From: Murat Koc (murat.koc@frontsite.com.tr)
Date: Mon 21 Jul 2003 - 11:40:28 EEST
Selam,
Asagidakileri zamani olan biri Turkceye cevirip bir yerlere koyulursa
veya uye olanlara yollanan welcome mesajina eklenirse genel kurallar
seklinde iyi olabilir sanirim.
Hani su ne kadar zamandir su listelerin kurallari nasil olacak seklinde
olusturdugumuz tartismalara bir sonuc olmasi acisindan da iyi olur.
Gerci bunlar genel kurallar ama listlerin kurallari bu sekildedir diye
belirtebilirsiniz en azindan. Gordugum kadari ile hala boyle bir kural
yapisi olusturulmadi degil mi?
NOT: Asagidakileri biraz toparlamak lazim.
---------------------------1. Bolum-------------------------------------
Save the welcome message that you receive when you join the list (this
same message). It tells you how to subscribe and unsubscribe.
If your mail stops coming, and you haven't unsubscribed, please contact
us and let us know. Response should take no more than a day, although
the average is a few hours.
POSTING
Refrain from sending attachments to the list. They don't always
translate properly. Wherever possible convert your file to a standard
ASCII text file and include it in the mail you are composing.
REPLYING
When you reply to a message, don't include the entire length of the
original message in your post. Take the time to use your delete key and
either select the small part that is pertinent to your letter or
summarize it in your response.
Avoid posting "Me Too" messages, that is, short replies to the whole
list just to say that you agree or had a similar reaction or experience.
It is better to send these by private mail to the original poster. If
you have something valuable to add, then by all means send this to the
list. As a general guideline, the new content in a follow-up post should
exceed the quoted context.
CONTENT & SUBJECT LINE
Label the content of your post in the subject line. If the subject in
your response differs from the one your are replying to, update the
subject line to match your new topic. The form "XXX was YYY" works well
for changing topics.
All mail to XXX should be directly related to the channel. For example,
don't send humor columns, chain letters, other people's inspirational
poetry or any off-topic information to the list, no matter how wonderful
or necessary you may find it. These things occupy valuable space.
BE COURTEOUS
Take care in what you write. Remember many people will read your post
and it will be archived by the SOPs for a very long time.
Consider your audience. Email always sounds harsher than it is because
there are no accompanying gestures or facial expressions.
Try not to give offence or be easily offended yourself. When you make
your points keep your tone polite. Respond to the issues not to the
personal attributes.
AVOID FLAME WARS
Flaming means sending harsh abusive mail. It includes such things as
name calling, public criticism of another member of the group, personal
attacks, baiting, raising issues or responding to posts in a
deliberately inflammatory manner.
Persistent disagreements with another person should be moved to private
email and off of the list.
The best way to stop a flame fest from happening is to ignore the folks
who try to start them. Please notify the SOPs if you feel that the
discussion is getting out of hand or oppressive.
KEEP PRIVATE EMAIL PRIVATE - AND OFF THE LIST
Never repost private email to the mailing list (or any other forum or
media) without permission of the original author. If you have permission
to repost a message or information, please credit the author and show
their email address.
Only send messages to the list that are pertinent to the group as a
whole. Messages such as welcome to the list greetings, plans to get
together, birthday wishes, welcome home messages, and other private
congratulatory messages should be sent by private email. Keep the volume
down and the posts interesting to everyone.
Don't post your phone number or address to the list without
understanding the potential consequences. It is better to send personal
information by private email.
MAKE YOUR MESSAGES READABLE
Capitalize words only to highlight an important point or to distinguish
a title or heading. Capitalizing whole words that are not titles is
generally termed as SHOUTING! *Asterisks* surrounding a word can be used
to make a stronger point. Don't write an entire message in lower case,
either.
Don't send text to this mailing list in mime format. Keep your
formatting set for the lowest common denominator so that everyone can
read it. Limit line length to approximately 65-70 characters and above
55 characters - use your automatic word wrap if available.
Keep the length of your signatures modest. One or two lines is about
right.
---------------------------------2. Bolum ------------------------------
Lists are created to discuss specific topics. Some subscribers love to
chit chat on just about anything; some do not. Listowners try to develop
a balance between the chatterers and the anal-retentive types on any
list. Unless, of course, the owners lean toward AR themselves. <;-)
Most lists send new subscribers welcome messages with list guidelines.
Typically, the guidelines describe the purpose of the list, provide
important commands, and explain how to obtain further information.
