POLICY  
Mission • Responsibilities • Content  

Role and Mission of the TLA Web Site

The Texas Library Association (TLA) website provides information to Association members, affiliates, and the general public. Consequently, the website represents the Association. TLA Web space includes all the pages on the http://www.txla.org/ site and all pages created by and/or for TLA units even though they may be loaded on non-TLA Web servers.

The mission of the TLA website is to provide appropriate services to members for the benefit of the profession. The site will do this by:

•  Providing information and resources for stimulating the professional and career development of personnel in all Texas libraries.

• Facilitating effective cooperation and communication among library personnel in Texas Libraries.

• Providing a vehicle whereby library personnel may be aware of and cooperate with other organizations that have similar or allied interests.

Types of Information Allowed on the TLA Website

Each unit of the Association, including the executive board, ad hoc and standing committees, divisions, round tables, interest groups, and affiliates, creates and uses information of various types. Generally, information can be categorized as intended for an external audience or for an internal audience. The Texas Library Journal is an example of an external document, but minutes posted by a Round Table are considered to be an internal document because they are published for the use of the members of the Round Table only.  Refer to the Publications Committee document, External and Internal Publications for a more in-depth description.  Both internal and external documents may be included on the TLA website.  However, Web publications considered to be external documents must be sent to the chair of the Publications Committee for review before they are released for public access. 

Structure of the TLA Website  

The Publications Committee establishes standards for the structure and operation of TLA's website and develops policies and procedures needed to maintain the site. Any documents discovered that are in violation of TLA standards and policies shall be subject to immediate removal from the TLA website.  

Areas of Responsibility  

Because information posted on the website represents TLA to a worldwide community, it must be timely and accurate. Furthermore, the presentation of information on the TLA website must follow, as closely as possible, the standards and policies for printed publications and the guidelines included in this document.  Both documents assist Web authors in preparing materials that meet those standards.

TLA staff responsibilities

• TLA staff is responsible for processing and loading files on the TLA Web servers and maintaining the website.

• TLA staff is responsible for determining the placement of units' materials within the overall website.

TLA staff will maintain the necessary hardware and software to accommodate TLA's electronic presence. Staff will post, move, review, and delete all documents from the Web server, except in those cases where a unit's representatives have been authorized by TLA staff to maintain their own online documents.  

TLA staff is available for consultation during the creation and development of TLA units' electronic presence. For large or rush jobs and/or during peak workload periods, TLA staff may recommend outside designers and programmers to assist units in preparing their files. The unit will be responsible for all costs incurred. If a unit wishes to engage an outside Web designer from the outset of a project, TLA staff should be consulted and put in touch with the designer to coordinate technical and stylistic details.

Webpage developer's responsibilities  

Persons responsible for Web development, including authors of articles and/or web pages, are expected to adhere to all applicable state and federal regulations and internal policies and guidelines associated with security, risk measures, and copyright compliance. Issues to be considered in maintaining a unit's website include: accessibility, security, privacy, consistency, and maintenance. When a unit’s website resides on servers other than the TLA servers, the unit is responsible for back up of systems and data. Additional responsibilities include:

1. Each unit is responsible for the content of its own Web presence and is the "owner" of the information that is created or maintained as part of unit activities.
2. The owner of a Web document is responsible for overseeing the management of that information. A unit may delegate responsibility to a unit Web administrator when appropriate. Only the owners of information, or their designated representatives, may change the content of the information that they manage.
3. Accurate and up-to-date information is essential for unit websites. Units must routinely review the official information placed on the Web to ensure its timeliness and accuracy. Severely outdated pages (pages not updated in more than one year) may be deleted from the TLA site.
4. All web pages, whether static or dynamic, must be accessible using generally available browser software, and be designed with consideration for the types of Internet connections available to TLA members and affiliates. If appropriate, units should provide alternative formats to ensure accessibility.
5. Webpages designed for children must comply with all applicable federal and state laws intended to protect minors.
6. Units that maintain portions of their Web presence at an external website (e.g., when a member volunteers to create and maintain a Web site for a round table or section on their institution’s servers) may wish to provide the TLA Web design template to external Web site maintainers.
7. All Web administrators and interested parties should join the TLA discussion list to stay informed of changes and issues with regards to TLA electronic communication policy and technical and general issues related to TLA mailing lists and the website, including design.
8. All new webpages must be presented to the Chair of the Publications Committee for review before the pages will be placed on the TLA website. Six weeks should be allowed for this review process.

Maintenance of Information

Units and their representatives must follow the policies, standards, and procedures developed by the Publications Committee. They will be assisted in this effort by the TLA staff.

Policy Concerning Content

Accessibility: The homepage of the Texas Library Association website and any new or changed key entry points shall meet the definition of a generally accessible Internet site. Any webpage created by TLA staff for official TLA business should not have “priority 1” accessibility errors as defined by WC3 <http://www.w3.org>.  

Advertising: No advertising should be placed on TLA unit web pages.  However, links to external sites are generally acceptable, but units should be aware that these links might have an impact on revenue that TLA can generate from its sites. When a unit determines that such links from its pages are desirable, the unit should weigh that interest against the fiscal impact that such links may have on TLA.  Consultation with TLA staff is encouraged when considering links to advertisers.

Archiving:  The TLA staff will archive a copy of the TLA website’s "active content" residing on TLA servers every six months.  The electronic files will be maintained at a site designated by TLA staff and accompanied with appropriate preservation metadata to ensure future preservation of the files.

Copyright: Copyright laws must be observed. Permission must be obtained in advance before publishing copyrighted material (text, graphics, etc.) on TLA websites and notification of copyright should be shown on pages containing those materials.

Link-Checking:  TLA will run a link-checking program every month and notify unit Web administrators and/or authors of incorrect or outdated links.

Privacy : The Texas Library Association shall provide a privacy policy for its website. The privacy policy shall address use of server logs and/or cookies, information collected by other technologies and processes, and information collected via e-mail and web-based forms.  

The Publications Committee will be consulted regarding implementation of web-based programs involving financial transactions or the collection of personal data from members.  

Cookies should be turned off on the TLA website until and unless an application requires them or until and unless there is a specific question about the site and/or its visitors that requires the application of cookies to answer.  

TLA Web Guidelines