Shirley
I think you have a winner with The MNGenWeb Policies and Procedures. I reviewed it and
only have a few comments as follows:
Typo redundant statements in the second paragraph of section XII. Removal of a
Coordinator; "The following are types of behavior that are considered days either by
e-mail, phone or letter will be replaced. The following are types of behavior that are
considered inappropriate for this project:"
In section XIV. Website Guidelines, rule "1. The MNGenWeb logo and return link must
be placed on every county website." is not clear on what is meant by a "return
link". Maybe we should just say "The MNGenWeb logo must be placed on every
website and be linked with a hyperlink to The MNGenWeb website." (nitpicking)
The terms in rule #1 in section XIV. Website Guidelines state "display the USGW
logo" and should be changed to "display The USGenWeb logo".
I am not in favor of rule #2 in section XIV. Website Guidelines that states "Every
county must maintain a query page." This is a holdout from the way we operated in
the 1990s and has long been replaced by numerous "forums" available on the web.
The majority of the counties in The USGenWeb quit using "query pages" long ago
because of the difficulties in managing such. The rule should be changed to state
"Counties may maintain a query page if they so desire." Maintaining a query
page is not an easy task and not easy to do for initiates. It is also very difficult to
secure without a proper security script built into the page and most of us don't know
how to write Java. To obtain a security script from some other agency can cost money.
Please explain what a "date stamp" is in rule #5 in section XIV. Website
Guidelines. Does this mean that we should have a "last updated" date on the
home page.
Ciao
Bryant
-----Original Message-----
From: MNGEN [mailto:mngen-bounces+genes.1=bryantsweb.com@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of
Shirley Cullum
Sent: Friday, September 1, 2017 10:04 AM
To: List MNGenWeb <mngen(a)rootsweb.com>
Subject: [MNGEN] (no subject)
Hi Everyone,
The issue of policies for the MNGenWeb has been in the works for quite a long time. A
committee was appointed to create a set of rules for the project. Tim and I discussed the
policies sent to us by the committee and added a few things that we felt are important to
the project. There were also deletions of some items. Below is the proposed set of
Policies and Procedures to be considered as our accepted rules for the project. The
discussion period for this important task is now open.
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MNGenWeb Policies and Procedures
I. General Introduction
The MNGenWeb Project is a member of the not-for-profit, volunteer genealogical
organization called, The USGenWeb Project (
http://www.usgenweb.org/). As such The
MNGenWeb Project (currently located at
http://www.mngenweb.net/) website and all
associated county websites must conform to the established policy and procedures set forth
by our parent organization. The guidelines that are described on the USGenWeb Volunteers
Information page and the USGenWeb Project Bylaws which describe in great detail the
organizational structure, election procedures, and general policies of this organization,
form the foundation for each state project. All project members and those interested in
becoming project members should carefully review the above websites before agreeing to
participate in any MNGenWeb Project.
II. MNGenWeb Project Rules
The following rules and procedures are specific to our state project. All MNGenWeb Project
members are required to read and understand the following information prior to their
participation in this project.
III. Project Name
The name of our organization is "The MNGenWeb Project." Please note that the
correct name and spelling is in upper and lower case letters without any space breaks
(correct: MNGenWeb, incorrect: MN GenWeb or MNGen Web or Minnesota GenWeb).
IV. Our Mission
The MNGenWeb Project is an organized group of volunteers working to create an online
center for genealogical research by linking sites representing every county in the state
of Minnesota. The purpose of this organization is to gather genealogical and historical
information for free online access by researchers. This is accomplished by creating
websites which are central repositories of historical and genealogical research data,
donated either by the website coordinator or other contributors and kept at the local
county level.
V. Organizational Status
The MNGenWeb Project, as a group of volunteers participating in a not-for-profit
organization, is considered to be an "Unincorporated Non-Profit Association."
VI. Project Administration
The MNGenWeb Project is administered by a team of members including one or more State
Coordinators [SC(s)], and one or more Assistant State Coordinators [ASC(s)].
VII. Responsibilities of Project Members
a. The State Coordinator (SC) is elected by the project membership and can serve an
unlimited number of terms. Although the SC may serve in an unlimited capacity, he or she,
must be re-elected by the project membership every two years (see election procedure
below). Duties for the SC include recruiting and training new project volunteers,
maintaining an internal mailing list, and creating and maintaining the state web site. The
SC may appoint other members to serve in volunteer positions such as webmaster, archivist,
welcome hostess, new member training coordinator, special projects coordinator, etc. These
positions should be held by members in good standing and do not merit any special project
authority or position other than meeting specific needs of the project.
b. An Assistant State Coordinator (ASC) is selected by the State
Coordinator(s) based upon volunteer interest. An ASC is responsible for assisting the
SC(s) in any special projects that the project may develop.
