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Project Ethos

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Definition

Ethos: The characteristic spirit of a people, community, culture, or era as manifested in its attitudes and aspirations; the prevailing character of an institution or system (OED ethos, n. 2.a).

Introduction

This document describes MoEML’s attitudes, values, and aspirations as a project. Building on the collective experience of past and present teams and many open discussions about how we can work collaboratively and respectfully in community, this document outlines the principles that guide us and how they manifest in our daily practice. If our Praxis documentation captures how we encode and process our research into a website, and our Mission Statement describes how we envision that website contributing long-term to scholarship and public humanities, the Project Ethos document is the blueprint for how we work together on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis to make the MoEML website possible.
MoEML strives to create and maintain an environment where everyone is treated with respect and dignity. Documenting our principles and procedures in this full-length document is one way we create that environment.
MoEML’s ethos applies to all people who are involved in the project, including university faculty, staff, affiliates, and students, at the home university of MoEML or elsewhere.
Members of the MoEML Team at the University of Victoria are additionally bound by UVic’s equity and diversity policies in all our dealings with UVic students, staff, and faculty. You will find a non-inclusive list of UVic policies here and direct links to select UVic policies at the end of this document.
This document begins with an acknowledgement that MoEML is hosted on unceded, colonized land. The document then sets out definitions, general team principles, and statements on diversity, equity, and inclusion, giving credit, conflict resolution, and hiring. We conclude with links to resources and UVic policies.
We choose to share Project Ethos publicly, in keeping with our project principle of openness. We invite other projects to adopt and adapt it. In keeping with our own principle of giving credit, we’d be glad to be given credit if you do adopt or adapt this document.

Territorial Acknowledgement

We acknowledge, with respect, that MoEML is built and hosted on the traditional and unceded territories of the Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. We acknowledge that MoEML focuses on the city that funded and launched the first English colonial activities that have been and continue to be so destructive to Indigenous peoples around the world. We acknowledge, with respect, that many contributors to MoEML live on colonized lands, some unceded and some governed by treaties that have been honoured more in the breach than the observance. We commit to speaking this truth as a part of the necessary reconciliation work that we must do, both in the MoEML project and in our lives.

Definitions

  1. Project Director: The overall academic lead of the project, with expertise in the big picture and with a long project memory. The Director has ultimate responsibility for financial, employment, equity, and scholarly matters; in that role, she seeks advice from various offices on campus, listens to other team members, and makes the tough calls when necessary. The project also has Assistant Directors who take the lead on subdomains of the project.
  2. Principal Investigator: The lead applicant on a grant application. Often but not always the Project Director.
  3. Project Manager: The person in charge of planning the daily, weekly, and monthly work of the project and monitoring the finances, in conjunction with the Project Director. Often helps with grant applications. Fills in gaps in the project expertise as needed.
  4. Team Members: The members of the MoEML team, including the Project Director(s) and Assistant Directors, Project Manager(s), Developers(s), Research Associates, Research Assistants, and any other person fulfilling a role on the MoEML project.
  5. Contributors: The people and/or projects that contribute scholarly content to MoEML who are not a part of the MoEML team.
  6. Project: The collaborative enterprise of MoEML as a whole.
  7. Accommodation: The services and/or tools that can help reduce barriers and provide different ways of working.
  8. HCMC: Humanities Computing and Media Centre at the University of Victoria.
  9. HUMS: Faculty of Humanities at the University of Victoria.
  10. UVic: University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

General Team Principles

  1. As an academic project, funded by SSHRC, and staffed by students at various stages of their studies, MoEML is committed to the ongoing learning and development of its members.
  2. MoEML acknowledges that every member of the team has and will develop specific areas of expertise and interest.
  3. MoEML acknowledges that a large digital project requires many domains of expertise. All this expertise is equally necessary to the ultimate achievement of the project outcomes.
  4. MoEML acknowledges that we are all learners. We take the time to teach each other the things we have learned in the course of our work.
  5. MoEML is committed to giving credit where credit is due.
  6. Our team structure is flat.
  7. All team members are free to assume particular tasks and redefine their roles. All team members take responsibility for identifying gaps between how things are and how they could be. We then work together to realize the possibilities we envision. (See Jenstad and Takeda 2018.)

On Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

  1. We are all learners.
    1. MoEML provides training for newly hired members.
    2. Team members have the right to receive all necessary training to complete their work.
    3. MoEML provides new team members with detailed documentation that has been carefully developed, and constantly updated, with the various expertise levels in mind.
    4. MoEML assigns senior members to work with junior team members to help with training and to answer questions as they arise. If the assigned senior member is not available, the new member may speak to any other member of the team, so long as they are available and qualified to address their questions.
    5. MoEML publishes documentation and training material.
    6. MoEML allows for people to move to another part of the project, either to mobilize their skills more effectively or to learn something new, so long as all the people involved in the change agree.
    7. MoEML provides a team environment where individuals are available to train each other as needed. For example, if we have an expert technical writer on the team, and another individual is interested in such skill, the technical writer will provide training and support to the person interested in learning.
    8. MoEML encourages team members to post questions to the general channel of the team’s virtual working space (Microsoft Teams for example), especially if the rest of the team would benefit from the conversation.
  2. Teamwork is key to the project’s success.
    1. MoEML embraces the diversity of skills and backgrounds represented by the team members.
    2. MoEML treats various skills as equally important and valuable to the project (including but not limited to computational, digital, scholarly, editorial, bibliographical, historical, geographical, textual, financial, and managerial skills).
    3. The Project Director and Project Manager ensure that participants have appropriate time and opportunity to report on their work, raise questions, and contribute to discussion of issues in team meetings. The Project Manager calls for agenda items in advance of meetings and pre-circulates the agenda. The Project Director chairs team meetings.
    4. The Project Director makes sure that the person most qualified to address an issue is the one to lead the discussion. For example, the expert on documentation will address documentation questions/issues, unless they ask for support in the matter.
  3. Student success—academic and professional—is key to the project’s success.
    1. MoEML accommodates students’ interests in particular skills through flexibility in role distribution.
    2. MoEML ensures that learning opportunities are offered equally to all team members.
    3. MoEML prioritizes the education of student team members. In cases of a conflict between the requirements of their education (classes, urgent deadlines, meetings with professors or TAs) and the requirements of their work, MoEML encourages students to prioritize their schooling.
  4. Research assistants have a right to be treated equitably and fairly.
    1. The Project Director offers equitable rates of pay, matching or exceeding the CUPE 4163 negotiated rates.
    2. MoEML assigns roles based on people’s skills, expertise, and desire to obtain new skills. No person is given a task or role because of gender, race, sexual orientation, or status in the university hierarchy.
  5. Team members treat each other with respect.
    1. The Project Director monitors the team to make sure no one person manages or directs other team members, unless specifically required to do so by their job description.
    2. MoEML asks team members to address each other respectfully.
    3. MoEML asks team members to give respectful and constructive feedback. Feedback and commentary are not opportunities to shame people or abuse one’s position in the university’s hierarchy.
    4. MoEML asks team members to call people by their preferred names and pronouns.
