The PAGenWeb Project is a member of the non-profit, volunteer genealogical
organization called, The USGenWeb Project (http://www.usgenweb.org/). As such The
PAGenWeb Project (http://www.pagenweb.org/)
website and all associated county websites must conform to the established
policy and procedures set forth by our parent organization. The guidelines
that are described on the
USGenWeb Volunteers
Information page and the
USGenWeb Project Bylaws
which describe in great detail the organizational structure, election
procedures, and general policies of this organization, form the foundation
for each state project. All project members and interested project members
should carefully review the above websites before agreeing to participate
in any USGenWeb State Project.
The following policy and procedures are specific to our state project.
All PAGenWeb Project members are required to read and understand the following
information prior to their participation in this project.
The name of our organization is "The PAGenWeb Project." The name, "The
PAGenWeb Project," and "The XXGenWeb Project" (where XX is the county
name) are service marks and reserved exclusively for The PAGenWeb Project
and any websites representing The PAGenWeb Project. Please note that the
correct name and spelling is in upper and lower case letters without any
space breaks in form (correct: PAGenWeb incorrect: PA GenWeb
or PAGen Web).
The PAGenWeb Project is an organized group of volunteers working to create
an online center for genealogical research by linking sites representing
every county in the state of Pennsylvania. The purpose of this organization
is to gather genealogical and historical information for free online access
by researchers.
This is accomplished by creating websites which are central repositories
of historical and genealogical research data, donated either by the website
coordinator or other contributors and kept at the local county level.
The PAGenWeb Project, as a group of volunteers participating in a not-for-profit
organization, is considered to be an "Unincorporated Non-Profit Association."
In the spring of 1996, a group of genealogists organized the Kentucky
Comprehensive Genealogy Database Project, which evolved into the KYGenWeb
Project. The idea was to provide a single entry point for genealogy data
and research for all counties in Kentucky. In addition, the information
for each county would be indexed and cross-linked to make it easier for
researchers to find a name or data that they sought.
In June 1996, as the KYGenWeb Project was nearing 100 percent county
coverage, interested volunteers decided to create a similar set of pages
for all states, thus establishing The USGenWeb Project. Volunteers were
found who were willing to coordinate these efforts for each state, and
additional volunteers were sought to create and maintain websites for
every county in the United States.
The PAGenWeb Project was created in June of 1996 and was organized by
Gary Steiner of the Genealogical Computing Association of Pennsylvania.
Since then, the Project has grown and changed dynamically. The PAGenWeb
Project maintains a high level of excellence among its coordinators and
takes great pride in the service provided to researchers.
The PAGenWeb Project is administered by a team of members including a
State Coordinator (SC) and two Assistant State Coordinators (ASC's). There
are 67 county websites and there are a maximum of 67 county coordinator
positions, although from time to time a single county's responsibilities
may be shared by co-coordinators. However, many coordinators volunteer
to host more than one website. It is recommended, however, that no coordinator
host more than two websites at any one time.
State Coordinator Election Procedures
Every two years there will be a State Coordinator election, usually
held in the month of October. An elections committee (EC) shall be convened
and comprise of two county coordinators (one from each region) and the
ASC(s). The EC shall set the date for the election and choose a method
for casting votes (manually or electronically). All project members
will be notified via email on how to cast their votes and when the voting
period will begin and end. The Voting period should be scheduled on
or around the 1st of October.
Each county coordinator may cast only one vote and where the county's
web site has shared county coordinators each of the co-coordinators
will be able to cast a fraction of a vote equivalent to that county's
share. In the event a CC hosts more than one county, that CC will only
be allowed one vote.
Any interested volunteers who would like to run for this position should
make their intentions known to the project no later than August 15.
Candidates must have been a CC in the state for the preceding 12 months
to be eligible for the position of State Coordinator. The month
of September may be used to announce candidates and for the promoting
of campaign issues.
The state coordinator will be elected by the project membership. Each
coordinator may cast one vote only (no matter the number of counties
hosted). The winner of the election will be the individual who receives
a fraction over 50 percent of the votes cast, if no candidate receives
at least a fraction over 50 percent of the vote then a run off election
will be held between the two individuals with the highest vote totals.
