SEELANGS Administrivia - Reminder about basic list Guidelines

[Alex Rudd]

Dear SEELANGS Members,

I'll try to keep this brief (but I'll fail, as I always do).  As you
know, when you subscribed to this list you were sent a Welcome message
from LISTSERV (the computer program we use to administer SEELANGS).
That Welcome message, among other things, contained our list
guidelines.  In a different context, these "guidelines" might be
called "policies," because that's really what they are, but we prefer
"guidelines" because policies often need to be enforced, whereas the
intelligent and thoughtful people who make use of this list can
(usually) be trusted to adhere to common-sense guidelines.

Recently, however, it's become clear that a friendly reminder of at
least a couple of those guidelines might be in order.

Here is the first guideline:

----- Begin -----

***** PERSONAL REPLIES *****

Because each message sent to the list address is distributed to
all list members, personal messages and replies should not be posted.
If you wish to reply only to the original sender of a post, make
sure your reply is directed to that person and not to the list
address (seelangs at bama.ua.edu).  If you wish to contact only
one subscriber, yet do not know that person's personal e-mail address,
do not use the list address to write him.  Instead make use of the
SCAN SEELANGS command or write the list owners for assistance.

Example:  SCAN SEELANGS Smith

VERY IMPORTANT:  When you just use the Reply feature of your e-mail
program while reading a SEELANGS post, your reply is directed back
to SEELANGS, *not* to the person who posted.  Your failure to
realize this fact is what gets most people in trouble when it comes
to sending personal replies to the list address.

----- End -----

For whatever reason, this particular problem seems to rear its ugly
head each conference season.  When people post looking for panelists,
or roommates, or to offer membership renewal applications, etc.,
whether they make it clear or not, they are seeking replies *off
list*.  Each time you reply to a message that has been posted to
SEELANGS, please pay attention to where your reply is headed before
you click on that "Send" button.  If your reply is really of no import
to anyone else but the person to whose message you're replying, then
send it directly to that person and spare the rest of us.

I should also probably explain that SCAN SEELANGS thing.  Often people
fail to include their e-mail addresses at the bottom of their
messages.  All modern e-mail client programs will allow you to view
and locate the e-mail address of the person who has sent you a
message, but sometimes it's not entirely an intuitive process.
Therefore, if you just can't figure out what someone's e-mail address
is, and yet you really want to send them a message and doing it via
the list is the only thing you can think to do, stop and use SCAN
SEELANGS instead.

For example, if I were to send the command:  SCAN SEELANGS Rudd

in the body of e-mail to:  LISTSERV at BAMA.UA.EDU

then I would get this in reply from LISTSERV:

Alex Rudd <Alex.Rudd at GMAIL.COM>
SCAN: 1 match.

(and you can use any portion of a name or e-mail address with that command.)

One quick corollary to this guideline:  If you should happen to make a
mistake and do accidentally post a personal message or reply to the
entire list, please do not compound that error by sending yet another
message to the list apologizing to everyone!  We understand that
you're sorry and didn't mean to do it.  It happens.  Life goes on.
But we really would prefer to have one fewer unnecessary message in
our in-boxes if at all possible.

Here is the second guideline:

----- Begin -----

***** QUOTING TEXT FROM ORIGINAL MESSAGES *****

Because all posts to SEELANGS are archived, and because disk
space is a finite resource, list members are asked to pay
close attention when they reply to messages on the list and
quote text.  Including portions of original messages is fine,
as long as it's done to provide context for the reader and
is done selectively.  However, quoting entire original
messages within the body of replies, when the original messages
are more than just a few lines, is prohibited.  Not only
does it fill up our disk space with extraneous text, but
those list members receiving SEELANGS in DIGEST format are
forced to read through the same messages three and four
times.

----- End ----

Many of you (if not most by now) use an e-mail client program that
automatically appends the full text of a message to the bottom of your
reply to that message.  In some contexts, that is an appropriate use
of the technology (e.g., in the business world, it might be a good way
to document contract negotiations as they progress).  On an e-mail
discussion list, however, it's just not necessary.  So please, either
delete the entirety of that original message before posting your
reply, or else trim that quoted text judiciously, including only what
you need to include so that we all remember the original message.

Finally, if you no longer have a copy of the SEELANGS Welcome message
close at hand, you can grab a copy of the current version by sending
the command:

GET SEELANGS WELCOME

in the body of e-mail to:  LISTSERV at BAMA.UA.EDU

We used to have it on the SEELANGS Web site, too, and I need to get it
back up there.  Thanks for your patience.

Any questions, please direct them off-list.

Thanks.

- Alex, list owner of SEELANGS
--
Alex Rudd
List owner e-mail: seelangs-request at bama.ua.edu
Personal e-mail: Alex.Rudd at gmail.com
http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
Any opinion expressed above is not necessarily shared by my employers.

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