    5. The Project Director checks in privately with BIPOC team members, international student team members, and junior team members periodically.
  6. MoEML is attentive to the mental health and well being of team members.
    1. MoEML encourages team members to take care of their health and family first, their studies second, and their job third.
    2. MoEML recognizes that mental health issues are an invisible challenge and that it can be difficult to ask for help. Team members may speak to the Project Director in confidence and do not have to give details of their situation unless they wish to.
    3. Team members have the right to have their mental health needs be respected.
    4. MoEML works with the team to reset priorities and reassign tasks when a person needs to take time off work.
  7. Team members have the right to ask for accommodations to support them in their work.
    1. MoEML does not have designated funding for accommodations but supports accommodations for student team members when they can be funded by or obtained from the University of Victoria.
    2. The Project Director works with student team members and the Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL) to determine what accommodations are necessary.
    3. The Project Director turns first to CAL to acquire the necessary support and technologies.
    4. When CAL cannot provide what is needed, the Project Director will work with the student team member, the Humanities Computing and Media Centre (HCMC), the Faculty of Humanities (HUMS), and the University of Victoria Libraries to address the accommodation requirements.
    5. Where necessary and feasible and when funding opportunities exist, the Project Director will submit applications to relevant funding bodies or to university offices for funding to purchase the adaptive tools, technologies, and infrastructure needed to accommodate a team member.
  8. MoEML honours different ways of working.
    1. Team members can choose to work independently, in pairs, or in groups, within the requirements of the project’s current objectives and tasks.
    2. The Project Director and Project Manager work with team members at UVic to determine the best place of work. Some students will prefer to work on a bookable workstation in HCMC, while others will prefer to work on their own laptops or desktops in another location.
    3. Lack of technology is not a barrier to working for MoEML. Team members who need to work outside of the HCMC or remotely but do not have a laptop or desktop should speak with the Project Director to make the appropriate arrangements to borrow a laptop and/or install software, as long as the project has the capacity and funding to provide hardware and software.
  9. Team members have the right to privacy and confidentiality.
    1. Every team member is asked to respect and keep confidential any other team member’s confidential disclosures.
    2. MoEML does not require team members to divulge any aspect of their lived experience. If they do choose to divulge any part of it, other MoEML team members will acknowledge and respect their lived experience.
    3. MoEML does not require team members to disclose details of mental health, physical health, or other personal situations. If they do, the Project Director will treat their disclosure as confidential, except as indicated in the next item.
    4. The Project Director has a duty of care to student team members and must report to the appropriate campus authorities threats to self, threats to others, abuse of minors, and abuse of power.
  10. MoEML is part of a larger institutional ecosystem.
    1. MoEML is bound by the equity and diversity policies of the University of Victoria in all its dealings with UVic students, staff, and faculty, including but not limited to the policies listed here.
    2. The Project Director seeks advice from the Graduate Advisor, the Associate Dean of Research, the Department of English Equity Committee, and/or Equity & Human Rights (EQHR) when necessary.
    3. All UVic team members have access to the services of the Office of the Ombudsperson.