They also serve as SC in the event that an elected SC resigns, becomes ill, is on extended
vacation, or is unable to meet the SC position requirements.
An ASC's primary duty, other than assisting with state matters, is that of Quality
Control Coordinator for county and special project websites. An ASC performs an annual
check of all county and special project websites. These checks help ensure the smooth
operation of the project, help maintain a consistent standard throughout the project, and
identify any problems with links, navigation, or html coding.
c. The County Coordinator (CC) is selected by State Coordinator(s) based upon volunteer
interest, residence in the county of interest is not required. The CC is responsible for
creating and maintaining websites at the county level, and is required to include certain
elements on the county website. The CC may select one (1) individual to serve as an
Assistant County Coordinator (ACC) who will have equal rights to voting in any MNGenWeb or
USGenWeb election. The ACC's will be subject to the same criteria used for selecting
CC's, and must be approved by State Coordinator(s). Aside from providing the required
elements, each county website should strive to include other elements suggested by the
USGenWeb and MNGenWeb.
VIII. State Coordinator Election Procedures
Every two years there will be a State Coordinator election to be held in the month of May.
An election committee (EC) shall be convened and comprised of two county coordinators and
the ASC(s). The EC shall set the date for the election and choose a method for casting
votes (manually or electronically). All project members will be notified via email on how
to cast their votes and when the voting period will begin and end. The Voting period
should be scheduled to begin on or around May 1.
Each County or Assistant County Coordinator may cast only one vote In the event a CC hosts
more than one county, that CC will only be allowed one vote.
Any interested volunteers who would like to run for this position should make their
intentions known to the project no later than September 1.
Candidates must have been a CC in the state for the preceding 12 months to be eligible for
the position of State Coordinator. The month of September may be used to announce
candidates and for the promoting of campaign issues.
The state coordinator will be elected by the project membership. Each County or Assistant
County Coordinator may cast one vote only (no matter the number of counties hosted). The
winner of the election will be the individual who receives a fraction over 50 percent of
the votes cast, if no candidate receives at least a fraction over 50 percent of the vote
then a runoff election will be held between the two individuals with the highest vote
totals. The winner of the runoff will be the individual who receives at least a fraction
over 50 percent of the vote caste.
In the event of tie in the the runoff vote, the position of State Coordinator will be held
by both individuals as Co-SCs. One of the two SCs can resign at any time without a need
for an additional election.
IX. Selection of County Coordinators
The position of county coordinator is selected by the SC. All interested persons should
contact the SC to see if the county of interest is available. If it is available, the SC
will determine qualifications for hosting the county (qualifications include but are not
limited to:
knowledge of the county's history, ability to create and maintain a website, file
transfer protocol (FTP), and desire to serve). The most important quality is a desire to
serve as part of this project. If a person is interested and is knowledgeable in the
county but is new to the Internet or to website design, help is available from other
project members. The county coordinator needs to be available to make updates to the
website, answer researcher queries (no research is conducted), and generally provide
assistance as needed. Time requirements for this position can range from 30 minutes per
week to several hours. The amount of time given to each project is solely dependant on the
volunteer but a minimum amount of upkeep is required to keep the website on active status
within the project. New CCs are expected to have a site up and running within two weeks of
appointment, and if this does not happen the CC will be to have a site up and running
within two weeks of appointment, and if this does not happen the CC will be replaced.
A County Coordinator may solely host up to 5 counties within the state, and at the
discretion of the SC. A County Coordinator may serve as an Assistant County Coordinator in
as many counties as they have time to help with.
All County Coordinators will be subscribed and will remain subscribed to the Official
MNGenWeb mailing list.
X. Active Status
It is imperative that all websites remain active once they are networked as part of this
project. A website is considered active when regular updates and additions are made to the
website. The Project Administrative team understands that not all volunteers have access
to materials and are not able to transcribe volumes of information for use online.
However, it is expected that every CC will maintain their sites to the best of their
ability. Date stamps are required on all county websites and must be current within 6
months.
Regular website checks will be performed by the Leadership Team. Website checks will
include all required elements and links, query board usage (or email page updated
regularly), as well as general appearance and functionality of the site (link checks,
etc.). Obvious errors in coding will be brought to the cc's attention but choice of
layout, design, colors, etc., are not part of the check process. However, if any
background choice makes type elements practically illegible, this will be brought to the
CC's attention for modification.
