To ISO 639 JAC:
Documents N2 and N3 have been revised according to our discussions and are
attached. I do not want to do any major revisions unless there are errors
or ambiguities. If you have specific comments, please send them by the
middle of next week (15 March).
Are there any reasons not to make these public documents? When they were
in draft and not yet discussed, I considered them only for the committee,
but now that we have discussed them and will shortly finalize them, I
think they can probably be available to anyone.
In cases where we have drafts that we wish to discuss before making them
public, I do now have an area to put these in (password protected as is
the archives of the JAC list).
Rebecca
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<TITLE>ISO 639/JAC N2R: Rules for procedure for the conduct of meetings</TITLE>
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<B>ISO 639/JAC N2R</B><CENTER><B><H1>ISO 639 Joint Advisory Committee</H1>
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<H2>Rules of procedure for conducting business</H2>
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</B>(10 March 2000)
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The following documents rules of procedure for the conduct of meetings and email business by the ISO 639 Joint Advisory Committee. It repeats some information that is in ISO 639-2:1998 in the normative Annex A and elaborates where necessary for clarification of procedures. In particular it details how business is run in the absence of regular meetings.
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<B><H3>1. Composition of the Joint Advisory Committee</H3></B>
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ISO 639/JAC is composed of:
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<UL><LI>one representative of the International Information Centre for Terminology (Infoterm; representing ISO 639-1/RA)
<LI>one representative of the Library of Congress (LC; representing ISO 639-2/RA)
<LI>three representatives of ISO/TC 37 (nominated by ISO/TC 37)
<LI>three representatives of ISO/TC 46 (nominated by ISO/TC46)</UL>
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Both ISO/TCs may nominate substitute representatives for a meeting.
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<H3><B>2. Membership of ISO 639/JAC</B></H3>
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<UL><LI>Representatives of Infoterm and Library of Congress will hold the chair on a 2-year rotating basis. The first term begins at the first meeting in February 2000.
<LI>Up to six technical experts may be asked to participate as non-voting observers. Each TC (TC37 and TC46) may appoint three observers based on the issues and topics being discussed.
<li>Representatives may be reappointed or replaced if necessary by the appropriate TC. Observers may be replaced by the appropriate rotating chair.</ul><p>
<H3><B>3. Procedures for conducting business at meetings</B></H3>
<P><I>3.1. Agenda.</I>
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<UL><LI>An agenda will be distributed at least two months prior to the meeting. It will be amended as needed when meeting is convened if there is agreement.</UL>
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<I>3.2. Voting.</I>
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<UL><LI>Each member of ISO 639/JAC has one vote.
<LI>Voting is obligatory.
<LI>A vote must be unanimous for approval of an item. If there are abstentions, it shall not be considered unanimous approval.
<LI>If a unanimous vote cannot be reached on an item, a second vote will be conducted following discussion.<LI>At least five positive votes are required to pass on the second ballot.</UL>
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<I>3.3. Role of observers</I>
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<UL><LI>The designated observers may attend a JAC meeting. No more than three observers from each TC may attend.
<LI>Observers shall function as experts concerning specific language issues, not for procedural issues.
<LI>Observers will be asked to contribute as necessary.
<LI>Observers may not vote.<li>Experts on specific topics may attend future meetings if appropriate as determined by the chair.</UL>
<H3><B>4. Procedures for conducting business by electronic mail</B></H3>
<I>4.1. Electronic communications</I>
<UL><LI>An electronic distribution list will include all ISO 639/JAC members and appointed observers.
<LI>Numbered documents are distributed by the chair. They may be distributed to the JAC list (JAC members and observers) or more widely depending upon the topic.
<li>The two rotating chairs may wish to consult on the appropriate distribution for official committee documents.
<LI>The more general list ([log in to unmask]) may be used for discussion about general or specific language issues.
<li>Prior to voting on specific changes new proposals should be openly discussed on language-related lists.
<li>The chair may ask specific experts about specific language issues as necessary.</UL>
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<I>4.2. Electronic voting procedures</I>
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<LI>Voting may take place electronically on the list initially and confirmed in writing. A printed record will be kept.
<LI>Votes must be submitted within two weeks of the electronic distribution of the voting request.
<li>In some circumstances the voting period may be extended if necessary because of complex issues; in these cases the deadline will be stated when the voting request is distributed.
