[13 Dec 2013 - 7 Feb 2014 update: You will find old text with a line-through, followed by replacement text in blue. General comments of explanation, which will be removed in final copy, are in green and in brackets.]

Basic Requirements necessary for a project page to be associated with the IAGenWeb Project. indicates a County Project requirement, indicates a Special Project requirement₁:

1. MAINTAIN A SUBSCRIPTION TO THE IAGEN-L MEMBER LIST
   The IAGen-L mailing list is the list for communicating essential information regarding the administration of the IAGenWeb Project. All IAGenWeb Project participants members are required to be on this list at all times. See our bylaws for a definition of your membership.
2. DISPLAY PROVIDE USGENWEB & IAGENWEB PROJECT LINKS AND LOGOS
   

   Logos for both projects must be displayed prominently on the main project page as a clickable link and/or associated with a clickable text link. Prominent display is defined as: Visible as the opening page loads, opens without scrolling down. Every project main page is required to display the USGenWeb & IAGenWeb logos in the upper portion of the page so they are immediately visible without scrolling down the page. Both logos must be linked to their respective home pages.
   
   

   The URL for the USGenWeb Project homepage is:
   http://www.usgenweb.org/index.shtml
   You can find a selection of USGenWeb logos here
   The URL for the IAGenWeb Project homepage is:
   http://iagenweb.org/index.htm
   You can find a selection of IAGenWeb logos here.

3. LET YOUR VISITORS KNOW WHO YOU ARE & PROVIDE A MEANS FOR THEM TO REACH YOU
   Coordinators must display at least their first name & a working email address (or a link to the page where the email is displayed) on the main page of their project. Project coordinators should respond to all appropriate email from contributors, researchers & other project members in a timely manner within several days. The importance of acknowledging all emails, data submissions and otherwise responding to visitors and other IAGenWeb members cannot be stressed enough.... even if you are unable to be of help to the visitor. Remember that your response is a representation of the IAGenWeb. If you are unable to access email for more than a few days, inform the State Coordinator of your absence.
   ["in a timely manner" was too widely up for interpretation]
4. PROVIDE A "JOIN OUR TEAM" LINK [no change]
   Every project main page is required to let visitors know that the IAGenWeb project is always looking for volunteers and must include a link to the "Join Our Team!" page: http://iagenweb.org/state/jointeam.php. Display of the logo is optional, but encouraged. The logo can be found here.
5. PROVIDE THE FRIENDS OF IAGENWEB LINK [new rule proposed]
   The Friends of IAGenWeb link must be displayed on the Home Page of all IAGenWeb projects. Friends of IAGenWeb was established to provide the financial support for the IAGenWeb project which includes the special projects and the message boards.
   
   The URL for the Friends of IAGenWeb home page is: http://iagenweb.org/state/friends_of_iagenweb/
   You can find a selection of IAGenWeb logos here.
6. CREATE A PAGE FOR YOUR VISITORS TO PLACE THEIR QUERIES
   Each county must have a query system in place. The IAGenWeb Boards are available to all Iowa counties, and are the recommended query/message method. Here is a list of all IAGenWeb projects currently using the IAGenWeb message boards. If your county is not yet using them, please consider doing so.
   PROVIDE LINKED LOGOS TO YOUR IAGENWEB COUNTY BOARDS
   Every county has a Queries Message Board set up for their visitors’ use. Coordinators are required to utilize the board and to make it known that it exists by placing the logo linked to the board on their site; if not placed on the main project page, then place links on a page specific for the Boards linked from the main project page. This encourages visitors to place their queries there. Also, provide linked logos to the Obituaries, Biographies and Document Boards for your county.
   [This rule has morphed into a requirement for all boards, as all counties are now not only using the queries board, but they are using all boards as evidenced here!]
7. PROVIDE BASIC RESEARCH HELP FOR YOUR COUNTY
   The coordinator must provide basic research assistance for their visitors. Examples are: a list of current names, addresses and phone numbers for the county courthouse, local libraries, genealogy or historical societies, etc. Many coordinators also provide a bibliography page showing reference books available for their county.
8. PROVIDE A RESOURCE LOOKUPS PAGE FOR YOUR COUNTY
   The coordinator must provide a list of volunteers who will do limited look-ups from their personal resource(s). Researchers are very often eager to help others if you ask them.
7. PROVIDE BASIC RESEARCH HELP FOR YOUR COUNTY PROJECT
   The coordinator must provide basic research support for visitors: a list of current links and/or names, addresses and phone numbers for the county courthouse, local libraries, genealogical and/or historical societies, and other relevant information. Include a page listing volunteers willing to do lookups. On this same page, request additional volunteers. Researchers are very often eager to help others if asked. Many coordinators also encourage visitors to post their queries and look-up requests on the county Query Board and provide a bibliography page listing reference books available for their county.
   [These two similar rules have been combined with an added emphasis on encouraging volunteers. See blue markup for substantive changes. By changing "COUNTY" to "PROJECT" in the title, it is hoped that Special Project coordinators will think about adopting this provision even though it is not required: it's understood the provision may not apply.]
   
