OSA-Tx Listserv
The Treatment Listserv, sponsored by the Maine Office of Substance
Abuse, is designed to share information including funding opportunities,
seek resources from colleagues and share ideas.
Who can subscribe:
Health care providers whose primary focus of service is in the field
of addictions treatment, or mental health providers who may be working
collaboratively with addictions treatment providers. This may include
doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, substance abuse counselors,
clinical supervisors, program directors/managers, and executive directors.
How to subscribe:
To subscribe to the listserv please download this form
(word) and fax or mail it in (address & fax number are provided on the form).
If you need copy of the form contact Jo
McCaslin (207) 287-8917.
After the list administrator approves your subscription request,
you will receive an email message asking for confirmation that you
want to be subscribed. You need to follow the instructions in the
email to be successfully subscribed.
Once subscribed, you will receive a message from the list. Save this
email for later reference (link and password to change your list
options).
How to change list options:
Go to: http://mailman.informe.org/mailman/options/osa-tx
At this screen, you can log in for more options, unsubscribe, or
ask for your password to be emailed to you.
Your Treatment List password allows you to access the Treatment
message archives and also to change the configuration of your subscription,
e.g. digest messages for one email per day from the list, disable
mail delivery while you are on vacation, etc.
Help:
You can send an email to: osa-tx-request@lists.maine.gov with the
text "help" in
the subject or body. The automatic reply will contain more detailed instructions.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact Mardi
Byers-Gay or Jo McCaslin
Guidelines for Messages:
- Only subscribed users can post messages.
Messages sent from non-subscribers are automatically rejected. Messages
from subscribed members must be sent from the e-mail address
known by the list software, or they cannot be accepted. To send messages
intended for all Treatment List subscribers, email: osa-tx@lists.maine.gov
- Keep postings within the scope of the list.
Use of the Treatment List is for matters of interest to substance abuse
treatment providers. Please use restraint with humorous, inspirational,
and out-of-scope postings.
- Individual vs. Public Messages
Just as it is important to try to share public information with the
whole group, private correspondence should remain just that — private.
Send personal messages directly to individuals by using "reply".
If your reply is appropriate for list discussion, a “reply
all” will
go to the whole list instead of just the individual.
Treatment providers
are often interested in others' queries, and appreciate reading answers
to most questions; but, if you are soliciting multiple replies, such
as in a survey or publication offering, as a courtesy you should
ask for individual replies to your address. For some types of questions
you might want to solicit individual responses, but offer to summarize
the responses for the whole list. This technique allows the information
to be shared with the whole list, but in a summary form rather than
in bits and pieces.
- Descriptive subject lines
Always use a clear, descriptive subject line. The more descriptive
you are, the more likely people will read and respond to your posting.
Please do not use generic subject lines such as "treatment," "Need
help," “request information." When you respond to a
posting, check the subject line to make sure it still reflects the
topic at hand. If needed, retype an appropriate subject line.
When you
wish to initiate a new discussion or request, do not use the "reply" feature
of your e-mail program; instead, start a new message with an appropriate
subject line to osa-tx@lists.maine.gov.
- Include
a signature.
Sign your full name at the bottom of your posting and include your
affiliation, mailing address, phone, fax, and e-mail address. Some
subscribers receive e-mail messages with the header information stripped
away by their local e-mail system and therefore cannot know the author
of a particular posting unless it is included in the message text.
Make it easy for people to contact you.
- Provide context.
Every posting should begin with a clear, concise introduction to
the topic, or make some kind of reference to the topic of a previous
posting. There can be several "threads" of discussion
going on simultaneously, which makes unreferenced postings confusing
to readers.
A popular way of providing context is to quote verbatim
from the original message. Please keep the quotations *short* and
*relevant*. Cut out unnecessary text and repetitive signature information
from previous senders. Finally, please proof-read your messages
before sending to make sure they are complete and say what you
meant to say.
- Forwarded messages
Messages may be forwarded from other lists if relevant to treatment
providers, and if permitted by the original sender. Please edit
out extraneous lines, but leave enough information to identify
the original source. Be selective. Please do not regularly forward
messages from another listserv you belong to, as others on the
list may also subscribe and this would mean they get two copies
of every posting. Messages from the Treatment list may be forwarded
to others, but crediting the original sender is appreciated. Use
caution when forwarding Treatment List messages to non-subscribers;
remember that they will not be able to reply directly to the list.
- "Thank you" and "me too" messages
Send individual "thank you's" privately; if you've received
the information needed, it's courteous to send a "halt" message
to the list to stop others from continuing to respond to a request
(the person who provides the answer may also indicate that to the
list). Other examples of messages that should be sent privately are:
requests for copies of offered materials, and "me too" messages
(as in, "send
me a copy of that, too"), survey responses, and very specific
replies to questions that are not likely to be of general interest.
- Humor
Humor is appreciated, but please remember that humor in e-mail can
easily be misinterpreted. Don't forward the many humorous e-mails
that circulate on the Internet to the Treatment List; our list
is intended primarily for professional use.
- Censorship
The Treatment List is un-moderated; that means that what members
post goes directly to all the other members. In order to keep the
list useful, it is important that only pertinent messages are posted
to the list. If a member consistently posts inappropriate messages,
his or her subscription to the list may be terminated.
- Quality
of Communication
Debate about professional matters is welcome on Treatment List.
If you disagree with something posted on the list, you have every
right to voice your objections — but politely. You may also express
your complaints directly to the person responsible.
- Advertisements
/ Announcements
The Treatment List does not accept advertisements and/or product
announcements from outside publishers, producers of software, or
other vendors or commercial entities, etc. However, some members
of Treatment List work in organizations that publish materials;
occasional announcements of new resources from a member's organization,
either print or web-based, are appropriate when they are related
to the interests of the membership. Announcements of resources
or conferences are acceptable as long as they are relevant to the
interests of the Treatment List membership. Try to keep these brief.
Questions and discussion initiated by Treatment List members about
products or services are appropriate. This provides a forum for
help and recommendations among colleagues on the list. Announcements
of available jobs in the substance abuse information field are
welcome.
- Mistakes
Everyone makes them. Perfect people are not allowed to subscribe
to Treatment List. If you send a message to the list by mistake,
you do not need to send an apology to the whole list unless the
message might be truly offensive or personal. Assume that your
colleagues will delete the unintended message and overlook your
error.
- Other Posting Considerations
Do not send long documents directly to the list. Describe the
document and give instructions for retrieving it, or offer to
send it to those interested. Try to keep postings as brief as
possible. If you have a web site, consider making long documents
available for downloading from the web.
Avoid sending encoded messages
and documents to the list. Use ascii text, please.
Avoid (or explain)
jargon, abbreviations or colloquial language that may be unknown
to all on the List.
Refrain from sending unsubstantiated virus warnings, unless you are confident
of their authenticity. Many virus warnings are actually hoaxes.
Credits: Content for these guidelines were adapted from SALIS-L Guidelines
(www.salis.org)
