GEN: LM_NET Etiquette File (Updated 5-99)

[Peter Milbury <pmilbury@ERICIR.SYR.EDU>]

Dear LM_NET Colleagues,

  Thank you very much for cooperating to make LM_NET a successful, highly
  respected forum  and virtual community!

  The following guidelines have been developed over the past seven years.
  They are the closest thing that we have to rules. The Hospitality
  Committee and the LM_NET moderators (Mike Eisenberg and Peter Milbury)
  expect our guidelines will be honored by all members. Several updates
  have been added since the last posting.

NEW:
   We have added a new guideline which reflects a more liberal approach
toward actively employed school librarians who want to announce a new book
that thay have written. See #9 below.

   We are also working on wording for a guideline that would allow for
writers to solicit information from LM_NET members, as long as they do not
use the message as a promotional tool for their publication, publisher or
themselves.

** Please note the section toward the bottom which is especially
   for vendors, producers, authors, speakers, conference/workshop/
   seminar organizers, consultants, other producers of products, or
   people promoting causes.

  Please see LM_NET On The Web for this document or other information:
  http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/


1. LM_NET has its own character, just like any "real" grouping of people
   (such as a party, or a meeting). The list functions best when people
   respect the character of the list. It's also good to respect the
   differences among list members and have a certain tolerance for our
   individual eccentricities. It is recommended that folks new to the
   group "lurk" awhile, getting a feel for what is appropriate.

2. Please assist us in managing LM_NET by keeping your e-mailbox
   available for incoming messages. Many of our 10,000+ LM_NET
   subscribers have e-mailbox size limits. When the limits are exceeded,
   messages are returned to LM_NET senders. Sometimes hundreds of such
   messages return to LM_NET administration in a day. This means that we
   must drop those persons from LM_NET, a lengthy process, since we
   first have to scan each "bounced" message, and delete it.

3. In the event that you will be changing, dropping or losing your e-mail
   service, please be so kind as to first sign off from LM_NET, to avoid
   having us receive scores of returned messages due to "user unknown".
   The instructions are included at the bottom of each message posted
   to LM_NET.

   Note: Netscape and other graphical mailers may require confirmation.
   Please allow time for the confirmation message to reach you. This
   normally is sent to you immediately after the Listserv receives your
   command.

4. All courses, programs, conference or workshop announcements or
   registrations, as well as surveys, etc., require advance approval
   before posting.  A preferred way (not needing approval) is to
   briefly describe the "item" in the message, and indicate where to
   obtain the form or detailed information (i.e., WWW, phone call, etc).

5. LM_NET has adopted a policy of required identification within all
   messages posted to LM_NET. Please start the habit of including your:
      1. Name   2. Occupation/Job Title/Worksite   3. e-mail address
         Example:
         Jo Booksworth, Librarian
         Best Elementary, Bestville, CA
         JBOOKSWORTH@BEST.K12.CA.US

   If you do not know how to automate this procedure, you may want to
   ask your network manager if there is an automatic way of including a
   signature file in your messages. Most are able to do so.

6. Never post a message to the group which would not be of interest to
   thousands of people. It is considered wasteful of the time of list
   members to be pestered with meaningless (to them) messages which are
   of value only to a small number of people. LM_NET is NOT a newsgroup,
   where people reply to each other routinely posting to the group.

   Please do NOT recommend products, services, or websites unless you
   have personally reviewed or visited them. See also Item # 9, below.
   If a vendor asks you to post a commercial endorsement or message on
   their behalf, please check with the moderator forst. Normally, we do
   not allow such postings.

   Copyright considerations: Please do NOT post messages containing
   content which is under copyright. That includes messages that are
   posted to other online groups. Obtain permission first.

7. All postings over 75 lines long (approximately four screens' length)
   MUST be approved in advance by the LM_NET moderators.

8. If you are using Netscape mail (and perhaps other graphical e-mail
   such as Eudora) to post messages to LM_NET, please turn off the
   "send HTML" feature. It makes your messages arrive in many of our
   mailboxes full of garbled characters, and they are difficult to read.

