At 11:01 PM 12/3/03 -0500, you wrote: >This is not entirely what Paula has asked me to address but it is a >start. Comments, questions, discussion? > >I propose the following update to our guidelines: > >Tina > >___ >County and Co-County Coordinators: The County and Co-County >Coordinator are responsible for creating and maintaining websites at >the county level. County and Co-County Coordinator duties include >striving to include as much local or topical reference and resource >information as possible for their site, adding new and updated content >regularly, responding promptly to correspondence and questions from >researchers. County and Co-County Coordinators are appointed by the >State Coordinator in accordance with national and state guidelines. In >making Local Coordinator selections, consideration should be given to >knowledge and interest in genealogy in the area, technical ability, >activity in The USGenWeb Project, and existing workload. All County >and Co-County Coordinator appointments must be authorized and approved >by the State Coordinator. Isn't a rehash of national Bylaws redundant? >Required Elements: > >Site Naming: Adopting a WIGenWeb local web site means it is a part of >The USGenWeb Project, and it must be prominently identified as such. >The name of your site should be something like "[County Name] County, >Wisconsin, USGenWeb (or WIGenWeb) Project". > >Project Logo: All WIGenWeb local web sites are required to use the >official project name and to have the national USGenWeb logo and the >state WIGenWeb logo displayed prominently. > >Project Name: The name of our parent organization is The USGenWeb >Project. The name of our individual state project is The WIGenWeb >Project. (Note that there is NO space between the "US" or the "WI" and >the "GenWeb"). Our national and state projects should never be >identified by any other variation in spelling or character spacing >(correct: WIGenWeb, incorrect: WI GenWeb, Wisconsin GenWeb, GenWeb, >Gen Web). WisconsinGenWeb? >Required Links: Links to the following web sites must appear on the main >page of all WIGenWeb local web sites - >The WIGenWeb Project main state page - >The USGenWeb Project main national page - >The Wisconsin USGenWeb Archives main page - The URL for the later is? >Queries: Every WIGenWeb local site must provide an area in which >visitors can post research queries specific to the geographical or >topical division of the site. This may be done via email, mailmerge, >or through one of the approved query programs for USGenWeb, such as >the RootsWeb/Ancestry Query Boards. The USGenWeb national site has a >page on Query Management, with instructions for each query option. >Queries must be dated so that your visitors (and we) can determine >which are the new ones. Care should be taken by the County and Co- >County Coordinator to ensure that queries posted are appropriate and >on-topic. Queries or posts that are not specific to the locality or >topic, inquiries about living persons, and adoption inquiries should >be removed or redirected to a more appropriate forum. How to do queries is left to the CC - I'm not aware that there are approved systems versus unapproved ones. Since the national Bylaws just state that a CC must provide visitors with a query format without further explanation it is up to them what works best for them. If someone asks about an adoption from over 50 years ago, I allow those, for most folks who would even care about such are dead or nearly so. Personally I detest the 'new' Boards Ancestry has lopping all catergories together - what was there before was much more sane. Since I detest them, I don't use them, except for the pre-existing ones I had. I prefer the personal touch and therefore do manual queries. >Resources: Every WIGenWeb County site must provide at least some basic >research help for their locality or topic. The more information you >offer, the better your site will be. Lookups should be offered if you >or your volunteers have received permission to do so from the book's >author or publisher or the reference books you have available meet the >copyright policies of The USGenWeb Project. > >County or Topic History: Each WIGenWeb local web site should also >provide at least some basic information on the history of the locality >or topic, whether it be a short, general history, or longer articles >on the history of particular families, towns, etc. > >USGenWeb Special Projects: Each WIGenWeb local web site should include >information on, and encourage participation in, the USGenWeb Special >Projects. No, this is wrong. The National Bylaws state that the county sites are to be the primary data source for material pertaining to the county - not the national special projects. They are there for folks to avail themselves if they wish to but they don't have to. If the CCs are to be the backbone then their sites will be as well instead of bowing to some national database that is faceless and uncaring. The CCs build relationships with their visitors and that should be respected. >E-Mail Link: Your main page should include your name, identify you as >the County or Co-County Coordinator, and give your e-mail address. > >Additional Necessities: > >WIGenWeb State Mailing List: Communication with and between all >WIGenWeb Coordinators is critical to the success of the Project. To >assure that important information is shared in a timely fashion, all >Coordinators will be subscribed to our CC mailing list, WIGEN-L. This >is where we discuss all matters having to do with the project. Where is this coming from? Was this written by a PR firm? >Periodically, the State Coordinator will send out a roll call message. >Replies to these messages are expected within 7 days. If you will be >away from your computer and unable to respond to any such roll calls >for more than a that period, please notify the State Coordinator in >advance. > >To post messages to the WIGEN-L list, send email to WIGEN- >[email protected] Only WIGenWeb staff may post messages. > >Site Maintenance: If you volunteer to coordinate a county or topical >site, it is expected that you will have your site online within 30 >days. If, for some reason, you will be delayed attending to your site, >or will no longer be able to volunteer, it is very important that you >notify the State Coordinator of the situation. > >All county and topical sites will become the sole responsiblity of >those who have adopted them and they must conform to the USGenWeb and >WIGenWeb standards. If you feel that you cannot maintain your site, >then please allow it to be put up for adoption - our viewers expect to >see an "active page" with changes and updates being made frequently. >Your site should be updated on a regular basis. How often is >"regular"? It is probably reasonable to expect that no WIGenWeb county >site would be static, or without updates, for more than a 60-day >period at most. Queries should be updated at least every two weeks. If >you use RootsWeb's Query Boards or another automated system, it is >necessary to be vigilant about removing inappropriate queries. I do queries once a month - Crawford County - 14 queries since April 18th. Richland County - 29 queries for the same 7.5 months. Because this is not a job - it is a hobby - folks donate time as they can. <snip> >Site Evaluations: Periodically, your site will be visited for an >evaluation to confirm that it includes certain required elements, to >check for broken or outdated links, and to suggest other possible >improvements. Please respond promptly to any correspondence you >receive pursuant to these reviews. Any required updates identified in >the evaluation should be attended to within a week of notification. If >that is not possible, please arrange a completion date with the State >Coordinator. Who will be visiting the sites of the page police? Tim