Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr12/soc_rule.zip/SOC_ROOT.RUL

Text File | 1993-06-06 | 17KB | 378 lines

                    Welcome to ROOTS-L/soc.roots

                  Please Read and Save this message.

             ***  New Subscriber/Reader Instructions  ***

Dear networker,

Please read all this message - at least once.

Each week we welcome several new people who have subscribed to the
ROOTS-L (GENEALOGY) Mailing List, or who have started receiving the
Usenet soc.roots newsgroup (for example via the Internet or Fidonet).

This welcome message is sent directly to all new subscribers to ROOTS-L,
and is also posted at regular intervals to soc.roots.

The text below is a basic description of ROOTS-L/soc.roots, how it
works and how to participate.  This is IMPORTANT information
to help you learn to use ROOTS-L/soc.roots effectively and to
minimize unnecessary traffic on this list.


CONTENTS:

1. What is ROOTS-L/soc.roots
2. How to Submit Reports, Reviews, Queries etc. to ROOTS-L/soc.roots
3. When You Receive a Posting from ROOTS-L/soc.roots
4. Basic ROOTS-L/soc.roots Etiquette
5. ROOTS-L Subscriber Option Commands
6. Some Comments Specific to soc.roots
7. Availabillty of FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Files.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


1. What is ROOTS-L/soc.roots?
   =========================

  a. The Mission Statement of ROOTS-L/soc.roots

ROOTS-L is a discussion list where those who have interest in Genealogy
may communicate via Email messages in hopes of finding more family
history information. This discussion list is gatewayed to the Usenet
newsgroup soc.roots, the intention being that all messages sent
directly to ROOTS-L also appear in soc.roots, and vice versa.

Subscribers to ROOTS-L, and readers of soc.roots form what is in
effect a single electronic community, though they have somewhat
different ways of sending and receiving information. The membership
of this community spans many different countries.

In the following, information which is common to both ROOTS-L and the
soc.roots newsgroup will refer to ROOT-L/soc.roots, whereas information
which is specific to one or the other will use their separate names.


       ----->>>     Everyone is welcome.      <<<-----


  b. The purpose of this list/newsgroup and a few comments are:

     (1) To provide subscribers a way to communicate and request
         information about Genealogy (Family History).

     (2) To provide a forum for communication, since we have no campus
         on which we can regularly congregate and exchange ideas.

     (3) A means of keeping informed of activities taking place in
         the Genealogical community.

     (4) A meeting place for those who wish to learn about finding
         information concerning their own family history.

     (5) To help people learn to spell the word,  Genealogy    :-)

  c. All who have access to the ROOTS-L Mailing List, or to the Usenet
     soc.roots newsgroup are welcome to join and take part.

  d. Advertising or selling of a product is not in general regarded as
     acceptable on this list.

  e. Some suitable subjects for posting are:

     (1) Announcements of your own family history information and
         requests for others to help you find information.

     (2) Reviews, criticisms, comments for software/hardware used in
         connection with Genealogy/Family History.

     (3) Messages about bookshops around the world which may contain
         books or information about this subject.

     (4) Almost any message about Genealogy will be OK.

     (5) Information on upcoming genealogical meetings.

  f. This list/newsgroup will not be moderated; postings submitted to
     the list or newsgroup will be received by all subscribers to
     ROOTS-L and readers of soc.roots.  Remember, what you send will
     be posted as you sent it.

  g. ROOTS-L is an Email-based electronic conference that operates
     across computer networks all over the world.  The conference uses
     software called LISTSERV to distribute conference issues to
     participants as well as make files available. This ROOTS-L
     (Genealogy) Mailing List is available from any site in the world
     that has access to the Internet Communications Network.

  h. LISTSERV@NDSUVM1 is the BITNET address of the LISTSERV.
     [e-mail] is the Internet address of the LISTSERV.

  i. Messages sent to the LISTSERV are read as commands by the program.
     If they make no sense the program rejects them. When you subscribed
     to ROOTS-L you sent a command to the LISTSERV.

  j. All mail sent to either ROOTS-L@NDSUVM1 or [e-mail] is
     distributed by the LISTSERV to every subscriber of ROOTS-L.

  k. soc.roots is one of the many hundreds of newsgroups that are
     distributed over various networks, in particular the Internet,
     as part of the Usenet system. Various software packages are
     available on various types of computer for registering an interest
     in particular newsgroups, and then for reading and contributing
     to these particular newsgroups. Local assistance should be sought
     if necessary to use this system.

