OCTOBER REVIEW OF THE GP-UK LIST (01/10/98)
** SPAM **
Mailbase make considerable efforts to ensure that "Spam" messages don't
get as far as the GP-UK list. They constantly monitor membership and
messages to reduce spamming to a minimum, but occasional messages get
through. As list-owners, we report any instances to them for action.
In the event of a "Spam" message reaching the list our advice to you is
to ignore it. If you acknowledge receipt there is a risk that your
email address will be added to their database and you will receive
further unwelcome messages in the future.
** A WORD OF WARNING **
MEMBERS ARE ADVISED TO CONSIDER COMMENTS POSTED TO GP-UK TO BE
IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
We wish to remind you that GP-UK is an open list. This means that any
opinion you express *will* be read by members who are not members of
the medical professions. Messages posted in GP-UK are archived (see
below) and are, in effect, permanent - once you have posted a message
it cannot be withdrawn.
While the vast majority of messages are not contentious, some may expose
the author, or others, to risk. In this environment, members should be
aware of the risk of breaches of confidentiality, and of the possibility
that other list members may seek to profit from the content of messages
posted in GP-UK. We would like to think that GP-UK members will not take
advantage of each other, but the nature of the Mailbase server means
that we cannot vet the membership.
In particular, members should remember that messages may:
a) leave them vulnerable to legal action in a way that normal
conversation would not, and
b) leave them open to adverse reporting in the press.
THINK BEFORE YOU POST!
LIST DESCRIPTION
GP-UK facilitates discussion on new ideas, research, workshops,
seminars, conferences, grants, education, software development etc. for
the UK General Practice (Family Medicine) community. Non-UK views are
also welcome. GP-UK intends to promote collaborative work, problem
solving and support.
BACKGROUND
GP-UK was founded in 1994 and now has over 650 members. It offers a
forum for a wide range of discussions including current treatment
debates (e.g. the MMR 'scare'), rigorous examination of government
policy initiatives, and issues of practical concern such as practice
organisation and computing. Although based on UK general practice there
are members from over 30 countries worldwide.
Membership includes academics, educational tutors, ordinary general
practitioners, practice nurses, pharmacists, GP computer suppliers
and NHS managers. It is a 'neutral' and 'value-free' meeting place.
Discussions on the list have led to the founding of organisations
(e.g. the British Healthcare Internet Association) and the establish-
ment of e-mail lists and research projects. It is an example of how
the worlds of the academia, business and government can meet.
It has also been the subject of research into Internet learning
environments and has been found to be a success in this respect.
GP-UK is the most active family practitioner list in the world. List
traffic often exceeds 1000 messages per month (see below) and messages
to the list are regulary quoted by the academic journals and general
practice magazines.
NETIQUETTE REMINDER
Members are reminded that this is an "academic" list and should not be
used for personal or commercial messages. Abuse of this rule may result
in removal of the offender from the list.
Replies are set to gp-uk automatically. If replying personally to the
author please use email, not gp-uk. If using commands (see below) send
them to mailbase, not gp-uk.
When replying to messages members should avoid repeating large chunks
of redundant text from earlier messages (note that this is the default
option on some e-mail programs and your setup may need to be changed).
In particular, members are discouraged from repeating entire paragraphs
of earlier messages only to add the words 'I agree' or 'yes' and
similar 'me-too' comments in order to support a line of argument. If
repeating parts of earlier messages is essential, members should be
careful that there is no ambiguity in the way quoted messages are
attributed, as this can cause serious upset.
Brevity is appreciated: please keep messages below 10K where possible.
For this reason plain ASCII text is the preferred message format:
please avoid formatted messages e.g. html and MS Word format (note that
they are the default format of some e-mail programs and this option
may need to be changed in your e-mail client). Large graphics or other
binary files should be transmitted privately upon request rather than
directly to the gp-uk list.
GP-UK is a tolerant community and it is rare for serious disagreements
('flames') to occur. If you find yourself in such a situation, and wish
to continue the argument, please resort to personal e-mail, rather than
continuing the argument on GP-UK. This is one of the rare occasions on
which the list-owners may intervene in the conduct of GP-UK. Offenders
will be e-mailed privately at first. As a last resort, offenders will
be removed from the list.
Uncollected mail bounces and generates much unnecessary traffic. If you
go away for over a week please use the suspend gp-uk command (see below)
or you may be removed from the list. If you find you have been removed
please don't take it personally; simply rejoin using the join gp-uk
command (see below).
