IP SIG: draft mission statement

[Diane M. Zorich]

(While the following is of particular interest to the IP SIG members, I have been asked to post this to the entire MCN list. All are welcome to comment. - Diane)



The IP SIG met to discuss many issues at this year's MCN conference and one of the items on the agenda was a SIG mission statement. I volunteered to draft one for comment and review; I have posted it below. If you are interested, please look this over and let me know what you think.

In the interests of making this a finite task, I would appreciate comments (post to me or the list) by Friday, September 22. At that point I will incorporate the comments into a new draft, which I will repost to the list for final comment before I turn it over to the MCN Board (all SIG mission statements must be reviewed/approved by the Board.)

Thanks for your input.

Diane

Diane M. Zorich
Information Management Consultant for Cultural Organizations
113 Gallup Road
Princeton, NJ 08540
Voice# (609) 252-1606
Fax# (609) 252-1607
Email: dzor...@primenet.com

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IP SIG - Draft Mission Statement

The Intellectual Property (IP) SIG is MCN's central resource for all members interested in the intellectual property issues that arise with technology and museums. Its specific focus is on how intellectual property concerns affect the technological delivery and presentation of museum information to all the varied groups that comprise a museum audience.

The SIG offers both a forum for discussing intellectual property issues and a platform for actively developing new ideas and models that address the intellectual property conundrums that affect the museum community. (DZ comment - okay, so we don't do the latter, but it was the opinion of others that we should....)

All aspects of intellectual property fall within the SIG's purview, from traditional legal regimes such as copyright, trademark, patent, and trade secrets, to related areas such as moral, privacy and publicity rights, as well as the ethical and moral dimensions that often affect decision-making in the IP arena.

The SIG pursues its agenda primarily through MCN activities: it develops program sessions, workshops, and events for conferences, communicates relevant information to members through its listserv, and submits articles and newsbriefs in MCN's print publication (Spectra) and on-line journal (E-Spectra).