listserv protocols - four guidelines

88'ers:

One more "housekeeping" (course preliminaries) message from me as we begin
in earnest to discuss poetry.

Here are four guidelines for using the listserv: 

	1. INTERACTION NOT LECTURING
	2. NAMES ARE NICE
	3. DON'T BE WINDY
	4. BE LOOSE


INTERACTION NOT LECTURING 
1. Try to reply to each other. Don't just launch a new comment, from
nowhere, unless you really think it's apt. Try if you can to respond to
something specific I or Shawn or a fellow 88'er has said before you. This
will build a learning community using our listserv (and our chat room and
our webcasts, but mostly our listserv). It will make 88v more a community
of learners than a group of people reading a lot of email. There's a big
difference. This virtual space of ours is a seminar room, not a lecture
hall.

NAMES ARE NICE
2. Always sign your name at the bottom of your messages. Or, if you are
interweaving your comments between those of an earlier message, make it
clear which of the new comments are yours (by using your name or
initials). At first use your full name. Later  a first name or nickname
will do. We will remember each other's names this way, rather than email
addresses. (Nothing worse than getting to know someone as
			boogieboo@aol.com
or			mindblown@mindspring.com
or			ash8889873@compuserve.com  !
Bob, Mindy and Ashley (e.g.) are just more nicer, sweeter.

DON'T BE WINDY 
3. Write briefly. One screen is more than plenty. A good paragraph is
better. If you are replying to something someone else has said, don't just
include the entire previous message. Try to edit - cut and paste - the
message to which you're responding, so that your own message will be seen
by others in the course as directly relevant to something specific someone
else has said.

BE LOOSE
4. Listserv writing need not be formal. Enjoy yourself. (On the other
hand, be considerate and don't just spew forth without thought!)

--Al

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