<LI>Failure to vote is considered an abstention (and thus a unanimous ballot cannot be reached with an abstention).
<LI>If a JAC member does not vote after two consecutive times, the JAC chair will inform the appropriate TC subcommittee and request a replacement. </UL>
<P><I>4.3. Role of observers</I>
<UL><LI>Observers will be included in electronic mail distributions when specific language issues are discussed and their expertise is needed. <LI>Observers may be requested to perform research on specific language issues when needed.</UL>
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<I>4.4. Deadlines for response</I>
<UL><LI>When a request for a new, deleted, or changed code is submitted to the appropriate Registration Authority (Infoterm for 639-1 and Library of Congress for 639-2), the RA determines whether or not the request meets the relevant criteria. <li>The appropriate RA informs the requestor of the process generally within two weeks of the submission.<li>If the request meets the criteria, the RA determines an appropriate code and consults the ISO 639/JAC.
<LI>ISO 639/JAC is obliged to respond within one month with a decision. This allows for a second round of voting if the first vote is not unanimous.<li>The original requestor shall be informed of the JAC decision in six weeks to two months from submission of the original request.<li>Results of the JAC decisions will be publicized in a newsletter available on the Web and distributed through distribution lists.</UL>
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See also Working principles for ISO 639 maintenance (<A HREF="http://www.loc.gov/loc/standards/iso639-2/iso639jac_n3r.html">ISO 639/JAC N3R</A>).
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<center><a href="http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/iso639jac.html">ISO 639 Joint Advisory Committee Home Page</a> -
<a href="http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/">ISO 639-2 Registration Authority Home Page</a> - <br>
ISO 639-1 Registration Authority Home Page (not yet active)</center>
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<TITLE>ISO 639/JAC N3 (Working Principles for ISO 639 Maintenance)</TITLE>
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<B>ISO 639/JAC N3R</B><CENTER><B><H1>ISO 639 Joint Advisory Committee</H1></b>
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<H2>Working principles for ISO 639 maintenance</H2>
<P>(8 March 2000)
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The following documents working principles for the maintenance of language codes by the ISO 639 Joint Advisory Committee both in ISO 639-1 (Alpha-2 code) and ISO 639-2 (Alpha-3 code). It repeats some information that is in ISO 639-2:1998 in section 4 (Language codes) and the normative Annex A. In addition, it gives further details as to how language code changes that are submitted are considered and how the two parts of ISO 639 are related.
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<B><H3>1. Definition of new language codes</H3></B>
<P><B>1.1. Procedures</B>
<UL><LI>A <a href="http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/iso639-2form.html">Registration form</a> is available on the Web for requesting new language codes, which is submitted to the appropriate ISO 639 Registration Authority for consideration.<LI>The Registration Authority will review applications, obtain additional information and/or justification from the submitter, and suggest the assignment of a code when the relevant criteria are met.</UL>
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<B>1.2. Criteria for ISO 639-2</B>
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<LI><I>Number of documents. </I>The request for a new language code shall include evidence that one agency holds 50 different documents in the language or that five agencies hold a total of 50 different documents among them in the language. Documents include all forms of material and is not limited to text.
<LI><I>Collective codes. </I>If the criteria above are not met the language may be assigned a new or existing collective language code. The words <I>languages</I> or <I>other</I> as part of a language name indicates that a language code is a collective one.
<LI><I>Scripts.</I> A single language code is normally provided for a language even though the language is written in more than one script. A standard for script codes is under development by ISO/TC46/SC2, ISO DIS 15924: <I>Codes for the representation of names of scripts</I>.
<LI><I>Dialects.</I>A dialect of a language is usually represented by the same language code as that used for the language. If the language is assigned to a collective language code, the dialect is assigned to the same collective language code. The difference between dialects and languages will be decided on a case-by-case basis.<li><i>Orthography.</i> A language using more than one orthography is not given multiple language codes.
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<b>1.3. Criteria for ISO 639-1</b>
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<ul><li><i>Relation to ISO 639-2.</i> Since ISO 639-1 is to remain a subset of ISO 639-2, it must first satisfy the requirements for ISO 639-2 and also satisfy the following.
