Dear list members,
Perhaps ironically for a social-policy list we try to adopt a laissez-faire
approach in the management of this list and, for the most part, this has
served us well, with the list growing in membership each year. However, in
light of some recent discussion, it seems pertinent to remind list members
of our list guidelines. These can be found on the web by cutting-and-pasting
the following link into your web browser:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=SOCIAL-POLICY&X=&Y=&a=get&f=/socialpolicyguidelines.htm
I would like to draw the following points to your attention in particular:
Firstly, and most importantly, in terms of 'Netiquette', our guidelines state:
<Extract from Guidelines Begins>
(i) please respect other members of the list, even if you do not agree with
their views. If anyone is completely out of line I can instruct jiscmail to
remove them from the list, but, happily, we have not had to do this yet on
the social-policy list. Some individuals have, however, been subjected to
unwarranted abuse in previous years, which has been unwelcome and unpleasant.
(ii) please be tolerant of other member's mistakes. If someone sends a
message that inconveniences you personally, please try to avoid web rage!
While large attachments or multiple mailings of messages have caused
irritation over the years, these have generally been genuine errors
committed by well meaning people who weren't fully aware of the problems
they were causing. We need to educate rather than berate! If you have a
concern, complain to the list owner NOT the list.
<Extract from Guidelines Ends>
Secondly, in terms of attachments, we suggest the following:
<Extract from Guidelines Begins>
The basic policy in relation to attachments is that we strongly encourage
people to send plain text messages rather than attachments where possible.
There are three key reasons for this:
(i) it is an ineffective way of spreading your message. Not all members can
read attachments and many find them irritating. If you CAN, it is better to
send your message as a plain, text based e-mail
(ii) e-mail attachments are the most effective way to spread computer
viruses - something as an innocent word processed document can inadvertently
contain a virus that is set loose once the attachment is opened. While the
JISCMAIL system automatically detect attachments for viruses it is better to
be safe than sorry
(iii) attachments can be a real nuisance for members with slow machines or
those who work with dial-up modem connections. This is especially the case
with large attachments that can take a considerable time to download and, as
a consequence, put someone's machine out of action while they try to
download an attachment that may even be of no interest to them.
In some cases there may be a need to circulate a large document quickly to
as many members of the social policy community as possible and so the use of
attachments can be unavoidable. However, if you are posting a flyer for a
study day, conference, new journal or book, please refer list members to a
website where they can view full details, rather than sending full details
to the list if this is possible.
<Extract from Guidelines Ends>
For those who face particular problems in handling attachments, you can opt
to receive messages from the list in a DIGEST form. This means you will
receive just one consolidated message per day that draws together all of
that day's messages. To receive messages in digest form, you need to send a
message to [log in to unmask] (NB: Please enter the right address - DO
NOT send this message to the social-policy list) with the following text in
the message:
set social-policy digest
The digest messages DO NOT contain attachments so can be particularly useful
for list members concerned about this issues; if an attachment mentioned in
a digested messages looks of interest it can subsequently be downloaded from
the list’s web based archives at:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/social-policy.html
John Hudson,
social-policy listowner.
|