UDC Consortium, PO Box 90407, 2509 LK
The Hague, The Netherlands
Tel.: (+31) 70 314 0509 Fax: (+31) 70 314 0450 attn UDC
E-mail: mail[@t]udcc.orgClick on the link but please remove the
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UDCC ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP
1. Associate Member – who and why?
1.1 This class of UDC Consortium membership has been established since 2002. It is aimed at those individual users or user groups that wish to have a more formal, more open and more active interface with the UDCC than is possible through the rather limited communication afforded via a licensee, and one that is not so demanding or expensive as an Executive Member.
1.2 Associate Membership will suit the needs of different kinds of "associates". For example, Associate Members can be individual users or groups of users in a particular community, e.g. a library, company or industry. At the other extreme, they might be commercial distributors or booksellers.
1.3 As an Associate Member you might be an individual user or a user group with a very specific interest in some or all of the UDC and its application. You might wish to identify the need for changes, or contribute to development of those parts of the UDC you use most, or are most expert in. You might wish to contribute articles on your use of the UDC for publication on the UDCC web site or in Extensions and corrections. You might wish to work with the UDCC or, through the UDCC with other Associate Members, to generate new publications, products or services related to the UDC or to solve particular problems in your area of activity.
1.4 As a distributor you might be interested in extending the range of products you can sell, or reaching a wider audience of customers, or expanding you business through targeting a subject-specific audience. Associate Membership as a distributor opens those opportunities to you.
1.5 Whether you are an individual, a member of an existing group within a company or business sector, or a commercial concern, Associate Membership of the UDCC provides you with a way to benefit from joining a wider community within the UDCC. That community will have members dealing with topics or applications that are similar or related to yours, who could have skills or experience to mutually share, or who could work together to build solutions to common problems within the scope of the UDC Consortium's operations.
2. Existing relationships with the UDC Consortium
2.1 In addition to maintaining and developing the Universal Decimal Classification, one of the UDC Consortium's principal objectives is to build relationships with any and all parties interested in promoting, publishing or using the UDC and, especially, those who wish to exploit or promulgate its values.
2.2 The UDCC has strong relationships with the principal publishers who are the current members of the UDCC's Executive Committee. These Executive Members commit funding annually to support the UDCC and its agreed research and development programme as well as contributing substantial effort to manage the Consortium's business.
2.3 The relationship between the UDCC and licensees is different, and is almost exclusively concerned with formal contracts that grant them access to existing, authorized UDC records (e.g. the MRF) so that they can publish a specific edition of the UDC to meet their local demands - each product needs a specific licence.
2.4 Each of the Executive Members and the licensees directly serve the interests of their own user, or other customer, communities. They also have the opportunity to act indirectly as channels of communication between the UDCC and those communities. The UDCC regards feedback from such communication as highly valuable, because it comes from actual users.
2.5 The UDCC grants new licences from time to time to users or to researchers who can present a case to the UDCC to exploit directly the benefits of the UDC or to see how the UDC might help in the development or use of other tools or applications. Computer-based applications, in particular, are an appropriate vehicle for use of UDC because of its clear analysis and structure and, in many instances, it is possible to conceal the complex workings of the classification from the end user.
2.6 From 2001 the UDCC has provided space on the web site for users to publish their names and their specific interests in the UDC. This helps them to communicate with each other as well as the Consortium in order to share knowledge and skills, or to raise queries among like-minded groups or individuals.
3. The benefits of Associate membership
3.1 Associate Members have immediate access to a set of general benefits in return for your basic membership fee, plus a range of options you can buy into at extra cost as you choose. The membership fee is graduated according to whether you are an individual, an organization or a business, a distributor or a Library School.
3.2 The general benefits are as follows :
a) Discount to individuals or membership bodies on purchases
of UDC products from the UDCC
b) Discount to individuals or membership bodies on UDC
training or bespoke help (subject to the UDCC reaching agreement with
suitable suppliers, and possibly whether or not they are themselves UDCC
members or Associates)
c) Discount to distributors/booksellers for resale of
UDC publications (subject to agreement on, and commitment to achieving,
sales targets)
d) The option to nominate relevant experts onto the UDCC
Advisory Group (or any subordinate group) responsible for editing the
UDC and, thus, potential for that body to influence and directly input
to the UDC development process. (Such nomination will be subject to approval
by the UDCC Editor in chief.)
e) Individual right to contribute to developments or
editing as an approved expert in a specific field
f) The opportunity (e.g. on behalf of another professional
or membership organization) to attend UDCC Executive Committee meetings
as an observer (you can take part and contribute, but have no voting rights)
g) The opportunity to list your contact details and/or
your organization’s type of services on the UDCC website (but to
preserve its impartiality, the UDCC will NOT endorse any specific products
or services or suppliers)
3.3 Future benefits under consideration also include:
h) The principle of awarding a "finder's fee"
(e.g. in the form of a voucher) to an existing Associate Member who introduces
an approved new licensee or new Associate to the UDC membership "club"
i) The principle of providing online, secure (i.e. password
protected) read-only access to the MRF
j) The principle of providing online (secure) access
to an archive of Extensions and corrections (where digital files exist)
3.4 In addition, the following optional benefits can
be purchased for a specific additional fee (or discount on published non-member
prices) in each case:
k) Discount for on-demand supply of selected subsets
of the MRF together with the appropriate auxiliary tables [e.g. the Area
Table, or discrete sections of the classification, e.g. 69 +72 (Building
+ Architecture) or 54 + 66 (Chemistry + Chemical technology). Note especially
the potential use of the Area Table for gazetteer information, or similar.]
l) Discount on published non-member prices (subject to
approval of your application) for research/application licences for potential
new uses of the UDC
m) Access to a world-wide community of users of UDC (possibly
in a selected range of types of organizations), e.g. via the UDCC mailing
list (price on application)
n) Favourable terms for advertising on the UDCC website
(price on application, but note this will NOT be an endorsement by the
UDCC of any particular products or services)
4. What Associate membership will involve on your part
4.1 Payment of an annual Associate Membership fee as
follows:
• 75 euro p.a. for a private individual,
• 500 euro p.a. for a recognized Library School (for the benefit
of its current students)
• 600 euro p.a. for group membership (e.g. a company or organization,
for up to 6 named individuals),
• 750 euro p.a. for a distributor (who must agree to meet minimum
sales targets, but who can gain additional discounts by exceeding them)
4.2 Collaboration on promotion of the UDC or any joint (i.e. shared) activities or other mutually-beneficial promulgation relating to the UDC
4.3 Willingness to contribute articles from time to time for the UDCC website or for E&C
4.4 Potentially, sharing exhibition, display or stand space or the costs of attendance at others' events (e.g. exhibitions, presentations)
4.5 Any other mutually-beneficial activity yet to be determined.
5. How to join
It could not be easier to join!
Write, email or fax the Director of the UDCC for an application form,
or download it 
and return it to the Director with your application fee:
The Director,
UDC Consortium,
P.O. Box 90407,
2509 LK The Hague,
The Netherlands
Fax: +31 70 314 0450 attn UDC
email: mail[@t]udcc.orgClick on the link but please remove the
--antispam--
part of the email address
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