8. PROVIDE REFERENCE LINKS FOR YOUR COUNTY PROJECT
   The coordinator must provide a list of other websites where visitors their researcher may be able to find additional information (i.e., links to other websites that may provide additional, relevant information). The IAGenWeb Special Projects page and IAGenWeb links page are excellent examples.
   [By changing "COUNTY" to "PROJECT" in the title, it is hoped that Special Project coordinators will think about adopting this provision even though it is not required: it's understood the provision may not apply.]
9. ABIDE BY THE IAGENWEB IDENTITY POLICY PRESERVE IAGENWEB AND USGENWEB IDENTITY
   Should an IAGenWeb Project Coordinator decide to create and maintain a website for an online project similar in concept to the IAGenWeb, their IAGenWeb project page must be unique when compared to the other project page the new website should be significantly and distinctly different from the IAGenWeb project site. There must be no confusing one with the other.
   
   To promote and preserve IAGenWeb and USGenWeb identity and to help prevent confusion, an IAGenWeb project home pages page must contain IAGenWeb and USGenWeb logos and may not contain logos for, or links to, from similar county-based online genealogy projects.
   [The goal of these edits is to help prevent confusion and to reiterate that a coordinator may not have a duplicate site.]
10. ABIDE BY THE USGENWEB SOLICITATION POLICY THE IAGENWEB SOLICITATION RULE
    Solicitation of funds for any purpose is inappropriate on the main page of a project website. Project websites may not raise money or solicit funds (i.e., request or plead for funds) other than for the exceptions listed below.
    
    Friends of IAGenWeb may raise or solicit funds on pages within the
    project where approved by the IAGenWeb Leadership Team and by the
    site's coordinator.
    A project site may list research materials and/or services offered for sale or hire so long as this list is not on the index/main its home page, but may be linked from the home page. It may be appropriate to include the IAGenWeb disclaimer that the contents of such research materials and/or the expertise of any professional researchers are not guaranteed. The coordinator is encouraged to include a disclaimer that contents of listed research materials or and the expertise of a professional researcher are not endorsed nor guaranteed by USGenWeb or IAGenWeb. Coordinators may also link to the IAGenWeb disclaimer.
    
    [Added clarification of the term "solicitation" and that solicitations from a non-profit organization that only funds IAGenWeb is acceptable. The rest falls under non-profit status, where no one may profit from the IAGenWeb project. Also changed language to align more closely with the USGenWeb solicitation policy (see USGenWeb bylaws.)]
    
11. ABIDE BY THE USGENWEB COPYRIGHT POLICY STATEMENT
    All members of IAGenWeb Project shall be responsible for adhering to The USGenWeb copyright statement in its bylaws policy. Briefly ... uUnless in the public domain; 'permission to use' must be obtained from the copyright holder for special HTML code, scripts, graphics, backgrounds, photos, research data, transcriptions, etc. USGenWeb Project Copyright Policy Information and the IAGenWeb Disclaimer are excellent resources on the topic.
    
