Prevention Listserv

The Prevention Listserv, sponsored by the Maine Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, is designed to share information including funding opportunities, seek resources from colleagues and share ideas.

How to subscribe:

Send an email message to prevention-join@lists.maine.gov from the email you want subscribed. You may leave the subject and body empty in this message.

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).

Who can subscribe:

Any person who has an interest in substance abuse prevention in Maine.

How to change list options:

Go to: http://mailman.informe.org/mailman/options/prevention

At this screen, you can log in for more options, unsubscribe, or ask for your password to be emailed to you.

Your Prevention password allows you to access the Prevention 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: prevention-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 Leanne Morin: leanne.morin@maine.gov

Guidelines for Messages:

1. 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 Prevention subscribers, email: prevention@lists.maine.gov

2. Keep postings within the scope of the list.

Use of the Prevention List is for matters of interest to substance abuse prevention providers. Please use restraint with humorous, inspirational, and out-of-scope postings.

3. 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.

Prevention 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.

4. 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 "prevention," "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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Forwarded messages

Messages may be forwarded from other lists if relevant to prevention 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 Prevention list may be forwarded to others, but crediting the original sender is appreciated. Use caution when forwarding Prevention List messages to non-subscribers; remember that they will not be able to reply directly to the list.

8. "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.

9. 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 Prevention List; our list is intended primarily for professional use.

10. Censorship

The Prevention List is unmoderated; 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.

11. Quality of Communication

Debate about professional matters is welcome on Prevention 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.

12. Advertisements / Announcements

The Prevention 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 Prevention 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 Prevention List membership. Try to keep these brief. Questions and discussion initiated by Prevention 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.

13. Mistakes

Everyone makes them. Perfect people are not allowed to subscribe to Prevention 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.

14. 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)