I've been following this discussion (and read my scroll back having
missed the IRC meetings) and it seems like we have two things that need
to be discussed/decided and one thing that needs to get done as soon as
it can be done.

First, we need to get code4lib.org up in running at  a temporary host.
It looks like Dan Chudnov has offered to work on this and I hope that
someone can get him some of the backups to do this.

The things that need to be discussed are:

1) Where to permanently host code4lib.org. Right now we have two serious
proposals. One is at OSU and one is ibiblio. I don't think anyone at all
is concerned about the current people at OSU doing a good job. I know I
am not. That said, Dan Chudnov brings up some good issues about what
happens if things change at OSU. I have been involved with three
organizations that relied on university hosting. All three of them
eventually ran into issues somewhere done the road because of personal
changes and once because of being slash-dotted, For that reason, I
believe that we consider this potential issue when looking for a place
to host code4lib.org into the future. I propose that Dan Chudnov
investigate the possibility of hosting at ibiblio and write a proposal
and send it to the list. I also would like to see a more foraml proposal
from OSU. If anyone else wants to investigate another option, they
should submit a proposal as well. We need a deadline for this, and then
a vote/decision. Dan, how long do you think it will take for you to come
up with a proposal? Maybe we can say proposals are due on August 17.
That gives everyone two weeks to get together a formal proposal
together. After that date we can have a vote on the proposals with a
deadline that votes are due on August 24. A short time line, maybe
(maybe not short enough), but we need to get this solved soon.

2) We need to look into a formal organizational structure. I know some
of us have distinctly not wanted to do this. I think between a very
successful conference, and now a journal coming out the time has come to
at least seriously investigate this. As Ross Singer wrote
> Either somebody
> makes an executive decision (and risks stepping on somebody else's
> toes) or everybody calls 'not it'.  Because we don't know where we're
> heading with this, nobody's really willing to commit a lot of time or
> energy.  I think that needs to be addressed.
Going forward we need to have someone in a position to make a executive
decision and risk stepping on people toes. I'm not sure that this needs
to be done today, tomorrow, or even next month. I propose that we put
together a  task force and charge them with looking into organizational
structures. With vacations and everything, I don't think we want to need
to do this now, but maybe in September we can send out a call for
volunteers and start work in October. This task force will be charges
with coming up with some plans for a formal organization to be presented
at code4lib 2008 where they can be discussed, and if necessary acted upon.

Edward

--
Edward M. Corrado
http://www.tcnj.edu/~corrado/
Systems Librarian
The College of New Jersey
403E TCNJ Library
PO Box 7718 Ewing, NJ 08628-0718
Tel: 609.771.3337  Fax: 609.637.5177
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