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Archiver > BOARD > 2007-08 > 1188326481


From: "bluebear" <>
Subject: Re: [BOARD] Motion 07-20 - CC/LC Guidelines - DISCUSSION
Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 13:41:21 -0500
References: <00b401c7e99a$ee3effd0$7301a8c0@scott>


No discussion.

Greta Thompson
NW-CC rep


----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Burow" <>
To: <>
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 12:43 PM
Subject: [BOARD] Motion 07-20 - CC/LC Guidelines - DISCUSSION


| It has been moved by Mike Peterson and seconded by Linda Blum-Barton that
| the Local/County Coordinator Guidelines be approved and posted on the
| USGenWeb website replacing all current coordinator guidelines and help
| pages.
|
| The motion is numbered 07-20 and is now open for discussion.
|
| If you have no discussion, please advise by stating "no discussion".
|
| Motion 07-20 is as follows:
|
| "I move the below Local/County Coordinator Guidelines be approved and
posted
| on the USGenWeb website replacing all current coordinator guidelines and
| help pages.
| Mike Peterson
| -----------------------
|
| 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 Website = Applies equally to parish and township websites.
| 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
| websites. If
| you are changing an existing website, 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
|
| 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 ). All websites shall
| include a prominent display of a USGenWeb Project logo on the home page.
| See III STRONGLY RECOMMENDED, Paragraph 1, for suggested use. The logos
are
| found at http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/logos.shtml. Some states may
| also require the display of a state logo.
|
| 2. Solicitation Of Funds Is Inappropriate. (USGenWeb Bylaw Article IX,
| Section 2 - http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml ). See the
| complete Bylaw reference for further information .
|
| 3. Adherence To Copyright Policy. (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 . Check with your SC for any
| particular state requirements for county websites. 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. Websites Must Meet USGenWeb 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. Placement of USGenWeb Logo. II REQUIRED, Paragraph 1 requires a Project
| logo be displayed on the website. The Project logos are located at
| http://usgenweb.org/volunteers/logos.shtml . The logo should be only in
the
| size provided and visible immediately when the opening (index, default,
| et.al) page of the website 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 website. 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. Website Search Engine. The more information a website 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/ . Check with your
SC
| as this is a requirement in some states.
|
| 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 Project - http://www.worldgenweb.org/ .
|
| 5. Disclaimer. Many websites link to websites that are not part of
USGenWeb.
| Therefore we strongly recommend that you use the following, or similar,
| disclaimer on website home pages: "Links to websites that are not part of
| the USGenWeb Project are provided for your convenience and do not imply
any
| endorsement of the websites 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" website 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 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
| Sleuth - http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html ; W3C Link Checker -
| http://validator.w3.org/checklink ; DeadLinks.com -
| http://www.dead-links.com/ - and more.
| USGenWeb Project information can be found at: http://www.usgenweb.com";
|
|
| Scott Burow
| NC - USGenWeb
|
| USGenWeb Project information can be found at: http://www.usgenweb.com
| -------------------------------
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