This policy describes the terms for linking to and from all non-library Web sites maintained by the City of Columbus. The City of Columbus' Director of Technology is responsible for administering this policy.

City of Columbus Web sites contain hypertext links to other World Wide Web Internet sites. This information is created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. The City is not responsible for, and accepts no liability for, the availability of these outside resources. Linked Web sites are not under the control of, nor maintained by, the City of Columbus. The City is not responsible for the content of these Web sites, which can and do change frequently; nor for any internal links the displayed Web sites may contain. In addition, inclusion of the linked Web sites does not constitute an endorsement or promotion by the City of Columbus of any persons or organizations sponsoring the displayed Web sites. The linked Web sites are provided to further the purposes of the City and as a convenience to the public, not as a benefit to the linked party.

The City of Columbus will link to sites of its choosing to better support the needs of citizens, city employees and visitors by providing useful information in a more efficient manner. Links to commercial web sites, individual homepages, political candidates, political parties or organizations, and ballot issues are generally prohibited, however, if a person or organization is a partner or sponsor with the City, a logo or statement of their sponsorship may be permitted on the City's Web site.

The City periodically reviews external links on the City's Web site to confirm the link still furthers City purposes. The Director of Technology, or his/her designee, has the right to deny or delete a link at its sole discretion at any time and without notice.

Whenever a user selects a link to a site not controlled by the City of Columbus, a warning disclaimer must be included on the same page, warning the user that he/she is leaving the City's web site. The disclaimer will appear at the bottom of the page where the external link(s) are located, informing the user that City does not endorse the product or entity for which a link may be provided, and the City is not responsible for the content or availability of this external link.

This policy does not give any party the right to link on the City of Columbus Web site. You may email or submit a written request for a link to the Department of Technology's Web Team (put in postal and email address). You will subsequently be notified whether your link will be included on a City of Columbus Web site, within 30 days of your communication to the City. If you do no receive a written confirmation from us within 30 days you should consider that your request has been denied without prejudice to the later refilling of the request. If approved, the link is not to exceed the duration of an event without additional approval.

Linking to Columbus.gov

Unless you are subsequently advised otherwise by the City of Columbus, Director of Technology, you are granted permission to create hyperlinks to the content of a Web site maintained by the City of Columbus, provided that the link accurately describes the content as it appears on the site. No relationship with the City is to be implied or expressed by the link or the context in which the link appears. The link shall open to the City's Web site in a full browser window and not within the content of the linking site, such as in an HTML frame. The City has the right to revoke this permission at any time. Be advised that the City's site organization, page titles, and URL's may change at any time. The City is not responsible for notification of these changes.