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All,

Building on what Bess and others have written, and on the GitHub repo that
anarchivist set up, I've contributed a rough draft of a Code4Lib code of
conduct:

https://github.com/code4lib/antiharassment-policy/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md

This strawperson code of conduct is based on DLF Forum's, which is based on
the Ada Initiative's sample policy. It is modified slightly to reflect a
broader scope of the conference, conference social events, the IRC channel,
and the mailing list.

Throw darts, rinse, repeat.

-Mike


On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 6:10 PM, Robert Sanderson <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> +1, of course :)
>
> You might wish to consider some further derivatives/related pages:
>     http://www.diglib.org/about/code-of-conduct/
>     http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Friendly_space_policy
>     https://thestrangeloop.com/about/policies
>     http://www.apache.org/foundation/policies/anti-harassment.html
>
> Rob
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 3:57 PM, Mariner, Matthew <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > +1 for all of the below
> >
> > Matthew C. Mariner
> > Head of Special Collections and Digital Initiatives
> > Assistant Professor
> > Auraria Library
> > 1100 Lawrence StreetDenver, CO 80204-2041
> > [log in to unmask]
> > http://library.auraria.edu :: http://archives.auraria.edu
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 11/26/12 3:51 PM, "Tom Cramer" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > >+1 for Bess's motion
> > >+1 for Roy's expansion to C4L online interactions as well as face to
> face
> > >+1 for Karen's focus on general inclusivity and fair play
> > >
> > >> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
> > >>arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
> > >>organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
> > >>elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
> > >>detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
> > >>there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
> > >
> > >
> > >It seems to me that there would be tremendous benefit in having
> > >
> > >1.) an explicit statement of the community norms around harassment and
> > >fair play in general. In the best case, this would help avoid
> > >uncomfortable or inappropriate situations before they occur.
> > >
> > >2.) a defined process for handling any incidents that do arise, which in
> > >the case of this community I would imagine would revolve around
> > >reporting, communication, negotiation and arbitration rather than
> > >adjudication by a standing body (which I agree is hard to see in this
> > >crowd). I know several high schools have adopted peer arbitration
> > >networks for conflict resolution rather than referring incidents to the
> > >Principal's Office--perhaps therein lies a model for us for any
> incidents
> > >that may not be resolved simply through dialogue.
> > >
> > >- Tom
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >On Nov 26, 2012, at 2:32 PM, Karen Coyle wrote:
> > >
> > >> Bess and Code4libbers,
> > >>
> > >> I've only been to one c4l conference and it was a very positive
> > >>experience for me, but I also feel that this is too valuable of a
> > >>community for us to risk it getting itself into crisis mode over some
> > >>unintended consequences or a "bad apple" incident. For that reason I
> > >>would support the adoption of an anti-harassment policy in part for its
> > >>consciousness-raising value. Ideally this would be not only about
> sexual
> > >>harassment but would include general goals for inclusiveness and fair
> > >>play within the community. And it would also serve as an acknowledgment
> > >>that none of us is perfect, but we can deal with it.
> > >>
> > >> For me the hardest thing is how one monitors and resolves issues that
> > >>arise. As a group with no formal management, I suppose the conference
> > >>organizers become the "deciders" if such a necessity arises. If it's
> > >>elsewhere (email, IRC) -- that's a bit trickier. The Ada project's
> > >>detailed guides should help, but if there is a policy it seems that
> > >>there necessarily has to be some responsible "body" -- even if ad hoc.
> > >>
> > >> kc
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On 11/26/12 2:16 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:
> > >>> Dear Fellow Code4libbers,
> > >>>
> > >>> I hope I am not about to get flamed. Please take as context that I
> > >>>have been a member of this community for almost a decade. I have
> > >>>contributed software, support, and volunteer labor to this community's
> > >>>events. I have also attended the majority of code4lib conferences,
> > >>>which have been amazing and life-changing, and have helped me do my
> job
> > >>>a lot better. But, and I've never really known how to talk about this,
> > >>>those conferences have also been problematic for me a couple of times.
> > >>>Nothing like what happened to Noirin Shirley at ApacheCon (see
> > >>>http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Noirin_Shirley_ApacheCon_incidentif
> > >>>you're unfamiliar with the incident I mean) but enough to concern me
> > >>>that even in a wonderful community where we mostly share the same
> > >>>values, not everyone has the same definitions of acceptable behavior.
> > >>>
> > >>> I am watching the toxic fallout from the BritRuby conference
> > >>>cancellation with a heavy heart (go search for "britruby conference
> > >>>cancelled" if you want to catch up and/or get depressed). It has me
> > >>>wondering what more we could be doing to promote diversity and
> > >>>inclusiveness within code4lib. We have already had a couple of
> > >>>harassment incidents over the years, which I won't rehash here, which
> > >>>have driven away members of our community. We have also had other
> > >>>incidents that don't get talked about because sometimes one can feel
> > >>>that membership in a community is more important than one's personal
> > >>>boundaries or even safety. We should not be a community where people
> > >>>have to make that choice.
> > >>>
> > >>> I would like for us to consider adopting an anti-harassment policy
> for
> > >>>code4lib conferences. This is emerging as a best practice in the
> larger
> > >>>open source software community, and we would be joining the ranks of
> > >>>many other conferences:
> > >>>
> http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Adoption.
> > >>>The Ada Initiative has a great discussion of why adopting an
> > >>>Anti-Harrassment policy is a good choice for a conference to make, as
> > >>>well as some example policy statements, here:
> > >>>http://adainitiative.org/what-we-do/conference-policies/ Here is a
> > >>>summary:
> > >>>
> > >>>> Why have an official anti-harassment policy for your conference?
> > >>>>First, it is necessary (unfortunately). Harassment at conferences is
> > >>>>incredibly common - for example, see this timeline
> > >>>>(http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/index.php?title=Timeline_of_incidents
> )
> > >>>>of sexist incidents in geek communities. Second, it sets expectations
> > >>>>for behavior at the conference. Simply having an anti-harassment
> > >>>>policy can prevent harassment all by itself. Third, it encourages
> > >>>>people to attend who have had bad experiences at other conferences.
> > >>>>Finally, it gives conference staff instructions on how to handle
> > >>>>harassment quickly, with the minimum amount of disruption or bad
> press
> > >>>>for your conference.
> > >>> If the conference already has something like this in place, and I'm
> > >>>just uninformed, please educate me and let's do a better job
> > >>>publicizing it.
> > >>>
> > >>> Thanks for considering this suggestion. If the answer is the usual
> > >>>code4lib answer (some variation on "Great idea! How are you going to
> > >>>make that happen?") then I hereby nominate myself as a member of the
> > >>>Anti-Harrassment Policy Adoption committee for the code4lib
> conference.
> > >>>Would anyone else like to join me?
> > >>>
> > >>> Bess Sadler
> > >>> [log in to unmask]
> > >>> Manager, Application Development
> > >>> Digital Library Systems & Services
> > >>> Stanford University Library
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Karen Coyle
> > >> [log in to unmask] http://kcoyle.net
> > >> ph: 1-510-540-7596
> > >> m: 1-510-435-8234
> > >> skype: kcoylenet
> >
>