Protocol and Usage Guidelines

MEMBERSHIP

The student lists provided by the Faculty are a public forum for information distribution, queries and discussion on topics of interest to students of the Faculty. They are provided as a resource to encourage communication flow in an easy and effective way, and they also allow distance students to have a sense of collegiality with fellow students.

Acceptable usage of electronic mail should be observed at all times. Ensure that any postings you make to these lists follow CQUnet Regulations.

The majority of the faculty's student lists have an OPEN membership policy; meaning anyone may join.

Students may find themselves unsubscribed from the list for one of two reasons (1) for an unreliable email address, and(2) for inappropriate use of the list, which can be defined as using the list to completely and utterly waste everybody's time. If a student is unsubscribed from the list by the list-owner, the student may email the list-owner and provide a case why the previous privileges should be reinstated.

ARCHIVES

Miss a message? Has your question already been answered? Check the list archives before posting a query. All mail lists are secured for private viewing by list members only. As long as you are a subscribed member of the list, you will be able to access the Archive link. Goto the mail lists' Listinfo webpage ie http://mailman.cqu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/ and locate your listname. You must use your subscription email address and password (which you would have received in your "Welcome to" email on subscription) to access the archives.

BASIC POSTING RULES AND GUIDELINES

1. No advertising please.

2. Use Descriptive Subject Headers - that way, uninterested people need not open the mail. For example, Ass1: Images Cool Animation Site: WWW.WHATEVER.COM rather than Assignment 1 check this out!

3. Identify who you are trying to reach - if you are trying to reach a specific group, indicate the group first up in the subject header. For example [Bundaberg] Lift to the ISL session? or [Sydney] where to buy cheap Borland compiler

4. Sending to the List or Individual? - does the *list* really need to know, or should you post to an individual? For example, are you responding to a direct request from an individual that the list doesn't really need to know about.

5. Clearly indicate your personal email address - that way, if needed, students can reply to you individually.

6. Don't apologise - unless you've inadvertently said something awful, don't apologise for posts sent to the group in error. That just adds another useless email.

7. Don't criticise - if someone posts something inappropriate, don't compound problems by criticising the post. Send any critical mail direct to the sender.

8. Think before you send - proof read what you have written. Is it totally clear? Could it be misunderstood and offend some students?

9. Use standard 'plain text' email format, prefereably not HTML as this affects how other people can view your message and attachements.

10. When replying to a message, read *all* the incoming mail before you respond to the list and only include relevant text from the original message to allow the sense of your reply to be understood. This way, you find that you are not duplicating response comments and can add constructively to the debate.

11. The default "Reply" for our student lists is to send "to List", so if you wish to reply to only the sender personally, make sure you copy and post the individual's email address into the To: field.

12. Avoid Flame Wars. A flame is an email message which includes aggression. Before you reply to an email on a contentious issue, please wait until you calm down. Make a judicious decision whether you reply to the list or only to the sender. And remember, with email people have to learn to understand that different people express themselves in different ways. Some people use much stronger language than others and because of the lack of physical clues in an email message, the language may be interpreted as being aggressive when in fact it wasn't intended that way.

13. If you use an autoresponder (for example if you go away on holidays), please ensure that you setup the appropriate rules in your email client. Otherwise, you may inevitably cause an endless loop of traffic to the list.

NETIQUETTE

Remember the Human!  The key is to remember that there is, in fact, another humanoid that will, at some point, read your message. Their culture, language and humour may have different points of reference from your own. Be nice and polite. Say hello at the start of your message and sign off at the end. R ules of common courtesy should be applied in any form of communication.  However, when communicating electronically, this becomes doubly important as body language and tone of voice is restricted and must be directed in other forms.

• All care should be taken to ensure that Electronic Mail messages are addressed correctly.

• DON'T SHOUT!  Typing in all capital letters is perceived as shouting.  It's OK to emphasise a word or line in capitals but use the CAPS lock button sparingly.

• Use emoticons, commonly known as smileys  :) or :-) or ;-), when trying to convey a tone of voice.  At times it can be very difficult to determine the attitude of one’s email. Always remember that text is unable to inherit tone, and you, the sender, need to do something in your message to identify your attitude.

• Use symbols for emphasis. eg meeting today at 12:30 with *all* staff to attend.

• Don’t be afraid to reflect your own personality and choices.

• Consider carefully what you write; it's a permanent record and may be forwarded to others.  Ask yourself…will it reflect badly on the University or me personally?

• Write well. Used mixed case, capitals at the beginning of sentences, proper punctuation, etc. Make it simple to read.

• Always include a descriptive subject title for the message.  Electronic Mail items should be able to be located/identified quickly. Think creatively.

• Write concisely and keep it brief.  By keeping your message size to a minimum, you don’t waste bandwidth or server space.

• When replying to a message, include enough original material to be understood but no more. Don't quote back an entire message when only responding to one or two points. Delete the excess and make a note at the very top before starting the quotes.

• Notice who is getting your message. Don’t continue to include all original email recipients (a list full of cc: addresses) in a thread that has become a two-way conversation and is of no interest to the other participants.

• When forwarding messages, always put your comments at the top of the message.

• Never forward a message unless you know it to be true! eg. forwarding information about a new computer virus, that in hindsight is a false virus warning.  It turns out it is just a waste of everyone's time.

• Don't send entire web pages, just the URLs (http's).

• When sending a web site address (URL), always type it in the form of "http://…". Without the "http://" prefix, some email programs will not recognise it as a web link.

• Use Auto-responders with caution.  In the case of mailing lists, consider un-subscribing or setting a "nomail" option (if available), for the period of time you will be absent.

• Keep your Signature small, however ensure to include your contact information – full name, company, title, telephone, fax and email address. Some mailers strip the header information from your original email, which includes your return address.

• Treat email confidentially: If somebody sends you information or ideas by email, you should not take it as a license to post that information in a public forum. Email is one-to-one for a reason. Always assume that email you receive has a big "PRIVATE" sticker on it.

• Always read over your e-mail before you send it. Although e-mail is a more informal method of communication than writing a letter, be sure you make your points clear and concise. Use a spell checker if available.

• Remember that body language, facial expressions and vocal inflections do not travel with Electronic Mail messages, so be aware in composing messages that their contents have the potential to be misconstrued by the recipient.