Help:GAMEO Policies

Mission Statement

The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) provides reliable, freely-available information on Anabaptist-related congregations, denominations, conferences, institutions and significant individuals, as well as historical and theological topics. Secular subject articles from an Anabaptist perspective and full-text source documents are also included.

Partners

1. Partners in the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) support its mission through active participation on the GAMEO Management Board. Each partner has one representative on the Management Board.
2. GAMEO partners include Anabaptist-related historical, denominational, educational or service organizations that are national or multinational in character. A large regional organization may also apply for partnership status.
3. Partners commit themselves to assist GAMEO by publicity through their news services and websites, and through facilitating GAMEO fundraising.
4. Partners pay all costs of their representative to the Management Board. Each partner also contributes $250 annually toward the travel costs of the Managing Editor and Associate Managing Editor(s) to Management Board meetings.
5. New partners are added through the unanimous consent of the Management Board.

Management Board

1. The GAMEO Management Board is composed of one person appointed by each GAMEO partner. The Managing Editor and Associate Managing Editor(s) attend Management Board meetings as staff.
2. The Management Board by unanimous consent may invite additional partners to participate in the GAMEO project.
3. The Management Board sets operational policy and financial policy for the Management Board, the managing editors and technical expenses related to maintenance and hosting of GAMEO. It responsible to see that adequate publicity, promotion and fundraising are in place to support the ongoing work of the Encyclopedia. It is not responsible for the budget of editorial committees that relate to the work of GAMEO.
4. The Management Board elects its own chair every three years. It appoints the Managing Editor, Associate Managing Editor(s) and such other staff and/or subcommittees as it deems necessary. The term “staff” may include both paid and/or volunteer persons. Appointments are generally for a three-year term.
5. The Associate Managing Editor will normally serve as Recording Secretary for Management Board meetings.
6. One subcommittee is an International Advisory Committee on Theological Articles appointed by the Management Board to review existing theological articles for currency, to propose new theological articles that should be added, and to recommend writers for the new or revised articles. The committee should be geographically and denominationally representative. It will primarily function electronically, but may hold an occasional face-to-face meeting.

Finances

1. For the present the financial recordkeeping for GAMEO and the Management Board is done by the Treasurer of the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada (MHSC); the finances of GAMEO are maintained in a separate fund, but are presently included in the MHSC annual financial reports;
2. The routine operations of GAMEO should be met through the donations of the Partners, Sponsors and interested individuals; extraordinary expenses for major site upgrades will be raised through special project fundraising.
3. The Treasurer of MHSC prepares a financial statement for the GAMEO fund and presents it annually to the Management Board; The Treasurer of the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada, in consultation with the Managing Editor, prepares
4. The Treasurer of the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada, in consultation with the Managing Editor, prepares a balanced budget for GAMEO for approval at the annual meeting of the Management Board.
5. Donations to GAMEO can be made through the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada (Canadian donations) and the Historical Committee of Mennonite Church USA (USA). Donations from outside North America should be directed to the Mennonite Historical Society of Canada.

Managing Editor

The Managing Editor

1. Oversees day-to-day GAMEO activities. Thus the Managing Editor:
   1. Monitors the GAMEO website for technical and visual issues in cooperation with the software programmer support persons (currently PeaceWorks Software Consulting), and authorizes corrective action when required;
   2. Interacts with GAMEO’s Internet Service Provider (currently PeaceWorks) on any site issues, e.g. site down, slow response, broken features, and authorizes corrective action when required;
   3. Makes additions to the What’s New page; changes the Welcome to page periodically, adds news and event items that are submitted to GAMEO, and changes other “top level” pages as required;
   4. Adds new members (editors; role described below) to the GAMEO site;
   5. Serves as the initial contact for email directed to the GAMEO site (admin@gameo.org), and either responds or directs the message to the appropriate person;
   6. Adds images and maps to the GAMEO database for use by Members and Reviewers;
2. Creates Management Board agenda in cooperation with Management Board chair and other editorial staff;
3. Provides an annual report to the Management Board, including statistical summaries of activity on, and visits to, the GAMEO site;
4. Appoints Reviewers (Senior Editors; role described below) from recommendations made by Associate Managing Editor(s) and Editorial Committees. Reviewers monitor and approve for publication new or changed articles in their area of responsibility, and recommend writers to have authority to make additions and changes directly to the GAMEO database. They also provide input on changes in style policies for GAMEO articles. Senior Editors jointly give leadership in assigning/approving conceptual articles and other articles that transcend geographic and denominational lines.
5. Prepares policy documents at the direction of the Management Board, and in cooperation with Associate Managing Editor(s) and Editorial Committees as required;
6. Provides the interface between the language groups actively engaged in the GAMEO project through close consultation with the Associate Managing Editor(s) of the language groups;
7. Provides the interface between the Management Board and the International Advisory Committee on Theological Articles in consultation with the Associate Managing Editor(s);
8. Provides training and training documents for Reviewers and Members, in cooperation with Associate Managing Editor(s) and Reviewers;
9. Works with Editorial Committees in developing content priorities and working with article “templates.”
10. Periodically reviews the GAMEO Style Sheet and article templates in cooperation with the Editorial Committees, and monitors editorial adherence to style sheet and article “templates” together with Associate Managing Editor(s) and Reviewers;
11. Promotes GAMEO through press releases and other promotional materials; presentations at regional historical meetings;
12. Oversees applications for grants and/or donations from individuals, institutions and foundations, both for operating and special project costs.
13. Works closely with Associate Managing Editor(s) in developing/recommending enhancements and/or changes to the GAMEO, i.e. new features or content.
14. Functions as a “Manager” in the Plone Content Management system used by GAMEO; this includes the ability to make changes in the way in which the System functions, including the technical ability to remove articles from the site and to remove Members or Reviewers from site (in consultation with Associate Managing Editor(s) and Editorial Committees as required. The “Manager” role can also change how the Reviewer and Member roles function, can change the “ownership” of particular articles, etc.
15. Completes quality review of the content included from vols. 1-5 of the Mennonite Encyclopedia in association with the Associate Managing Editor;
16. Also holds the roles of Reviewer and Member and may be a Writer.

