Below is the latest motion placed before the AB by Mike Peterson. If you have any questions or comments please send them to you SEMA CC Rep. Les I move the following Local/County Coordinator Guidelines be approved and posted on the USGenWeb website replacing all current coordinator guidelines and help pages: "I. PREFACE. 1. USGenWeb Project Terms: (CC) = County Coordinator. (SC) = State Coordinator. (LC) = Local Coordinator (rarely used). County Site = Applies equally to parish and township sites. Project = The USGenWeb Project. 2. USGenWeb National Information. Take the time to browse the Project's national website at http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/index.shtml. National Elections: The Project's Election Committee website http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/ will explain the Project's election process and how to register to vote. National Newsletter: You will receive the Project's monthly Newsletter. Prior issues of the Newsletter are posted on the national website: 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 3. Your Website: As the owner of your website, you have the option of establishing your website on any server. The websites within the Project, are hosted by a variety of servers, most of them free of charge. Your SC, or designated state representative, is available to help. Website design help can be found at: http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/design.shtml and http://htmlhelp.rootsweb.com/howto.html. Some states have particular requirements for county sites. Check with your State Coordinator about any such requirements. If you are changing an existing site, you should take care not to eliminate any existing information and be sure the information is still linked properly. For outdated information (queries, e-mail addresses, etc.), check with your State Coordinator about any state guidelines for removing this information. II. REQUIRED. 1. USGenWeb Project Logo. (USGenWeb Bylaw Article IX, Section 1). All websites shall include prominent display of The USGenWeb Project logo on the home page - http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml . The logos are found at: http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/logos.shtml. A state project logo may be required depending on the guidelines/standards in effect for that state. 2. Solicitation Of Funds. (USGenWeb Bylaw Article IX, Section 2). Solicitation of funds for personal gain is inappropriate. See the complete Bylaw reference for further information - http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml . 3. Copyrights. (USGenWeb Bylaw Article X, Section 4). All USGenWeb members are responsible for adhering to the Project's Copyright Policy. See the complete Bylaw reference for further information - http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml . 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). All County Coordinators will be subscribed to the XXGenWeb mailing list and each website will have a direct link to the state project - http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml . 5. Area For Researcher's Queries (USGenWeb Bylaw Article XI, Section 3). 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 are not required to research the queries. http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml . 6. State Coordinators. (USGenWeb Bylaw Article XII, Sections 6 and 7). State Coordinators have the responsibility to review county compliance with standards and to remove links for those failing to meet standards. http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml . 7. Advisory Board. (USGenWeb Bylaw Article VI, Section 5). The Advisory Board has the responsibility to remove links for those failing to meet standards. http://www.usgenweb.com/volunteers/bylaws.shtml . III STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. 1. USGenWeb Help Pages Mailing List. The purpose of this list is to provide a friendly and helpful means of communication across state and project lines for USGenWeb members seeking and willing to give assistance in all technical aspects of building and improving USGenWeb pages, including the creation and use of graphics, as well as assistance in attracting and displaying submissions, meeting researcher needs, utilizing our special projects, and so forth, in pursuance of the Project goals. To subscribe, send an email to USGW-HELPPAGES-D-request@rootsweb.com with the word subscribe in the subject line and the text body. 2. USGenWeb Logo. Since there are varying interpretations of the bylaw language concerning the term 'prominently displayed,' the guideline strongly recommends the logo be no less than 10000 pixels square (in most browsers, right click on an image, select 'properties' and it will provide image size in pixels) and appears visible, without scrolling down (on all resolutions), on the initial (opening) index (home, default, et.al) page load within the browser. Placement should be considered with the understanding that web site designers have no control over visitors screen resolutions, text size, colors, etc. 3. Web Site Search Engine. The more information a web site contains the greater consideration should be given to installing a search engine. They are 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. 4. County Resource Page and Lookups: Websites should provide some basic research help for its county. Suggestions are to provide a list of names, addresses and phone numbers for 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 if the reference books you have available meet the copyright policies of The USGenWeb Project. 5. 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/ . 6. 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. IV RECOMMENDED. 1. Disclaimer. Many of the resources you will link to are "third party" sites; that is, they are not part of The USGenWeb Project and are not under its control. Therefore, we recommend that you add the following, or similar, disclaimer to your home page: "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 page." 2. Contact Information. Local Coordinators should provide a valid email address on their websites so that visitors may contact them if they need to do so." USGenWeb Project information can be found at: http://www.usgenweb.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BOARD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.8/904 - Release Date: 7/16/2007 5:42 PM