Submission Info for the Arkansas Archives

The information found on these pages has been submitted to the USGenWeArchives Project. It is offered free to all who visit. The ownership/copyright stays with the submitter. Please read and respect the copyright on all submittals.
You can access the text files directly at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/

Picture This!

You're looking for information on someone in an Arkansas county and you go to the county in the USGenWeb Archives and guess what? The county has every bit of info you need ON LINE and you can access it FREE!

All it takes is people like you and me to accomplish this. Wouldn't you like to volunteer to transcribe a record or two? Just a little time each week from a lot of people and within a year or two there's no telling what we could do.

Guidelines for archivists and file managers - This link takes you OFF this site.

To Submit Records:

1. The best way to submit is to use our automated forms. To use them click HERE.

2. Records can also be submitted to the county file manager by copying them into an email message or sending as an attachment to an email meassage. The county file manager's email address can usually be located at the bottom of the county Table of Contents page.

3. If you do not wish to use the automated forms and there is no county file manager, you may send your contribution to the state file manager, listed on the Arkansas Home Page.

Types of Records Needed for the Archives:

Federal Census (free, slave, mortality, agriculture, veterans... schedules)
State Census
Vital Records
1. Marriage
2. Birth
3. Death
4. Divorce (or under court?)
Court records (county, federal, civil, circuit, probate....)
Church records (members lists, baptisms...)
Bible Records
Newspapers (obits, marriage & birth announcements, local events...)
Prison Records (got some proven moonshiners in my tree - the rest is just rumor)
Military Records (rosters, muster rolls, service records, pension applications...)
1. Revolutionary
2. Civil War
3. Indian Wars
4. Mexican
5. Spanish-American
6. War of 1812
7. WWI
8. WWII
9. Korean
10. Viet Nam
11. Persian Gulf
Land Records (deeds, land transfers, federal land grants, surveyor's records...)
Tax Records (land, property, state, federal, local....)
Local Histories
Local Directories (phone books, old county and city directories....)
Occupational (?) (Mining inspector's reports, Accident reports, railroad reports, company newsletters....)
Educational (?) (school histories, newsletters, school census, yearbooks?)
Cemeteries
Deeds/grants
Misc. genealogical records (Ask me if they're acceptable... I'll probably say yes!!)
Newspapers/obituaries
Ship Lists
Tax lists
Wills
Genealogically related books or indexes - just be sure they're either your own or have the copyright expired (printed before 1923).

Types of files needed for the Archives include: Federal Census (free, slave, mortality, agriculture, veterans...schedules), State Census, Vital Records (marriage, birth, death, funeral…), Court Records (city, county, federal, civil, circuit, probate…), Church Records (members lists, baptisms, marriages...), Bible Records, Newspapers (obits, marriage & birth announcements, local events...), Prison Records, Military Records (rosters, muster rolls, service records, pension applications...), Land Records (deeds, allotment deeds, homestead deeds, land transfers, federal land grants, surveyor's records…), Tax Records (land, property, state, federal, local...) Local Histories, Local Directories (phone books, old county and city directories...), Occupational Records (mining inspector's reports, accident reports, railroad reports, company newsletters...) Educational Records (school histories, newsletters, school census, yearbooks…), Cemeteries, Ship lists, Wills, Biographies, Family Photos, Miscellaneous, etc.

Guidelines for File Submissions

1. Only virus-checked files will be accepted.

2. Ascii text (.txt) files are preferred. Non-text will be converted to text before storing. If you have created a .doc, .wri,.xls, .dbf, etc. file, you may submit it for reformatting. Hard "tabs" are not encouraged, as they do not translate the same on all browsers. Please use "5 spaces" in place of tabs. Large files may be split. We may, at our discretion, store the same data in several formats. Scanned documents will be considered, depending on their content.

3. All data is free to the public, and the USGenWeb Archives project will not pay royalties on any submissions.

4. Data is provided for downloading "as is" -- no guarantees of anything

5. File contributors must use their own discretion regarding the inclusion of data on living people. If it is not public domain information, however, please do not submit it. Cemetery records and obituaries are public domain but transcribed records from the private sources are not.

6. We will not accept gedcoms due to space considerations.

7. No executable files will be accepted.

8. Do not send copyrighted material, unless it is your own, and you include a statement of permission to use in the document.
Note: Public domain records cannot be copyrighted.

9. We cannot guarantee permanency, in the event data is lost.

10. Any obviously false, malicious, libelous, or copyrighted data will be erased. We do not guarantee the validity of any files. Always check the original document.

11. These guidelines are subject to change.

12. Once submitted, the data can't be retracted by submitter. (This rule causes concern to many potential submitters. The reason for this rule is that the volunteer file managers spend many hours preparing the files in the proper format for viewing by all types of computers. We have to discourage submissions - retractions - submissions - retractions because of the volume of data that is submitted. The USGenWeb Archives are accessible FREE and will remain FREE, to researchers. The files within will not be used for any commercial purposes by the USGenWeb Project.)

13. We retain the right to refuse any submission.

14. Files in the USGenWeb Archives may not be copied for selling in any format.

Become an Archivist

Being responsible for a county in the AR Archives is an important job and we do need volunteers. There are very few rules but they are important ones.
 
  1. The Tables of Contents (TOCs) must be UPDATED on a regular basis. Regular means every time a new file is uploaded or at least once a quarter. Most TOCs are already set up with the required components. ASK before you remove anything.
  2. The files must be MANAGED according to the USGenWeb Guidelines. Files may NOT be removed from the Archives without the permission of the State File Manager. Remember that every change made affects more pages than just the TOC.
  3. You must have the TIME to tend to these responsibilities.
  4. You cannot "give away" a county. If you resign your position, the responsibility for the county returns to the State File Manager.
  5. You must be SUBSCRIBED to the ARGWARCH mailing list for the duration of your position.
If you are interested in becoming an Archivist for an Arkansas county, contact the State File Manager.