Create a mailbox specifically to save guidelines for each list that you
subscribe to.
Take the time to read the guidelines carefully.
I am not kidding.
Pay close attention to the list address for commands and the address for
messages, which are always different.
Send commands to the proper address. Besides being aggravating to list
curmudgeons, it is a waste of Internet resources to send commands such
as "set LIST-L nomail" to 1000s of subscribers.
When replying to messages, be considerate of other people's time by
being brief and to the point.
Including extended passages or the entire prior message will needlessly
clog list archives with repetitions of the same message.
If everyone inconsiderately includes extended passages, it soon becomes
impossible to determine who said what. This problem is exacerbated for
subscribers on digests.
When responding to a previous posting, include the name of the earlier
sender so that readers are oriented to the issue.
Quote only those brief portions of the previous message that are
necessary to make your point.
Never include the entire passage.
Preface your response with something like this:
Jane Doe asked if anyone had experience with using umbilical cord blood
transfusions for....
Write concisely, but not so concisely as to be cryptic, as in this real
example of an entire message posted to a list:
"I agree as this happened to us too."
Some lists have line limits on messages so as to prevent entire passages
(or digests) from being re-posted. MEDLAB-L, for example, has a limit of
100 lines, which includes signatures.
As the Bonnie Raitt tune goes, "Have a heart, oh, have a heart...."
Most lists develop a particular style. As well, lists often have
favorite gurus who are well respected and liked.
To obtain the flavour of a list, lurk for a few weeks before posting a
message. You will discover whether the list encourages or discourages
such practices as off-topic messages or jokes that are unrelated to the
list's focus.
Try to identify whether the list has a resident guru or two. Try not to
go head-to-head with these heavy-weights unless you are into S & M
big-time.
Send messages that conform to a list's stated purpose. If you want to
send an off-topic post, check with the listowner first.
Most lists welcome short continuing education, job, and conference
advertisements but not other types of ads. All that is needed is a brief
introduction and a contact for how to find more information. When in
doubt, ask the listowner.
If others are off-topic, ignore them. Do not send messages of complaint
to the list, as this only prolongs the problem. As MEDLAB-L subscriber
Ed Uthman cautions, the surest way to prolong a dumb topic is to gripe
about it.
If you absolutely must vent about something nutty happening on a list,
be aware that you are being BAD and may suffer consequences.
If you participate, sooner or later you too will say something silly.
The more you post, the greater the odds. Remember the three R's of
public forums: Reflect -- Reflect -- Reflect.
Mailing lists are public forums. However, some copyright restrictions
and common sense limits apply.
Do not say anything you would not want the boss or your worst enemy
(hopefully not the same person) to know.
It is generally considered acceptable to print and distribute copies of
list messages for individual or in-house educational use.
Obtain permission of subscribers before publishing their posts in
newsletters or journals or on other mailing lists.
Also obtain permission from the listowner to re-publish/re-post list
messages.
Be aware that commercial vendors and product representatives belong to
lists as a way of monitoring their markets. For example, diagnostic and
LIS sales representatives subscribe to MEDLAB-L.
If you have a vested interest in a product or service, when replying to
messages that deal with the product or those of a competitor, you should
mention your company affiliation.
If as a client you want to get better service, post a tactful letter
describing a specific problem to a mailing list. Be sure to include a
signature with your facility and location so that the reps can track you
down easily. <8-)
If you complain vociferously, be prepared for possible adverse
consequences. For example, the company may have a quid pro quo agreement
with your laboratory to the effect that promoting the product results in
a better price. Or you may run into unprofessional reps who rat on you
to the boss. If the boss is a also jerk, you may be in trouble. Worst
case scenario for saying something defamatory is a law suit. Remember
the three R's: Reflect3.
Mailing lists are run by automatic mailing list software. These programs
include listserv, majordomo, listproc, and others. A computer, not a
person, distributes the mail. The speed of distribution depends on
Internet traffic and many computers being "up" at the right time.
Listowners serve as backups to the computers and list software.
If you subscribe to mailing lists, do not use automatic responders
(mailbots) ,e.g., programs that send messages such as "Your message has
been opened and read by ..." or "I am away from the office until..."
Does anyone but Mom really care? The automatic list program will
distribute these little suckers to all subscribers, creating an immortal
loop. Listowners will likely get on your case, unless they are total
pussycats (or comatose somewhere out there in cyberspace).