On Giving Credit

  1. All team members and contributors—regardless of their disciplinary backgrounds and career stages—have the right to have their scholarship and labour acknowledged equally and truthfully.
    1. We give credit where credit is due, in keeping with the Collaborators’ Bill of Rights and Student Collaborators’ Bill of Rights.
    2. We do not consider any labour to be mechanical; all labour is critical and worthy of acknowledgement.
    3. MoEML does not distinguish between paid and unpaid labour.
    4. Every contribution to the project, whether that contribution consists of markup, one or multiple files, an edition, an anthology, and/or development work on the platform, is credited and acknowledged.
    5. MoEML team members and contributors take intellectual responsibility for their work, both before and after peer review.
    6. MoEML team members and contributors cite their sources accurately, tag quoted material appropriately (with quotation marks in untagged drafts and with the <quote> element in marked-up files), and indicate when they are paraphrasing from source material.
    7. MoEML gives credit to peer reviewers when they choose to be named and acknowledged.
    8. When MoEML team members deliver conference papers or write publications together, we list the authors in alphabetical order, unless there is reason to list them otherwise. Such reasons include an author writing the bulk of the manuscript and others contributing smaller sections. Note that first authorship is earned only when said author did most of the work (writing, revisions, and editing).
    9. Academic seniority is not a reason for first authorship.
    10. If the contributions are equal and alphabetical order would normally make the senior scholar first author, the senior scholar may choose to be second or subsequent author for the benefit of their students or early career colleagues.
  2. Clear and complete metadata is key to the project’s commitment to giving credit where credit is due.
    1. MoEML gives granular credit at the level of the XML file, on the Team page, and in the team member or contributor’s entry in the Personography (PERS1.xml), as is appropriate for the nature of the work.
    2. MoEML ensures that all team members and contributors have an entry in the project’s Personography (PERS1.xml) with a unique identifier.
    3. MoEML ensures that all team members and contributors have an opportunity to write a bio-bibliographical note in their Personography entry that they can update as they work on the project. The bio-bibliographical note may contain a standard academic narrative of qualifications and publications; links to a personal website(s), academic profile(s), and/or publications; and a narrative statement about the contributor’s contributions to the project. Each team member and contributor has the right to write this note and determine what to highlight about their contributions to the project. Team members and early career contributors are particularly encouraged to keep their bio-bibliographical notes up-to-date.
    4. Team members add their roles and responsibilities to an XML file by adding a <respStmt> element and corresponding children (<resp> and <name>) in the file’s <titleStmt> section. For detailed documentation on adding a <respStmt>, see Responsibility Statements.
    5. MoEML uses the Library of Congress MARC Code List for Relators to describe roles when there is congruence between the MoEML role and a role defined in the MARC list (found at https://www.loc.gov/marc/relators/relaterm.html). Given the ubiquity of MarcRelators in metadata, the project uses these codes to align with the standards of the fields and disciplines to which the project contributes. Where there is no MARC relator to describe a MoEML role, the project will create a custom value following the pattern set by the Library of Congress. In cases where we cannot find a code that corresponds to a certain role for the project, MoEML will propose a new potential MARC relator to the Library of Congress.
    6. Team members who undertake more than one role on a file give themselves multiple <respStmt> elements, one for each role.
    7. Team members add <change> elements to the <revisionDesc> element every time they make substantial changes to a file. The contents of the <change> elements remain in the file’s metadata as a record of the amount and nature of the work that a team member has done in a particular file. The <change> element supplements the information that can be captured in the <respStmt>.
    8. MoEML asks all contributors to follow the principles and practices set out in this On Giving Credit section of Project Ethos, especially those practices pertaining to students.
    9. MoEML encourages contributors not working in TEI or Oxygen to create a metadata section at the top of their files, listing research assistant(s) author(s), intellectual contributors, reviewer(s), date(s) of creation, and revision history for everyone who contributed in any way to the creation of the content. This information will be translated by team members into <respStmt> elements and <change> elements when the file is encoded.
    10. MoEML provides appropriate training to new team members on the project’s crediting policy and practices. Minor changes to practice are conveyed to team members by a shared communication channel and immediately added to project documentation. Substantial changes to practice are conveyed via training sessions for team members as well as through project documentation.
  3. MoEML is committed to giving credit to developers and designers, whose work makes the entire project possible.
    1. Developers add their roles and unique identifiers to the top of xsl files
    2. Developers and designers are encouraged to document their work in their bio-bibliographical note.
    3. MoEML acknowledges developers and designers in publications if their ideas inform the argument made in the publication, even if the developer or designer has not been involved in the process of writing up the ideas for the publication. MoEML’s position is that the publication would not be possible without the developer and/or designer.
    4. MoEML lists developers and designers on the Team page.

