jukervin
commented
9 years ago Draft: ALTO Schema Revisions & Change Request Process
Proposals for changes to the ALTO schema should be made in writing to the ALTO XML schema GitHub repository as an issue and optionally to ALTO list. They may come from individuals, ALTO interest groups, or other entities.
Change request requirements: statement of change, reasons/use case for the request and description of solution. The issue should also include example ALTO xml section showing the change in use and it can also optionally include changes needed to ALTO schema file.
The Board aims to process the change requests in order of submission when possible but reserves right to prioritize requests if needed due to complexity, impact, urgency or other reason.
The change request will undergo following steps:
First discussion. Board begins processing the submitted change request in a board call. Minutes from the discussion are entered as a comment to the issue.
Commenting period. Board members and public can comment the Change Request in GitHub for minimum of two weeks.
Second discussion. The change request is discussed in a board call. Minutes from the discussion are entered as a comment to the issue.
Change Approval. Approval voting with two thirds majority needed to accept the change request. Voting is done by having Board members enter their votes to the issue as comments. Voting timeframe is two weeks.
Schema drafting. Schema editors prepare the needed schema file and documentation changes as a new branch in GitHub.
Schema Change Approval. Voting with two thirds majority needed to accept the schema changes. The changes are merged to draft version. Voting is done by commenting the branch.
Schema Release. The latest draft version is released as new version. Schema releases should be done twice a year unless an urgent fix is needed.
How many board members will be needed to make a decision / schema change? Since participation in the calls vary maybe the voting should be done offline.