Dear SLIS list members, Welcome to our new subscribers! This document is a review some of the issues and questions that often come up relating to SLIS list subscriptions. Please familiarize yourself with these guidelines and with the general process of managing your subscription. Most will find that list membership will not pose much of a burden and hopefully will provide you with a forum to both get to know SLIS faculty and students, and to discuss issues of interest. As the list owner, I try to administer this list in a way that is consistent with my understanding of the School's goals and objectives for it. While our list is not a moderated one in the strict sense, I do reluctantly take on that role if needed. I ask for your cooperation in keeping this virtual space running as well as it can given that there are differing perspectives about it.Here are responses to some of the most frequently asked questions about the SLIS discussion list:
1) What is the purpose of the list?
The SLIS listserv is intended to provide a channel of open communication between
the administration, faculty, students, and interested alumni about our program,
our profession, and other topics of interest. In addition to its important role
as a way to distribute important reminders (such as when degree cards are due,
a class has been added or cancelled, etc.), the list is also seen as a means
to create and foster a virtual student community and serve the needs of that
community. My personal philosophy (which is generally supported by the administration)
is that the community building part of the list mission is centered around the
needs of current students (which can include an interest in finding a job).
Also as more of our students engage in distance learning, having a virtual version
of something akin to the student lounge is useful and important to engage everyone
in the community of the school. If one is on campus and drops in on those conversations,
you would find they are sometimes quite serious, sometimes frivolous, sometimes
funny, and sometimes not; the listserv community's conversations are similar
in scope and range.
2) Who can join the listserv?
The SLIS discussion list is a private list; all subscription requests are forwarded
to me as list owner. Our criteria are simple: all current students, full-time
and part-time faculty, and alumni of the school are welcome.
3) Do I need to use a UK mail account for this subscription?
No, you may subscribe from any reliable email provider that you find convenient
to use. However, note that while hotmail, etc is ok to use, I do see more messages
bounce from those free portal accounts than others, but generally, as long as
you are getting the mail, any account is fine.
4) Is this a "moderated" list?
Not in the formal sense; see items below.
5) Am I required to subscribe to the SLIS discussion list?
You are in the sense that you are held accountable for any information the school
may distribute via the list. The administration will use the list as a vehicle
to announce School events and remind you of important deadlines, such as when
degree cards are due. Students who decide not to join or who sign off while
still in the program do so accepting the possible adverse consequences of missing
out on information that may be distributed only in this way.
6) Does this mean I have to read every message posted to the list?
Certainly not. Just as one can quickly screen home snail mail and separate the
important bills from the "junk", you should manage your subscription
to match your interests and time. The delete key is your friend; use it freely.
Important announcements or reminders from the administration are always clearly
labeled as such in the subject line, the rest can be deleted as you see fit.
7) What is considered appropriate content for SLIS list discussions?
This comes up every semester and in general, our commitment to intellectual
and academic freedom implies that the school does not mandate what topics are,
or are not, appropriate to the list, except in cases where posts violate stated
list policies (see below). Some complaints occasionally surface that a particular
topic seems to have little to do with "library and information science".
Generally my response (to paraphrase an observation that others have made in
response to this issue), is that any topic a member of LIS community finds of
interest by definition becomes a "library and information science"
topic. While the main thread of our connection to each other is based on our
common affiliation with the UK SLIS program, discussions will by their very
nature spread out and overlap with other areas; politics, personal opinion,
humor, etc. will all be expressed here. As list owner, I very rarely intervene
in the range of topics that might come up except in cases where there has been
clear abuses of list privileges. The list is generally self-regulating; this
is, if a topic is not of interest to others, it generally fades away fairly
quickly.
8) Are there boundaries to what is considered "acceptable behavior"
on the list?
Yes, certain behaviors are not considered appropriate; this would include personal
attacks or flaming of an individual and the use of offensive language or name
calling. Since list membership is essentially mandated, behavior or language
that is blatantly offensive or that can create a hostile environment for any
group of list members, will result in a personal note from the list owner asking
for a change in approach; if problems continue, list membership can be suspended.