On Conflict Resolution

  1. Respectful, supportive, and constructive communication amongst team members is key to the project’s success.
    1. MoEML treats disagreements as opportunities for the project to grow and develop.
    2. MoEML treats misunderstandings as opportunities for the team members to write clearer documentation.
    3. MoEML appreciates diversity in opinion and methodology as drivers of innovation.
    4. MoEML encourages team members to share conflicting opinions in a respectful way. All involved parties should also respond in an open and respectful way.
  2. Team members have the right to be treated equitably in cases of conflict.
    1. While MoEML encourages parties involved in conflict to address the conflict directly with each other, MoEML also acknowledges that direct address is sometimes not possible. If power dynamics affect one or more of the people involved and make them vulnerable, then they are encouraged to seek support from the Project Director and/or (if the parties are UVic staff, faculty, or students) the appropriate people and offices on campus.
    2. MoEML holds a vote when there are multiple, irreconcilable positions on a certain issue. The results of the vote are binding, regardless of the academic status of the team members proposing the opposing views.
  3. Team members have the right to follow UVic’s established policies and procedures on conflict resolution. MoEML follows UVic’s policies and procedures on conflict resolution. Procedures are divided into 7 categories: Student-Faculty, Student-Staff, Student-Student, Faculty-Staff, Faculty-Faculty, Staff-Staff, and Project Management-Research Assistant. For all student conflicts, the student can choose to visit the Office of the Ombudsperson at UVic.
    1. Student-Faculty/Staff
      • A student seeking support is encouraged to speak first to the Project Director, who will work with them on the appropriate process. If the Project Director needs to speak to the faculty/staff member in question, they will maintain the student’s anonymity and respect confidentiality, unless otherwise requested by the student. The Project Director may suggest that a graduate-student team member consult the following people, in the order listed, if/when necessary, as proposed in section 3.1 of the UVic Graduate Supervision Policy: their supervisor(s), supervisory committee member(s), Graduate Advisor, Head of the academic unit, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, and the Dean of Graduate Studies, until the issue is resolved.
      • A faculty/staff member seeking support is encouraged to speak to the Project Director, who will work with them on the appropriate process, or liaise with the student regarding the issue flagged. Note that MoEML is a project that focuses on training students and supporting them in their academic and professional careers. The Project Director and the faculty/staff member are encouraged to use such opportunities as a teaching moment for all involved, with the student’s best interests in mind.
    2. Student-Student
      1. If Student A has an issue with Student B, Student A is encouraged to approach Student B first, doing so respectfully and collegially. If approaching Student B is not an option or the conflict persists, Student A is encouraged to speak with the Project Manager. (Historically, MoEML’s project managers are recent graduates and understand the UVic student experience.) The Project Manager will confidentially and respectfully address the issue with Student B, in a way that does not expose Student A or exacerbate the issue at hand. If Student A is not comfortable speaking to the Project Manager, then they can speak to the Project Director who will address the issue confidentially and respectfully. If the Project Director sees it as a teaching moment for the team, then they may choose to use this opportunity for everyone’s benefit, though confidentially and with no reference to Student A or Student B, nor to the specifics of the case to maintain the anonymity of both parties.
    3. Faculty-Staff
      • Faculty and staff members are encouraged to approach their colleagues first, respectfully and collegially, in an honest attempt to resolve conflicts and misunderstandings. If the conflict remains, then the person reaching out is encouraged to speak to the Project Director, who will address the issue respectfully and confidentially.
    4. Faculty-Faculty
      • Faculty members are encouraged to approach their colleagues first, respectfully and collegially, in the case of a conflict, in an honest attempt to resolve any issues and misunderstandings. If the conflict remains, then the person reaching out is encouraged to speak to the Project Director, who will address the issue respectfully and confidentially. Faculty may also choose to speak with the Faculty of Humanities Associate Dean of Research for the resolution of their conflicts and misunderstandings, especially if other approaches do not address the issues in question.
    5. Staff-Staff
      • Staff members are encouraged to approach their colleagues first, respectfully and collegially, in an honest attempt to resolve any conflicts and misunderstandings. If the conflict remains, then the person reaching out is encouraged to speak to the Manager of HCMC, who will address the issue respectfully and confidentially. If the conflict persists, staff may want to speak to the Project Director to seek resolution. Staff may also choose to speak with Human Resources for the resolution of their conflicts and misunderstandings, especially if other approaches do not address the issues in question.
    6. Project Management (Project Director/Project Manager/Lead Programmer)-Research Assistant
      • Research assistants are encouraged to speak first to the Project Director, who will work with them to determine the appropriate process. If the Project Director needs to speak to the project management member in question, they will maintain the student’s anonymity and respect confidentiality. If the Project Director is involved in the conflict, then a graduate research assistant is encouraged to consult the following, in the order in which listed, if/when necessary, as proposed in section 3.1 of the UVic Graduate Supervision Policy: starting with their supervisor(s), supervisory committee member(s), Graduate Advisor, Head of the academic unit, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, and the Dean of Graduate Studies, until the issue is resolved.
      • When a project management member seeks to resolve a conflict, they are invited to speak to the research assistant in question, respectfully and collegially. Note that MoEML is a project that focuses on training students and supporting them in their academic and professional careers. That said, the project management members are encouraged to use such opportunities as a teaching moment for all involved, with the student’s best interests in mind.