   Likewise, if you are cutting and pasting files from word processors
   that create HTML, please turn off that feature when creating your
   messages for LM_NET.

9. Commercial messages, chain letters, virus warnings, stumpers etc.

   Chain letters or messages requesting mass mailings to other addresses
   are strictly forbidden. So are unsolicited commercial postings (plus
   notices about the "Craig Shergold postcard request" or the "Good Times
   Computer Virus" -- Internet legends.) Please review our Frequently
   Asked Questions (FAQ), posted twice monthly before asking "stumper"
   questions (i.e., for the three -gry ending words), or undocumented
   virus alerts.

   If in doubt, please check with one of the LM_NET owners before posting
   "alarming" warnings or "stumpers" to the group.
   Owners:  pmilbury@ericir.syr.edu or mike@ericir.syr.edu

   Quasi-commercial consideration:

   We do allow for leeway when a school library media professional, who
   is currently employed in a school, district or academic position,
   would like to announce a book that they have published. Please feel
   free to post a very brief message with a very brief description.
   We suggest including: the Title, (co-author(s)), Publisher, Date of
   Publication, ISBN, price (if known), URL  to publishers website for
   more information.

10. Be sure of the To: address you have typed. Did you intend it for all
   LM_NET members to read? Or were you sending a command to the listserv
   to set NOMAIL, SIGNOFF, DIGEST, etc.? The listserv address for
   changing your settings) is: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU

11. To post to LM_NET, send to:  LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU

   Think before you post. Do I really want to say this to the entire
   world (and have it posted to the LM_NET Archives as well?) Reread
   what you wrote. Did you really say what you intended to? Once a
   message is sent, it can't be retrieved. Sending to the individual
   or to the entire group is an important consideration.

   Normally, please send information only to the individual person who
   requested it. If they receive a lot of replies, they will probably
   post them to the group. Please use our Target/Hit procedure to
   gather information, and share later with the group.

12. In the event that you have additional information to add to
   someone's posting, we recommend that you NOT respond to the group
   UNTIL after you have read through the rest of the mail for the day.
   Maybe the question has already been answered, and you will save us
   all a lot of time in not having to read it again.

13. When replying to an LM_NET message, please do *not* include the entire
   message quoted. Paraphrasing or quoting selectively are both kinder to
   people's eyes and e-mail boxes and it is also kinder to persons with
   CTS or tendonitis. Brevity saves money for those who are paying for
   their time online.

   Especially for those receiving the LM_NET in Digest form: If you use
   the reply option, be sure that you change the Subject: line to
   indicate the section or subject that you are replying to. Also,
   please do NOT include the entire digest in your reply.

14. Be extremely careful when replying to the sender of an LM_NET
   message. Many e-mail systems will automatically send your reply to
   the entire list of LM_NET members if you simply use a reply command.
   When an individual asks a question that you can answer, just send it
   to the individual who posted the original message to which you are
   responding. Imagine how it would feel to have a very "personal" or
   revealing message read by thousands of people!

15. Requests for information: LM_NET has developed a policy of sending
   information privately to the requester. The requester then summarizes
   to the list. This can cut down on traffic, but it tends to reduce the
   "give and take" that some lists value. See the LM_NET TARGET/HIT--
   information for the LM_NET policy, in the "Welcome to LM_NET" message
   you received.

16. If you send a message to all members stating that you have received
   the answer that you asked, even if not a Target/Hit, please include
   the information you received, so that it can be checked by others (just
   in case your information is wrong, and can be corrected).

11. Please include a subject line in your postings (a good idea for ALL
   e-mail). The LM_NET "Welcome" document has a list of highly recommended
   subject headings. The use of these headings allows members to
   efficiently handle the high number of postings to the group each day.

17. Long signatures are discouraged. They may be humorous the first time,
   but get old quickly (and take up valuable net bandwidth and computer
   space). Some folks tire of the time spent having to skim over them.
   2-5 lines should be sufficient to include any necessary information.

18. Flames: a "flame" is an emotionally charged posting, and is often
   directed at an individual who has posted to the group. Be sure you
   really want to post it, and remember that LM_NET does not tolerate
   flames. We will immediately drop members posting rude, inflammatory or
   grossly inappropriate messages.

