RUG Policy

Any North American user group wishing to be identified as an Ex Libris Users of North America (ELUNA) Regional User Group (RUG) must be sanctioned by the ELUNA Steering Committee. Such a group shall encompass a clearly defined geographic territory that does not overlap that of any other RUG and shall represent a significant number of ELUNA member sites. Generally speaking, such a territory will be defined as a group of specific states or provinces; however, other definitions of a region will be considered. This requirement is in place to maximize ELUNA’s ability to provide funding for RUG meetings.

Officially Sanctioned RUGs

An officially sanctioned RUG shall:

  • have a designated contact person
  • provide information about its leadership, discussion lists, website, and meetings for posting on the ELUNA website;
  • be willing to invite representatives of the ELUNA Steering Committee to attend its meetings;
  • be willing to provide the Steering Committee representative time within the program to present information on ELUNA at its meetings.
  • be willing to invite staff of Ex Libris to attend its meetings;
  • post meeting presentations on a web site hosted by ELUNA;
  • send a copy of meeting presentations to the Ex Libris Regional Conference Coordinator; and
  • hold at least one meeting every two years.

RUG meetings shall be open to any Ex Libris customer who wishes to attend, regardless of the region in which the customer’s institution resides. Customers in states/provinces without a RUG may attend the meetings of any RUG. The ELUNA Steering Committee and Ex Libris will endeavor to send a representative as a resource person to each meeting but cannot guarantee such attendance. The ELUNA Steering Committee asks that RUGs allot a minimum of 15 minutes in the program for a presentation on ELUNA if a Steering Committee representative confirms attendance. Steering Committee attendance depends on availability, so it is advised that the RUG provides the SC liaison with as much advance notice as possible once the meeting date(s) and location have been confirmed.

If a RUG is inactive for two years or longer, the ELUNA RUG Liaison will attempt to contact the most recent RUG leadership to ascertain if a meeting is being planned. If it is not possible to contact a RUG representative within 30 days, or if no meeting is planned to be held during the remainder of the current year, information about the RUG will be removed from the ELUNA website. In such a case, the ELUNA Steering Committee reserves the right to sanction a new RUG that represents all or part of the same geographic territory.

“Unofficial” RUGs

In addition to the officially sanctioned RUGs there can be other regional groups, which are not sanctioned by the ELUNA Steering Committee. For example, the territory of such a group might overlap the territory of an officially sanctioned RUG, which would not meet the requirements of this policy. ELUNA does not provide financial support to unofficial groups. Ex Libris may provide support for these groups on a case-by-case basis. Unofficial groups are expected to follow the guidelines under Support of RUG Meetings by Other Companies and Non-profit Organizations.

Support of RUG Meetings by ELUNA and Ex Libris

Individuals responsible for planning RUG meetings are asked to contact the ELUNA RUG Liaison and the Ex Libris Regional Conference Coordinator by email or telephone at least three months prior to a meeting to request support. See contact information below.

RUGs are responsible for maintaining their own financial records and all proceeds from conferences must be handled in accordance with the nonprofit laws of their respective states and the internal revenue code, as it applies.

Financial Support for Meetings

ELUNA and Ex Libris provide funding for one (1) meeting of each RUG per year. Such a meeting may be held in-person and/or in a virtual format.  Such a meeting must have at least 25 registered attendees.

While Ex Libris financial support is as a sponsor, ELUNA provides funding after Ex Libris funding is determined and ELUNA support only covers expenses not covered by other income (registration fees, Ex Libris sponsorship fee, other sponsorship fees). 

ELUNA financial support is provided in the form of reimbursement. Copies of receipts are required by both ELUNA and Ex Libris. Certification of expenses by the RUG chair may be accepted in some cases if actual receipts are not available. The first $400 or $600 (see below)  of reimbursement is provided by Ex Libris when both ELUNA and Ex Libris are providing financial support.

Ex Libris financial support:

The amount of financial support is based on expected attendance at the meeting: $400 for up to 100 attendees and $600 for more than 100 attendees (>100).  For planning purposes, if funding is sought in advance, the funding will be based on the previous conference attendance figure. If the group has never met before, the figure will be $400. Ex Libris reserves the right to change the level of funding support. Any changes will be announced at the beginning of its fiscal year. 

