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Archiver > INCLINTO > 1998-10 > 0908752080


From: "The Rushings'" <>
Subject: [INCLINTO-L] Mailing list
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 1998 18:08:00 -0500


What is it? A compilation of Do's and Don't's for those of us who use
mailing lists and want to use them more effectively for the benefit of all.
Following these rules is just about guaranteed to get your message out to
the people you want to reach, and to do it with a minimum of fuss, time and
inconvenience to others. The listing is a joint effort of several expert
genealogists who have learned the hard way what works and what is most
likely to get results and not
raise the hackles of fellow listees.

Mailing List Rules for All Mailing Lists
DO - read your e-mail before sending it. If it doesn't make any sense to you
it won't make any sense to anyone else.
DON'T - send derogatory comments about others on the list. This is called
'flaming', is rude and disruptive, and can get you kicked off of some lists
for such bad behavior.
DO - remember that the only impression you leave is via your e-mail, so if
you are rude or derogatory in your e-mail, that is the impression others get
of you.
DO - read and SAVE the software-generated welcome message you get when
joining a mailing list. It has important information, such as how to
unsubscribe. Too often people don't read this information and end up sending
e-mail after e-mail complaining about not being taken off a mailing list. If
you unsubscribe properly, you will be unsubscribed automatically with no
fuss.
DON'T - send attachments over a mailing list. This forces (and can
overburden) a listserver to copy that attachment (no matter how large it is)
to -every- member of the list. A server can crash attempting to comply with
such a request. And all list members may not be able to read, use, or WANT
some attachments. The attachment may require special software to view. A
large, unwanted attachment can be too large for someone's personal machine
and foul their e-mail que at their server when their machine will not
download it. Save attachments like word processor and picture files for
PRIVATE e-mail when you know in advance the person wants the attachment and
will be able to use it.
DON'T - reply over the mailing list to someone if the information you are
passing back is not of general interest to most members of the mailing list.
In other words, don't carry on conversations with other parties that is of
no interest to everyone else.
DON'T - put personal information in e-mail. Any personal information about
yourself or others can be used by the unscrupulous to steal from you or
others. Your own identity is precious. Safeguard others' identities, too.
DON'T - put any Social Security numbers in your email. These numbers for
anyone, either living or dead, can be misused the same as personal
information can. This rule should also apply to web pages.
DON'T - reply back to a query and send back the other person's whole e-mail
message. Cut out the portions that are not pertinent to your reply, as you
can. This will save disk space, bandwidth, and message up/download time. An
experienced mailing list user can often be identified by how well (s)he
edits their replies to include only the portions of another's message
required to explain their comments.
DON'T - reply to a message with a "me, too", implying you also agree with
something. NEVER quote entire messages and add "me, too". If you want to
indicate "I would be interested in that information also", reply to the
message privately.
DO - read all of your queued e-mail before responding to someone's e-mail.
Someone else may have already responded just as you want to. This is
especially important if you are rarely able to read your e-mail in a timely
manner. Don't punish others with your answer until you are sure no one else
responded.
DON'T - type your entire message in capital letters. This is considered to
be shouting and rude.
DON'T - send test messages when you think the list may be down. It probably
isn't. And refrain from answering such test messages unless you reply
privately.
DON'T - point out other individuals' spelling errors and/or typos. Some
people may not be able to spell or type as well as you do, and we -all- make
mistakes occasionally.
DO - keep the subject lines succinct and pertinent. That is, do not compose
a subject line so long that it does not display in your mailer's index.
Do not endlessly repeat a subject from reply to reply after the actual
subject of a message thread changes. Do regularly -change- as necessary the
subject lines to reflect what YOUR message is about. Avoid subject lines
like "Looking for information about my grandfather Andrew Jackson GROVE". In
a mailer's index you will never see the pertinent part of that subject line.
All will know you are "looking for ..." so just use "Andrew Jackson GROVE"
as your subject. Never begin your message in the subject line and expect
others to understand your message (Subj: 'Trying to find details on the
family of Meriwether'; Message body: 'LEWIS and the families of other...'
And, finally, avoid listing surnames in the subject line that are never
repeated in the body of the message. Good subject lines make for much better
genealogy mailing list messages!

Mailing List Rules Specifically Pointed To Genealogical Lists
DON'T - send your lookup requests to multiple lists simultaneously. This is
called cross-posting and over-uses server resources, wastes message archive
space, and results in a number of people doing the -same- lookup for you.
DO - give complete locale information: include city, county, state, and
country (when known) in addition to a date, such as: "Married in abt 1823,
Miami Co., OH". If unknown, an estimate will help, such as, "second half of
the 19th century" -or- "probably in Georgia or Alabama"
DO - include some information about what you have already searched.
DO - put all surnames in capital letters for more easily scanning messages
and to distinguish surnames from other words (when there is a question).

****************************************************************************
*
John Gideon
Clan Gordon Pipe Band of Tacoma, Wa.
http://www.oz.net/~piper

Member Board of Directors and Charter Member:
United States Internet Genealogical Society http://www.usigs.org
Researching: Gideon, Ball, McCullah, Keltner, Lawson

****************************************************************************
Thanks, Connie Rushing

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