I suppose I would think in terms of how we would choose to act in most public,
professional settings. While we might choose to use certain language within
a small group of friends who know us and the context of our remarks, I think
most would consider possibly modifying their choice of words in a different
context such as in a classroom setting. Note that this does not imply any prohibition
against the expression of strong opinions, just that we make sure that differences
of opinion are expressed in a manner that is respectful of the people we disagree
with.
9) What about humor?
Always important! However, keep in mind the general boundaries of good taste.
Also, posts that deride or demean any group, even if done under the guise of
humor or stimulating serious discussion, are not appropriate. While accepting
the notion that all speech (even offensive speech) is protected in our society,
the school, and by extension, the listserv, like most workspaces, also operates
under a mandate to provide, as much as possible, a comfortable environment for
all to work and study in. Note too that while part of the fun of some humorous
posts might be to have everyone "in" on the joke, if the exchange
really is just an inside joke among several people, consider the use of a group
entry in your mailer for your friends and use it instead of the list. Always
use the subject line appropriately when posting and replying to humorous items
so those not interested can delete them quickly. While I've enjoyed many of
these exchanges and gotten to know people in new ways through them, use your
good judgement about when a thread has run it's course and when it's time to
let it go.
10) What is meant by the "netiquette" of discussion lists?
Essentially this refers to how we relate to others on the list and the special
communication issues that can come up in this medium. It can include simple
things like not using ALL CAPS in a message (it looks like you're shouting)
as well as more complex issues such as how easy it is to misinterpret an email
message and assume a tone or attitude that was not intended. Once this kind
of miscommunication gets started, it can quickly escalate, especially with a
medium where you can almost instantly respond in the heat of a moment. As mentioned
earlier, treating all posters with respect is expected and required. If you
are upset about something and have crafted an immediate reply, my advice would
be to go for a walk or make a cup of tea, and then come back and read your response
again before sending. Ask yourself: could my note be misinterpreted? Could what
I've written be hurtful to an individual or the community of the school? Am
I over reacting? What are the real issues I want to address? As noted, personal
attacks will always generate a direct note from the list owner asking for a
change in approach; persistent violation of the "no flaming" rule
will result in loss of list membership.
11) Are "personal" announcements considered OK?
Generally, yes. If someone is trying to sell their old textbooks to new students,
looking for car pooling partners, looking for a baby-sitter, etc. the list can
be helpful. However, although it has never come up, we would discourage blatant
commercial uses of the list (such as routine "ads" for some personal
business venture or service). If a message is really only of interest to one
other person or just a few people, please communicate directly with them and
not the whole list. You can easily create an address book entry for your friends,
class study group, etc. and restrict your message to just them, unless it is
really something you want everyone to know.
12) Is it ok to broadcast a message to the list just to reach one individual?
The routine posting of messages aimed at one individual simply because you don't
know their email address is discouraged; if there are compelling reasons to
use the list in this way, please be sure to at least use the subject line to
alert others so they can delete it immediately.
13) Is it possible to accidently reply to the whole list?
Yes. Our assumption is that a reply to a list post is generally of interest
to everyone, so the list is set up to facilitate this by making the default
reply go back to the list. The result is you can accidently reply to the list
with a personal note you intended for just one person; it is your responsibility
to ensure that you are replying as you intend. Remember that after you've opened
a message, it will often look like it came directly from the poster to you,
so be sure to check the full mail header before hitting reply to avoid unintentionally
replying to the entire list.
14) How much email should I expect from this list?
It will vary, but by most email list standards, we are fairly low volume. Sometimes
there are complaints about the "excessive" amount of mail on our list.
What is "excessive" is often in the eye of the beholder and impacted
by how busy one is at the time, what kind of mood one is in, how many other
lists they are on, etc. When someone complains that they get a "ton"
of messages from the list, that is a very subjective assessment; I'll sometimes
go back and actually count how many messages were sent that qualified as a "ton"
and find it is rarely more than 6 - 10 in any given day, and usually not every
day, over a relatively short period. I prefer a feeling of openness on the list
rather than a situation where I (or someone else) direct what is appropriate
or create a situation where students self-censor out of concern that they are
overusing the list. As information specialists, we should take on the challenge
of managing our own "information overload" issues; while there are
some technical solutions such as using email client software effectively to
filter messages, most of the solution will be personal filtering of what we
need to know and what we don't. And by the way, most of us will continue to
deal with these issues throughout our careers.
