How do I become a member of
CLSI?
An individual cannot be a member of CLSI. Membership is for
organizations, including professional and
clinical societies, regulatory and scientific government agencies,
manufacturers and suppliers of products
for medical testing, hospitals and other healthcare providers, clinical
laboratories, and educational institutions.
To become a member, please call CLSI at 610.688.0100 or obtain
membership information online.
How many organizations are members of
the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)?
CLSI has approximately 2,000 member
organizations. Membership is an investment organizations make to
support advancing quality in health care testing.
Does my organization need to
be a member before I can volunteer?
Your organization does not need to be a member
of CLSI for you to become a volunteer. CLSI has 2,000
volunteers, who work together to develop CLSI documents through
CLSI’s consensus process.
What are the benefits of membership in
CLSI?
Membership in CLSI is the most effective
way to participate in the voluntary consensus process.
Becoming a member of CLSI provides organizations with a valuable forum
for communication.
Participation in CLSI presents an ideal opportunity for representatives
from different constituencies
to meet, discuss issues, and to the extent possible, identify and
implement solutions. CLSI
provides member organizations with standards, guidelines, and related
products at a substantial discount.
Can I order documents at the same time
I apply for membership?
Yes.
Why is my name appearing on the
electronic CLSI documents I am downloading?
All CLSI publications are copyrighted. According to
CLSI’s copyright statement, “No part of the
publication, nor any part of electronic files, in part or in whole, may
be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording,
or otherwise), including transmittal by e-mail, by file transfer
protocol (FTP), by posting on the
internet, or by being made part of a network-accessible
system.”
CLSI does grant you a
nonexclusive, nontransferable right (license) to download
publication(s)
in electronic format provided for your individual use on one computer.
You may install one copy
of each publication on, and permit access to it by a single computer
owned, leased, or otherwise
controlled by you.
The watermarking on the document is the first step in
implementing Digital Rights Management
(DRM) on CLSI electronic publications.
As an example, if you purchased a paper document, you
cannot store a paper document on a
network, nor can you attach it to an email message. In this same
way, CLSI’s Board of Directors
has determined that our DRM restrictions will permit customers to use
electronic documents in
the same manner as they can use paper documents.
How do I participate on a CLSI
committee?
First you may write a letter or an email
stating your field of interest--you should also include an updated
CV.
Staff will notify you when a committee is forming for a project in your
area of interest. Second may visit the
Standards Development section of our website, to browse CLSI's
committees and projects, and volunteer for
a specific committee using a nomination form. Whether you send an
open letter or a nomination form, a member
of the CLSI staff will respond to your submission with a letter to you,
indicating receipt of your request.
I have a great idea for a
CLSI document. What steps do I take to get
it started?
CLSI welcomes new project ideas. You
can complete the Project Proposal
Form online.
How often does CLSI update
documents?
Proposed documents are distributed for
review and comment for a period of three months; and approved
consensus documents are reviewed between three and five years after
publication. If a technical or
environmental change warrants it, any document may be updated prior to
the scheduled review date.
At the close of each respective review period, the committee considers
and responds to the comments
and revises the document appropriately. Following approval by the
appropriate committees, CLSI
membership (for approved documents), and the Board of Directors, the
consensus document is published
at the next level.
How can I receive a copy of
the CLSI catalog?
CLSI encourages you to view the online catalog or shop online. The printed version
of the CLSI catalog
is distributed periodically. To receive a hard copy of the catalog,
please complete our online
form.
How long does it take to
receive my order?
If you order an electronic PDF file, you can
receive your order within minutes! If you
order a hard copy,
expect to receive your order within 7 to 10 days from receipt of the
order. For rush orders, express shipping
options are available. Please contact us for more information by phone
at +610.688.0100 or
e-mail customerservice@clsi.org.
Are CLSI standards and guidelines
mandatory?
CLSI develops and publishes standards and
guidelines through a consensus process that involves
representatives from government, industry, and the patient-testing
professions. Because of the unique
credibility our threefold consensus process gives to our documents,
regulatory agencies or accrediting
bodies often require that a specific CLSI standard or guideline be
followed. In these cases, following
the standard or guideline becomes mandatory for institutions aiming to
meet given regulatory or
accreditation requirements.
What does CLSI/NCCLS stand
for?
The organization changed its name to Clinical
and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) in
January 2005. The acronym NCCLS used to stand for National Committee for
Clinical Laboratory Standards.
What prompted the name change?
Extensive market research found that a name
change was imperative for a more accurate representation
of the organization:
1) Brand identity studies conducted in 2003 showed that many
people were confused by the “N” in the
organization’s name, which had stood for “national”
when NCCLS was known by its full name,
National Committee on Clinical Laboratory Standards.
2) With the development of documents on such topics as
point-of-care testing and respiratory care,
the scope of the organization’s work could no longer be accurately
defined as the clinical laboratory, but
had now become the clinic and the laboratory.
3) With a vast, global member and volunteer base, the term
“committee” no longer fairly described the
diverse participation and worldwide reach of the organization’s
consensus process.
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