Hi, MG-ED-DV Subscribers,
My name is Ira Pasternack, and I am the managing partner of Clearly
Internet, an Internet Training and Consulting Company. We are based in NY
City and on the Net, offering in-person and online services. For more
information, you can check out our Web Site at
<http://www.clearlyinternet.com>. There, you can find information about
our online course "Using the Internet as a Business Tool", our e-mail
mailing list called the "Marketing Tip of the Day", and other services.
Besides the brief intro above, I am writing to tell you about a checklist I
have developed which is used to help people effectively participate in
e-mail mailing lists. I am posting the checklist in response to Patricia
Read-Hunter's comments about replacing the standard list welcome message.
I don't know that my checklist can replace the welcome message, but I
definitely think it is complimentary. To date, it has been posted to
numerous mailing lists, and has been used in several academic and
commercial courses.
You can also find the checklist on the Internethics Web site,
<http://www.internethics.org/>. Internethics is an organization devoted to
encouraging ethical conduct by businesses on the Net.
I would appreciate any and all comments on the content of the checklist, as
well as any ideas for increasing the distribution.
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Checklist For Participating in Mailing Lists
Version 1.0
by Ira M. Pasternack (
ira@clearlyinternet.com)
The following checklist consists of 11 questions which you can use to help
yourself make positive contributions to the community which makes up an
e-mail mailing list (list server) you belong to. A significant part of the
list will help you verify that messages you send to the mailing list are
appropriate. The list was written because some messages posted to many
lists are off-topic, unnecessarily long, or simply written in a fashion
that the point is not effectively expressed. Also, some of the items on
the checklist are designed to encourage civil discourse, as opposed to
personal attacks (flames) which occur from time to time on many lists.
If you already are an experience user of mailing lists and/or you already
understand the items on this checklist, you can just read over the
checklist from time to time, as a reminder. If you are new to mailing
lists, or if the ideas on this checklist are new to you, you should review
the checklist before you send any message to the list, until you are
comfortable with the ideas.
This checklist is a generic list, which could be used by participants on
any mailing list. Because every list has its own policies and standards,
this checklist may need to be modified for use with some mailing lists. If
you would like to modify the list, please contact Ira Pasternack at
<
ira@clearlyinternet.com>.
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Questions to ask oneself before posting a message to a mailing list:
1. Is the message being sent TO the appropriate destination (the whole list
vs. one or more selected individual(s))?
2. Is the subject line descriptive of my message?
3. Have I included only enough of any past message that my message refers
to so that other list members know what I am referring to?
4. Is my message as brief as possible, and have I referred interested
parties to a web site or other method of getting additional information (or
offered to send more information via e-mail for those who want it)?
5. Have I attempted to express appreciation to list members who have made
a useful contribution to the list?
6. If I have disagreed with someone else's ideas, have I attempted to avoid
a personal attack against them?
7. Have I attempted to ignore or defuse anything which I consider a
personal attack against me?
8. Does my message say something more than "me too" - does it say *why* I
agree, give another example of the point being made, or in some way add to
the message?
9. Have I offered to summarize the replies to any question I asked?
10. Have I signed the message, and included my e-mail address in the body?
11. Did I proofread the message?
Copyright 1996, Ira M. Pasternack. All Rights Reserved.
Permission is hereby granted to reproduce this document in electronic
format, as long as it is maintained in its entirety, including this notice,
and no fee is charged to the user.
============
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ira M. Pasternack (
ira@clearlyinternet.com) Phone: (212)274-0777
Managing Partner - Clearly Internet Fax: (212)253-4041
Performance Improvement Through Internet Training and Consulting
Send E-mail to
CI@mailback.com for a *Free* Report:
"Using the Internet as a Business Tool"
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http://www.clearlyinternet.com/ >=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=