2. How to Submit Reports, Reviews, Queries, etc., to ROOTS-L/soc.roots
   ===================================================================

  a. Send your submission via Email, addressed to [e-mail]
     (if your Email is sent to Internet) exactly as you would send an
     Email note to a person. The LISTSERV reads ROOTS-L mail and
     distributes it to everyone who is subscribed. Alternatively, if
     you have access to Usenet, post it to soc.roots.

  b. We encourage new subscribers/readers to read the ROOTS-L/soc.roots
     messages for approximately one week before submitting a message in
     order to learn the elements of a "good Genealogical" message and get
     ideas from messages posted by other subscribers.

  c. Please keep your single messages for information shorter than
     10,000 bytes, about 3 or 4 pages of text.

  d. Remember, what you post to ROOTS-L/soc.roots will be saved,
     and be here forever.  Your text or anything ever posted may be
     searched with a database search command, and mailed to you. You
     can learn how to do this later.

  e. Please include, in the body of your message, preferably in a brief
     final "signature" both your name and your full Email address.

  f. Provide a brief informative subject line


3. When You Receive a Posting from ROOTS-L, or read a message on soc.roots
   =======================================================================

 a. Feel free to answer questions or provide clarification or comments
    in response to any of the messages you see on ROOTS-L/soc.roots.
    However, please "REPLY" to the note ONLY if you think your comments
    will be of interest to other subscribers and you wish your answer
    to be sent to the entire ROOTS-L/soc.roots community.

 b. However "REPLY SENDER TEXT" it will send your reply to the entire
    ROOTS-L/soc.roots community.  In the spring of 1993, we have
    700-800 ROOTS-L subscribers, and probably a similar number of
    regular soc.roots readers (we have no way of counting them!).

 c. If you want to start a personal correspondence with the originator
    of the message from the list/newsgroup, look in the header of the note
    to find the "FROM:" field where you will see that person's Email
    address or check at the end of their note for that individual's
    address. Then send your note directly to that person.


4.  Basic ROOTS-L/soc.roots Etiquette
    =================================

  a. Participants in this forum all agree that the topics of discussion
     should relate to Genealogy or Family History.  We believe that,
     generally, anything a subscriber thinks is appropriate is,
     if it relates to GENEALOGY.

  b. Comments and suggestions on the functioning and policy of ROOTS-L
     should be directed to the owner (address below) and will be considered.

  c. Courtesy among subscribers and readers is assumed.  Remember that your
     postings and comments may be seen by as many as 20,000 readers
     on different networks in many different countries throughout the world.

  d. Points for Effective Computer Mediated Communication.  These points
     apply for personal Email, mail to a group of people, mail sent to
     a distribution list, or items posted to Usenet or other
     bulletin-board type systems.

     (1) Read carefully what you receive to make sure that you
         understand the message.

     (2) Read carefully what you send, to make sure that your message
         will not be misunderstood.

     (3) If you are using humor or sarcasm, make sure to clearly
         label it as such.  Humor on this list should be indicated
         by a smile-face ex: 8) ;-) :-)

     (4) Remember that the absence of cues associated with face-to-face
         communication provides for an environment where it's easy to
         misunderstand what is being said.

     (5) Know your audience.  Make sure that the person or list of
         people you are sending your message to are the appropriate
         one(s) with whom to communicate.

     (6) Be tolerant of newcomers.

     (7) Do not abuse new users of computer networks for their lack
         of knowledge. Be patient as they first learn to crawl, then walk.

     (8) Avoid cluttering your messages with excessive emphasis (such as
         stars, arrows and the like). It may make the message hard to follow.

     (9) If you are responding to a message, either include the relevant
         part of the original message in your message, or make sure you
         unambiguously refer to the original's contents. It's very possible
         that people will read your reply to the message before they read
         the original. (A convention is to precede each line of the
         original message you include with the ">" character.)  Do not
         quote more than necessary to make your point clear.  Please do
         not quote the entire message.

    (10) Always include a descriptive subject line in your message.
         Make sure your Subject: line is an effective one.  Use your
         Subject: line to get attention and make sure it describes
         the main point of your message.  The word "Help" is a terrible
         Subject: line, if your message is read, others will see that
         you need help when reading the message.  If you are responding
         to another message, your subject line should be the same,
         with "RE:" at the beginning.  If you are seeking information
         about a family, include the surname in UPPERCASE in the message
         Subject. Many readers do not have time to read the contents of
         all messages.

    (11) Keep messages to only one subject. This allows readers to quickly
         decide whether they need to read the message in full.

    (12) Second subjects within a single message are often missed.

