Printer-friendly1. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The Institute encourages faculty, staff, and students to publish freely and openly on the World Wide Web, within the constraints of existing laws and policies.
This policy imparts minimal stylistic consistency guidelines and provides some guidance on the legal and procedural nuances of communicating on the World Wide Web. These guidelines address "official campus unit home pages" and "other official pages". This document also contains some guidelines and useful suggestions for all pages published by members of the Georgia Tech community. These guidelines are intended to augment, not replace, the existing Georgia Tech Computer and Network Usage and Security Policy regarding Responsible Use of Resources.
2. OFFICIAL CAMPUS UNIT HOME PAGES
For the purposes of this Policy, an "official campus unit home page" is a single page that introduces an organizational unit of the Institute and provides links to more detailed information about the unit.
2.1. In order to assure some degree of continuity, maintain a consistent image, and increase usage of information electronically published by Georgia Tech, the Office of Institute Communications and Public Affairs reserves the right to monitor and re view the official campus unit home pages for the Institute's five colleges, their schools, and all major divisions. This list includes, but is not limited to:
- Office of the President
- Office of the Provost
- Office of Administration and Finance
- Office of Institute Communications and Public Affairs
- Office of Student Affairs
- College of Architecture
- College of Computing
- College of Engineering
- College of Sciences
- Ivan Allen College of Management, Policy & International Affairs
- Georgia Tech Library
- Georgia Tech Alumni Association
- Georgia Tech Athletic Association
- Georgia Tech Research Institute
- Georgia Tech Research Corporation
- Georgia Tech Foundation
- Economic Development Institute
2.2. Each official campus unit home page will have at least one link back to the Georgia Tech home page.
2.3. Each official campus unit home page will contain some type of general description of the unit. Sources may include the Georgia Tech Fact Book, the General Catalog, or school recruiting materials.
2.4. Each official campus unit home page will contain a generic E-mail contact address (webadmin@unit.gatech.edu is preferred).
2.5. Information on each official campus unit home page will be kept up-to-date, and each official campus unit home page will show the date it was last modified.
2.6. Each campus unit creating an official campus unit home page is responsible for ensuring that the information contained therein is of the highest editorial standards (spelling, punctuation, grammar, style, etc.) and factually accurate. If errors are observed, you will be contacted by Institute Communications and Public Affairs and asked to make corrections.
2.7. The following statement shall be included in full on each official campus unit home page:
Notwithstanding any language to the contrary, nothing contained herein constitutes nor is intended to constitute an offer, inducement, promise, or contract of any kind. The data contained herein is for informational purposes only and is not represented to be error free. Any links to non-Georgia Tech information are provided as a courtesy. They are not intended to nor do they constitute an endorsement by the Georgia Institute of Technology of the linked materials.
3. OTHER OFFICIAL PAGES
Pages related in any way to the programs of the Institute and its units may be considered "official pages". It is strongly encouraged that official pages (other than Official Campus Unit Home Pages for which requirements are given above) include some or all of the following elements when it is reasonable, practical, and appropriate to do so. (It is recognized that it is often not practical to alter pre-existing materials when making them accessible via the World Wide Web. It is also recognized that it is appropriate to omit some or all of the following elements when the same information is apparent from the context, available via a link, and so forth.)
3.1. a link back to a higher-level page
3.2. an E-mail contact address (or a link to a page with same)
3.3. date last modified
3.4. a disclaimer similar to that required for Official Campus Unit Home Pages (or a link to a page with same)
4. PAGES OTHER THAN OFFICIAL PAGES
The Institute recognizes the impossibility of reviewing any and all information published electronically by members of the Georgia Tech community and, therefore, will not do so. The following information is provided to guide and assist faculty, staff and students who have an individual page or pages.
4.1. The content of any such pages must not violate applicable export laws and regulations; must not constitute a copyright or trademark infringement; and must not otherwise violate any local, state, or federal laws. To the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of any page taken as a whole shall not appeal to the prurient interest, such as does pornography.
4.2. All such pages must be in compliance with all appropriate Georgia Tech campus policies and procedures, including the Georgia Tech Computer and Network Usage Policy. Special attention should be paid to Section 6.6 "Public Information Services" and to Section 4.2 "Responsible Use of Resources". The latter states that users should refrain "from all acts that waste or prevent others from using these resources or from using them in whatever ways have been proscribed by the Institute and the laws of the State and Federal governments." Its application to this policy is such that any World Wide Web resource that makes excessive use of network bandwidth may be terminated in accordance with these policies.
4.3. The following disclaimer applies, in effect, to all pages that are not official but which carry a Georgia Tech network address. This disclaimer should appear on pages that are not official, or be otherwise reasonably apparent to anyone viewing such pages:
THIS PAGE IS NOT A PUBLICATION OF THE GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND THE GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY HAS NOT EDITED OR EXAMINED THE CONTENT. THE AUTHOR(S) OF THE PAGE ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT.
4.4. The E-mail address of the author, or other person responsible for placing the information on the World Wide Web, shall be readily apparent for each such page. This may be via information on the page, a link to another page, or the context.
4.5. Any pages discovered that are in violation of these Policies and Guidelines shall be subject to immediate removal from the Network.
5. COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARKS - ALL PAGES
5.1. The preferred names for the Institute are "Georgia Tech" and "The Georgia Institute of Technology". Use of others such as "Tech" and "Ga. Tech" is discouraged.
5.2. Authors or originators using trademarks should have express permission of the person(s) or organization(s) owning the trademarks prior to their use.
5.3. Use of any Georgia Tech logo or trademark must be sanctioned by the Office of Institute Communications and Public Affairs, Communi cations Division. In case of doubt, requests for pre-approval may be sent to the Director of Communications.
5.4. Authors or originators using photos and images may need the permission of not only the person or organization that owns the photo or image, but also from any persons included within the images. The Georgia Tech Communications Division may be able to assist in locating images for which they have model release forms on file already.
5.5. Any use of other copyrighted material must have the express written permission of the person or organization that owns the copyright. The Office of Institute Communications and Public Affa irs reserves the right to require proof of the written permission and to remove the material if that proof cannot be produced.