la lojbangirz. - The Logical Language Group, Inc.
What is The Logical Language Group?
The Logical Language Group, Inc. is a non-profit organization, the
embodiment of the Loglan/Lojban community. We were founded to
complete the language development process, to develop and publish
teaching materials, to organize and teach the community, to promote
applications of Lojban, and to initiate and lead research efforts in
linguistics, language education, and other areas related to Lojban.
Simply put, our purpose is to serve you in all manner of things
Lojbanic. The Logical Language Group is not affiliated with The
Loglan Institute, Inc., (TLI) the organization founded by James
Cooke Brown. You can read more about
the dispute between the LLG and TLI.
The Logical Language Group is also called "la lojbangirz."
(/lah-lozh-BAHN-geerz./), its Lojban name. It was founded informally
in 1987, and incorporated in 1988. The U. S. Internal Revenue
Service approved our status as a 501(c)(3) non-profit
educational/scientific charity in 1989, making donations and grants
to the organization deductible under U. S. tax law.
How does The Logical Language Group serve the community?
We try to keep the community informed. Not everyone has the time
available to participate in all of our activities. A newsletter, "''le
lojbo karni''" (LK), is sent to everyone in the community. A longer
journal, "ju'i lobypli" (JL), is also published for those with more
serious interest. JL contains discussions of features of the
language, debates on research issues and applications, letters from
the community and responses, and a growing quantity of Lojban
writings and translations.
Our publications are free of advertisements (other than our own
ordering information, and occasional mention of individuals and
organizations who have contributed particular service to our
efforts), and we do not sell our mailing list. Our publications are
distributed as cheaply as possible to encourage new people to
participate. In the interest of attracting the widest audience
possible, we are committed to distributing as much material as
possible using the 'Shareware' concept for computer software and a
similar policy for printed publications. This policy retains our
copyrights but allows you, with relatively little restriction, to
copy our materials for your friends, as long as you don't charge for
the copies. We also ask that recipients of copies register with us,
so that we know who has our materials. Such registration does not
require contribution.
Certain materials that we publish contain information that we place
in the public domain. All language definition information is
considered to be public.
You can participate in the Lojban community at several levels of
activity, listed on the detachable registration form that
accompanies this brochure. Contributor's costs can range from as
little as $5-$10 per year to receive only "le lojbo karni", to
greater amounts for people actively learning the language. We
automatically send you materials based on your indicated level of
activity; this minimizes individual order processing and simplifies
our paperwork, keeping our costs down.
If you are attempting to learn the language, we provide as much help
as we can to assist in this process. We will put you in touch with
Lojbanists who might be interested in studying or communicating with
you in the language. You can also send your writings to us for
review, or for indirect exchange with others. Grammatically correct
writings may be selected for printing in our publications. We try to
foster research and social interaction among those who are learning,
or who have already learned the language. We aid such people in
organizing, leading, and teaching formal classes and study groups,
and will sponsor affiliated groups in local areas where non-profit
sponsorship brings useful benefits.
We also conduct an annual (July or August) celebration of the
language and community, called "LogFest", in conjunction with our
annual business meeting in the Washington DC area. We also expect to
support other local meetings and gatherings as the community grows.
We are seeking avenues to engage in larger research efforts and to
actively work on applications for the language. Thus we are seeking
grants and contracts, as well as financial and technical assistance
from individuals, companies, and universities. These are a
relatively low priority now, but their importance is expected to
grow as the teaching materials are completed and the language
stabilization is completed. Ideas and information in these areas are
welcome.
Of course, we also try to publicize the language. Our
representatives attend meetings and give presentations on the
language. We distribute these brochures. Through our efforts, and
with your help, the community of Lojbanists is rapidly growing.
Finances Loglan/Lojban has been developed almost totally by
volunteer labor and small donations of money. Lojban attracts people
who are willing to devote a lot of time and effort to seeing their
dreams become reality. Thus, our only income has been money derived
from sales of our publications, and donations from interested
supporters.
The Logical Language Group publishes and sells materials on a
balance/credit system. We distribute materials to people and ask
that they contribute to cover the costs of those materials. All
language definition information is considered in the public domain,
and most Logical Language Group publications are distributed under a
policy which allows not-for-charge copying and redistribution.
Computer versions of many of our publications are available. We ask
that people who receive our materials under any of these alternate
means to register your interest in Lojban with us so we may better
serve that community, and donate liberally so that we may continue
to serve you.
We ask that you keep a positive account balance of up to a year or
more of expected expenditures for orders, as indicated on our
registration and
order forms. Such balance money serves as our day-to-day operating
funds. We will refund positive balance contributions within 6 weeks
of your request. If you move without notifying us and we therefore
cannot contact you, we will maintain your positive balance for a
year before treating it as a donation.
Most materials that we sell require either prior payment, an
informal commitment to pay on your part, or your statement that you
cannot afford to pay for materials (in which case our supplying
these materials is at our discretion). We attempt to flexibly
support Lojbanists with financial constraints, and will accept
reasonable offers of reduced or delayed payments subject to our
financial condition, coupled with your commitment to actively
maintain contact and involvement with the community through us.
Obviously, the level of your prior and current activity and any
commitments you make in learning the language or in volunteer work
for "la lojbangirz." will be factored into our decision. la
lojbangirz. has a special commitment to support non-U. S.
Lojbanists, because so many of the language goals are dependent on
building an international community of speakers, and because we
recognize the difficulties caused by the international currency
market and the relative wealth of nations. We can accept bank
cheques in most currencies and international payment via Master Card
and Visa. We also encourage groups to form and receive a single copy
of our materials, copying or passing them to others so that the
per-person costs remain low. We require a lower standard of contact
and contribution from overseas Lojbanists when deciding on whether
to continue sending our materials at reduced or no charge.
We ask that all recipients of our materials voluntarily contribute
what you can, and to maintain sufficient funds in your balance to
cover our suggested prices. These will be deducted automatically
when we send you materials. We will notify you requesting more money
when your balance becomes negative. We reserve the right to refuse
orders when your balance is not fully paid, but again will make
every effort to support those who support Lojban through their time,
commitment, and money.
You have no legal obligation to pay for materials sent to you
without your request, but such materials will be charged against
your balance in the absence of any agreement otherwise, with
adjustments made to that balance per agreement. If we accept an
offer of reduced payment from you, we will charge that amount to
your balance.
We ask all recipients of our materials to help us financially in any
way you can. The Logical Language Group needs your gifts for support
of the Loglan/Lojban project. Artificial languages are historically
not financially lucrative, and have difficulty receiving outside
support. The Logical Language Group, Inc. is prohibited by its
bylaws from spending more than 10% of its expenses for
administrative purposes, except by special agreement with a donor
who agrees to cover such added costs in full.
.e'osai ko sarji la lojban - Please! support Lojban