Guiding Principles

· Educational Value - Material to be published must not display, access, or link to sites deemed offensive by the MSD Acceptable Use Agreement. All published material must have educational value and/or support the district mission, goals and policies.

· Publishing Agreement - Only materials authorized by a sponsoring district organization will be published on MSD Internet/Intranet servers. All personnel involved in Internet/Intranet publishing must have on file, at their sponsoring organization, an Acceptable Use Agreement signature page.

· Protect Privacy - At no time shall any student's personal information (home address, e-mail address, or phone number) appear on MSD Internet/Intranet published materials. All contact information should identify a Webmaster or Content Sponsor.

· Student Safety - To assure student safety, student's picture and name shall not appear on the same page. A stranger should never be able to connect a student's name with a face.

· Copyright Laws - Adhere to all copyright laws. Please pay particular attention to the copyright information in the MSD Internet/Intranet Publishing Guidelines (below).

· Content Monitoring/Auditing - The Content Sponsor should regularly "visit" Internet/Intranet accessible content to monitor appropriateness, quality and educational value. Accordingly, Morristown School District Administration or Information Systems Department reserves the right to audit and/or adjust materials and/or activity on any Internet/Intranet Server publishing content sponsored by a MSD organization.

Site Guidelines

· Active Links - The web is a very dynamic resource. It is strongly recommended that links to external existing sites be checked regularly to insure that MSD sponsored links are not going to sites that do not meet MSD's Acceptable Use Agreement.

· Current Files - Only active files that are required for the proper operation of the Internet/Intranet Site should be stored on the Internet/Intranet Server.

· File Size - Due to limited storage space and varying network speeds, it is recommended that file sizes should be kept under 50 Kilobytes. In rare cases, where larger file sizes are required, please inform users by making a note on referring documents.

· Default Home - In each directory there should be an "index.htm" file so users will see this default home page if they do not include a file name when requesting information.

· Credits Page - If you use external resources on your site include a "credits" page.

· Advertising – Individuals are not to use Morristown School District resources for personal gain or profit. Accordingly, there is no advertising, sale or solicitations by individuals on MSD sponsored sites. Poor quality ads on external sites linked from MSD sponsored sites may distract from their educational value.

Page Guidelines

· Navigational Links - It is suggested that each page contain clear links to the sponsoring site's home page and/or higher-level pages. There should always be navigational clues to help users find their way around (a "back" button is not always adequate).

· Disclaimer – MSD sponsored sites shall contain a disclaimer stating that published content adheres to these guidelines. The disclaimer should contain a link to the online version of the guidelines at http://www.morrisville.org/documents05/publish_guidelines.htm

· Contact Information - Out of courtesy to Internet/Intranet users, each page shall contain contact information for the content sponsor.

· Copyright Notice - Each page shall contain a copyright notice which reserves the publisher's right.

Copyright Issues

The Internet has grown from a relatively small government project to a world wide computer network. As an educational institution we should be aware of the necessity of conforming to all laws, regardless of how they may be perceived on the Internet. A pamphlet "Copyright: What You Need To Know"1 helps you keep copyright laws and teach by example those principles you wish to instill in our students. Please be sure your practices follow the guidelines outlined in this pamphlet.

1) Author: Copyright: What You Need to Know, Davis School District, Farmington, UT 2005 www.davis.k12.ut.us