The Genealogy Box - Genealogy Network Internet Publishing Guidelines, Sharing Standards and Copyright This website, together with any attachments hereto or links contained therein, is for the sole use of personal genealogy research and may contain information that is confidential or legally protected. You are hereby notified that any review, disclosure, copying, dissemination, distribution or use of this website is STRICTLY PROHIBITED without written authorization and appropriate attribution from its author. Questions and or comments can be placed here: http://genealogynetwork.angelfire.com/form1.html The information below is copyright the individual authors listed by URL at the bottom of this form and are included for personal and eductional purposes only for the users of this website. The Genealogy Box - Genealogy Network strives to adhere to the National Genealogical Society guidelines for publishing web pages on the internet and maintain the National Genealogical Standards in sharing genealogical information. Guidelines for Publishing Web Pages on the Internet Recommended by the National Genealogical Society 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 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. * adhere to the NGS "Standards for Sharing Information with Others" regarding copyright, attribution, privacy, and the sharing of sensitive information. * 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, like 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. © 2000, 2001 by National Genealogical Society. Permission is granted to copy or publish this material provided it is reproduced in its entirety, including this notice. Standards for Sharing Information With Others Recommended by the National Genealogical Society Conscious of the fact that sharing information or data with others, whether through speech, documents or electronic media, is essential to family history research and that it needs continuing support and encouragement, responsible family historians consistently— * respect the restrictions on sharing information that arise from the rights of another as an author, originator or compiler; as a living private person; or as a party to a mutual agreement. * observe meticulously the legal rights of copyright owners, copying or distributing any part of their works only with their permission, or to the limited extent specifically allowed under the law's "fair use" exceptions. * identify the sources for all ideas, information and data from others, and the form in which they were received, recognizing that the unattributed use of another's intellectual work is plagiarism. * respect the authorship rights of senders of letters, electronic mail and data files, forwarding or disseminating them further only with the sender's permission. * inform people who provide information about their families as to the ways it may be used, observing any conditions they impose and respecting any reservations they may express regarding the use of particular items. * require some evidence of consent before assuming that living people are agreeable to further sharing of information about themselves. * convey personal identifying information about living people like age, home address, occupation or activities only in ways that those concerned have expressly agreed to. * recognize that legal rights of privacy may limit the extent to which information from publicly available sources may be further used, disseminated or published. * communicate no information to others that is known to be false, or without making reasonable efforts to determine its truth, particularly information that may be derogatory. * are sensitive to the hurt that revelations of criminal, immoral, bizarre or irresponsible behavior may bring to family members. © 2000 by National Genealogical Society. Permission is granted to copy or publish this material provided it is reproduced in its entirety, including this notice. Genealogy: Avoid common scams while you seek and share your family history online Microsoft Published: November 10, 2006 Parent and child standing behind trees Before you start digging for your family roots online, check out the following guidelines to help spot and avoid common genealogy scams. 4 common genealogy scams: 1.Misleading software and services. Some genealogical software products and online services can be misleading about what they actually provide, such as compiled surname and family tree data. In most cases this information is freely available on the Internet. It could be argued that these products and services do some of the work for you, but it's a good idea to check out free sources including Cyndi's List, RootsWeb, and Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter before you reach for a credit card. 2.The old phony inheritance ploy. This scam is designed to separate would-be rightful heirs from their money through bogus processing costs. Here's how it works: You are informed that unclaimed inheritance connected to your family must be settled, and details on how to claim the inheritance will be sent to you after you pay various service fees to the informer to handle the lost estate, which never existed to begin with. Tip: Learn more about other scams like this by reading How to spot and avoid advance fee frauds. 3.The complete family history of [your surname here]! Perhaps you've seen one of these advertisements, offering a one-of-a-kind book about your family history, sometimes going back several centuries. In reality, these books are often mass-produced, glorified phone directories that associate your surname with a list of randomly selected names, accompanied by a brief generic history unrelated to your actual family. Better bet: Stick to doing the research yourself. 4.Bad genealogists. Although certifications are available from private sources, genealogists are unregulated and do not require an official license. Anyone can legally claim to be one. Genealogical data is easy to fake, and con artists have taken advantage of this. Those seeking a genealogist should rely on verifiable references or a legitimate third party such as the Association of Professional Genealogists. Publish genealogical information The Internet is a great place to share genealogical information about your own or someone else's family, but be aware that this information could be used by identity thieves searching for personal data to hijack your credit, or by scam artists who want to sell your own information back to you bundled as a cheaply made book or software program. (There are legitimate companies that can package your genealogical data professionally. Check with reputable genealogical groups for more information). Remove personal information If you decide to publish genealogical data online for others to enjoy, you should remove any personal information of all members shown, including: *Full names (use only initials when possible) *Social Security numbers *Complete dates of birth (show only the year instead) *Specific home addresses of family members, including former addresses *Phone numbers *E-mail addresses *Private affiliations, such as fraternities and sororities *Private holdings, such as real estate or deeds of trust *Don't give away potential passwords Also, chances are that someone in your family has used another family member's name (either the human or animal variety) as a password itself. It's a common practice for online businesses such as credit card companies to use maiden names or pet names as a method to retrieve forgotten passwords, so it's a good idea to remove these references entirely. Tip: To learn how to create more secure passwords for all of your online accounts, read Strong passwords: How to create and use them. Create a private community To help keep your genealogical information confidential, one solution is to publish family trees, histories, and photos on one of the many online communities that offer private Web space secured with a password, for example MSN Groups. ( [author's note:MSN Groups has been replaced by Windows Live Groups Feb. 23, 2009.] You can then share this password-protected community privately with family or friends. END FROM MICROSOFT URL: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/personal/genealogy.mspx Accessed February 2009 National Genealogical Society URL: http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/guidelines_for_publishing_web_pages Accessed February 2009 National Genealogical Society URL: http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/standards_for_sharing_information Accessed February 2009 c. 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