The winner of the run-off will be the individual who receives at least
a fraction over 50 percent of the vote caste.
Motion to change State Coordinator Election Procedures passed by
general consent on September 10, 2006:
Every two years there will be a
State Coordinator election, usually held in the month of October. An
elections committee (EC) shall be convened which can be either the
USGenWeb Project Election Committee or comprise of two county
coordinators (one from each region) and the ASC(s). The EC shall set the
date for the election and choose a method for casting votes (manually or
electronically). All project members will be notified via email on how
to cast their votes and when the voting period will begin and end. The
Voting period should be scheduled on or around the 1st of October.
Candidates must have been a CC in the state for the preceding 12
months to be eligible for the position of State Coordinator. The month
of September may be used to nominate candidates and announce candidates
for the promoting of campaign issues.
The state coordinator will be elected by the project membership. Each
coordinator/co-coordinator may cast one vote only (no matter the number
of counties hosted). The winner of the election will be the individual
who receives a fraction over 50 percent of the votes cast, if no
candidate receives at least a fraction over 50 percent of the vote then
a run off election will be held between the two individuals with the
highest vote totals. The winner of the run-off will be the individual
who receives at least a fraction over 50 percent of the vote cast.
Selection of County Coordinators
The position of county coordinator is selected by the SC. All interested
persons should contact the SC to see if the county of interest is available.
If it is available, the SC will determine qualifications for hosting
the county (qualifications include but are not limited to: knowledge
of the county's history, ability to create and maintain a website, file
transfer protocol (FTP), and desire to serve). The most important quality
is a desire to serve as part of this project. If a person is interested
and is knowledgeable in the county but is new to the internet or to
website design, help is available from other project members. The county
coordinator needs to be available to make updates to the website, answer
researcher queries (no research is conducted), and generally provide
assistance as needed. Time requirements for this position can range
from 30 minutes per week to several hours. The amount of time given
to each project is solely dependant on the volunteer but a minimum amount
of upkeep is required to keep the website on active status within the
project. New CCs are expected to have a site up and running
within two weeks of appointment, and if this does not happen the CC
will be replaced.
Active Status
It is imperative that all websites remain active once they are networked
as part of this project. A website is considered active when regular
updates and additions are made to the website. The Project Administrative
team understands that not all volunteers have access to materials and
are not able to transcribe volumes of information for use online. However,
it is expected that every CC will maintain their sites to the best of
their ability. Date stamps on all pages are encouraged. If used, we
ask that date stamps be updated regularly even if the page has not changed
much. Regular website checks will be performed by the ASC(s). Website
checks will include all required elements and links, query board usage
(or email page updated regularly), as well as general appearance and
functionality of the site (link checks, etc.). Obvious errors in coding
will be brought to the cc's attention but choice of layout, design,
colors, etc., are not part of the check process. However, if any
background choice makes type elements practically illegible, this will
be brought to the CC's attention for modification. Website checks
will be conducted twice per year and email notification will be sent
to each CC with a copy sent to the SC. Any websites that do not meet
the project standards will be noted and the CC will have approximately
two weeks to make corrections. If the CC doesn't make corrections within
the two week period (exceptions include vacations, illness, etc.) the
website will be placed on an "inactive status" and the link will be
removed from the county index. If after 30 days the website corrections
have not been made and the CC is unresponsive to email requests the
website will be removed from the project and a new host will be recruited
to fill the county coordinator position.
Resignation of a Coordinator
In the event that a coordinator no longer wishes to volunteer with
this project, notice must be given to the SC as soon as possible. The
SC will announce to the mail list that such and such coordinator is
stepping down and can offer the county up for adoption to the membership
first. If no one is interested in adopting the county, a notice will
be placed on the county index and a new host will be recruited to fill
the vacancy. The outgoing coordinator may choose to remain with the
project until a new coordinator is found or may choose to step down
immediately. If they choose to step down immediately, the SC will put
up a temporary page so that interested persons can adopt the site. The
contents of the website may be donated to the new coordinator or it
may remain with the outgoing coordinator.
NOTE: Article XI. Section 4. USGenWeb Bylaws shall apply until this section replaced. 7/28/2008.
If a state coordinator resigns, the ASC's will serve out the remaining
term. A new election will be held the following October to elect a permanent
SC.
