Publishing Information on the World Wide Web

Policy Statement

The University of Minnesota recognizes the value and potential of publishing on the Internet, and so allows and encourages students, staff, and faculty to publish electronic information. Units may create electronic home pages, personal pages, publications pages, or other pages (see Definitions) that carry out official University business in support of the University's mission. Contents of all electronic pages must be consistent with University of Minnesota policies and local, state, and federal laws. This includes links to other pages or computers. In other words, a page may be considered in violation if it contains links to a page that violates the policy.

All unit home pages and pages that are the electronic equivalent of a publication will begin with the University of Minnesota wordmark and contain the equal opportunity statement. These pages will also contain the date of the last revisions and will clearly communicate the name of the unit publishing the page. Copyright laws apply to electronic publishing as well as to print publishing. Publishers must have permission to publish the information, graphics, or photographs on their pages if the publisher is not the author or creator. Electronic publications are subject to the same University policies and standards as print publications.

University of Minnesota resources may not be used to create web pages primarily for personal business or personal gain, except as permitted by other University policies. The University does allow for personal pages that provide information about an individual that is relevant to that individual's role at the University.

The official University of Minnesota home page and official campus home pages will not link directly to personal pages. Units may, if they choose, link to faculty, staff, or student personal pages.When requested, units must deactivate links to material that violates this policy. The authors of personal pages must follow the guidelines in this policy.

The following statement will appear on all personal pages and all student organization pages: "The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota."

Reason for Policy

The quality of information published by the University plays an important role in maintaining the strong reputation and image of the University. This policy sets minimal standards that are meant to ensure that information published electronically is visually appealing and well written and follows the same high standards as other forms of published information (print, audiovisual, etc.).

The University complies with applicable local, state, and federal laws.

Contents

Who Should Know This Policy?

President

Provost / Chancellor
NO-

Vice President / Vice Chancellor
YES-

Dean

Director / Department Head / Chair
YES-

Principal Investigator
YES-

Faculty

Resource Responsibility Center Mgr.
YES-

Area Manager
NO-

Other Accounting / Finance Personnel
NO-

All Employees
YES-

Other Groups
Officially registered student organizations

Related Information

University of Minnesota WWW Publishing Guidelines

Contacts

Twin Cities
Duluth
Crookston
Morris

Definitions

Maintainer / Publisher / Information Provider:
Person responsible for publishing and updating the information contained in World Wide Web pages.

Personal Page:
A web page for an individual faculty member, staff member, or student.

Publication Page:
The electronic equivalent of a printed publication.

Link:
A one-way hypermedia connection from one site to another on the World Wide Web. Expressed as a "link to" or "link from" a web site or page of information.

Responsibilities

Dean, Department Head, or Organization Head:
Responsible for the content (including links to other information) of a unit's published electronic pages and must sign off on content of the unit's home page and other pages before links from the University of Minnesota home page or the campus home pages will be set up. The head of a unit may decide whether it is of benefit to the unit for individual department members (faculty, staff, or students) to have personal pages. Reassign responsibility for the unit's web pages if the page coordinator leaves the University or is relieved of this responsibility. Remove links from department pages to pages containing material that violates local, state, or federal laws, or other University of Minnesota policies.

University Relations (TC campus):
Advise TC campus units about policy, style, and content. Evaluate and revise this policy to keep it up to date. Evaluate and revise TC campus publishing procedures to keep them up to date. Maintain the University of Minnesota and Twin Cities campus home pages. Take questions regarding the policy and forward complaints of policy violations to the appropriate University offices.

Service Provider for Each Campus:
Provide links from the campus home page to departments, colleges, staff, students, and approved organizations. Monitor information to ensure it is current. Replace links to outdated information.

Promote the use of the World Wide Web by departments, colleges, and recognized organizations. Provide training on web servers, clients, and authoring tools.

Campus WWW Advisory Committees:
Deal with ongoing issues on each campus. Review and recommend changes to policy, procedures, or the structure of the University and campus home pages.

Faculty, Staff, and Students:
When publishing information, observe copyright regulations, all local, state, and federal laws, and University of Minnesota policies. Observe publications and other standards that befit the image of the University.

Procedures

In support of this policy, the following procedures are included:

Procedure 2.9.1.1 - Requesting a Link from the TC Campus Home Page

Procedure 2.9.1.2 - Requesting a Link from the Duluth Campus Home Page

Procedure 2.9.1.3 - Requesting a Link from the Crookston Campus Home Page

Procedure 2.9.1.4 - Requesting a Link from the Morris Campus Home Page

Forms / Instructions

In support of this policy, the following forms are included:

TC Campus WWW Link Request Form

The Duluth Campus Request Form for official pages

The Duluth Campus Request Form for personal pages

The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

Comments to: hohxx001@maroon.tc.umn.edu
Copyright: 1995 University of Minnesota
Last Modified: Friday, 10-Nov-95 15:30 CDT
Page URL: http://www.fpd.finop.umn.edu/2/Sec9/Pol291/Publishing_on_WWW.html
Office: University Policy Development
Page Coordinator: George Hoh