  • Ex Libris will send one staff member to provide a general company update and announcements about new products and new features in upcoming software releases. In addition, staff may be able to provide new feature demonstrations, or as appropriate, present on topics identified by the RUG. 
  • Ex Libris will consider providing product brochures, giveaways, and other informational material for the meeting, pending availability of funds. 
  • Ex Libris will ask for a list of attendees, which may be used for marketing purposes. 

ELUNA financial support:

ELUNA provides financial support only for expenses not covered by other funding sources. ELUNA will provide funding of up to $1200 per meeting per year.

Obligations of RUGs Receiving ELUNA Financial Support

In return for financial support, RUGs will:  

    • Submit a request using the ELUNA event support request form listed below, at least 3 months in advance of the meeting.  
    • Provide ELUNA the list of meeting attendees, which may be use for marketing purposes.  
    • Add presentation files on an ELUNA website designated for RUG meeting content. The RUG may also post presentations on its own website, provided that Ex Libris proprietary content is protected behind a password. 
    • Follow the ELUNA Code of Conduct 
    • Invite a member of the ELUNA Steering Committee to provide an update of ELUNA activities in the form of a scheduled presentation. 
    • Schedule conference dates that do not conflict with ELUNA events 
    • Add presentations to the Document Repository 
    • Publicly acknowledge ELUNA as a Sponsor. 

ELUNA Virtual Conference Sponsorship (NEW)

ELUNA will provide virtual conference support in the form of: 

  • Zoom virtual conference account for up to 500 attendees 
  • Promotion of RUG meetings via targeted emails and website news, if desired. 
  • Access to event management expertise in the ELUNA organization 
  • Access to the Document Repository (given to RUG Chair) 

To receive virtual conference sponsorship, the RUG must do the following: 

  • Submit a request using the Eluna event support Form listed below. 
  • Follow the ELUNA Code of Conduct 
  • Provide ELUNA with a list of meeting attendees, which may be used for marketing purposes 
  • Invite a member of the ELUNA Steering Committee to provide an update of ELUNA activities in the form of a scheduled presentation. 
  • Schedule conference dates that do not conflict with ELUNA events 
  • Use accessibility tools for transcription and closed captioning 
  • Add presentations to the Document Repository 
  • Publicly acknowledge ELUNA as the Sponsor.  

Sponsorship of RUG Meetings by Other Companies and Non-profit Organizations

The funding of RUG meetings is often based on registration fees and the contribution of a host site. In order to keep registration fees at a reasonable level and not to burden the host site too much, some RUGs have actively sought additional financial support from other companies.

The following policies must be followed when sponsorship is solicited from companies and non-profit organizations aside from Ex Libris:

  • A RUG may solicit financial support for its meetings from companies and organizations other than Ex Libris, if the company or organization is not a competitor of Ex Libris. Meeting organizers should review proposed outside sponsors with Ex Libris prior to finalizing commitments with them, to ensure that there are no conflicts from Ex Libris’s point of view. Ex Libris will give its response within two weeks after receiving the list of proposed sponsors.
  • It is recommended that the products of a sponsoring company or organization should be complementary products to Ex Libris products, for example servers and other hardware, workstations, barcode scanners, barcodes, self-check machines, metadata, content, and so on.
  • Companies that do business with the hosting site may be asked for support even if they are not directly connected with the library business.
  • Representatives of sponsoring companies should not, as a rule, be allowed to attend the sessions at the RUG meeting in order to protect Ex Libris’ proprietary information. An exception might be a session where a speaker is giving a presentation on how a product works together with an Ex Libris product.
  • Outside sponsors can be offered space for exhibiting their products in the lobby or another area of the meeting venue.

ELUNA Event Support Form

Submit the ELUNA Event Support Form before your event if you are requesting either financial or virtual conference support.

Conference Funding Request Form

Submit the RUG Conference Funding Reimbursement Request Form and expense receipts to the ELUNA Treasurer after your event.

Contact Information

ELUNA Regional User Group Liaison – Karen Glover ([email protected])

ELUNA Treasurer – Ellen Jones ([email protected])

Clarivate Senior Field Marketing Manager – Ashley Denton ([email protected])

Last updated August 15, 2023