When you go on holidays or will be away from your computer for awhile,
remember to set listserv mailing lists to "nomail" and to unsubscribe
from lists run using other software such as majordomo. Otherwise, you
may get a nasty surprise when you return in the form of 100s (1000s?) of
e-mail messages.
Do not expect messages to be distributed immediately. Some may be
distributed within minutes and others may take hours or overnight.
Do not expect administrative requests to listowners to be answered
immediately. Listowners invariably are volunteers who usually hold
full-time jobs and manage the list during their, ahem, leisure time.
List software and owners often unsubscribe people who have problem
addresses. In such cases mail bounces to the listowner as undeliverable,
whether it has been delivered or not. Sometimes the undeliverable error
messages are sent by the subscriber's Internet Service Provider (ISP)
every few hours for days on end. This can quickly result in 1000s of
error messages being delivered to the owner, who will not be happy!
If you get unsubscribed, do not take it personally.
Try to get your ISP to fix the problem.
Resubscribe and see if it happens again.
If the problem cannot be fixed, resign yourself to being dumped from
lists on a regular basis.
When sending commands, be aware that each line must start with a command
word, as the list software is limited--it only recognizes the words that
it has been programmed to understand.
When sending commands, do not use signatures.
For archive searching on a listserv list (not lists run by majordomo
which has no e-mail search function), start each line with this command
word: SEARCH. If the search line carries to the next line, you need to
break long searches into several smaller ones. When using the GETPOST
command, the same rule applies: always start a new line with GETPOST.
Despite what we see on North American television sitcoms (situation
comedies) such as Seinfeld (now in re-runs) and in some legislative
assemblies, politeness and respect for the opinions of others are
courtesies worth maintaining.
When discussing controversies, try to keep to issues and avoid
commenting on personality. In other words, "Chill out, you idiot!" <8-)
If you make a mistake (e.g., post a private message to the list),
briefly apologize then forget it. Everyone makes mistakes and most
subscribers will empathize with your plight, even as they fall off their
chairs howling.
Similarly, if you inadvertently offend someone, apologize quickly.
If you feel that someone's response to one of your messages is
offensive, take pains to reply generously rather than defensively.
"Taking the high road" will almost always diffuse bad feelings.
Resist taking a difference of opinion personally. Someone not liking
your position or the nutty thing you have done does not mean that they
dislike you.
Never engage in a flame war, roughly defined as a heated exchange that
deteriorates into personal attacks. Have your flame-proof vests ready at
all times.
Never discuss politics, religion, coagulation, health food, or smoking
on any list that doesn't begin with "alt" (alt is short for alternative,
weirdo, voodoo-type stuff).
The Internet facilitates the rapid exchange of vast numbers of messages.
Many people subscribe to multiple lists.
As a general rule, do not forward material from other lists. (If you
must, be sure to include full details of the source.)
Particularly do not forward jokes, as these make the rounds quickly and
tend to get recycled periodically. Hey, did you hear the top 10 reasons
why pathologists make poor father-in-laws? Or the one about the Canuck,
Yank, and Aussie deciding how to use the inverted microscope....
If you discover a related list that subscribers may be interested in,
provide subscribing information so that people can decide for themselves
whether to join.
Try to keep your personal list total to under 5. If you belong to a list
that has more than 50 messages per day, resign from your job and take up
list reading full-time. Start wearing sun shades that hide that glazed
look that is guaranteed to scare small children.
Do not fall for virus hoaxes, urban legends, or chain letters. Visit
these sites:
Computer virus myths and hoaxes
Virus info
Most people are busy and cannot read everything that they would like to.
For example, we choose the scientific articles that we read or the
television that we watch judiciously. The Internet is just one resource
of many. Respect other people's time.
For general information, before you ask on a list, start with
colleagues, the library, standard textbooks, and journals.
Ask specific questions rather than general ones. For example, you are
likely to receive few replies to "Can anyone tell me about distance
education?" or "Gee, what's healthcare restructuring all about?"
Reply to messages only when you have something substantive to
contribute. "Good one, Joan" does not qualify as substantive.
When possible, back your opinions with first-hand experience. Responses
such as, "I have heard that company X offers good service" have minimal
reliability.
Many lists are configured so that REPLY sends responses to everyone on
the list. With this in mind
Send all substantive comments and responses to the entire group.
If your response will be of interest to only one person, e.g., a short
personal message or noting that you had a similar experience ("I agree"
messages), send private e-mail to that person. You may need to type the
recipient's address in the To:line (or to delete the list address).
