Revised 1978, 1989, 1998, 2000

This prospectus supersedes the original prospectus for the Southeast Asian Microform Project (SEAM) and the Southeast Asian Microform Project/North American Pool (SEAM/NAP) issued in February 1970 and the 1978 Revised Prospectus and 1989 Revised Prospectus. Participants in those projects retained all of the rights to access to the microforms acquired by the project that were set forth in the February 1970 prospectus and its 1978 Revision that consolidated SEAM and SEAM/NAP into a single project.

The 1989 revision clarified the relationship between SEAM and CRL (including offering limited borrowing privileges to members of the latter), brought the organizational structure closer to practice, and revised lending/copying policies to reflect growing collections of positive copies.

This 1998 revision of the prospectus adds one faculty member to the Executive Committee and changes the terms of office of the Committee, as approved by the SEAM membership by a ballot vote on May 15, 1998.  The 2000 revision formalizes the agreement to have the Past-Chair serve as an ex officio member of the Executive Committee for one year.

Purpose of SEAM

The Southeast Asia Materials Project (SEAM) is a cooperative endeavor established to provide subscribing institutions with better coverage of research materials related to the study of Southeast Asia. Toward this end, SEAM will film or acquire films of such research materials and make them readily available to subscribers to the project.

Organization

• Any institution or nonprofit organization maintaining a library may become a subscribing member of the project by paying the appropriate annual subscription fee. The subscription year shall be July 1 to June 30. A subscriber may withdraw from the project by giving written notice of its intention to withdraw by March 15th prior to the new subscription year. For the life of the project, an institution that withdraws retains the same borrowing and copying privileges as paid-up members for materials acquired during the period of its membership. Institutions joining after the adoption of this revision shall enjoy full access to materials acquired during the period of their membership. For a one-time retrospective fee, new members may gain full access to all materials owned by the project.
• The project will be administered by the Center for Research Libraries, which will bill and receive the subscription fees. From the fees received, it will acquire and house films and circulate them to subscribing libraries in accordance with the policies outlined below, and pay all other expenses of the project. CRL shall be reimbursed for reasonable, agreed costs associated with the project.
• There shall be a SEAM Committee consisting of one representative from each subscribing institution wishing to be represented which shall meet annually in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies. Except under exceptional circumstances and by a majority vote of the Committee members, all meetings of the Committee shall be open to anyone wishing to attend or speak. Only a single representative from each subscribing institution shall be considered a voting member of the Committee. Except at the annual meeting of the SEAM Committee (for which representatives of a majority of the subscribing members shall be considered a quorum), the official business of this Committee will be conducted by mail ballots.

  It shall be the function of the committee to:

  1. Establish annual fees and retrospective fees.
  2. Determine and approve any major changes in acquisitions policies.
  3. Elect members of the Executive Committee.
  4. Advise the Executive Committee as to its wishes in matters related to the acquisition of material to be added to the pool.
• There shall be an Executive Committee that shall carry on the business of the project between annual meetings, which shall consist of the Chair, two members elected from the SEAM committee, one faculty representative elected by the SEAM committee, and one scholar representative appointed by the Committee on Research Materials on Southeast Asia (CORMOSEA). A representative of the Center for Research Libraries shall serve as a nonvoting, ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.  The elected members of the Executive Committee represent subscribing members of the project and serve three-year terms, elected in alternate years. The Chairperson of the Executive Committee serves a three-year term and is elected by the full committee.  The immediate past-Chairperson serves on the Executive Committee as a nonvoting, ex-officio member for a period of one year.

1. Election of the Executive Committee

   The Chairperson of the Executive Committee, ninety days before each annual meeting, shall appoint a nominating committee, to circulate a ballot with its nominees and blanks for additional nominees at least thirty days before the meeting. The new officers will take office immediately after the annual meeting of the SEAM Committee. Should a vacancy occur on the Committee between elections, the Executive Committee may appoint a member of the SEAM Committee to fill the vacant position for the remainder of the unfilled term.

