Post by S2Lit2008HCI on Jan 2, 2008 3:09:57 GMT -5
The aim of these guidelines is to help first-time users understand a discussion forum's common etiquette, and to guide users to communicate effectively in the discussion forum. Although there are no hard and fast rules, a little consideration and courtesy from everyone can make the discussion forum a pleasant virtual environment for the most fruitful discussions.
Please register your login name as the examples below demonstrate:
Case 1:
Full name: Tan Ming Sheng
Class: 2E
Index number: 27
----> Login name: 2Etanmingsheng27
Case 2:
Full name: Melvin Ho Guang Shen
Class: 2H
Index number: 16
-----> Login name: 2Hmelvinho16
Please note that unlike the situation last year, the ACE points for this forum discussion will only be collated at the end of Term 3. You may attain a maximum of 5CPs through your participation here.
Please ensure that you log in each time before posting a message. This is to ensure that your name and the threads linked to you would be recorded for ACE assessment.
Spamming and abuse will not be tolerated in this forum. Such acts will result in an immediate 0 for ACE assessment.
The General Practical Guidelines is adapted with permission from the online discussion forumat the European Telework Online (http://www.eto.org.uk)
Good practices
Keep your messages short-if you want to publish an essay, post it on a webpage where people can read it if they choose. Send a short message in the discussion forum to announce the URL.
Please send message in PLAIN TEXT mode only. This makes it accessible for everyone to read and respond to your message.
Reply only if you have new message to add-do not send message just to say, "I agree with Fred" or similar, unless the person is isolated and needs support. Silence is generally taken to imply agreement.
Reply to the discussion forum instead of to the sender of the message-messages to a discussion forum are intended for public discussion unless you have something personal or private to say to the sender. Your email package should pick up the "Reply to:" line in the message header, or you may need to change the reply address.
Keep your messages within the general topic area of the discussion forum.
When replying to a message, do use the same "subject" line. This is so that people will find it easy to follow the "thread" of a topic. This is also helpful to people catching up with a discussion by looking in the archive.
If you are introducing a new topic, choose a new subject line that makes the subject of your message clear to all.
Use plain English-do remember that there are many people trying to make sense of your message.
Be thoughtful and generous in your response to other people's messages. Do be polite to what they are saying even if you may not agree with it.
Never be rude or dismissive about someone's messages. If you do have any complaints about other people's behaviour, take it up with the discussion forum manager (e.g. the lecturer) rather than trying to deal with it yourself.
Always sign your message by adding your name at the end of it, for example:
Best wishes, John Tan
Or simply
John Tan
This helps to make the discussion friendly, since people can reply, "I agree with John that etc." or, "Hello John, thanks for your useful comment." This is particularly important if your name is not clear from your email address.
The Don'ts
Please do not use the discussion forum for the following purposes:
Sending attached files-if someone raises a question that you think can best be answered by reference to an existing document, it is best you either:
Post a message in the discussion forum telling them where the information exists and how to get a copy
Post it on the Web and provide the URL in your message
Advertising
Discussing the purpose and/or management of the discussion forum, or the more general topic of how to run discussion forums. Experience has shown that such debate (discussion within a discussion forum about its own purposes and organisation) is sterile and very off-putting for others who joined to discuss the discussion forum's stated topics.
'Quoting' in replies
A common practice in discussion forums, email discussion lists is reply with quote, where one includes part of the previous person's message and then replies to it. This is helpful in providing context for your reply, but it is often overdone and can be annoying, for example:
You quote the whole of the last message. Then the next person quotes the whole of your new message, including the whole of the earlier one that you quoted. The next person quotes all of both messages, etc.
Here are some basic guidelines for "quoting":
Only quote when it's necessary-often the meaning and context of your message are clear without any quotes.
Do not quote the whole message-it may be quicker and easier for you, but remember that several hundred people may be reading your message. If you want them to pay attention to you and your ideas, an extra few minutes to help them will be time well invested.
