DuraSpace is an international community dedicated to providing a welcoming, inclusive and positive experience for all members of our community. This includes formal gatherings, social settings, and online activities including mailing lists, wikis, web sites, IRC channels, Slack, and/or private correspondence. Accordingly, all community members are expected to show respect and courtesy to other attendees throughout events and online as well as in-person interactions associated with Duraspace.

To make clear what is expected, everyone taking part in Duraspace events, discussions and community—staff, members, event attendees, listserv participants, etc—is required to conform to the following Code of Conduct. Organizers will enforce this code throughout events, but you may also contact us directly by email at info@duraspace.org. All communication will be treated as confidential unless otherwise requested.

As a community of professionals, we conduct ourselves professionally, are kind to each other, and we do not insult nor put down other community members. We also do not tolerate harassment or other exclusionary behavior in any form.

This includes, but is not limited to violent threats or language directed against another person; discriminatory jokes, language, and imagery (including sexual); posting sexually explicit or violent material; posting (or threatening to post) other people’s personally identifying information (“doxxing”); personal insults, especially those using racist or sexist terms; unwelcome sexual attention; advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior; repeated harassment of others; intentionally exclusionary language (including jargon); behaviors that seek to invalidate the value of others such as bullying and inflammatory exchanges; and, behaviors that diminish our activities or discourage other members participate.

Duraspace is rooted in the following practice:

We are considerate. Our work affects many stakeholders whom we will keep in mind when making decisions. We will work as transparently. We welcome and support new collaborators.

When we disagree, we do so respectfully. Disagreements happen and it is important to resolve them constructively. When we disagree, we do so politely and professionally.

We seek alignment in decision making. We look for common ground and move forward based on common ground which allows for a difference of opinions and an agreement that members will not oppose the decision and resulting action.

We are collaborative. We work with a diverse group of collaborators on related projects to reduce redundancy, share knowledge, improve products, and perfect processes. We follow community guidelines for how to collaborate, including workflows and documented practices.

We ask for help and show appreciation. Questions are highly encouraged and add to the community’s base of knowledge and will always be treated respectfully. When someone makes a contribution, helps us with a problem, or makes our work easier, we thank them.

We are respectful of each other’s time. We look for existing resources and work through issues on our own before taking them to the community. When we get help, we try to give back.

We build and foster healthy communities by being active bystanders who notice, call attention to, and help resolve potential problems.

How to Report a Violation:

In the event that someone’s conduct is causing offense or distress or is in violation of the code of conduct we ask that you report it to the DuraSpace organization by emailing info@duraspace.org, an account that is monitored by the Debra Hanken Kurtz, CEO, Valorie Hollister, Director of Membership and Finance, Carol Minton Morris, Director of Marketing and Communications, and Kristi Searle, Community Relations Coordinator. If you prefer, you can contact an individual at DuraSpace or in a leadership position with one of the projects directly. Reports will be kept confidential unless otherwise requested.

In your report please include the following information:

• Your contact info (so we can get in touch with you if we need to follow up)

• Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved, other witnesses

• When and where the incident occurred, be as specific as possible

• What occurred, include links to any publicly available records (e.g. a mailing list archive or a public IRC logger)

• Any extra context

• Indicate if the incident is ongoing

Those found in violation of these rules may be asked to leave the event, discussion or membership at the sole discretion of Duraspace organizers.

Thank you for helping make this a welcoming, inclusive experience for all.  

*With thanks to the Hydra, Islandora, VIVO, Mozilla Science Lab and Code4Lib Communities for sharing their Codes of Conduct. The DuraSpace code of conduct is based in large part on these documents.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.