The diagrram below illustrates the key components of the ASO organisational framework. There are explanatory notes below.
Notes
“Our Community”
For a full list see http://www.alexanderstudies.org/our-community
Arrows on the Chart
Reporting is upwards, control is exercised downwards. The lower level entities are relatively autonomous. The element of direction (as opposed to control) from above is slight. This is indicated by most arrows running upwards.
Relationships within STAT
The STAT Research Group is highly developed and active; likewise its relationship with ORC and Council. Therefore the relationship upwards from ASO to SRG, ORC and Council is not considered problematic or needing attention at this point.
Editorial Board
This is appointed by SRG and currently consists of Erica Donnison (also co-Chair of SRG) and Lesley Glover with David Gibbens as Managing Editor. It is expected that membership will expand as needs dictate. Key functions include:
- driving forward the whole project, including submitting action plans, status reports and key decisions to SRG
- appointing Editorial Advisory Board Members, approving Authorised Contributors, managing peer review processes
- developing policies for all aspects of the initiative
- fulfilling the editorial role in respect of all material published by ASO.
Editorial Advisory Board [EAB]
This is a group of people without specific responsibilities and without formal power, but who may be invited to contribute to the project in various ways eg:
- providing peer reviews of contributed material
- offering guidance on editorial policy
- providing a sounding-board for new proposals.
More detail about the EAB can be downloaded from here:
The international dimension
Whilst the ASO Editorial Board reports to STAT RG, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, the initiative is explicitly international in character and we already have international and non-STAT members on the Editorial Advisory Board.
It will make sense for the relationship with international societies to develop further as indicated by the dotted cloud on the chart. Currently, the diagram suggests the creation of a Representative Body to facilitate this. Whereas EAB membership is granted on an individual basis based on the potential of each person to make scholarly contributions to ASO, members of the RB would participate “by right” as representatives of their respective organisations. In June 2014 the ATAS organisations were invited to nominate individuals with whom SRG should liaise, with the assumption that this would occur via ASO (as the “International Forum”).
Assuming the initiative garners support, it would be reasonable to expect an element of cost-sharing amongst the international societies longer term. However, this would imply a more formal structure than envisaged here.
Project Groups
These will provide the vehicle for most of ASO’s work. A current key task is to recruit people to functioning project groups that are able to deliver the potential of the overall project.
Contributors and Volunteers
These are generic terms for individuals who may be members of Project Groups (from the project management point of view) or may simply be involved on an ad hoc basis for specific tasks over given periods of time. The scope for this kind of role and relationship between contributors and any formally-defined Project Group will vary from project to project, hence shown as a cloudy overlay.
STAT Archive Index Project
There is some overlap between technical aspects of the ASO website and the redeveloped Archive Index site. At one time it was thought possible to try and combine the sites. But further investigation shows this to be disadvantageous. But some cost savings can be achieved by sharing parts of the design, so a relationship remains.