2. Duties of the Executive Committee
   • To determine the acquisitions of the project in accordance with the recommendations of the full committee.
   • To make recommendations to the full committee concerning policy.
   • To carry on the business of the project between the meetings of the full committee. The full committee may extend limited latitude to the Executive Committee to acquire materials without a mail ballot.
   • To circulate the minutes of each full Committee and each Executive Committee meeting to the subscribers of the project not more than 60 days after said meeting.

Rights and Obligations of Subscribing Members

• Subscribing institutions have the right to borrow from the pool any positive microform acquired by the project during the year, or years, for which the subscription has been paid. (Subscribers outside North America may be subjected to such restrictions as are necessary for guaranteeing the rapid and safe movement of borrowed film [such as a small depository account to cover postage]).
• Subscribing institutions have the right of purchasing for its own use, at cost, a positive microform copy from any negative acquired by the project (during the term of their membership), unless such duplication was prohibited under the terms of acquisition of the negative.
• Subscribers will receive regularly lists of materials acquired by the project and, periodically, full catalogs of materials owned by the project.
• The borrowing institution will pay return transportation and insurance charges on materials borrowed and will reimburse the project for any damage or loss of film that occurs while the film is in the subscriber's custody. The amount of film to be borrowed for the use of any one patron at one time shall be limited to reasonable quantities and loan periods shall be limited to a reasonable time. In case of duplicate requests for the same material, the loan period may be limited to insure prompt access for the second institution.

Subscription Fees

• A member of the project shall pay an annual subscription fee. The fee shall become due and payable in full on July 1st of the subscription year. The subscription year shall run from July 1st of each year to June 30th of the following year.
• The subscription fee and special fees shall be determined by a majority vote of subscribing members paying the full fee at the time of the vote.
• A retrospective fee, set by a majority vote of the subscribing members, shall entitle a new member institution to access to all materials owned by the project.  Note:  this fee was eliminated in October 2020.
• Special fees may be established for smaller institutions and for overseas institutions wishing duplication privileges only. Institutions which pay such smaller fees as might be established will have no representation upon the full committee or the Executive Committee and will be subject to such limitations as to borrowing privileges as might be established by the Executive Committee.

Access to Project Material by Nonmembers

• Positive microform copies acquired by the project will not be lent to nonsubscribers, except under the terms described below, and subscribers may not borrow such material on behalf of nonsubscribing libraries. However, nothing shall prevent a subscriber from borrowing such material for use in the subscriber's library by a visiting scholar from a nonsubscribing institution.
• Member institutions of the Center for Research Libraries may borrow without charge a limited number of project materials each year. As a guide, a limited number shall be no more than three titles of approximately six (6) rolls per title.
• Nonsubscribers may purchase a positive microform copy for their own use from any negative owned and controlled by the project for the cost of the print plus a surcharge to be determined by the full members.  Income beyond costs from such sales will be used to increase the scope of the project.
• Nonsubscribing libraries who are not members of CRL may borrow positive copies of materials owned by SEAM in the same quantities as nonsubscribing CRL members, with payment of fees equal to those that CRL would charge nonmembers for the same items.
• Any institution located in Southeast Asia will have the right of purchasing for its own use, at the cost of printing, a positive copy from any negative acquired by the project, unless the negative is so restricted as to make duplication impossible.

Ownership and Project Termination

• The assets of the project shall be the property of the Center for Research Libraries with the understanding that subscribers to the project shall always have the right to borrow from the Center any positive microform copy acquired by the project and to buy their own positive print from any negative owned and controlled by the project for only the cost of making the positive print.
• In the event of termination of the project, subscribers to the project shall continue to have the same right of access as above to all microforms acquired by the project during its existence.
• In the event of dissolution of the Center for Research Libraries, disposition of the assets of the project will be made in consultation with the institutions participating in the project.