Associate Managing Editor(s)

Associate Managing Editor(s) may have particular responsibility for a particular language, geographical region or denominational body. In these cases (especially in the case of language and non-North American geographic areas), duties will include some of the Managing Editor tasks for that area of GAMEO, e.g. appointment of reviewers, GAMEO promotion through news releases, fundraising, training, etc. In addition, the Assistant Managing Editor(s)

1. Help oversee day-to-day GAMEO activity, and report any technical issues to the Managing Editor for correction; in the absence of the Managing Editor, the Assistant Managing Editor(s) will make direct contact with the programmers and Internet Service Provider in case of urgent problems.
2. Adds images and maps to the GAMEO database for use by Members and Reviewers;
3. Make additions to the What’s New page; periodically change the Welcome to page for the language of responsibility, add news and events items that are submitted to GAMEO, and change other “top level” pages as required;
4. Add new members (editors; role described below) to the GAMEO site;
5. Recommend Management Board and Editorial Committee agenda for consideration by the Management Board chair and the Managing Editor;
6. Recommend appointment of Reviewers (Senior Editors; role described below) to the Managing Editor;
7. Assist in the interface between the Management Board and the International Advisory Committee on Theological Articles together with the Managing Editor;
8. Assist in provision of training and training documents for Reviewers and Members;
9. Work with the Managing Editor and appropriate Editorial Committees in developing content priorities and working with article “templates.”
10. Monitor editorial adherence to style sheet and article “templates” together with Reviewers, and suggests changes as appropriate;
11. Promote GAMEO through presentations at regional historical meetings and other venues as appropriate;
12. Work with the Managing Editor in developing/recommending enhancements and/or changes to the GAMEO, i.e. new features or content.
13. One or two Associate Managing Editors also function as a “Manager” in the Plone Content Management system used by GAMEO; this includes the ability to make changes in the way in which the System functions, including the technical ability to remove articles from the site and to remove Members or Reviewers from site (in consultation with the Managing Editor and Editorial Committees as required. The “Manager” role can also change how the Reviewer and Member roles function, can change the “ownership” of particular articles, etc.
14. Completes quality review of the content included from vols. 1-5 of the Mennonite Encyclopedia in association with the Managing Editor;
15. Also holds the roles of Reviewer and Member and may be a Writer.

Reviewer (Senior Editor)

“Reviewer” is the term used within the Plone Content Management System for the role of Senior Editor. The Reviewer is usually an experienced Member (Editor) that is part of a larger Editorial Committee. The Reviewer

1. Checks articles submitted by Members for review. This check monitors the writer’s adherence to GAMEO’s style sheet and article “templates”;
2. “Publishes” to public view articles that pass the review; the Reviewer can also make minor corrections to the article (style, typos, etc.) before publishing.
3. Creates links back to the article (if new) from other GAMEO articles that refer to the new article;
4. Rejects articles that require further work, and returns them to the Member for further work, with an appropriate explanation.
5. Makes minor corrections to any article within GAMEO that comes to his/her attention, e.g. typos, incorrect dates, etc.;
6. Requests the Managing Editor to change the “ownership” of an article to allow a particular member to make editorial changes.
7. Offers suggestions for improvement in the GAMEO site to the Managing and Associate Managing Editors, and promotes GAMEO in contexts were appropriate.
8. Works closely with the Editorial Committee with which the Reviewer has a primary relationship.
9. Also holds the role of Member, and may be a Writer.

