Ground rules for Working Groups 1. Purpose The main purpose of a TEI Working Group is to produce concrete proposals for extensions to and revisions of the current state of the Guidelines, based on the specialist knowledge of its members. 2. Creation and Funding of WGs WGs are set up by the Steering Committee. Proposals for the formation of new WGs are considered by the SC, but may be submitted by anyone. On approval, a WG will be assigned to one or other of the existing TEI working committees. The SC will authorise full reimbursement of travel and accomodation (within normal TEI limits) for at least one and possibly more meetings of a WG, on whichever continent most of its members inhabit, subject to approval of the WG's workplan. The SC may name members to a WG. The head of a WG may also propose members for full (funded) membership; such membership must be approved by the head of the appropriate TEI Working Committee. The head of a WG may co-opt additional unfunded members as required. Proposals for setting up a WG should thus contain the following: a. Name of WG Head b. Proposed Members c. Specific objectives d. Budget, either as number of meetings or as funding maximum e. Proposed Timetable 3. A Typical WG Lifecycle A WG will usually consist of 3 or 4 members, who will meet at least once and possibly twice. They will discuss their given problem area and formulate a draft report for discussion within the WG, usually electronically and before the WG actually meets. At the meeting (or meetings), they will try to establish consensus on the contents of their report, and continue the re-drafting process. Their report should normally be available within 4 months, after which the WG will be formally disbanded, although its members may still be called on to answer comments or evaluate proposals following on from such portions of their work as are incorporated into a subsequent version of the Guidelines. Their proposals should represent, as far as possible, the overall needs and the broadest requirements of those working within the specialisation which they are addressing. The final report of a WG will normally consist of - a definition of the salient characteristics of the text types {or interpretive information} considered by the report, possibly including a brief problem area statement. - definitions of new text elements, recommending tags and attributes for their encoding which are (as far as possible) consistent with current TEI practice. They need not define formal DTDs, though this is generally desirable. They should not depart from or contradict current TEI recommendations without giving good reason. - specific recommendations for change in the current Guidelines, with suitable discussion and rationale.