    (13) Be specific, especially when asking questions.  If you ask about
         a person, identify when and where the person might have lived.
         If you ask about software, please identify what kind of computer
         you use.  ROOTS-L/soc.roots people are very helpful but busy, and
         are more likely to answer if they don't have to ask what you mean.

    (14) Always, always put your name in the text of your message, and
         also your best Email address for a reply.  The end of the
         message is a good place for your name and Email address.

    (15) If your messages can be typed in UPPER and lower case, please
         use the two appropriately instead of all UPPERCASE characters.
         This gives the appearance of shouting, as well as being less
         readable.

    (16) Use UPPERCASE for each surname the first time you use it
         in a message.

    (17) In questions concerning specific genealogical software, make
         it clear what sort of computer (e.g PC/MSDOS, PC/Windows,
         Apple Mac, etc.) is involved.

    (18) Remember that not all readers/subscribers have English as their
         native language, so make allowance for possible misunderstandings
         and unintended discourtesies.

    (19) All Questions concerning the possibility of accessing the
         MORMONS Database from this list or any other way will be
         answered "NO", so please do not ask.  We do not have electronic
         access to the MORMON Database. (period).  Telnet or ftp access
         is not possible.


5.  ROOTS-L Subscriber Option Commands
    ==================================

   a. To subscribe to the list, send Email to LISTSERV@NDSUVM1 on BITNET or
      [e-mail] with the BODY of the mail containing:

          SUB ROOTS-L your full name

          For example,  SUB ROOTS-L Cliff Manis

   b. To unsubscribe or signoff, just send the following line.  Your name
      is not needed, and will not signoff if you add it.

          SIGNOFF ROOTS-L

   c. LISTSERV supports a few other commands for your convenience.
      The following commands can be handled automatically by the list
      processor.  Remember, you may send any of the following commands to:

          LISTSERV@NDSUVM1           (BITNET address)
          [e-mail]     (Internet address)

      ...... DO NOT SEND THESE COMMANDS to the ROOTS-L address ......

      SIGNOFF ROOTS-L       - to remove yourself from the list
      REVIEW ROOTS-L        - to get a list of subscribers
      QUERY ROOTS-L         - to get the status of your entry on the list
      SET ROOTS-L NOMAIL    - to remain on the list but not receive mail
      SET ROOTS-L MAIL      - to resume receiving mail from the list
      SET ROOTS-L CONCEAL   - to not report your address in a REVIEW
      SET ROOTS-L NOCONCEAL - to report your address in a REVIEW
      SET ROOTS-L REPRO     - to receive posts you make to ROOTS-L
      SET ROOTS-L NOREPRO   - to not receive posts you make to ROOTS-L

      SET ROOTS-L DIGESTS   - to have the LIST send you only one (message)
                              DIGEST each day containing all the ROOTS-L
                              messages posted for that day (the message
                              may be as large as 80,000 bytes)

   d. By default, subscriptions are set to MAIL, NOCONCEAL.


6.  Some comments specific to soc.roots
    ===================================

  a. The continued link between soc.roots and ROOTS-L is very valuable.
     ROOTS-L exists because of all the hard work put into supporting
     its operation, and into the provision of its allied facilities,
     by a number of people.

  b. The usual conventions about good Usenet citizenship all apply
     to soc.roots. However please take care to conform to the
     particular ROOTS-L/soc.roots netiquette described above, even
     though there is no-one equivalent to the ROOTS-L owner who can
     exercise any needed control over soc.roots on behalf of the
     community as a whole.

  c. Many readers have commented on how friendly and helpful the
     ROOTS-L/soc.roots community is, and on the high "signal-to-noise"
     ratio of the message traffic. Please try to respect and contribute
     to this community spirit.

  d. Many ROOTS-L subscribers in particular have very limited, and in
     some cases expensive electronic mail facilities. Be particularly
     careful not to cause unnecessary traffic or to send unnecessarily
     long messages (e.g. by excessive quoting of the message you
     are responding to)

  e. Be very careful about cross-posting to several newsgroups - all
     too often this results in replies and further messages arriving
     at soc.roots that were really only intended for some
     other newsgroup.


7.  Availability of FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Files
    ======================================================

    The FAQ area has many common genealogical questions which are
    asked by new subscribers.  These cover a variety of topics.

    An index of current FAQ files is available by sending the following
    line to [e-mail] as the only text in a message.

GET FAQ INDEX

    and after receiving the index, you may request other desired files
    using the "GET" command in the same manner.

    If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about this
    WELCOME file or ROOTS-L/soc.roots, please contact those
    listed below:

    ROOTS-L Owner:      Alf Christophersen    [e-mail]
    SysAdm:             Cliff Manis           [e-mail]