<li><i>Documentation.</i> <ul><li>a significant body of existing documents (specialized texts, such as college or university textbooks, technical documentation manuals, specialized journals, subject-field related books, etc.) written in specialized languages<li>a number of existing terminologies in various subject fields (e.g. technical dictionaries, specialized glossaries, vocabularies, etc. in printed or electronic form)</ul>
<li><i>Recommendation.</i>A recommendation and support of a specialized authority (such as a standards organization, governmental body, linguistic institution, or cultural organization)
<li><i>Other considerations</i><ul><li>the number of speakers of the language community<li>the recognized status of the language in one or more countries<li>the support of the request by one or more official bodies</ul><li><i>Collective codes.</i> ISO 639-1 does not use collective codes. If these are necessary the alpha-3 code shall be used.</ul>
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<B><H3>2. Choice of new language codes</H3></B>
<P><UL><LI>Language codes consist of the following 26 letters of the Latin alphabet in lower case with no diacritical marks or modified characters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z.<li>ISO 639-2 uses three alphabetic characters, and ISO 639-1 uses two alphabetic characters.<LI>Codes need not be abbreviations for the language as they are intended to serve as an arbitrary device to identify a given language or group of languages. Mnemonicity of codes is striven for, but this may not always be possible or appropriate.<LI>An effort is made to derive a language code from a language's name for itself, when possible. For historical reasons, some codes may be based on the name of a language in English.
<LI>There are 23 language names in ISO 639-2 that have variant codes, one for bibliographic applications, the other for terminological applications. This was because of established usage in national and international bibliographic databases which employed codes based on English language forms of names.
<LI>New language codes shall be based on the vernacular form of name unless <ul><li>another language code is requested by the country or countries using the language or the sponsor submitting the request; <li> if the vernacular cannot be determined; or <li>if a suitable code is not available</ul> In the latter two cases, an English form of name may be used for to derive the language code.<LI>A language code already in ISO 639-2/T which is based on the English form of the name shall not be changed even if the vernacular form is determined and/or added to ISO 639-1. This is to ensure continuity and stability and to prevent the proliferation of multiple or alternative codes.
<LI>A prefix is not regarded as part of the language name for purposes of assigning a code (e.g. Swahili is language name, although "KiSwahili" is often used).
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<B><H3>3. Changes of existing language codes</H3></B>
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<UL><LI>To ensure continuity and stability in support of online retrieval from large databases built over many years, codes shall not be changed.
<LI>Where codes have been changed or discontinued in the past, the old codes shall not be reassigned.
<LI>Language codes shall not be changed if the conventional name of a language is changed. However, language names associated with codes may be changed.
<li> Variant forms of a language name may be included in the entry, separated by a semicolon in the future. No effort will be made by the Registration Authorities to collect those variants that were previously not included.
<li>The <a href="http://lcweb.loc.gov/marc/languages/"><i>MARC Code List for Languages</i></a> maintains variant names of languages and may be used as a reference source.</UL>
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<B><H3>4. Relationship between ISO 639-1 to ISO 639-2 </H3></B>
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<UL><LI>In development of ISO 639-2 there was a principle that a code in the alpha-3 list would include the 2 characters from the alpha-2 where possible. An exception was the alternative codes, where longstanding and widespread existing usage of bibliographic codes did not permit this.
<LI>New codes introduced in ISO 639-1 that are already included in ISO 639-2 should follow this principle. If the vernacular form had not been used in ISO 639-2/T, the ISO JAC will attempt establish an alpha-2 code with two letters in common with the alpha-3 code when possible. <LI>ISO 639-1 shall be a subset of ISO 639-2.
<li>New codes will no longer be added to ISO 639-1 after the publication of a revised standard.
<li>A language code already in ISO 639-2 at the point of freezing ISO 639-1 shall not later be added to ISO 639-1. This is to ensure consistency in usage over time, since users are directed in Internet applications to employ the alpha-3 code when an alpha-2 code for that language is not available.<LI>New language codes may be considered for inclusion in both parts or in ISO 639-2 only. If request is to add to ISO 639-1 it must also be added to ISO 639-2 and satisfy the stated criteria. </UL>
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See also <a href="http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/iso639jac_n2r.html">Rules of procedure for conducting business</a> (ISO 639/JAC N2R).
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<P><center><a href="http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/iso639jac.html">ISO 639 Joint Advisory Committee Home Page</a> -
<a href="http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/">ISO 639-2 Registration Authority Home Page</a> - <br>
ISO 639-1 Registration Authority Home Page (not yet active)</center>
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