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Volunteer Primer

 

WELCOME

Thanks for your interest in the IAGenWeb Project. There are many opportunities for you to help our project grow & we are always pleased to have new volunteers. The IAGenWeb is part of the USGenWeb Project. Our goal is to make genealogical reference information available and FREE of cost, to anyone who has access to the internet.

The IAGenWeb Project is a group of volunteers who coordinate or assist in providing genealogical information for each County in the State of Iowa. Our volunteers are people just like you ... individuals who have a desire to learn more about their ancestors, where they lived, and what their lives may have been like.

 

If you have the same desire, then we invite you to become a volunteer in the IAGenWeb Project.

 

HOW CAN YOU PARTICIPATE?

A common trait of IAGenWeb volunteers is an inherent desire to do research and to share valuable genealogical and historical information with others. Participation in the IAGenWeb comes at many levels of involvement.

 

County Coordinators. The county coordinator is the foundation of our organization and is covered in more depth below.

 

Lookup Volunteer. Lookup volunteers offer to do e-mail-based lookups in genealogical material that they own or have access to. Every county coordinator is searching for volunteers to help researchers with simple lookup requests. If you have access to cemetery records, county and town histories, marriage information, or any other genealogically useful data, then contact the appropriate county coordinator via the County Coordinator List and tell them you'd like to be a lookup volunteer for their county website.

 

Contributor. Contributors transcribe and submit information & data that can be published on one of the county websites. Contributions can be as simple as posting a surname you are researching or making a query. Contributors also share information by transcribing data that is then published on the county website by the coordinator.

 

We THANK YOU for your support of the IAGenWeb Project. JOIN OUR TEAM!

 

THE COUNTY COORDINATOR

County Coordinators (CC) manage & maintain the county web sites. They come from all walks of life and can live anywhere there is access to the internet. The only prerequisites are having a sincere interest in the genealogy of the county they coordinate, and the ability to use HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to maintain a website. Additionally, they provide basic assistance to researchers, locate & transcribe data, and format data submitted by other contributors.

Learning website maintainence is easier than it may appear to be. A good HTML beginner's guide can be reviewed at the W3 School. Another good tutorial website to check out: "So, You Want to Make a Web Page." Yet another is located at HTML Goodies. For information about HTML editors which help make the job of web page creation easier, see this list of HTML Editors, or this list of Web Authoring Tools. Current IAGenWeb volunteers are also very willing to help new coordinators learn the ropes!

 

To view a list of current Adoptable Iowa counties visit the JOIN OUR TEAM! page.

 

The county page requirements for the IAGenWeb Project are listed at The IAGenWeb Project Rules.

 

For more help see the IAGenWeb Project: Frequently Asked Questions.

 

MORE QUESTIONS?

Are you still uncertain about being an IAGenWeb volunteer? Do you have more questions?

Contact the Welcome Hostess. If you would like to volunteer to assist on an existing County project, please contact the County Coordinator listed at the respective county page or fill out our volunteer form.

 

Are you ready to become a volunteer? Go to the JOIN OUR TEAM! page and fill out the volunteer form.