Linking Policy
Evaluation Criteria
The Maine Army National Guard web portal complies with Army Regulation (AR) 25-1, AR 25-2, Department of the Army Pamphlet (DA PAM) 25-1-1, DA PAM 25-91 and utilizes the USA.gov link policy template as recommended by DA PAM 25-1-1, Chapter 8, Section 1.
The Maine Army National Guard evaluates all suggested links using the following criteria:
- Is the recommended website an official government-owned or supported website?
- Does the recommended website provide official government information or services?
- Does the recommended website complement existing information, products and services on The Maine Army National Guard?
- Is the recommended website accessible and applicable to a wide audience?
- Is the recommended website's content relevant, useful and authoritative for citizens, businesses and/or government officials?
- Does the recommended website's information appear to be accurate and current?
- Is the recommended website's approach to the privacy of personal information consistent with the government's privacy and security policies?
- Is the recommended website "user-friendly?"
- Does the recommended website meet one or more of the following "highly desirable" criteria?
- The website crosses agency or intergovernmental boundaries (e.g., *.ngb.army.mil, states.ng.mil*, and funeralhonors.org);
- The website enables citizens, businesses and/or government officials to conduct transactions online (e.g., buying stamps or coins, replacing Medicare cards, and filing taxes);
- The website provides citizens, businesses and/or government officials with the information they need to interact directly with government organizations (e.g., clearly available telephone numbers, street addresses, e-mail addresses and instructions);
- The website provides citizens with information about service performance (e.g., Benefits and Educational Insentives); and/or
- The website provides community-level information and services (e.g., Veterans' facilities).
Links to Government Websites
The Maine Army National Guard can add a link to any government website that is publicly available unless directed not to by the agency that owns the site. Acceptable state/federal government-owned or government-sponsored website domains include .gov, .mil and .fed.us. The Maine Army National Guard also links to: quasi-government agencies and websites created by public sector/private sector partnerships; state and local government sites (e.g., www.maine.gov); and some government-sponsored websites that end in .com, .org, or .net (e.g., www.usps.com for the U.S. Postal Service and www.funeralhonors.org for the Maine Funeral Honors Program website).
Links to Non-Government Websites
In rare instances, The Maine Army National Guard links to websites that are not government-owned or government-sponsored if these websites provide government information and/or services in a way that is not available on an official government website (e.g. http://get.adobe.com/reader). The Maine Army National Guard provides these non-government websites as a public service only. The Maine Army National Guard neither endorses nor guarantees in any way the external organizations, services, advice, or products included in these website links. Furthermore, the Maine Army National Guard neither controls nor guarantees the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of the information contained in non-government website links. (See "Disclaimer of Endorsement" for more information on this topic.)
Reciprocal Links
We link to government information according to our linking policy, whether or not the other website links to us or not. We don't engage in reciprocal linking. These are public domain websites, which means you may link to us at no cost and without special permission.
Featured Links
The Maine Army National Guard highlights links of special interest to wide audiences by temporarily posting them in a position of prominence on the website. Featured links may include: online transactions; seasonal information; current topics on the minds of citizens, businesses or government officials; community-level services and information; cross-agency portals that enhance the public's interaction with government; kids' websites; and new links.
Prohibitions
The Maine Army National Guard will not link to any website that exhibits hate, bias, or discrimination. Furthermore, The Maine Army National Guard reserves the right to deny or remove any link that contains misleading information or unsubstantiated claims, or is determined to be in conflict with The Maine Army National Guard's mission or policies.
Disclaimer of Endorsement
The information posted on the The Maine Army National Guard website includes hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. The Maine Army National Guard provides these links and pointers solely for our users' information and convenience. When users select a link to an outside website, they are leaving the The Maine Army National Guard site and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside website.
- The Maine Army National Guard does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained on a linked website.
- The Maine Army National Guard does not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, and we do not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.
- The Maine Army National Guard cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website.
- The Maine Army National Guard is not responsible for transmissions users receive from linked websites.
- The Maine Army National Guard does not guarantee that outside websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act.
