Hi,
Thanks to everyone who contacted me about job adverts on the list.
Running a seperate list for adverts would be a bit of a headache,
so I'm glad to say that most of the people who responsed wanted
things leaving as they are, and after all Allstat was set up with
the express purpose of broadcasting job vacancies/seminar
announcements/etc.
There was however a sizeable minority who were unhappy about the
volume of mail they were receiving from the list.
To make it easier for people to sort through their mail we do have
a recommended way of setting out the subject lines for your messages,
though unfortunately this is largely ignored. Please stick to the
conventions, they're there to make everyone's life easier.
I've written a short guide to good practice on Allstat (below), it's
by no means exhaustive but I think it should cover the main points.
If anyone has any comments about it I'd be glad to hear them. Also,
if you have any questions that aren't covered by this, the FAQ, or
the Allstat introduction then you know where to find me - the address
is
[log in to unmask]
One last thing, if you are concerned about the amount of mail you get
from Allstat it might be worth getting it in digest form. You can
find further details in the FAQ I sent out last week.
Cheers,
Matt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matt Whiley
Department of Statistics Phone : +44 (0)141 330 6118
University of Glasgow Fax : +44 (0)141 330 4814
[log in to unmask] http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/postgrad
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[log in to unmask] http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/allstat
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GOOD PRACTICE ON ALLSTAT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contents
~~~~~~~~
1) Introduction
2) Is Allstat the best forum for your message?
3) What format should I use to post my message?
4) What should my subject line be?
5) Replying to messages on Allstat
6) Problems
1) Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a intended as only a brief summary, further details can be
found in the Allstat introduction and FAQ. You should always keep
an up to date copy of both the FAQ and introduction to refer to,
they deal with most of the day to day running of the list such as
unsubscribing or suspending mail and should be your first point of
reference if you have any problems or questions about the list.
You can find copies of these files on the Allstat webpage
http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/allstat/
or you can obtain copies by email by sending a message to
[log in to unmask]
containing the lines
send allstat introduction
send allstat faq
stop
Please take the time to read them - it won't take long and they'll
help you to get the most out of Allstat.
2) Is Allstat the best forum for your message?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Think carefully about whether Allstat is the correct forum for your
message. Posting your message to the correct list means your message
will receive the best possible audience and is more likely to illicit
a response, for example, many software package have a dedicated list
that you can post your queries to. A fairly comprehensive list of
alternative lists can be found on the Allstat webpages
http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/allstat/
Also, if your message is likely to provoke debate please post it to a
discussion list - Allstat is intended for broadcasting announcements
only.
If you decide Allstat is the best place for your message then you
should also bear in mind that announcements for courses/seminars/etc
should be sent in good time, and please don't send repeat postings -
anyone interested in your message will read it the first time.
3) What format should I use to post my message?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plain text only! There are a myriad of formats available and the
only one that is standard to all systems and software is plain text.
So please don't use fancy formats such as HTML, and definitely do not
send Word documents. If you want to make a Word document available
either offer to send it on to anyone interested or make it available
to people by FTP.
4) What should my subject line be?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To help people pick out relevant messages your subject line should
*always* start with a keyword, use one of
JOB - jobs or studentships
SEMINAR - seminar announcements
CONFERENCE - conference announcements
COURSE - taught course announcements
WORKSHOP - workshop announcements
ANNOUNCE - other announcements
QUERY - for queries
S/W ADVERT - for a software advert *
BOOK ADVERT - for a book advert *
ADMIN - administration messages (from the list owner)
* The ADVERT categories are only to be used by the list owner, in
forwarding messages from advertisers. See the FAQ and introduction
for details of Allstat's policy on commercial advertising.
You should then supply a meaningful subject line, and where appropriate
you should also include a geographical location. so an example subject
line could be
JOB: Temporary Lectureship, Glasgow University, UK
or
WORKSHOP: CTI Excel Workshop, Coventry, UK
5) Replying to messages on Allstat
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The golden rule:
** Always reply to the sender of the message rather than to the list. **
Sometimes queries are posted to the list that might be of wider interest,
if this is the case then the person who sent in the query is welcome to
post a summary of responses to the list, however responses should still
not be posted to the list.
6) Problems
~~~~~~~~~~~
If you ever have a problem with the list, if you're ever unsure about
whether your message is appropriate for Allstat, if you're ever unhappy
with the way the list is run, or if there's ever something posted to
the list that you have concerns about then you should always contact
the list owner at
[log in to unmask]
After all, that's what list owners are there for. Please don't be
tempted to post your concerns to the list - 3000+ people don't want
to know that you're having problems unsubscribing!
Author : Matt Whiley (05/07/1999)
Any comments/queries to : [log in to unmask]
Allstat Web site : http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/allstat/
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