old LLG Brochure

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la lojbangirz. - The Logical Language Group, Inc.

Contact Us ontact Information

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 [The Loglan-Lojban Dispute|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

Old LLG Registration Form egistration and

Old LLG Order Form rder 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