MAILBASE COMMANDS
Commands are entered into the body of an email message. The subject of
the email message is left blank. Substitute items in angle brackets with
your own details. Add "stop" at the end of the message to prevent
Mailbase from interpreting your signature as a series of commands. For
instance, if John Smith were to subscribe to gp-uk his message would
read:
join gp-uk john smith
stop
To enhance your use of gp-uk a number of commands are available. They
must be sent to mailbase and not GP-UK, i.e.:
mailto:[log in to unmask] and NOT to [log in to unmask]
To join gp-uk:
join gp-uk <firstname> <surname>
To leave gp-uk permanently:
leave gp-uk
To suspend mail temporarily e.g. when you go on holiday:
suspend mail gp-uk
To resume mail on your return:
resume mail gp-uk
To obtain a detailed guide to using mailbase lists like gp-uk:
send mailbase user-guide
To obtain the gopher tutorial:
send mailbase gopher-tutorial
To obtain our introduction file (sent automatically to all new members):
send gp-uk introduction
To obtain a list of the current membership of gp-uk
review gp-uk
To obtain details collated from questionnaires submitted by gp-uk members:
send gp-uk subscribers
WEB PAGES
** The PHCSG and GP-UK web pages are available at:
http://www.schin.ncl.ac.uk/phcsg/phcsg_home.htm
http://www.schin.ncl.ac.uk/gpuk/gpuk_home.htm
** The Mailbase web pages are available at:
You can access our Mailbase page by clicking on "GP-UK archives"
in the "Access to GP-UK files" section of the GP-UK web site
(URL given below). Alternatively, and more simply, just check out
this URL:
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists-f-j/gp-uk/
** For more detailed advice on how to use Mailbase lists try:
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/docs/guidelines.html
ACCESSING ARCHIVES
Other files associated with the list may be located and retrieved using
the anonymous FTP service at:
ftp://ftp.mailbase.ac.uk /pub/mailbase/lists/gp-uk
or more easily via the World Wide Web:
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists-f-j/gp-uk/
PROBLEMS
You can contact all the list owners simultaneously at:
mailto:[log in to unmask]
CURRENT ATTRIBUTES
For this list non-members may:
- Subscribe direct
- Contribute mail
- Request review
- Request files
This list is not moderated.
Contributions to this list are archived for one year.
Replies are sent to the list rather than to the message-sender.
LIST TRAFFIC AND MEMBERSHIP
Month Messages (avg/day) Members
May 95 118 (4.5) 142
Jun 95 310 (8.6) 155
Jul 95 170 (6.1) 179
Aug 95 133 (4.2) 196
Sep 95 170 (6.1) 237
Oct 95 353 (11.0) 262
Nov 95 479 (16.5) 304
Dec 95 375 (11.4) 311
Jan 96 375 (12.5) 317
Feb 96 675 (21.8) 346
Mar 96 875 (30.2) 372
A/M 96 1299 (21.3) 394
Jun 96 806 (25.2) 446
Jul 96 619 (21.3) 438
Aug 96 737 (23.8) 443
Sep 96 845 (25.6) 457
Oct 96 692 (22.3) 469
Nov 96 745 (27.6) 482
Dec 96 855 (27.6) 504
Jan 97 742 (21.8) 515
Feb 97 577 (22.2) 545
Mar 97 695 (20.4) 570
Apr 97 725 (26.9) 582
May 97 721 (23.3) 574
Jun 97 979 (32.6) 573
Jul 97 1043 (33.6) 566
Aug 97 859 (25.3) 560
Sep 97 580 (22.3) 558
Oct 97 710 (22.2) 569
Nov 97 584 (20.1) 587
Dec 97 911 (26.8) 606
Jan 98 1101 (39.3) 622
Feb 98 1112 (39.7) 634
Mar 98 1378 (44.5) 645
Apr 98 1702 (50.1) 653
May 98 1055 (39.1) 654
Jun 98 1673 (54.0) 650
Jul 98 1616 (53.9) 668
Aug 98 1337 (43.1) 687
Sep 98 1842 (61.4) 676
There are currently 682 members. The list is now too long to publish
regularly on gp-uk, but membership details may be obtained using the
Mailbase commands or via hot links from our home page (see above).
We invite all subscribers to complete our simple questionnaire: details
will be collated and uploaded to the subscribers file. Please clip out
and return your completed proforma to:
mailto:[log in to unmask]
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QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Name:
2. Snailmail Address:
3. Tel:
4. Fax:
5. Email Address:
6. Description: e.g. GP, academic title, managerial/commercial post ?
7. If GP: which clinical software system ?
8. If academic: research interest ?
9. If managerial/commercial: area of responsibility ?
10. Special interests: e.g. clinical coding, EMR, messaging etc. ?
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--
Dr Ian Trimble http://www.sherwood.demon.co.uk/
Sherwood Health Centre
Elmswood Gardens Tel: +44 115 962 4516
Nottingham NG5 4AD Fax: +44 115 985 7899
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