The goal of the Code of Conduct is to help create an environment that fosters participation and community. Our intention is to destigmatize reporting. Both are core to creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment. Following the Agreements that define the work of the McKensie Mack Group, we acknowledge that no space can be completely “safe” and we agree to work together towards harm reduction, centering those most affected by injustice in the room.

Because violations of this code outside BitCurator Consortium (BCC) community spaces may affect a person’s ability to participate in community events, we take an expansive view of “participants” and “events.” Our community’s Code of Conduct applies to all participants, including leadership, and all forms of participation in BCC community events, including, but not limited to, persons from member and non-member organizations acting in the capacity of an organizer, speaker, sponsor, participant, or attendee at any BitCurator Consortium event, where events include public in-person or virtual discussions during workshops, presentations, community calls, BitCurator-adjacent social events, committee meetings, or other events; and interactions include virtual chats and discussion spaces, community listservs, and social media.

Standards of Conduct

The BitCurator Consortium is dedicated to creating an inclusive, welcoming, and harassment-free community for everyone regardless of age, appearance or body size, employment or military status, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, individual lifestyles, marital status, national origin or immigration status, physical or cognitive ability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, race, or religion. The BCC will not tolerate harassment of or by members or guests of the community in any form. Harassment is any unwelcome or offensive verbal or written comments or nonverbal expressions intended to intimidate a person or make them feel unwelcome or uncomfortable; this also includes repeated interactions with a person after they have made it clear that further interaction is unwelcome. Harassment can occur both in person or virtually, and will not be tolerated in any form.

Examples of positive behavior: 

• Using welcoming and inclusive language
• Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
• Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
• Respecting and valuing the contributions of all members of the community, regardless of status or role
• Showing empathy towards other community members

Examples of harassing and unwelcomed behavior:

• Verbal comments or “jokes” that reinforce social structures of domination and oppression
• Repeatedly misgendering a person or disregarding their pronouns
• Sexual images in public spaces
• Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
• Harassing photography or recording
• Sustained disruption of talks or other events
• Inappropriate physical contact
• Unwelcome sexual attention
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior

Code of Conduct Violations

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, you have three options: reporting via the Code of Conduct Report Form (includes anonymous option), contacting the Code of Conduct team via email at conduct@bitcuratorconsortium.org, or contacting any of the team members directly.

Reports submitted through the Form or the Code of Conduct email address will be reviewed by the Code of Conduct team, which includes:

• David Cirella, david.cirella@yale.edu
• Elizabeth Dunham, Elizabeth.Dunham@asu.edu
• Elizabeth-Anne Johnson, elizabethanne.johnso@ucalgary.ca
• Kelly Phillips, kelly.phillips@nau.edu
• Amy Wickner, adw3@umd.edu
• Elena Colon-Marrero, emcolonm@umich.edu
• Hilary Wang, hilary_wang1@brown.edu
• Shelly Black, syblack@ncsu.edu
• Lori Podolsky, lori.podolsky@tamucc.edu

In any report, you may include:

• What happened, where, and when, including any supporting information you may have
• Who was involved
• Any members of the Code of Conduct team you’d like to not be involved with your report
• What you would like to see happen, including follow-up from the Code of Conduct team
• Your contact information

Include as much detail as you are comfortable with. This will help the Code of Conduct team to  determine next steps. The team will take all reports seriously, regardless of the amount of information shared.

Immediately following any report of Code of Conduct violations, the Code of Conduct team will assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe to the greatest extent possible. The Code of Conduct team, in consultation with any event monitors who received the report or witnessed the event, will then determine what further action may be necessary. This group will do everything possible to keep reports in confidence, in accordance with any applicable host site and platform policies.

The report taker or other member of the Program Committee, Executive Council, or Educopia staff will communicate any follow-up actions to the reporter, if they have chosen to share their contact information with the Code of Conduct team. At the discretion of the Code of Conduct team’s assessment of the severity of the violation, actions may include one or more of the following:

• Discussing what happened and why it was harmful
• Requiring that a participant stops their behavior
• Issuing a formal warning
• Requiring that a participant prevents further contact with certain other participants
• Removing a participant from BCC event
• Banning a participant from any future BCC events
• Making a report to a participant’s place of work to inform them of the incident/behavior
• Making a report to relevant authorities,* if necessary and desired by person harmed
• No action (if the harasser cannot be identified, or the Code of Conduct team determines no action is necessary to preserve the safety of the community)

* Involving law enforcement is not our preferred approach but in extreme cases it may be necessary. Please consider the varied relationships that different communities have with law enforcement before involving them in a situation.

Privacy Disclaimer, Data Protection, and Host Policies

The BitCurator Consortium takes privacy and transparency seriously.

Educopia uses Airtable for the Code of Conduct Report Form. Their data privacy and retention statements are available here. Emails sent to conduct@bitcuratorconsortium.org may be retained by Google. Emails sent directly to Code of Conduct team members may fall under public records laws and organizational records retention policies.

Hosts of physical events may have their own Codes of Conduct that BCC members and attendees will be expected to adhere to. BCC members may be mandatory reporters within the bounds or policies of their home institutions. Companies that have developed and host platforms used during BCC events, such as Zoom, may have expectations and requirements for conduct. See, for instance, Zoom’s Acceptable Use Policy and Reporting Abusive Behavior.

In drafting the BCC Code of Conduct we recognized that few Code of Conduct statements address the process of retaining and safeguarding data. We intend to address this in ours, but that is work that remains to be done. We are exploring this issue with Educopia staff and contacting people at other organizations and who have worked with other conferences and Code of Conduct teams.

Crisis Resources

The Code of Conduct team will do everything possible to aid during the event, but some scenarios may be beyond the capacity and expertise of our team. The resources in this section are meant to aid participants in any other way they may need.

RAINN

Confidential sexual assault hotline. Support, information, advice, referrals. Your call will be forwarded to the nearest local affiliate based on the first six digits of your phone number. You also will have the option of entering your zip code of your current location. Chat and all services are available 24/7.

Call: 800-656-4673

Chat: https://hotline.rainn.org/online

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Confidential suicide prevention hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Your call is routed to the nearest crisis center in the national network of more than 150 crisis centers. Chat and all services are available 24/7.

Call: 1-800-273-8255

Lifeline chat: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/

Trans Lifeline

Confidential, 24/7 hotline staffed by transgender people for transgender people. Trans Lifeline is primarily for transgender people in a crisis, from struggling with gender identity to thoughts of self-harm.

Call: 877-565-8860

SAMHSA National Helpline

Confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.

Call: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

Thanks

The 2020 BitCurator Consortium Code of Conduct was inspired by the Digital Library Federation’s Code of Conduct, the Library Publishing Coalition Code of Conduct, Contributor Covenant version 1.4, Geek Feminism’s Conference anti-harassment/Policy, and Write the Docs Code of Conduct.