On Hiring

  • Candidates have the right to be given equal opportunity and not be discriminated against based on their social or cultural backgrounds, race, gender, or sexual orientation.
  • Candidates have a right to clearly know the requirements and expectations for positions in job postings.
    1. MoEML outlines all requirements and expectations in job postings.
    2. The selection process begins with the consideration of candidates’ eligibility based on the outlined requirements.
    3. Shortlisted candidates have a right to be interviewed so they are given an opportunity to discuss qualities and qualifications that were not conveyed in the application, as well as how they would fit within the various MoEML teams and groups.
      1. The Project Director conducts interviews with the selected candidates. Where feasible, the grant co-applicant will also meet and interview the candidates, before the hiring is finalized.
      2. All interviewees for a position are asked the same set of questions.
      3. The interviewers time for the interviewee to ask questions about the project, the team, the working environment, and other issues. The interviewers will address these questions sincerely and accurately.
      4. The Project Director ensures that candidates are notified of the outcome of the interview in a timely fashion. Offers and rejection letters will be distributed once a decision is made.
      5. Given the pedagogical nature of the project, the Project Director is open to discussing the interview questions and answers with applicants—after the decision is made—as an opportunity for them to learn from the process as they move forward in their careers.
    4. All team members, but particularly returning team members starting a new contract, have the right to work collaboratively with the Project Director to co-create their contract.
      1. The Project Director works with team members to write a contract that works for MoEML and the team member. To that end, the objectives and outcomes sections of the contract are tailored to the team member, so that they can identify their areas of interest and the skills they are interested in learning. Once the Project Director and the team member are both satisfied with the contract, the Project Director and team member sign the contract, a copy of which is retained by the team member as a reference for their work.
      2. The contract is renegotiable at the end of the agreed-upon term. (See Training and Work Practices Contract.)

References

Cite this page

MLA citation

Jenstad, Janelle, Tracey El Hajj, and Kate LeBere. Project Ethos. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 6.6, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 30 Jun. 2021, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/ethos.htm.

Chicago citation

Jenstad, Janelle, Tracey El Hajj, and Kate LeBere. Project Ethos. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 6.6. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed June 30, 2021. mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/ethos.htm.

APA citation

Jenstad, J., El Hajj, T., & LeBere, K. 2021. Project Ethos. In J. Jenstad (Ed), The Map of Early Modern London (Edition 6.6). Victoria: University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/editions/6.6/ethos.htm.

RIS file (for RefMan, RefWorks, EndNote etc.)

Provider: University of Victoria
Database: The Map of Early Modern London
Content: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

TY  - ELEC
A1  - Jenstad, Janelle
A1  - El Hajj, Tracey
A1  - LeBere, Kate
ED  - Jenstad, Janelle
T1  - Project Ethos
T2  - The Map of Early Modern London
ET  - 6.6
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/06/30
CY  - Victoria
PB  - University of Victoria
LA  - English
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/ethos.htm
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/6.6/xml/standalone/ethos.xml
ER  -

TEI citation

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