Website checks will be conducted twice per year and email notification will be sent to
each CC with a copy sent to the SC. Any websites that do not meet the project standards
will be noted and the CC will have approximately two weeks to make corrections. If the CC
doesn't make corrections within the two week period (exceptions include vacations,
illness, etc.) the website will be placed on an "inactive status" and the link
may be removed from the county index. If after 30 days the website corrections have not
been made and the CC is unresponsive to email requests the website will be removed from
the project and a new host will be recruited to fill the county coordinator position.
Mandatory roll calls will be held every 3 months and will run for the entire month
(January, April, July, & October). Any CC’s not responding to a roll call will be sent
a private message by the SC. Failure to respond within 2 weeks of that message will result
in removal of the CC and the
county(ies) will be made available for adoption.
A County Coordinator who unsubscribes from the Official MNGenWeb mailing list and remains
unsubscribed for more than two (2) weeks will be considered as to have dropped out of the
project and their county(ies) will be placed for adoption.
XI. Resignation of a Coordinator
In the event that a coordinator no longer wishes to volunteer with this project, notice
must be given to the SC as soon as possible. The SC will announce to the mail list that
the coordinator is stepping down and will offer the county up for adoption to the
membership first.
If no existing County Coordinator is interested in adopting the orphaned county, a notice
will be placed on the county index and a new host will be recruited to fill the vacancy.
The outgoing coordinator may choose to remain with the project until a new coordinator is
found or may choose to step down immediately. In the event a CC chooses to leave, they
will agree to give the existing website back to the MNGenWeb Project for future
reassignment. All contributed material will remain the copyright of the contributor.
If a state coordinator resigns, the ASC's will serve out the remaining term. A new
election will be held the following May to elect a permanent SC. In the event that there
are two SCs and one of the SCs resigns, the other SC will continue to serve in this
capacity until the next election.
XII. Removal of a Coordinator
Every coordinator is guaranteed due process in the MNGenWeb Project and is given 30 days
to rectify any problems or issues within the project.
However, certain behavior will not be tolerated and may be grounds for immediate removal
of either an SC, ASC or CC. A coordinator that cannot be contacted for a period of 30 days
either by e-mail, phone or letter will be replaced. The following are types of behavior
that are considered days either by e-mail, phone or letter will be replaced. The following
are types of behavior that are considered inappropriate for this project:
*use of foul, derogatory, abusive language on the state mail list
*derogatory, inflammatory, or abusive comments made towards any member of the project
*failure to correct flagrant copyright violation within a period of 30 days notification
of said violation
*any CC profiting from third party advertisements placed on any pages of the county site
XIII. Arbitration, Grievance Procedures
All problems within the project will be resolved according to the following procedure.
Issues between coordinators should be handled privately and with discretion. If a
resolution is not forthcoming, a grievance notice should be filed with the state
coordinator. The SC may include the ASC's in any problem resolution issues and ask for
guidance and suggestions. If a resolution cannot be reached that is satisfactory to the
two parties, a neutral committee of two county coordinators (one from each region, eastern
and western) shall be asked by the SC to arbitrate the grievance. Upon further discussion
of the issues, the committee shall present its findings and a resolution to the SC. With
the SC approval of the committee's resolution, the parties shall be contacted and the
outcome shall be considered final.
XIV. Website Guidelines
The following guidelines are to be in effect for all members of this project until further
notice.
1. The MNGenWeb logo and return link must be placed on every county website. The USGenWeb
Project requires every project to display the USGW logo and include a return link to
http://www.usgenweb.org/.
2. Every county must maintain a query page. The coordinator may choose any method for
maintaining queries so long as the page is current. Automated type systems are easiest and
hosts are encouraged to use this method -- as it seems to work best for everyone. However,
the choice is up to the host.
3. All website contents remain the property of the county website for future CC's to
use unless the contributor requests its removal. Any material that is copyrighted and
published without permission from the author must be removed immediately.
4. County coordinators may host the county's website anywhere they wish.
5. Date stamps must be on the main page of each county website and must be current within
6 months.
XV. In Conclusion
All coordinators are required to keep fresh in their minds the mission of this project.
Our goal is to help visiting researchers find useful resource and reference information
online and assist them in tracing their family history. Our job is to be friendly,
responsive, helpful, cordial, and most of all available. The Project Administration team
has worked hard to try and cover every possible scenario that may occur given the nature
of internet genealogical projects. However, we cannot guarantee that your experience as
part of our project will be perfect or stress free. We have created a working policy that
will serve this project well so long as all members agree to participate fully and without
any measure of distrust or dishonesty.
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