Member (Editor)

“Member” is the term used within the Plone Content Management System for the role of Editor. The Member may be very experienced or a novice editor, and may have responsibility for one article or for many articles. The Member has a user id and password to log on to a GAMEO account, and creates and edits content on the GAMEO site. The Member

1. Creates new articles at the request of the appropriate Editorial Committee or a Managing Editor or Assistant Managing Editor. The article is prepared to a completed state, following the Editorial Guideline, the GAMEO style sheet and relevant article templates, and will include links to other GAMEO articles mentioned in the new article. The completed article is submitted for review by a Reviewer, who will publish it to public view, or will return it for additional work.
2. A member may request that an existing article have its ownership transferred to the member. This will allow the member to make editorial changes, and to again submit the article for review. The request to change ownership should go to a Reviewer. An article written by the Member may be changed by the member, but still must go through the review process each time.

Writer

A “Writer” for GAMEO is a person invited by an Editorial Committee to write a new article or update an existing article in GAMEO. The article will follow the GAMEO style sheet, and should make use of relevant article templates. The writer works with the Reviewer (Senior Editor) connected to the Editorial Committee that invited the article; the Reviewer will publish the article when it meets GAMEO standards. The Writer does not require a GAMEO account, but can become a Member (Editor) if interested in working directly on the GAMEO site.

Editorial Committees

Editorial committees can be established on a national, denominational or regional basis; the size of the committee is determined by the appointing body or bodies. The appointing body for the Editorial Committee need not be a partner in GAMEO; however Editorial Committees need to be recognized by the GAMEO Management Board. Editorial Committees in a non-English context, or outside North America will primarily relate to the Managing Editor or Associate Managing Editor with primary responsibility in that language.

Editorial Committees

1. Agree to adhere to the editorial policies established by GAMEO as outlined in its style sheet and “templates,” and are encouraged to make suggestions for improving the style sheet and templates.
2. Assign/solicit articles for the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO) and provide editorial services for the area for which they are responsible.
   1. Regionally-based Editorial committees will generally focus on regional articles only (biography, geographic, congregational, institutions). A large regional society may nominate a Reviewer for appointment by the Managing Editor.
   2. National, multinational and denominational editorial committees will:
      1. Coordinate the larger conceptual articles, and other articles that transcend geographic and denominational lines; as the project grows this task might be assigned to an “Advisory Committee” composed of representatives from the larger editorial committees; theological articles will be addressed by the International Advisory Committee on Theological Articles;
      2. Work closely with local, regional and area conference historical committees (or editorial committees) in the solicitation of articles;
      3. Nominate one or two Reviewers (Senior Editors) for appointment by the Managing Editor.
3. The appointing bodies for editorial committees should consider denominational, geographic, gender and cultural background in the composition of the editorial committee.
4. Appointment terms for an Editorial Committee are up to the appointing bodies. Terms should be set so that no more than 1/3 of the committee changes at a time.
5. Editorial committees organize themselves, or are organized by their appointing bodies.
6. Editorial Committee expenses are the responsibility of the appointing bodies.
7. The Canadian Editorial Committee is presently responsible for developing the “templates” used in creating articles.

Consulting Editors

The GAMEO Managing Editor may appoint an unspecified number of Consulting Editors to serve as advisors to the Managing Editor(s) on subject articles in the areas of theology, history, sociology, the arts, and other areas that may develop. The list of Consulting Editors will be reported to the Management Board annually. Consulting Editors are either academics in post-secondary institutions or persons with highly developed knowledge in a specialized subject area. The group of Consulting Editors should represent a good balance in geography, denominations, discipline and gender.

The Managing Editor(s) may invite one or more Consulting Editors from a particular academic discipline to review existing articles, and to recommend an update or rewrite. The Consulting Editors may also recommend new subject articles that merit inclusion in GAMEO. When new or updated subject articles are received, the Managing Editor(s) may submit them to one or more Consulting Editors for comment.

The Managing Editor(s) may invite one or more Consulting Editors to do the writing, or to make recommendations on appropriate writers. Articles with an international context may especially involve multiple writers.

All communication with Consulting Editors will occur electronically or by phone as required; no travel is anticipated. Consulting Editor appointments will be reviewed every three years; Consulting Editors are eligible for reappointment. There is no remuneration for writing or editorial work; the list of Consulting Editors will be posted on the GAMEO website.

Existing subject articles will be retained in “Additional Information” to provide historical continuity with the print encyclopedia.

Sponsors

Sponsors of the GAMEO project are persons, institutions or organizations who provide financial support in the amount of $250 or more in any one fiscal year. Sponsors are recognized on a sponsor page with a link to their website if desired. No further organizational link results from sponsorship.

DRAFT 6 28 September 2011