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About GALILEO

GALILEO Governance Structure

October 25, 2000

The University System of Georgia (University System) will retain ownership of the GALILEO project.

The permanent governance structure for the GALILEO project will consist of a GALILEO Steering Committee to manage the project, to recommend strategic direction, to prepare budgets, and to implement continuing evaluation procedures. The Office of Information and Instructional Technology of the Board of Regents will advise the Steering Committee concerning strategic direction and budget guidelines.

The GALILEO Steering Committee will consist of the following 23 members:

GALILEO Steering Committee member terms begin on July 1. Members representing consortia may begin the term on a different date by notifying the Steering Committee Chair well in advance. The at-large RACL representatives and the users’ group representatives will serve two-year terms, although initial terms of one year may be established for some representatives to provide for a staggered membership rotation. Because of the primary GALILEO database support services provided by their institutions, the library directors at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia will serve as permanent members. Because of the GALILEO planning and administrative services provided by the Office of Information and Instructional Technology, the RACL Liaison and the Director of Virtual Library Development from this office will also serve as permanent members. The Steering Committee will make initial appointments to the positions of representatives from the users’ group, and will provide for a transition to elected representatives from the users’ group at an appropriate time. If a permanent member of the GALILEO Steering Committee is elected to the Executive Committee of RACL, then the member will appoint a person to fill the permanent seat on the Steering Committee while the member is on the Executive Committee. All other Steering Committee members will serve one-year terms. The Steering Committee will meet as frequently as is necessary to address GALILEO management and budget issues. All meetings are open to all members of participating institutions.

The GALILEO Steering Committee will be authorized to appoint a technical operations sub-committee to review questions of technical specifications and to review implementation schedules. Membership on this sub-committee will include the directors, or their designees, of the University System libraries providing enhanced GALILEO services; representatives from Office of Information and Instructional Technology; representatives from the Administrative Committee on Information Technology; and representatives from the RACL at-large membership.

In addition to the Technical Operations sub-committee, the GALILEO Steering Committee will be authorized to appoint other sub-committees as may be necessary for the operation and development of the GALILEO resource. The chairs of the Technical Operations sub-committee and these additional sub-committees may be invited to meet with and to participate in the work of the Steering Committee as appropriate.

With the advice and consent of the GALILEO Steering Committee, the Office of Information and Instructional Technology will serve as the contracting authority for GALILEO to execute contracts and supervise contractors’ performances as a legal agent of the University System.

The University System, with the GALILEO Steering Committee as its agent, will provide the services of the GALILEO project to the University System’s academic community on a uniform basis.

The individual University System institutions and their libraries will be required to participate in the GALILEO project as defined by the GALILEO Steering Committee, including proper use of University System-provided equipment, access to licensed databases, contribution of local cataloging records to union catalogs, and compliance with interlibrary loan and universal borrower standards.

The GALILEO Steering Committee will provide internal procedures for the operation and evaluation of the existing GALILEO resources and services, for any training that may be necessary for the use of the GALILEO resources and services, and for the consideration of revisions to GALILEO resources and services, including the addition or discontinuation of licensed databases. These considerations of revisions to GALILEO services may also include an examination of the feasibility of incorporating other existing library automation projects within the state that are compatible with the GALILEO project.

The GALILEO Steering Committee will be responsible for providing a budget recommendation to the Chancellor concerning the ongoing expenses of the GALILEO project, including the operation of the central GALILEO computer sites, the licenses for databases, training, and hardware or software upgrades.

With advice and consent of the GALILEO Steering Committee, the Office of Information and Instructional Technology may establish contracts with other non-System institutions to provide access to some or all of the parts of the GALILEO project to those institutions. All ownership rights and responsibilities for the GALILEO project will remain with the University System. The costs of any extension of GALILEO services to external customers must be paid by the customer.

The GALILEO Steering Committee may define a minimum level of participation in the GALILEO project for external customers. This minimum level may include cooperation in interlibrary loan standards and contribution of local cataloging records to union catalogs.

The GOLD Users’ Group will serve as the GALILEO Users’ Group. All GALILEO Steering Committee members must be from participating institutions. Any vacancies in elected positions on the Steering Committee will be filled by an appointment made by the RACL Chair. These appointees will complete the current term of office and will serve until the next regularly scheduled election for that position.