Guidelines for Publishing Web Pages on the Internet
Appreciating that publishing information through Internet websites and web pages shares many similarities with print publishing, considerate family historians
apply a title identifying both the entire website and the particular group of related pages, similar to a book-and-chapter designation, placing it both at the top of each web browser window using the <TITLE> HTML tag, and in the body of the document, on the opening home or title page and on any index pages;
explain the purposes and objectives of their websites, placing the explanation near the top of the title page or including a link from that page to a special page about the reason for the site;
display a footer at the bottom of each web page which contains the website title, page title, author's name, author's contact information, date of last revision, and a copyright statement;
provide complete contact information, including at a minimum a name and e-mail address, and preferably some means for long-term contact, like a postal address;
assist visitors by providing on each page navigational links that lead visitors to other important pages on the website, or return them to the home page;
include unambiguous source citations for the research data provided on the site, and if not complete descriptions, offering full citations upon request;
label photographic and scanned images within the graphic itself with fuller explanation, if required, in text adjacent to the graphic;
identify transcribed, extracted, or abstracted data as such, and provide appropriate source citations;
include identifying dates and locations when providing information about specific surnames or individuals;
respect the rights of others who do not wish information about themselves to be published, referenced, or linked on a website;
provide website access to all potential visitors by avoiding enhanced technical capabilities that may not be available to all users, remembering that not all computers are created equal;
avoid using features that distract from the productive use of the website, such as ones that reduce legibility, strain the eyes, dazzle the vision, or otherwise detract from the visitor's ability to easily read, study, comprehend, or print the online publication;
maintain their online publications at frequent intervals, changing the content to keep the information current, the links valid, and the website in good working order;
preserve and archive for future researchers their online publications and communications that have lasting value, using both electronic and paper duplication.
Genealogical publications are copyright protected. Although data is often retrieved from public archives, the searching, interpreting, collecting, selecting and sorting of the data results in a unique product. Copyright protected work may not simply be copied or republished.
Please stick to the following rules
Request permission to copy data or at least inform the author, chances are that the author gives permission, often the contact also leads to more exchange of data.
Do not use this data until you have checked it, preferably at the source (the archives).
State from whom you have copied the data and ideally also his/her original source.