Removal of a Coordinator
Every coordinator is guaranteed due process in the PAGenWeb Project
and is given 30 days to rectify any problems or issues within the project.
However, certain behavior will not be tolerated and may be grounds for
immediate removal of either a SC, ASC or CC. A coordinator that cannot
be contacted for a period of 30 days either by e-mail, phone or letter
will be replaced. The following are types of behavior that are
considered inappropriate for this project:
-
use of foul, derogatory, abusive language on the state mail list
-
derogatory, inflammatory, or abusive comments made towards any member
of the project
Arbitration, Grievance Procedures
All problems within the project will be resolved according to the following
procedure. Issues between coordinators should be handled privately and
with discretion. If a resolution is not forthcoming the two parties
should contact the state coordinator for assistance. The SC may include
the ASC's in any problem resolution issues and ask for guidance and
suggestions. If a resolution cannot be reached that is satisfactory
to the two parties, a neutral committee of two county coordinators (one
from each region, eastern and western) shall be asked by the SC to arbitrate
the grievance. Upon further discussion of the issues, the committee
shall present its findings and a resolution to the SC. With the SC approval
of the committee's resolution, the parties shall be contacted and the
outcome shall be considered final.
Project Guidelines
The following guidelines are to be in effect for all members of this
project until further notice.
1. The PAGenWeb Logo and return link must be placed on every county
website. The USGenWeb Project requires every project to display the
USGW logo
and include a return link to http://www.usgenweb.org/.
2. Every county must maintain a query page. The coordinator may choose
any method for maintaining queries so long as the page is current. Automated
BBS type systems are easiest and hosts are encouraged to use this method
-- as it seems to work best for everyone. However, the choice is up
to the host.
3. Every county must include a copyright notice on all website pages.
The following copyright notice is an example only of common copyright
statements used on the internet (you may choose your own wording).
© Current Year. Host Name. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright Statement
Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001. Host Name
Unless indicated otherwise in a particular page carrying this
copyright notice, permission to use, copy and distribute documents
and related graphics delivered from this World Wide Web server
(url of county site) for non-commercial uses is hereby granted,
provided that the above copyright notice appears in all copies
and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice
appear. All other rights reserved. Host Name disclaims all warranties
with regard to this information. The information described herein
is provided as is without warranty of any kind, either express
or implied.
4. All website contents remain the property of each webmaster and the
PAGenWeb maintains no rights to any materials on any project website.
NOTE: Provisions of the USGenWeb National Bylaws Article XI. Section 4. shall apply until this section replaced. JMP SC 7/28/2008
All copyrighted material contributed to the website by someone other
than the webmaster should contain a copyright notice granting permission
to publicly display the material from the author of said material. Any
material that is copyrighted and published without permission from the
author must be removed immediately.
5. Each county coordinator may choose to host the county's website
anywhere on the internet. They may secure their own webspace or use
RootsWeb,Inc.com which provides free
space for our project. Every RootsWeb account holder agrees to abide
by the policies described by RootsWeb. The PAGenWeb Project maintains
no authority over any account whether hosted by RootsWeb or another
service provider.
6. Every coordinator must be subscribed to the internal mailing list.
The demeanor on this list will be appropriate for a public forum and
any member that uses derogatory statements, inflamed comments, or publicly
derides another member will be removed from the project without any
due process. No abusive language or behavior will be tolerated.
In Conclusion
All coordinators are required to keep fresh in their minds the mission
of this project. Our goal is to help visiting researchers find useful
resource and reference information online and assist them in tracing
their family history. Our job is to be friendly, responsive, helpful,
cordial, and most of all available. This is a volunteer position and
as such mandates as written above are only relevant if the membership
agrees to abide by them. The Project Administration team has worked
hard to try and cover every possible scenario that may occur given the
nature of internet genealogical projects. However, we cannot guarantee
that your experience as part of our project will be perfect or stress
free. We have created a working policy that will serve this project
well so long as all members agree to participate fully and without any
measure of distrust or dishonesty. That said, the Project Administrative
team reserves the right to implement any and all of the above procedures
as needed to maintain a well-working, thoughtful, internet project.
These policies were adopted on 20 July 2001.
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