Volunteers are very special people who spend long hours working on projects simply because they love what they do.

Volunteer Basics

Thinking of becoming an OKGenWeb Volunteer?

There are many opportunities for you to help this project become more successful and grow, based on your time, availability and knowledge level. The OKGenWeb-ITGenWeb is part of the USGenWeb Project, a volunteer not-for-profit organization. Our goal is to make genealogical reference information available through the Internet, including simple queries, free lookups, vital records data, biographical sketches, local history, census data, etc. Our hope is to help make genealogical research through the internet available to everyone at no cost.

The OKGenWeb-ITGenWeb Project consists of a wide variety of volunteers who coordinate or assist in providing genealogical information for each area in the State of Oklahoma.

Where do these volunteers come from and what motivates them? The answer is simple. Volunteers are people just like you, individuals who have a desire to help.

How You Can Help

Assistant

You might work with the current coordinator as an assistant or you and a friend might become co-coordinators of an area. You might assist in the research and transcription of information to be placed on the State or County pages.

Lookup Volunteer

You might become a Lookup Volunteer. Every Coordinator searches for volunteers to help researchers with simple lookup requests. If you have access to Census records, Cemetery records, County and Town Histories, Marriage information, or any other genealogically useful data, then contact your nearest Coordinator.

Contributor

You might become a contributor by contributing information that can be published on one of the County web pages. This might simply include posting a surname you are researching; posting a query about one of your ancestors; sharing your Family History (sorry no GEDCOMs); establishing a link to and from your Family Tree home page; listing a County Pioneer at a County web site; or sharing any information pertinent to Genealogy within a County.

Transcriber

You might consider becoming a transcriber. We are always in need of people willing to type obituaries, marriage indexes, biographies, etc.

Coordinators

You might become a Coordinator, responsible for maintaining a County, Agency, or Nation Site. If the county you are interested in is not available for adoption at this time, you may email the current coordinator to volunteer what time or data you have available.

Basic Requirements

OUR GOALS:

• To maintain the quality we have come to expect of a USGenWeb site.

• To attain a consistent interface for the convenience of OKGenWeb, ITGenWeb and USGenWeb visitors.

• To retain as much autonomy of our Coordinators as possible, without requiring every one to "reinvent the wheel".

Requirements (adopted Jan 2002)

Every OKGenWeb-ITGenWeb site must meet these requirements in order to be associated with the Project and linked on the State List.

• You will be expected to comply and maintain your site as stated in the basic requirements.

• You will be expected to add your name and email to the site pages within thirty (30) days of adopting the site. You are free to redesign the site as long as it continues to meet the basic requirements.

• You are free to host the site where ever you wish although it is recommended that you utilize the free hosting available here on OKGenWeb.

It is understood that you are the host of a specific area within the OKGenWeb project. Because your site is linked as a part of OKGenWeb-ITGenweb any submission(s) made to the project while you are the host shall remain with the project site should the time come when you no longer wish to host the site. A submission will be removed only at the request of the submitter.

A Coordinator is required to:

• maintain a subscription to the OK-CC mailing list for discussion of OKGenWeb-ITGenWeb business

• answer roll call on OK-CC (as the need arises)

• maintain links to OKGenWeb-ITGenWeb and USGenWeb

• display OKGenWeb-ITGenWeb and USGenWeb logos on your main page

• maintain queries

• provide a history of the area and/or list of towns

• provide a link to the State List

• maintain a link to the Oklahoma Resources page

• update your site at least every three (3) months

• display your email address on all pages

• display last updated and/or edited on all pages

• have no commercial advertising or selling on county pages

• refrain from displaying logos of similar projects on your main page.

A Coordinator is responsible for:

• notifying the SC when they will be unavailable for an extended time

• notifying the SC if they change your email address, mailing address or phone number

• maintaining their site to meet all of the basic requirements

When changes are made in the basic guidelines/standards Coordinators will be notified through the OK-CC list and the online versions will be updated.

Guidelines for Replacing Non-Communicative / Non-Compliant Coordinators

• In the case of non-communication of a Coordinator with the project and/or visitors, including non-response to roll call for a period of thirty (30) days, the State Coordinator will make two (2) attempts to contact the Coordinator via email at least one (1) week apart. If the messages go unanswered or undelivered a final attempt will be made to contact the Coordinator by phone or mail using the information of record. If no contact is made by the end of thirty (30) days, the site will be considered abandoned and placed for adoption. Any Coordinator who anticipates a period of inactivity but does not wish to relinquish the site is responsible for notifying the State Coordinator. It is your responsibility to maintain a working method of contact.

• In the case of a Coordinator who is not complying with the basic requirements, the State Coordinator will contact the Coordinator via email to remedy the omission. If the omission is not corrected within thirty (30) days, the site will be considered abandoned and placed for adoption. Any Coordinator who anticipates a period of inactivity but does not wish to relinquish the site is responsible for notifying the State Coordinator.

Procedures that may be taken when removing a Coordinator

• appointing a new Coordinator (temporary or permanent)

• removing links to the State List that point to the removed Coordinator's site

• Redesigning the site to comply with the basic requirements, retaining any posted queries and other data posted to the site. All data contained within the site will be used unless the original donator specifically requests the removal of the information.

• The removed Coordinator shall turn control of any Mail List, Message Boards or Automated Query Systems associated with the site to the State Coordinator.

THANK YOU for your support of the OKGenWeb-ITGenWeb Project