To prevent embarrassing comments from going to everyone, remember to
check the To: line before hitting the SEND button. ("See you in
Orlando--the room is booked. Hope you bring those sexy black lederhosen
again....")
Develop a habit of checking the To: and Subject: lines before hitting
REPLY.
Many subscribers use Subject: lines to determine if they will bother
reading messages. Subject lines are also useful when searching list
archives.
As a courtesy to colleagues, ensure that the subject line of your
message clearly reflects the content. "Question" doesn't really cut it
as a subject line.
If your message is on a different topic than the original message to
which you are replying, create a new Subject: line.
Do not include words such as "Move to Viagraville for better sex,"
"Doctors--Earn extra $$$ selling Tupperware ," "Discuss Wittgenstein
with naked women!!!," or "Discover your inner Mr. Bean" in Subject:
lines, as many people filter these into the TRASH.
Never leave the Subject: line blank.
Sending attachments to lists is inappropriate. Not all subscribers will
have the originating software (e.g., MS Word, WordPerfect, Powerpoint,
Excel, etc.). Many international subscribers will have ISPs that cannot
receive attachments. Many subscribers are novices who cannot handle
attachments.
Never send attachments to mailing lists.
Send only plain ascii text to mailing lists. If your mail program uses
HTML (hypertext markup language) , MIME, or other coding, turn these
features off.
Before you send your first message to a list, visit this site:
Plain text only
Here you will find instructions on how to configure your mail program to
send only plain text. This is especially important if you are using MS
Exchange or Outlook Express, which are notorious for adding MIME and
HTML coding. If you do not send only plain text, your messages will not
be forwarded to MEDLAB-L, so this is something that you really want to
take the time to find out about.
To share a document with subscribers, copy and paste the plain text into
the body of the e-mail message.
To share files with individual subscribers, specify the program and
version that created it. Then offer to attach it to private e-mail for
those who contact you privately.
The Internet is culturally and politically diverse. Do not assume that
subscribers from Iran, Italy, Peru, Taiwan, or New Zealand will be aware
of the cultural icons, politics, and idioms of North America. Or care,
for that matter.
Keep pop-culture references to a minimum and, if used, explain them. For
example, "Yadda, yadda, yadda!" makes sense only to a Seinfeld viewer.
As in scientific writing, spell out acronyms the first time they are
used. For example, messages full of references to laboratory medicine
acronyms such as CLIA '88, CAP, JCAHO, and HCFA or to ASCP, AABB, NCA,
and CSMLS are unintelligible to most subscribers outside North America.
When referring to local or national issues, present a brief background
context. For example,
"Here in Alberta, Canada medical laboratories are accredited by the
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. Does anyone know how to
interpret the CPSA requirement that specifies...."
For an international perspective, remember that TGIF is TAIT in Saudi
Arabia. (TAIT = Thank Allah it's Thursday.)
Published research papers and letters to the editor always include the
author's place of employment and location. There are three major
reasons:
to identify potential conflicts of interest, e.g., when employees of
companies publish studies favorably evaluating their own products
to help determine the relevance of the study to the reader's workplace
to help assess the credibility of the authors
Similarly, it is helpful as background information for subscribers to
know something about you.
Include your place of employment and e-mail address as a brief
"signature" with your postings. For example, end your messages with your
name and institution as follows:
Pat Letendre (e-mail address goes here)
Medical Laboratory Science
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Canada
To indicate that your comments are not employment-related, use a
disclaimer such as "These words are mine and mine alone" or "These
comments in no way represent the views of my employer, who may or may
not agree with them"
If your employer prefers you not to include a workplace signature, at
least include your geographical location. Avoid acronyms as these mean
nothing to many people. For example, AB is "Alberta" to me, "Alabama" to
an American, and sweet-tweat to most others around the globe.
When you comment on a topic for which you have a vested interest,
disclose the interest whether or not you use a company signature.
Try to keep signatures short, arbitrarily not more than 5-6 lines and
preferably fewer. For War and Peace, most subscribers read Tolstoy. <8-)
Line art is fun, but the Sistine Chapel really does need colour to be
fully appreciated.
Above all, enjoy the information and ideas that are available via
mailing lists. The global sharing of ideas is wonderful.
Most so-called "netiquette" is common sense and good manners. We all
benefit when subscribers keep them in mind.
-- __________ | | | | Murat Koc | | Manager & IT Consultant | FRONT | |==========| FrontSITE Bilgi Teknolojisi A.S. |_____SITE_| http://www.frontsite.com.tr/