    The Digital Copyright Slider is an easy-to-use tool to check if an item is copyright protected.
    
12. MAINTAIN YOUR WEBSITE TO KEEP IT IN GOOD WORKING ORDER
    All pages on your site should work correctly. On-site and off-site webpage links should must work and should be checked periodically to ensure they do work. If an email address link or webpage link is no longer functioning, either repair or delete it. Any reports of webpage errors, including malfunctionings webpage or email address links, should must be immediately followed up on and corrected as necessary within several days. Coordinators are encouraged to post a message asking visitors to report non-working webpage and email address links and other webpage errors. Don't hesitate to ask for help correcting these if needed.
13. RESPECT THE OWNERSHIP OF DONATED MATERIALS
    Materials posted on IAGenWeb project sites are the property of the submitter and are considered to be a donation to the IAGenWeb project. (Note: Material submitted to the USGenWeb Archives or to mailing lists or boards owned by other organizations fall under the policies of the respective owner of that resource and are is not subject to this policy.) Should the Coordinator relinquish a project, materials submitted by others will remain with the project site and will be turned over to the new Coordinator. When a project has a change of its Coordinator, all material submitted by others remain with the project. Normally mMaterial should is to be removed only upon the express written request of the submitter.
14. ENHANCE YOUR SITE
    All project sites should be enhanced over time by adding additional transcribed or random data (see #15). These enhancements are intended to be actual on-site content, not routine postings to boards and lists, nor simple linking to outside resources. At the very least, new transcribed or random data should be added no less than twice yearly. Don't hesitate to ask for help -- researchers are often very willing to contribute data if they know your needs.
15. PROVIDE COMPLETE / TRANSCRIBED DATA ON YOUR SITE
    Each county site will provide complete data as part of the county web site. The primary reason that people visit IAGenWeb is to find information about the family they are researching.   The vision of IAGenWeb is that we will provide that actual data as completely as possible and each coordinator should develop plans for providing it on their county site.   Complete records or 'transcribed data' make up databases. (i.e.:  systemic data, a finished data-base, all or nearly all of the available records for a given criteria or time-period, records potentially of benefit to most county researchers)
    
    Database is any defined set of data:
    Examples:
     -all marriages 1860-1870 XYZ twp
     -county officials 1880-1920
     -the complete county-wide 1850 census
     -all burials from ABC cemetery
     -all biographies (or a majority) from a county history book
    see also FAQ's
    
    Providing complete/transcribed data is a long term effort, but volunteers often want to help with transcribing & submitting data. For help with other methods of acquiring data, contact the State Coordinator or ask your fellow coordinators to share their ideas with you.
    
    Random data: piecemeal, an incomplete data-base, unorganized records not covering a defined criteria, single bits of information (i.e.: information potentially of benefit to only a few county researchers) Random records always have the potential of becoming a Complete database.  
    Examples:
     -a few marriages, randomly submitted
     -misc. obituaries
     -individual newspaper articles
     -some (but not the majority) of bio's from a county history book
     -any incomplete record
    see also FAQ's
14. DATA REQUIREMENTS
    The vision of IAGenWeb is to continually provide research material for our visitors. This is accomplished by adding two types of records to the projects: complete record-sets and incomplete record-sets. These records must be "on-site content" located on the project website.
    
    Postings to the county boards (obituary, biography & document) are considered "on-site content" for the purpose of this requirement. An on-site index of project-specific records located on another website are considered on-site content. For example: an index of data located on the Iowa Gravestone Photo Project. However, data residing on another website does not count towards this data requirement.
    
    

    New complete record-sets or incomplete record-sets are to be added to a project no less than once every six (6) months, with at least one complete record-set added yearly. That is to say, both record sets may be complete record-sets, but both may not be incomplete record-sets. Some of the Special Projects only provide incomplete records, so Coordinators must add new incomplete record-sets no less than once every six (6) months.
    
