InfoTec Travel Posting Guidelines
Marcus L. Endicott (mendicott@igc.apc.org)
Tue, 12 Mar 1996 04:57:55 -0800
/* Written 8:28 AM Feb 19, 1996 by mendicott in igc:infotec.travel */
INFOTEC TRAVEL POSTING GUIDELINES
Version: 96.02.19
Copyright (C) 1996 M.L. Endicott <mendicott@igc.apc.org>
All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
===========================================================
InfoTec-Travel
Contact: mendicott@igc.apc.org
Purpose: InfoTec-Travel is a moderated internetwork
electronic mailing list dedicated to the exchange of
information about information technology in travel and
tourism worldwide.
To subscribe, send email to
majordomo@igc.apc.org
and in the body of the message put
subscribe infotec-travel
Last change: Sep 95
===========================================================
Contents
--------
Disclaimer
Moderation
Message Priority At A Glance
Appropriate Messages
Inappropriate Messages
Subject Lines
Rejected Messages
Private Messages
Multimedia Messages
Mailing List Deletion
Disclaimer
----------
The InfoTec Travel mailing list is a non-profit, voluntary
community service. Subscription to InfoTec Travel implies
acknowledgment that The Moderator cannot be held liable in any
manner for postings to the mailing list, nor for the use or
misuse of postings. Otherwise, unsubscribe by sending a message
to
majordomo@igc.apc.org
with ONLY
unsubscribe infotec-travel
in the message body.
On InfoTec Travel, You Own Your Own Words (YOYOW). For purposes
of reproduction offline, in the print medium, copyright shall be
retained by all original senders, and may not be quoted or
reproduced without permission from the original sender.
Participation in the InfoTec Travel mailing list shall imply
release of individual messages for non-profit use on other online
channels, known as forwarding, either privately or publicly only
if messages are forwarded in full and identify both the original
sender and path (InfoTec Travel). Subscription to InfoTec Travel
shall imply release of accumulated archived messages for use by
The Moderator in electronic form. Subscription to InfoTec
Travel shall imply agreement that The Moderator reserves and
retains sole rights to use of accumulated archived messages as a
whole.
Moderation
----------
The role of moderator is that of a facilitator. The principal
goal of moderation is to reduce the amount of messages being
received by participants through manual filtering of
inappropriate messages, such as:
- house-keeping messages
- off-topic messages
- inappropriate advertising
- overly lengthy messages
- particularly abusive messages
- frequently asked questions
Beyond this, it has been said, the role of a moderator is to
"stop fights that start, and to start them if they don't."
Message Priority At A Glance
----------------------------
1) Messages must be interesting; if not...
2) Messages must be useful; if not...
3) Messages must be pertinent; if not...
4) Messages must be coherent; if not...
Appropriate Messages
--------------------
The most appropriate messages seem to be the traditional press
release format: from one half to one and one half standard pages
of printed text (approx. 150 - 450 words).
Messages MUST be in ASCII text (or DOS text) format -- please see
"Multimedia Messages" below. [It should be noted that due to the
overwhelming diversity of platforms in use by participants
worldwide that text messages should have relatively narrow
margins, with hard returns at the end of every line.
Approximately one inch margins on the left and right side of each
page are adequate from most word processors.]
Good questions, discussion, humor, commentary, reviews or
critiques of announcements, other messages, or their subject
matter are appropriate. [Good questions are defined as ones the
moderator cannot easily answer or does not choose to; all others
are considered FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).]
Inappropriate Messages
----------------------
One-liners, or particularly short messages, are usually not
appropriate and should be directed to the original poster rather
than the entire list. One rule of thumb is whether a message can
stand alone, as being somehow informative in and of itself. In
addition, unusually long messages are generally not appropriate,
except by moderator's prerogative; otherwise, short pointers to
location should be used. Compressed, binary, or encrypted
messages are NOT acceptable (and see "Multimedia Messages"
below).
Both *general* travel and tourism messages and *general*
technology messages are usually not appropriate; messages should
include both, even if only by inference.
Subject Lines
-------------
Subject lines are the prerogative of the moderator. My now years
of experience as an online conference facilitator at IGC and
conference co-host on The WELL has been that the powers that be
(conferencing managers) on both systems pursue a policy of
resisting the proliferation of both conferences and topics, not
unlike with newsgroups on Usenet. People are very reluctant to
use "second-hand" topics, wanting instead to start a new topic
for every message, rather than maintaining existing topic
threads. I may simply be acting out of habit; but, from a
technical perspective, this is the filing system that works best
for me. I am always open to feedback on this, or any other,
issue.
Rejected Messages
-----------------
There are four fates awaiting messages received by the moderator:
1) Your message will be posted to the list, in which case you
will see it sent to the list as your confirmation.
2) Your message will be forwarded by the moderator either
directly to the original respondent or intended or most
appropriate recipient or channel.
3) Your message will be responded to privately by the moderator,
providing either answers, such as contact, reference or most
appropriate alternative channel, or outlining impropriety and
recommending modification.
4) Your message will be saved in the moderator's mailbox for
further consideration at a later time; however, due to the
virtually constant flow of new messages, the moderator may not
get back to it in a timely manner.
If within a reasonable time you have not seen some action in
regard to your message, please resubmit it.
Private Messages
----------------
All private messages for The Moderator must be clearly marked as
such.
Multimedia Messages
-------------------
I am beginning to encounter a new problem with increasing
frequency: multimedia email. Apparently Windows 95
automatically includes binary data in some or all email. This
has caused one contributor to unsubscribe and another to stop
posting. Additionally, I am receiving bounced messages from many
systems that refuse 8 bit data, or multimedia email. Again, this
is a relatively new problem. Multimedia email may or may not be
the way of the future; however, due to the overwhelming diversity
of hardware and software platforms currently in use by InfoTec
Travel subscribers worldwide, the policy of InfoTec Travel
continues to be NO BINARY, COMPRESSED OR ENCRYPTED MESSAGES
please!
Mailing List Deletion
---------------------
If I receive a bounce message from your system saying something
like "User Unknown", you will be deleted from this list. I have
received such messages in the past which apparently were
incorrect, though very few. One of the biggest problems I have
with this list is "dead" accounts, most often with students
abandoning their accounts without unsubscribing first.
If I receive a bounce message from your system saying something
like "mailbox full" or "no more disk space available", you will
be deleted from this list. This seems to be a particular problem
for CompuServe users.
If I receive repeated messages from your system telling me that
you are away for some reason and will be back soon, you will be
deleted from this list.
If you or anyone you know has been deleted from this list for any
reason, please simply re-subscribe by sending a message with ONLY
subscribe infotec-travel
in the message body to
majordomo@igc.apc.org
If you are already subscribed, you will simply receive a message
confirming this in return.
Bounce messages from international domains (beyond the USA) will
not be immediately deleted, particularly those from developing
countries.
If you do not receive any messages from InfoTec Travel for a few
days, please do not email the moderator asking if all is well;
simply try re-subscribing to the list.
You may send a message with ONLY
help
in the message body to
majordomo@igc.apc.org
for more assistance.
===========================================================
InfoTec-Travel
Contact: mendicott@igc.apc.org
Purpose: InfoTec-Travel is a moderated internetwork
electronic mailing list dedicated to the exchange of
information about information technology in travel and
tourism worldwide.
To subscribe, send email to
majordomo@igc.apc.org
and in the body of the message put
subscribe infotec-travel
Last change: Sep 95
===========================================================