Local businesses, civic organizations, or governments that have web sites may have their link placed on Oswego County government's community links page.

The web site promotes tourism and economic development in Oswego County and provides information about county government services and programs.

• How do I request a link?

  1) The owners or administrators of web sites may request Oswego County to provide a hyperlink to their web site on the county's official web site. Such requests must be made in writing, and may be sent by mail, fax, or e-mail: . The request must contain the correct name of the web site; the owner's name, address, phone number, and e-mail address; the site administrator's name and e-mail (if different from the owner); the URL(s) for which the hyperlink is requested and the topic(s) of the web site(s).

Requests will be reviewed for compliance with the county's web site policy which states that links must be to local businesses and organizations which provide products or services in Oswego County. Non-local businesses and organizations may be considered if they produce products or services in the county or promote Oswego County in a positive manner.

Links will be established only for businesses or organizations which directly relate to the current topics of one of the county's web pages.

The county will not link to personal home pages or web sites which contain significant political content; offensive, racist, or sexually explicit material; poor technical quality; or content which reflects poorly on the people, communities, businesses, governments, and organizations within Oswego County, or which is otherwise harmful to Oswego County's reputation as a good place to live, work, visit, and do business.

The web site is owned by the County of Oswego and maintained by the Department of Promotion and Tourism.

Each request for a hyperlink will be evaluated on a case by case basis by the Department of Promotion and Tourism, based on these policy guidelines. Requests meeting the guidelines of this policy will be approved by the Director of Promotion and Tourism. Requests that do not meet this policy's guidelines, or for which uncertainty exists, will be approved or denied by the Economic Development and Planning Committee at its next regular monthly meeting. Applicants will be notified of the department head's or committee's decision by e-mail within 30 days of the decision.

Reciprocal hyperlinks will be requested, but not required. Web sites which provide a reciprocal hyperlink may use the county logos on the county web site to establish a graphical hyperlink. No other use of the county's logos will be permitted without the permission of the County Attorney's Office or the Department of Promotion and Tourism.

Web site administrators must notify the Department of Promotion and Tourism of any significant changes in the topic or content of their web site. Oswego County reserves the right to deny a request for a hyperlink, and to remove an existing hyperlink without notice.

1) Hyperlinks to web sites, or pages within a web site, will be placed in designated sections of the Oswego County web site. Sections designated for hyperlinks may be changed by the Department of Promotion and Tourism as the county web site expands and evolves. Approved hyperlinks which correspond to the topic of an existing page(s) of the county web site, may be placed on the page(s).

Hyperlinks to other web sites will not be placed in news releases, news articles, and editorials within the Public Information Office web pages, without the approval of the Director of Promotion and Tourism.

2) The official Oswego County government web site may provide hyperlinks to the following types of web sites:

• Official web sites and topical pages of the federal government, New York State government, and local governments within Oswego County.
• Oswego County authorized agencies.
• Non-profit organizations, including chambers of commerce, public service, and human service agencies if they are physically located within Oswego County, or offer their programs and services within Oswego County.
• Schools and educational institutions located within Oswego County.
• For-profit businesses, if they are located within Oswego County.
• News organizations, if they are physically located within Oswego County or provide information within and about Oswego County.
• Special Internet or World Wide Web project sites, which are beneficial to users or which enhance the Oswego County web site.

3) Hyperlinks on the Oswego County web site are prohibited if they contain, or are linked to sites that contain:

• significant political content; (Exception: Although they may contain editorial content of a political nature, hyperlinks may be provided to web sites of the news media and official government web sites.)
• offensive, racist, or sexually explicit material;
• content that promotes illegal activity;
• poor technical quality causing long download times; incomplete pages; or
• · content which reflects poorly on the people, communities, businesses, governments, and organizations within Oswego County, or which is otherwise harmful to Oswego County's reputation as a good place to live, work, visit, and do business.

4) At the discretion of the committee, hyperlinks may be provided to web sites which contain hyperlinks to web sites of non-local businesses, organizations, or communities. (Exceptions: Hyperlinks will not be provided to web sites which imply that non-local hyperlinks are local.)

5) Direct hyperlinks will not be provided to any of the following types of web sites:

• political parties, political campaigns, political action committees, political activist groups, and elected and appointed officials' personal web sites;
• "tabloid" press
• newsgroups and bulletin boards
• pornography
• personal home pages (Exception: hyperlinks to a personal web site may be allowed if the site provides useful and accurate information about Oswego County. In such a case, the hyperlink may be made to the appropriate page within the site, not necessarily the home page.)
• web sites of governments (other than state and federal), communities, businesses, or organizations outside of Oswego County, unless they provide significant information about Oswego County which is useful to our users, or which promote Oswego County in a positive manner.

6) Oswego County's web site administrator(s) may solicit hyperlinks that meet the guidelines of this policy.

7) E-mail links may be provided to governments, businesses, organizations, and officials which are listed within the Oswego County web site.

8) The Internet and the World Wide Web are ever-changing technologies and cultures. Therefore, this policy may be revised as needed by the Economic Development and Planning Committee.