15) I've noticed that some of the list messages, like job announcement or
political commentary, aren't of interest to me. Can't we create separate discussion
lists for these topics such as one for job posts, one for "official"
administrative announcements, one for social events, one for politics, one for
LIS issues, one for class announcements, etc., etc.?
No. Really, this is for several reasons. First, the whole idea of the SLIS list
is to have one place where all these discussions can take place, instead of
fragmenting the list into multiple ones that reach just a fraction of the student
body. Second, not to be flip about this, but list ownership is a somewhat time
consuming administrative task and multiplying the number of lists I manage is
not an option.
16) What about job posts?
Since our primary audience consists of current students who are often very focused
on job seeking, job announcements to the list are OK. I realize that these are
not of great interest to faculty and alumni who have remained on the list, but
they are of interest to the majority of current students. However, please note
that we've tried to reduce the number of job posts to the list by creating a
"virtual job board" on our web site at http://www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/SLIS/students/joblist.htm,
which is updated regularly by CAIT student assistants. If you have a job announcement,
we prefer that you send it directly to me (jbmill00@uky.edu)
for inclusion on the web page as opposed to posting individual jobs announcements
to the list.
17) What about attachments - are they ok?
Generally, we ask that you do not send attachments to the list. Attachments
take up more disk space on mail systems and also are the way that many different
viruses are spread. One exception to this guideline is that there may be specific
times when the administration needs to send out a document to everyone in some
special format. But other than that, posting attachments should be avoided.
If you have a special document to share, you can post a message asking people
to mail you directly to request it or consider creating a personal web site
where it could be downloaded. Also, the school would never send out any kind
of executable file on the list, so if you ever receive one, I recommend deleting
it immediately.
18) What about viruses - can I get one through the list?
It is possible but generally only through an attached file. And even then, it
is usually only a problem if you are not running current antivirus software.
File extensions to be VERY wary of include: .exe, .com, .cmd, .vbs, .vbe, .js,
.pif, .scr, and .bat, to name a few. I would never open any file with these
extensions, since all can pass virus programs. As a matter of "safe computing",
you should always be running updated antivirus software on your computer. Note
that the McAfee antivirus is available for FREE to students from the UK download
site (download.uky.edu) so there is really
no excuse not to have antivirus protection. Speaking of viruses, remember that
there are also many virus hoaxes, and related to this, there are also many "urban
myths" that are promoted on the Internet. If you have some virus or other
report you want to share please take some time to check it out before spreading
misinformation via the list using one of the many web sites for checking out
virus hoaxes and urban myths. Remember that you are posting to a group of information
professionals who will challenge any misinformation!
19) Should I update subject lines?
Yes! Remember when you reply to a post the subject line stays the same. Eventually,
that subject line does not reflect the changing direction the discussion thread
has taken. Update the subject line in any reply so others can quickly tell if
the message is of interest or not.
20) What about "styled" text?
This is OK, but can create problems for those with older email systems. Email
is a text only environment, but most email clients now allow you to enhance
your text with style features (colored text, links, different fonts, etc) using
the same mark up techniques used for web pages (HTML). People with older email
clients that can not use this feature will end up with a message that shows
them both your text and the HTML markup, which may be hard for them to read.
Because of this, I usually send messages to lists as plain text only.
Here's a quick overview of some of the major points above as general DOs and DON'Ts:
SLIS listserv membership is expected of all current students. Like many of the technologies we use, there is a cost (your time, etc), but hopefully the benefits of being part of the community of the school, getting important announcements instantly, etc. outweigh those costs for most of us. Please do not hesitate to send questions or concerns about the SLIS list directly to me as list owner (jbmill00@uky.edu) or to Director Sineath (tsineath@uky.edu).
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