   Note: This guideline includes private e-mail sent in response to
         to something that an LM_NET member has posted. It doesn't
         matter if you send the rude message to someone in private. If
         you reply to an LM_NET posting, please remember to be polite
         and civil.

19. To signal humorous intent, use some sort of "smiley", such as :-).
   Facetiousness and sarcasm can be misunderstood easily in electronic
   communication. (See Arlene Rinaldi's excellent Netiquette Guidelines:
   <http://www.fau.edu/netiquette/net/>

20. Please be considerate of others. Through inexperience or limited local
   software, list members may inadvertently violate these guidelines. A
   private message to the offender from an experienced friend or from the
   list owners is more appropriate than a public flame. Our LM_NET
   Hospitality Committee may have already contacted the person regarding
   the inappropriate posting.

21. Keep each line in your message shorter than 70 characters. Longer
   lines can cause problems with some e-mail systems. Before sending,
   check your message for typos and other errors that may make it hard
   for others to read or understand. Hot tip: USING ALL CAPS IS
   CONSIDERED YELLING. Save this style for a special occasion.

22. Please participate! Your ideas are important. Just because you think
   everyone knows something doesn't mean they do. If you're not sure, send
   the posting to an experienced friend on the list (or the list owner) to
   see if the information may be valuable.


 * *  VENDORS, AUTHORS, WORKSHOP SPONSORS, PUBLIC RELATIONS FOLKS, ETC.:

   The following section is especially for producers, authors, speakers,
   plus conference, workshop, or seminar organizers, consultants, and
   other vendors of products or people promoting causes. Actively
   employed school library media professionals are allowed to announce
   their publications (See #9 above.)

23. Posting commercial messages without the prior approval of the list
   owners is prohibited and will not be tolerated. Violators will be
   dropped from LM_NET immediately. If producers, or any list member, are
   uncertain of the appropriateness of a message to be posted, they
   should feel free to contact one of the LM_NET owners.

   School librarians who have published books are given leeway to
   announce their book publications. See #9, above.

   Please note: An excellent, more appropriate avenue to reach educators
   with commercial announcements exists through EL-ANNOUNCE
     To subscribe to EL-ANNOUNCE, simply send an email message to:
     El-Announce-request@cuenet.com
     In the message area, write: subscribe EL-ANNOUNCE
     (It is unnecessary to include your name, just the e-mail address.)
       Website:  http://www.cmc.net/~elann/
       Write: EL-Announce Moderator:  elann@cmc.net

24. You should feel free to engage in general theoretical discussions
   about the list topic, but should refrain from turning their replies
   into commercials for your own products or causes. Your signature file
   should not contain commercial promotions either (i.e., "See our Web
   page for our latest specials.")

25. If a user posts the question "I'm looking for a program that does
   X, Y, and Z", it is OK to reply directly to the individual. If a
   member posts the question "Does anyone have information about program
   X?", the producer of program X should send information directly to
   that person by e-mail rather than posting the information to the list.
   If the person finds value in your product, they will probably share
   their pleasure with the other LM_NET members.

26. Producers should not cold-contact LM_NET members as a result of
   obtaining their e-mail addresses from LM_NET postings, or from the
   LM_NET members list, or from the LM_NET Archives. Those that do so
   will be dropped from the list, and their lack of etiquette will be
   publicized on LM_NET. This is not the place to build a customer list.

27. Producers should avoid negative comments about their competitors'
   products.

Virtually,

Peter Milbury   (PMILBURY@ERICIR.SYR.EDU)
Michael Eisenberg <mbe@u.washington.edu>

See LM_NET On The Web:  http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/

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To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to:
 listserv@listserv.syr.edu         In the message write EITHER:
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
    All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to:
 listserv@listserv.syr.edu         In the message write EITHER:
 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
 3) SET LM_NET MAIL  * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv
 For LM_NET Help & Archives see:  http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
    All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to:
 listserv@listserv.syr.edu         In the message write EITHER:
 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
 3) SET LM_NET MAIL  * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv
 For LM_NET Help & Archives see:  http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=