Hi all,
Below is a proposed CC guidelines for the USGenWeb. They are seeking
comments on them you can contact Mike Perterson usgwdp(a)cox.net if you have
any comments.
Nathan
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I. PREFACE.
The purpose of these guidelines is to provide the Local/County Coordinators
with consolidated information to help them design and maintain their
websites. . Section II lists those items, with references, which are
required of the Local/County Coordinator to be in compliance with Project
policy. Section III lists those items strongly recommended as "best
practices" which will enhance the experience of visitors to the websites.
2. USGenWeb Project Terms:
(CC) = County Coordinator.
(SC) = State Coordinator.
(LC) = Local Coordinator (rarely used).
XXGenWeb = Where XX represents a State Project, i.e., IAGenWeb = Iowa.
County Site = Applies equally to parish and township sites.
Project = The USGenWeb Project.
3. The Project's national website is at
http://www.usgenweb.com/ and
the specific section for volunteers is at
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/index.shtml .
The Project's Election Committee website
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/ will explain the Project's
election process and how to register to vote.
You will receive the Project's monthly Newsletter and prior issues of the
Newsletter are posted at
http://www.usgenweb.com/newsletter/index.shtml .
The Project's Bylaws:
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml .
The Project's Standard Rules:
http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/standard-rules.shtml .
The Project's Special Rules:
http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/special-rules.shtml .
The Project's Mailing Lists:
http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/mail-lists.shtml
4. Your Website: As the owner of your website, you have the option of
establishing your website on any server. Project websites are hosted by a
variety of servers, most of them free of charge. Your SC is available to
help.
Check with your SC for any particular state requirements for county sites.
If
you are changing an existing site, check with your SC about any state
guidelines
for removing any information. Website design help can be found at
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/design.shtml . Additional information is
available by subscribing to the email-list
USGW-HELPPAGES-D-request(a)rootsweb.com
with the word "subscribe" (without quotes) in the subject line and the text
body.
II. REQUIRED.
1. USGenWeb Project Logo. (USGenWeb Bylaw Article IX, Section 1 -
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml ). The logos are
found at
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/logos.shtml. All websites
shall include a prominent display of The USGenWeb Project logo on the
home page. Some states may also require the display of a state logo.
2. Solicitation Of Funds. (USGenWeb Bylaw Article IX, Section 2 -
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml ). Solicitation of funds for
personal gain is inappropriate. See the complete Bylaw reference for further
information .
3. Copyrights. (USGenWeb Bylaw Article X, Section 4 -
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml ). All USGenWeb members are
responsible for adhering to the Project's Copyright Policy. See the complete
Bylaw reference for further information . Further, although the Project
Policy addresses specifically genealogy information it pertains also to all
facets of the website, i.e., graphics, html coding, backgrounds, audios,
videos, etc.
4. State Mailing List/Website Link (USGenWeb Bylaw Article XI, Sections
2/3 -
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml ). All County
Coordinators shall be subscribed to the XXGenWeb mailing list and each
website shall have a direct link to the state project .
5. Area For Researcher's Queries (USGenWeb Bylaw Article XI, Section 3 -
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml ). County websites must
include a means for a researcher to post a query. If the state does not have
requirements, there are several options available. You may administrate a
query page or message board system or provide a link to an existing message
board related to your county. Queries are designed to be posted so others
are able to make contact. Coordinators may generate their own query systems
on their websites or use established systems such as
rootsweb.com,
genforum.com,
ancestry.com, etc. Coordinators are not required to research
the queries.
6. Removing Links of Sites Not Meeting Standards. State Coordinators have
the responsibility to review county compliance with standards and to remove
links for those failing to meet standards. (USGenWeb Bylaw Article XII,
Sections 6 and 7 -
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml ). The
Project Advisory Board has the responsibility to remove links from the
Project national website to websites failing to meet standards. (USGenWeb
Bylaw Article VI, Section 5 -
http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml ).
III STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
1. USGenWeb Logo. This guideline strongly
recommends only the logos of Project located at
http://usgenweb.org/volunteers/logos.shtml are acceptable and only in the
size provided. The logo should be visible immediately when the opening
(index, default, et.al) page of the site loads into the browser. Placement
at or near the top of the page is important because different browsers
render the pages differently, and all initially display a page with the top
of the page in full view.
2. Contact Information. Local Coordinators should provide valid contact
information (such as email, or contact form, or telephone, etc.) on the
opening (index, default, et.al) page of the site. Clear and prominent
information should be provided. The importance of acknowledging all emails,
data submissions, and otherwise responding to visitors cannot be stressed
enough.
3. Web Site Search Engine. The more information a web site contains
the greater consideration should be given to installing a search
engine. A search engine is a powerful tool for the visiting
researcher providing it includes all the files and subsets of the
website. There are several free search engines available and all of
them have perfected easy ways of acquiring, installing, using, and
enhancing. Among several are:
http://www.freefind.com/ and
http://www.picosearch.com/ .
4. Strongly Recommended Links.
i. The USGenWeb Project -
http://www.usgenweb.org.
ii. The USGenWeb Project Archives Table of Contents page (sorted by state) -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb. From this main page, follow the links to
your state and county.
iii. The archives search option -
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsearch.htm.
iv. The WorldGenWeb site -
http://www.worldgenweb.org/ .
5. Disclaimer. Many websites link to sites that are not part of
USGenWeb. Therefore we strongly recommend that you use the following,
or similar, disclaimer on website home pages: "Links to sites that
are not part of the USGenWeb Project are provided for your
convenience and do not imply any endorsement of the sites or their
contents by the USGenWeb Project or its members. Neither the USGenWeb
Project nor its members are responsible for the contents of any
"third party" site which you may access from a link on this website."
6. County Resource Page and Lookups: Websites should provide some
basic research help. It is recommended the website provides contact
information for the the county court clerk, library, and genealogical
and/or historical societies. Also, provide a bibliography page
showing the reference books available for their county. Lookups
should be offered if you or your volunteers have received permission
to do so from the book's author or publisher or if the reference
books you have available meet the copyright policies of The USGenWeb
Project.
7. USGenWeb Help Pages Mailing List. The purpose of this list is to
provide a communication across state and project lines for members
seeking and giving technical assistance in building and improving
websites, as well as assistance in attracting and displaying
submissions, meeting researcher needs, utilizing special projects,
and so forth, in pursuance of the Project goals. To maintain a
historical knowledge base, the discussions are archived. To post or
respond to questions, subscribe by
sending an email to USGW-HELPPAGES-D-request(a)rootsweb.com with the
word "subscribe" (without quotes) in the subject line and the text body.
8. URL/Link Checker. Periodically the webmaster should check that all
links on the website are valid. There are several free URL/Link
Checkers available and most are very easy to understand and use.
Among them are Xenu's Link Slueth -
http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html ; W3C Link Checker -
http://validator.w3.org/checklink ;
DeadLinks.com -
http://www.dead-links.com/ - and more.
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