Is your material copyrighted or may I use it?
Answer: Yes, our material is copyrighted. Nearly all the original material on the web is copyrighted thanks to the new laws that immediately copyright original work loaded to the web. That's why loading a webpage is called "published". If you copy other people's work and post it on your own or another site, their work is still copyrighted. You could be in a lot of trouble copying other peoples work, even if you're a kid. Copyright & Fair Use Laws. Our material is additionally copyrighted with the U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
But, of course you may use our lesson plans, units, and learning modules freely posted online or though our publisher in your classrooms, with some restrictions. RESTRICTIONS: Direct links to our site are always appreciated. However, you may not make a copy of our material, put your name on it, and turn it in as your work. You may not copy our material and post it on your web page or anyone else's web page. You may not mirror our site. You may not frame our site. You may not pass our site through your proxy server in order to block ads. You may not distribute and/or sell our work without our written permission. To do so is copyright infringement, which is a crime.
How do I credit a web page source?
Answer: If you need our permission to link to our site, you have it. Links to our site are welcomed and appreciated.
If you're wondering how to credit a web page source in a bibliography, here's a suggestion (but check with your teacher first, to make sure this format is acceptable): Include the following information for each source: Author (if known,) Page Title, web address (URL) and the month and year you accessed that web page (not when the page was written.)
HERE IS AN EXAMPLE: Once upon a time, in the year 2022, during February, while cruising the web, you stumbled across our daily life sites. "How lucky," you said at the time. "My report on Ancient Greece is due tomorrow!" If you had listed our site in your bibliography, that listing might have read something like this:
Daily Life in Ancient Greece
https://greece.mrdonn.org
February 2022
Actually, we wrote a great deal of that site in 1997 and 1998, and updated it in 2002, and again in 2005, and again in 2008,
and again in 2010, and several times since. The date you list
in your bibliography for a website is the date you found it and used it, not the date
it was written.
Please tell me more about yourself and how you got your information
Answer: We are both college graduates with multiple degrees in history, geography, language arts, and education. Before Mr. Donn was a teacher, he was in the Navy in military intelligence stationed at NSA, the National Security Agency, the no-name agency as they like to say in the movies. Mrs. Donn was an AFS student, living overseas in the Netherlands. Today, we are both published authors. We love learning about history and the daily lives of people who lived long ago. Over the years, we've read thousands of articles and books about history. Does that mean our material is "right"? We try to be accurate, but we are not experts in anything. If one of our web pages was checked for accuracy or enriched with information, that expert will be listed on that page or on the index page of that section, along with any books we used. You'll find several places in our site with experts listed. We are most grateful for the help we have received! Here are some examples:https://archaeology.mrdonn.org/howard-carter.html (Biography, bio.com)
https://earlyhumans.mrdonn.org/fire.html (Dr. John J. Shea, Anthropologist, Harvard University, USA)
https://nativeamericans.mrdonn.org/proverbs.html (Peter Bakker, Linguistics Dept., University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
https://egypt.mrdonn.org/talltales.html (Egyptologist, Jacque Kinnaer, Belgium)
https://india.mrdonn.org (Author/Historian Sudheer Birodkar, India)
https://rome.mrdonn.org (Author/Historian Bill Thayer, USA)
https://smokeybear.mrdonn.org/Smokey.html (Helene Cleveland, USDA Forest Service, Fire Prevention Program Manager, Washington D.C.)
https://ancienthistory.mrdonn.org/Tombs.html (from around the world: Busch Gardens; Chihuahua Pharaohs; International School of Amsterdam, Holland; Mark Mullman; Greg Reeder)
And more, scattered throughout our site.
Here's our write up in the BBC Educational Web Guide! (We loved it!)
"This is an excellent resource for students and
teachers of ancient history.
The site covers the civilizations of
Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and others.
Amongst a wealth of information there are lesson plans,
links to related sites and to more history sites by the same author.
Though a little Americanised, this site has a lot of educational value
if you are prepared to adapt it to your curriculum needs
(and if you can ignore the jovial Americanisms!)."
Do you answer your e-mail messages?
Answer: We don't have time to read all the mail we receive, let alone respond to it, so our answer is regrettably no. If you spot something in our website that is inaccurate, please write us and note this in the topic line. In advance, thanks for your help! Our email address is donnanciv@aol.com
We hope this FAQ section answers your questions. If still curious: You can find more about us here (awards) and here (poetry slam) and here (civil rights.)
A note to all teachers who have freely posted material online for others to use: Your generosity encouraged us to do the same. We have always believed if there was an easy way for teachers to share, we would do so. The internet has made that possible. We continue to be delighted to put your wonderful ideas to work in our classroom. Thank you for sharing! We hope you find our site as useful.
If you have not yet done so, and are looking for a place to
freely publish
your lesson ideas and educational materials online for teachers
and students around the world to use, we highly recommend our
host, who offers both free and paid space on the web, the very
generous and very helpful bravenet.com
