--- On Tue, 1/20/09, Ziko van Dijk <[email protected]> wrote:
> By the way, this word "chapter" is unfamiliar for
> me, a German. I did not
> hear it before I became a Wikimedian. What does this
> English word mean? Any
> sub division of an organisation, or is it rather associated
> to a city than
> to a country?
>
> The word "local" in German ("lokal")
> means: related to a city. What does it
> mean when English speaking Wikimedians talk about
> "local chapters"?
> Shouldn't it be "national chapters"? I
> consider Germany as a national, not a
> local entity...
>
> Ziko
>
In my experience a chapter means a organization that is associated with a
larger organization with serperate officers from from the larger organization,
but the key feature is that it manages it's own memebership. The larger
organization is usualy more closely tied to chapters than in the case of WMF.
But chapters are generally run independently and the larger organization which
enforces it's requirements or morals with threats to cut ties with the chapter
rather than any direct managment of chapter activities. Normally chapters are
put on probation and given a chance to correct things before being cut off
completely. Chapters are most recognizable to me in social soiceties and
advocay groups. But I think the it would normal for unions and charity
organizations use them too. de.WP has an article on Freemasonary, the
"lodges" within that are should very similar to use of chapters of a greek
letter society as that was all modeled on freemasonary.
I don't if there is a general concept in German for the way "lodge" is used in
Freemasaonary, but in English "chapter" applies to this concept.
Birgitte SB
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