    A complete record-set covers a defined period of time or is complete for a given scope of data.  An incomplete record-set is a substantial number of unorganized, but related, records.  Incomplete records always have the potential of becoming a complete record-set.  Record sources, contributors' names and the date when the material was added is strongly recommended.
    
    
    Examples of "Complete" and "Incomplete" record-sets:
    
    

    Compete record-set (formerly called transcribed records) A bride index for all marriages within a span of years A census transcript covering a complete unit of data such as a township All biographies from a history book Complete gravestone inscriptions for a cemetery

    Incomplete record-set (formerly called random records) (unorganized, but related, records) A substantial set of various county biographies A substantial set of transcribed county news articles A partial list of gravestone inscriptions for a cemetery

    
    
    [Rules 14 & 15 have been combined and extensively rewritten. These two rules have been interpreted from one extreme to the other with inconsistencies between the two. Rule 14 suggested Random or Transcribed data would satisfy requirements, but emphasis was always meant to be on Transcribed data. Rule 15 asked that Complete Transcribed data be added to the site, yet went on to also describe Random data and never required Transcribed data, which was the intent. Further, "data should be added no less than twice yearly" has also been widely interpreted by State Coordinators and Project Coordinators. The intent was to ask for a contribution at least once every 6 months, so that we can keep our visitors coming back to find new data.]
    
15. PROVIDE A SEARCH ENGINE ON YOUR SITE
    Every IAGenWeb project site is required to have a working and up-to-date search engine(s) that search the on-site data for the project. Because records posted to the message boards are considered on-site content, our visitors need to be directed to search them also. This can be accomplished by including the boards in the project's main search engine, by providing a second search box for the boards, or by indicating to the visitor that a full search is not complete without searching the message boards. 
    
    There are many free search engines available on the internet that are easy to set up and maintain. If you have set-up questions about setting up a search engine on your website, contact the State Coordinator. Instructions for adding the boards to the project website's search engine, or providing a separate message board search box, can be found in the Board Tips & Procedures section on the Forum. In addition to the on-site search engine(s), if a coordinator wants to offer a separate search engine that searches off-site data on other projects, it must be clearly labeled as such, so visitors aren't confused.
    
    
    [The idea of adding this new paragraph is that we want to direct our visitors to search *all records* we have to offer for our target project.]
    
    For additional information go to the IAGenWeb FAQ page
    
    
    

1 Special Project coordinators are encouraged to adapt other relevant county requirements to their sites.

The Rules Update Committee: (13 Dec 2013 - 7 Feb 2014)

• Stephen Williams - Committee Chair, Immediate Past State Coordinator, Iowa County Coordinator, Iowa State Census Project Coordinator, Technical Support Team Member
• Conni McDaniel Hall - State Coordinator, Dallas County & Henry Coordinator
• Linda Ziemann - Past State Coordinator, Kossuth & Monona & Plymouth & Sioux County Coordinator, Iowa in WWII & Iowa Old Press Project Coordinator
• Constance Diamond - Past State Coordinator, Delaware & Dubuque & Fayette County Coordinator, Iowa History & Iowa in the Great War Project Coordinator, Welcome Hostess
• Karen De Groote - Past State Coordinator, Humboldt & Pocahontas County Coordinator
• Sharyl Ferrall - Past State Coordinator, Iowa Old Press Special Project Coordinator, Allamakee & Clayton County Coordinator
• Mark Christian - Past State Coordinator, Story County Coordinator, Technical Team Leader
• William Haloupek - Assistant State Coordinator, Tama County Coordinator
• Rich Lowe - Van Buren County Coordinator, Iowa Gravestone Photo & Iowa WPA Graves Registration Project Coordinator
• Sharon Becker - Cerro Gordo & Decatur & Ringgold County Coordinator, Iowa in WWII Assistant Coordinator
• David Dinham - Clarke County Coordinator

• Allen Hibbard - Marion County Coordinator
• William Waters - Howard & Winneshiek County Coordinator