Get Involved

Individuals and organizations interested in advancing linked data for cultural scholarship are welcome to become involved with the Linked Infrastructure for Networked Cultural Scholarship project. We are happy to see the LINCS network grow!

People involved in LINCS may have varying levels of involvement and responsibility over the course of the project. These roles are not mutually exclusive. People can move between various roles and in some cases roles will overlap. People may be involved individually as well as through their work with an organization. People do not need to collaborate with LINCS to use the system or contribute their data.

Formal Involvement

There is no process required for a person to become a User who avails themselves of open data, software, or code created by the project to use or create linked data or tools, although we would love to hear if you have found what we are doing helpful. Please let us know at lincs.project@gmail.com or @lincsproject on Twitter.

Data Contributors will sign the Data Contribution Agreement.

Research Collaborators include those named in the grant application as part of the Research (Scientific) or Technical teams, and others who join those teams, LINCS working groups, or other initiatives. Collaborators will be actively involved in the development of the LINCS infrastructure and datasets. The process for becoming a LINCS Collaborator is the submission of a letter to the Executive Committee co-written by the applicant and the Lead of the Research Board or Technical Committee area. Should a LINCS Collaborator choose to leave the project they will inform in writing both their area Lead and the Executive Committee. LINCS Collaborators who have been inactive for a year will be assumed to have left the project. All Research Collaborators sign the Project Charter.

Technical Collaborators are those directly responsible for the expenditure of funds and staff supervision towards the infrastructure development. Because of the constraints around CFI funding it is not expected that new developers will be brought on through the project. Any changes to the status of a LINCS Developer will be handled through the process outlined in the Interinstitutional Agreement. All Technical Collaborators sign the Project Charter.

Student Collaborators sign the Project Charter. The researcher to whom a student reports is responsible for ensuring that they read, understand, and sign this document. This researcher also co-signs the student document as the person responsible for their work.

Organizational Partners are involved in various ways either informally or by way of an Inter-Institutional Agreement (IIA), Memorandum of Understanding, contract, or other agreement that formalizes a relationship.

If the nature of a person’s involvement with LINCS shifts significantly in terms of responsibilities, an email exchange regarding the change of role with one of the Project Lead, Research Board Chair, or Implementation Chair will serve as confirmation. More formal letters confirming involvement will be provided upon request.

Rights and Responsibilities

With respect to their work in association with LINCS, collaborators:

• follow the principles and practices laid out in the LINCS Project Charter;
• participate in the meetings of their area of activity within LINCS;
• abide by policies governing the use of project grant funds as well as the regulations of their local institutions, with respect to funds received from LINCS;
• receive named co-authorship credit on presentations and publications that make direct use of research or development in which they took an active role (i.e., research to which the individual made a discernible contribution);
• use LINCS resources, including human resources and travel funds, only in the pursuit of LINCS research objectives;
• are listed on the LINCS project website. Involvement will be deemed to have ended if someone is inactive in meetings or communications in their areas of activity for a year. Past collaborators will be listed on the website with the term of their activity.
• respect the confidentiality of unpublished LINCS materials (including source code) and expect the confidentiality of their own unpublished materials to be respected in return; the agreement surrounding this and other related concerns are found in the LINCS Intellectual Property policy;