Articles of the Language Grid Association

This organization is called the Language Grid Association. This organization is located in City Lab, COCON Karasuma Building 4F, 620, Suiginya-cho, Shijo-Karasuma sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8411, Japan. The purpose of this organization is to contribute to the use and advancement of the Language Grid, which aims to overcome language barriers by connecting language resources worldwide. The activities of this organization to achieve the goal stated in Article 3 are:

(1)	Formation of special interest groups (SIGs), such as research groups or projects for the use and advancement of the Language Grid
(2)	Promotion of friendship among member organizations
(3)	Publicizing the Language Grid using the Internet and other media
(4)	Any other activities necessary to achieve the purposes of this organization

This organization is an association of member organizations. The member organizations shall be limited to ones that meet the following conditions: (i) the size of the organization is appropriate to the Language Grid User. (ii) the organization shall sign an Agreement on the Language Grid with the Language Grid Operator.

2	To join the association, a new member organization must be recommended by the executive office and approved at an operational meeting.
3	When a member organization wishes to withdraw from membership, it shall submit its withdrawal notice and the reason for withdrawal to the Chair.

The Members of this association shall belong to a member organization and shall be recommended by the responsible person of the said member organization.

2	Individuals are not qualified to be Members. If an individual wishes to join this association, the individual must belong to a member organization and be recommended by the responsible person of the member organization.
3	A member organization has to report the list of members whenever the list of members changes.

The Supporting Members of this association do not belong to any member organizations but work in a certain SIG after recommendation by the responsible person of the SIG.

2	The responsible person of a SIG shall determine the titles of the Supporting Members of the said SIG, which will include roles such as Advisor, Volunteer or Observer.
3	SIG member organizations shall not inform Supporting Members of expressly obtained IDs and passwords for the Language Grid. However, this shall not exclude the Supporting Members from using the Language Grid under the member organization's management.
4	The responsible person of a SIG has to report the list of supporting members whenever the list of supporting members changes.

A special interest group (SIG) is a group of Members with a certain goal.

2	A type-1 SIG is a joint-research group and consists of member organizations that share the common goal.
3	A type-2 SIG is a research-collaboration group, formed with the goal of collaborating on common topics of research of each member organization.
4	A type-3 SIG is a salon-type group, formed for volunteer activities and exchanging opinions.
5	To establish a new SIG, a proposal must be submitted by a member organization and be recommended by the executive office for it to be finally approved by an operational meeting.
6	To eliminate a SIG, a request shall be made by the responsible person of the SIG and approved at an operational meeting.
7	For SIG members to be changed (Members or Supporting Members), the change must be approved by the leader of the SIG.

The Executive Office consists of a Chair, a Vice Chair, and a few Leaders. These members shall be approved by an operational meeting and be reported at the general meeting. The Chair represents and presides over this association. The Vice Chair shall act in the Chair's place in the Chair's absence. The Leaders support the Chair and Vice Chair and conduct the association's activities. Student Leaders support the Chair, Vice Chair, and Leaders and conduct the association's activities. The Executive Office will request that Members serve as leaders as needed. The Operational Meeting consists of the representatives of the member organizations. The Operational Meeting makes decisions on the issues specified in these Articles. Operational Meetings shall be convened approximately twice a year by the Chair. Operational Meeting shall not be convened without a majority of the member organizations present. However, absentee member organizations that have stated their intentions in writing about issues announced prior to the meetings or entrusted a written letter of attorney to other member organizations shall be regarded as being in attendance.

2	Resolutions of Operational Meetings shall be adopted by a majority of votes of the member organizations present at a meeting.

General Meetings shall be convened approximately once a year by the Chair. At the General Meeting, activities reports are made, and opinion exchanges among members are conducted. The Language Grid Association shall not have its own budget scheme. The association will use an independent accounting system for each SIG and commingling of funds among SIGs shall not be conducted. According to the types of SIGs, budgeting shall be one of the following three types:

2	Type-1 SIGs will apply for competitive funds to conduct joint research.
3	In Type-2 SIGs, each member organization will take measures to secure their own funding and use it to collaborate on research.
4	Type-3 SIGs shall not have budgets, as their activities are voluntary.

These articles may be amended only by a resolution of the Operational Meeting and then reported at the General Meeting.


Appendix
These Articles shall take effect as from October 5, 2007.