VOLUNTEER INFORMATION
There are many ways to volunteer within the Suffolk County,
MAGenWeb site.
Some examples are:
1. provide copyright free, transcribed information (i.e., tombstone
inscriptions, biographies or census records) within Suffolk County,
MAGenWeb
2. create and/or maintain a city/town/community web site for
Suffolk County, MAGenWeb - referred to as Town Coordinators (TCs)
3. offer to perform look-up's of records (such as obituaries,
tombstones, censuses, in particular books or documents, in local
historical societies, etc.) - referred to as Look-up Volunteers.
Contact the Suffolk County Coordinator by email, indicate
you would like to volunteer, and if you have a particular interest
or specialty in mind, and she will suggest how to take your next
step.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be a successful Town Coordinator, you will need:
(a) A knowledge of, or willingness to learn about the city,
town or community area you will be coordinating.
(b) A desire and willingness to assist researchers who visit
your city, town or community website.
NOTE: You are not required to engage in personal research
or lookups for visitors! (But if you would like to do this, free
of charge, there are no objections). The best way to assist researchers
is to provide as much fresh and appropriate online information
and links as is possible. We help researchers, but we are not
required to do the research for them.
(c) A moderate knowledge of web design and maintenance (HTML
page coding and design, OR knowledge of an HTML Editor). Iin
other words, you need to know how to design and create a web
site, or have the skills to maintain the current web site, if
one already exists). We are sorry, but we are not able to teach
basic web design to new coordinators. You need to have this basic
knowledge before you apply to become a coordinator. You will
need to provide the County Coordinator with a link to a web site
that you have already designed and/or maintain as proof of your
ability. You also need to be knowledgeable of FTP protocol (either
through a web design program or separately) especially if you
will be uploading files to a Rootsweb server. [Please be aware
that Rootsweb does not support some FrontPage extensions, so
if you are using that program, you need to be aware of this].
(d) The Suffolk County Coordinator will request Rootsweb webspace
for your city, town or community for your use upon your acceptance
as a Town Coordinator within Suffolk County. The login and password
will be provided to you at soon as the webspace has been received
by the County Coordinator. It is the County Coordiantor's goal
to create a great team of Town Coordinators dedicated to making
the Suffolk County, MAGenWeb Project the best resource for those
seeking to research their ancestors from this County.
(e) Time to devote to your city, town or community page. Researchers
are looking for fresh and frequently updated information on your
pages. The weekly time required can range from two to twenty
hours, depending on the time you have available, and your degree
of enthusiasm.
(f) Willingness to grant a minimum 30-day notice should you
decide to give up your city, town or community. (We hope you
never do!) Outgoing Town Coordinators will be asked to assist
with transferring the city, town or community site to the replacement
Coordinator whenever possible.
NOTE: You do NOT need to live in the community you are hosting.
(g) If you are interested in applying for a Town Coordinator
position, please select one of the cities, towns or communities
currently available for adoption by viewing that Page,
and read through these Guidelines and the USGenWeb
adoption guidelines. Feel free to ask the County Coordinator
any questions needed to clarify these guidelines.
