I posted the message below just a few days ago to try to help us list subscribers deal with the tremendous amount of information being posted to the list. At the risk of making this problem worse, I'll re-send it.
It seems to me that the most frequently recurring problems that lead to "list overload" are:
1. Not posting in plain text,
2. Hitting "reply" to respond to a post rather than sending a new e-mail with your reply (which, as has been pointed out, re-posts parts of the list already posted,)
3. Reprinting articles in their entirety that are easily retrievable on the Web, rather than just giving the URL address and a recommendation.
It saddens me that people are feeling the need to bail out of this list due to information overload. I think we all have a responsibility to keep this list as usable as possible. While my suggestions to that effect are just that, suggestions, I think they could be helpful if followed by all who use this list. As this is an unmoderated list, I believe it is the responsibility of each of us to help this list accomplish its intended function of keeping us informed and connected.
Peace, Jim
The growth in the number of subscribers to this list serve shows how important lists like this can be in keeping us connected and informed. The number of postings to this list is way up, sometimes exceeding 30 a day.
With this growth comes the risk that the list actually becomes less useful due to "information overload" or the possibility of a critical announcement getting overlooked. Please help keep this list useful by your consideration of the following requests:
1. Please post your messages in plain text. Topica, our list serve
provider, can not read enhanced texts such as Mime or HTML. As a result, messages posted in enhanced text come out as gibberish on the list.
To learn how to post in plain text, consult this reference: <http://www.expita.com/nomime.html>
Nate, one of our list subscribers, has volunteered to help those who need help posting in plain text in Outlook, Outlook Express or Netscape. E-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for help.
(For people using web mail like yahoo, hotmail, bigfoot, etc., or for people using other e-mail software, is there anyone out there who can offer help with plain text posting?)
2. Please do not send attachments to the list, as they will not post. You can either copy the attachment into your e-mail and send it (plain text only, please) or you can list the web address, if the attachment is on the web.
3. Please do not use your "reply" function to post to the list. Doing
this re-posts portions of an earlier digest. Post to the list by
sending a new e-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> If you are responding to a previous post, refer us to it, don't re-post it.
4. This list is not moderated. Whatever you post to the list goes out exactly as you post it. Please consider if your posting is consistent with the purpose of this list (a list serve of activists in the Cleveland area committed to a non-violent, justice-based response to terrorism and promoting peace nationally and internationally.)
5. Please DO NOT post the entire text of articles easily retrievable on the Web. If the article is not on a limited-access site, simply post the article's Web address along with a brief recommendation.
6. Finally, if you're not already a subscriber, I highly recommend
subscribing to What's Up in Northeast Ohio for information about
events of interest to the progressive community. To subscribe, send a
blank e-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> and be sure to reply to the confirmatory e-mail that follows.
Let's continue to work together to make this list serve a useful and valuable resource.
Peace, Jim
_________________________________________________________________
Welcome to the Cleveland Non-Violence List Serve. Visit our web-site at www.clevelandnv.org
Please remember to post in plain text and post only the essential text (do not forward messy messages or webpages.)
The Cleveland Non-Violence Network is the listserve of activists in the Cleveland area committed to a non-violent, justice-based response to terrorism and promoting peace nationally and internationally.
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