"Netiquette" Information and Suggestions"Netiquette" Information and Suggestions
Because many subscribers to Sister-L have requested that guidelines to 'Net usage be made available, Sister-L member Silvana Wasitova, who moderates a list of her own, graciously made the following material available. Her message to her own listmembers has been modified, with her permission, to answer some of the questions most commonly asked by persons new to participation in internet discussion lists.
Additional sites well worth checking out, especially (but not only) for those new to the 'Net, include:
1. What should I do in case I....
E-mail delivery failure could be caused by a number of technical disruptions, such as machine downtime at source, destination, or somewhere in between. If you suspect that messages are not getting through to your account, send an inquiring email to the "listowners." For Sister-L, these are Ritamary Bradley and Peggy Thompson.
If your computer is down, contact the system administrator of your internet/e-mail provider first, as system-specific problems can only be resolved by persons authorized to do so. If your system is experiencing networking problems, you may not receive any e-mail, including messages from Sister-L. E-mail sent to you will bounce back to the sender, including to Sister-L's listowners. In such cases, your subscription will immediately be set to "digest," so that only one "bounce" will occur each day. If this condition persists, you may be deleted from the list, in which case you will have to re-subscribe when your system is working again. When you begin to receive the "digests," you'll know your system is working again. To re-set yourself to receiving individual messages, see the next paragraph.
The various commands that govern your Sister-L subscription were explained in the "welcome" message you received upon subscribing to the list. If you have misplaced this information, you can get a list of all "listserv commands" by writing to listserv@.listserv.syr.edu. Leave the "subject" line blank (or, if your e-mail system won't allow that, just put a slash in it). In the message area, write ONLY [be sure to deactivate any "autosig"]: help
A message containing the relevant commands will be sent to you.
Write to the listowners for help ONLY after you have tried to solve your problem yourself. They will be happy to help, but it will make their lives easier if you learn to perform basic listserv commands and "subscription maintenance" tasks!
Please note that the computer that governs Sister-L has the intellectual capacity of an aphid. I It knows only what it is told, and can respond only to those it recognizes. Thus, if your e-mail address has changed--even if only slightly, and even if e-mail sent to your old address is automatically forwarded to your new one, the listserv computer will not recognize you! So you will not be able to write to Sister-L, direct commands to it, etc. These are cases when you must write to one of the listowners to get your subscription changed; you cannot do it yourself. On such occasions, they will be more than happy to hear from you, and to help you out. [NOTE: This paragraph and the previous one written by MST, not Silvana Wasitova.]
2) What is the scope of discussions? What can I post?
The scope of discussions is quite broad: any topic (question, observation, personal sharings or reflections) that would be of interest to several members is welcome. This is an unmoderated mailing list, use your judgement in posting, and maintain a level of politeness, as you would in a conversation in a mixed company of intelligent friends and strangers. As discussions take place in the absence of facial, verbal and visual cues and feedback, your efforts to clarify the content and intent of your message will be appreciated. Separate opinions from facts, and clearly identify both. As much as possible, qualify your statements to reduce chances for misunderstandings.
On Sister-L, and all internet discussion lists, it's generally advisable to be a "passive reader" (otherwise known as a "lurker") for a week or two, to get a feel for the list's personality, before you start to post messages yourself. Once you become comfortable with it, you'll find yourself with a better sense of its tone and sensibility, and your messages are more likely to "fit in."
Caution is advised in discussing topics with emotional content. When in doubt about a topic, or when a topic seems inflammatory, wait a day before sending a response.
Jokes are welcome, as long as worded in good taste, and respectful of other persons and their feelings, opinions and dignity.
If a topic is only of interest to you and one other member, contact her or him directly through personal email or phone.
Avoid excessive use of capital letters, as in e-mail circles this is perceived as "shouting."
When replying to a previous post, include only as much of the original text as is relevant, and delete the irrelevant portions, as courtesy to other readers by respecting their time and space.
Avoid "Amen," "I agree," "thank you for your message," or other posts of this nature. If you feel compelled to send such, please do so only by private e-mail to the writer of the original to which you are responding.
Please send messages in plain-text format (ASCII) only. In particular, avoid sending MIME-formatted mail or "attachments" to Sister-L or any other discussion list, since such messages may not be legible to members who use different e-mail software. When using MS-Exchange, avoid sending the WINDMAIL.DAT file.
Sign all your postings, indicating your name and return e-address. If using an "autosig." (signature file), keep it short, preferably no more than 4-5 lines. Cute pictures and "meaningful sayings" stop being cute or meaningfull after repeated viewing. They also take up excessive bandwidth.
Strive to write concisely, as some recipient members have very limited disk space quotas.
3) How often should I post?
Your personal thoughts, opinions, reflections, and analyses are always welcome. Postings that quote other sources, if perceived to be relevant to the interests of members at large, are encouraged.
Decide based on feedback you receive, or, use common sense.
4) Are there policies about cross-posting, forwarding, and distribution?
Before forwarding a message, whether to or from Sister-L, attempt to verify its accuracy. Misleading messages about the "Good Times" computer virus, the Nieman Marcus chocolate chip cookies, or "postcard boy" have been propagated by many well-intended persons - who could have saved many a reader's time and disk space if they first checked the message's accuracy. When in doubt, ask a friend or listowner before forwarding.
Before forwarding or cross-posting any message that has appeared on Sister-L, you should write to its author to get permission, unless that permission is contained in the original message.
When forwarding/cross-posting, you should:
In order to fully appreciate and respect the fruits of other persons' diligence and thought processes, respect the copyright privileges of the source. Unless the source is a not-for-profit organization, either summarize the material, or quote only the portions of the original that are relevant to your analyses, comments or stipulations. Clearly credit the original source of the material. Again, asking prior permission is normal and appropriate practice.
5) Can someone who is non-subscriber send e-mail to Sister-L?
No. Only subscribers can post to Sister-L. This is to preserve the integrity of list discussions, to avoid wasting the time of subscribers with "spams" (including the obscene and the commercial), or messages that are sent indiscriminately to hundreds of lists, etc.
6) What do these symbols mean: :-), BTW, FYI, IMHO ?
Since communication via email is limited to use of ASCII characters, certain symbols and abbreviations have developed popular use in email circles. Some symbols are called "emoticons" (icons designating emotions): [emoticon: n. a figure created with the symbols on a keyboard that is read with the head tilted to the left. Used to convey the spirit in which a line of text was typed.] Some commonly-used emoticons include:
Some popular abbreviations include:
7) What archives of previous discussions are available, and how can I get them?
Sister-L has been archived since September 1994. To get a list of archival files--currently available chronologically only, and not by subject--send a message to the listserv address. Leave "subject" blank and, in the message area, write ONLY [be sure to deactivate any "autosig"]: index Sister-L
The reply message will contain the names of files that you can request. Only Sister-L subscribers have access to the Sister-l archives.
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