About the COGenWeb Project
March/April 1996
In March and April 1996, a group of genealogists organized the Kentucky
Comprehensive Genealogy Database Project. The idea, originated by Jeff
Murphy, was to provide a single entry point for all counties in Kentucky,
where collected databases would be stored. In addition, the databases would
be indexed and cross-linked, so that even if an individual were found in
more than one county, they could be located in the index. This pilot project
became known as KYGenWeb.
June 1996
In June, as the Kentucky Project was coming to completion, it was decided
to expand the project to include all states and US GenWeb was born.
Volunteers were found who were willing to coordinate the collection of
county pages for each state page. Also in June, just 2 weeks or so after
the beginning of The US GenWeb project, the World
GenWeb project was begun, and several other countries become involved
in the project.
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Past State Coordinators:
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| Nancy Trice |
Jun 1996-Aug 1996 |
| Ronald Odis Singleton |
Aug 1996-Jan 1997 |
| John Gross |
Jan 1997-Jun 1997 |
| Teresa Davis |
Jun 1997-Oct 1998 |
| Lynn Waterman |
Oct 1998-Sep 1999 |
| Mary Ann Hetrick |
Sep 1999-Jun 2006 |
| Sundee C. Maynez |
Jun 2006-Present |
July/August 1996
In July and August, the work progressed with many volunteers coming
forward to assist. The USGenWeb
domain was established, and many new state mailing lists were generated.
Through collaboration with RootsWeb,
server space was found for the files produced as a result of the project.
Also, a standardized Query and Surname entry form was established there.
A number of state and county pages were put on-line there. Other servers
and key personalities involved in the project included Gene Stark (Gendex)
and the folks at Gensource.
September 1996
As more volunteers came forward, some of the original cadre were able
to pass the reins of some of their responsibilities on to new enthusiastic
helpers, freeing time for them to more fully concentrate on their other
GenWeb states and counties. The leadership of the US GenWeb project also
changed hands, but the original goal of the project remains unchanged.
A USGenWeb Bulletin Board was established, and many new county pages came
on-line, especially the hard work of the state coordinators.
Into the Future
On the USGenWeb Project you'll find a well organized effort to place
genealogy materials on the Internet. This project is supported by hundreds
of volunteers all across the county. The system is organized by states,
and counties with each county having a coordinator responsible for maintaining
a site of resources which are available for that county. You'll also find
archives of genealogy records, also organized by state and county.
The COGenWeb Project is an outgrowth of this effort. If the county in
which you are interested does not have a page and you wish to participate,
please contact
the COGenWeb Project State Coordinator
Volunteers are needed in all phases of the project including creating
and maintaining home pages, hosting mailing lists, organizing archives
submitted by volunteers and transcribing public records for inclusion in
our archives.
Won't you join us!
Information last updated
Sunday, 04-May-2008 21:02:31 MDT
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