KYGenWeb County Coordinator Rules and Guidelines

KYGenWeb has very few requirements of its county coordinators (CCs). Aside from complying with the following items, CCs enjoy complete latitude regarding the location, design, and content of their individual sites.

Those items considered essential for affiliation with the KYGenWeb project are designated as requirements. The state coordinator (SC) will make every reasonable effort to assist CCs who are not in compliance with the requirements before removing links to their sites. The guidelines include items that are not essential but are highly recommended for the benefit of KYGenWeb's visitors.

Rules
 1. County sites are required to include the following:
* The CC's name and a current email address (or link to the Email Registry ID) somewhere on the main home page.
* Logos of both the KYGenWeb Project and the USGenWeb Project must be displayed on the main home page. The logo or project name must link to the main page of the respective project.
* Access to a query system, which may be site based, and/or a link to one or more of the online message boards (Rootsweb - Ancestry or GenForum, etc.).
* A link to a "lookups page" where volunteers can share their resources. (If no county lookup volunteers are available, a link to the statewide lookups page at http://www.kygenweb.net/other/lookups.html can be used.)
* A link to the county's USGenWeb archives.

 2. CCs are required and ACCs are requested, but not required, to:
* Be subscribed to the project mail list. (The SC will automatically subscribe new CCs.)  Derogatory, insulting, embarrassing, or other inappropriate email posting will not be tolerated on the list.
* Not block mail from the SC, ASC, and/or mail list. 
* Respond to periodic roll calls.  If there is no response to 2 consecutive roll calls and to private attempts to contact him or her, the CC will be removed.
* Provide at least one alternate method of contact - address, phone number, alternate email address.  (This information will be held in the strictest of confidence and is for use in the event that the CC's email address starts bouncing.)
* Provide the names and email addresses of ACCs so that they can be given proper recognition for their contribution to the project ("officially" listed as ACC on the county selection and county gateway pages on the state site).
* Notify the SC of any change in the CC's and/or ACC's information.
* Respond to researcher/visitor concerns, complaints, notices of bad links, etc., whether they are contacted directly or notified by the SC/ASC.  (This does NOT include requests for research.)
* Notify the SC if they are going to be unavailable for an extended period of time.

NOTE: If the ACC chooses not to subscribe to the state mail list, they will not be eligible to vote in any KYGenWeb and/or USGenWeb election.

3. Solicitation of funds, advertising, or using the KYGenWeb site for personal gain is not permitted. 
 
* CCs may acknowledge their host servers but may not use a KyGenWeb site to seek contributions intended to support the site.  
* Sites may include a listing of research materials and/or services available for sale or hire by the coordinator, genealogical/historical society or others (for example, a listing of books for sale or a list of researchers for hire), provided that the actual arrangements between the researcher and those offering the service are not conducted through the county site. Contact information and cost for ordering books or charges for lookups may be included.

4. Material contributed to a KYGenWeb county site may be removed only upon request of its submitter. An outgoing CC must ensure that a copy of all contributed material remains with the project. They have the option of specifying whether the format of the pages (html coding, graphics and/or backgrounds) or how any contributed material is presented may be used by a subsequent CC. (Just the raw data, photos, etc. must be made available for an incoming CC, the copyright of the format of the presentation of the data, photos, etc. still resides with the CC and they can choose to allow or disallow it's use.)

5. Imbedded browser scripts shall not be used to redirect the visitor's web browser to an external site, but may be freely used as an internal site management and enhancement tool.  
 
* Links to any political party or to any non-government political organization are prohibited..
* Providing links to other non-commercial genealogical web sites relevant to the county, such as those operated by another organization or individual, is encouraged, but a KYGenWeb county site cannot consist entirely or primarily of links to non-KYGenWeb or non-USGenWeb sites. There must be sufficient information available on the site without following any off-site links that a visitor will perceive the list of off-site links as being a minor part of the KYGenWeb site..
* Any links to genealogy-related for-fee sites (subscription-based sites or sites that charge for access to their records) must be clearly labeled as such. The fees charged are to be for genealogical or historical purposes, services or materials.
Guidelines
CCs are requested to keep their websites updated and active on a continuing basis, and are encouraged to seek assistance if needed. Updating can simply mean adding or fixing links or adding new material. CCs are also encouraged to add the following items as appropriate:
* Information about other local resources available (libraries, historical/genealogical societies, addresses for county clerk or other contacts for requesting copies of records, etc).
* County formation information (so the researcher would know where to go for prior or later records).
* A link to KYGenWeb Special Collections.
* A method to quickly identify newly added information. 
* A surname registry or other method to identify "who's researching whom."
* A listing of published research materials on the county (books, CDs, etc.) and where to order, if available.
* A search engine.
* A guest book.
* A site counter.
* Local pictures.
* Reunion announcements.

© 2004 KYGenWeb