financial Secretary: One member of the Admin. Ctee. shall maintain accounts for the M.I.A. and provide regular reports on our cash flow and bank balance.
E.Secretary: One member of the Admin. Ctee. shall be selected by consensus to keep track of discussions on the Steering Committee mailing list ([email protected]) and the Admin list ([email protected]), facilitate the formation of consensus and, where necessary, manage the agenda and voting processes.