Never put the whole of the prior message at the beginning or end of your message, as this is not necessary and just adds more traffic to the networks, more phone time for everyone to download, more file space for anyone who wants to keep the messages for posterity, and no other value.
Quoting may be more appropriate on a very busy discussion forum, where there may be several threads running and people have difficulty keeping track of the discussion, but even then do use it selectively.
Do not relay whole texts from outside the discussion forum to the discussion forum (including messages from other discussion forums or private messages you receive). Quote selectively from outside texts in the context of a relevant discussion, and tell the discussion forum where to find the original text of the discussion forumwhere it originated.
Quoting messages outside the discussion forum
The author of a message sent to the discussion forum is the copyright owner of that message but by posting it in a publicly accessible discussion forum has effectively placed it in the public domain. The understanding is that anyone can subsequently quote from any message, but should state:
The author
The date
Where it was published
Example:
"The moon is made from blue cheese" (John Tan, 2 Jan 2008, HCI Discussion Forum, www.online.chs.edu.sg )
Reposting of notices
The normal accepted way to do this is to attribute where you acquired it and how to find that source at the beginning or end of the notice, for example:
Reposted from the HCI Discussion Forum (http://www.online.chs.edu.sg)
Signature Blocks
We have suggested that participants 'sign' their messages with their usual name and there is no objection to adding a short signature block, for example:
Best wishes
John Tan
Faculty of Arts and Social Science
johntan@nus.edu.sg
Please do not make your signature block much longer than this and do not add irrelevant material, specifically advertising copy, clever formatting, etc. These will increase the traffic level on the network and the discussion forum server.
Please register your login name as the examples below demonstrate:
Case 1:
Full name: Tan Ming Sheng
Class: 2E
Index number: 27
----> Login name: 2Etanmingsheng27
Case 2:
Full name: Melvin Ho Guang Shen
Class: 2H
Index number: 16
-----> Login name: 2Hmelvinho16
Please note that unlike the situation last year, the ACE points for this forum discussion will only be collated at the end of Term 3. You may attain a maximum of 5CPs through your participation here.
Please ensure that you log in each time before posting a message. This is to ensure that your name and the threads linked to you would be recorded for ACE assessment.
Spamming and abuse will not be tolerated in this forum. Such acts will result in an immediate 0 for ACE assessment.
The General Practical Guidelines is adapted with permission from the online discussion forumat the European Telework Online (http://www.eto.org.uk)
Good practices
Keep your messages short-if you want to publish an essay, post it on a webpage where people can read it if they choose. Send a short message in the discussion forum to announce the URL.
Please send message in PLAIN TEXT mode only. This makes it accessible for everyone to read and respond to your message.
Reply only if you have new message to add-do not send message just to say, "I agree with Fred" or similar, unless the person is isolated and needs support. Silence is generally taken to imply agreement.
Reply to the discussion forum instead of to the sender of the message-messages to a discussion forum are intended for public discussion unless you have something personal or private to say to the sender. Your email package should pick up the "Reply to:" line in the message header, or you may need to change the reply address.
Keep your messages within the general topic area of the discussion forum.
When replying to a message, do use the same "subject" line. This is so that people will find it easy to follow the "thread" of a topic. This is also helpful to people catching up with a discussion by looking in the archive.
If you are introducing a new topic, choose a new subject line that makes the subject of your message clear to all.
Use plain English-do remember that there are many people trying to make sense of your message.
Be thoughtful and generous in your response to other people's messages. Do be polite to what they are saying even if you may not agree with it.
Never be rude or dismissive about someone's messages. If you do have any complaints about other people's behaviour, take it up with the discussion forum manager (e.g. the lecturer) rather than trying to deal with it yourself.
Always sign your message by adding your name at the end of it, for example:
Best wishes, John Tan
Or simply
John Tan
This helps to make the discussion friendly, since people can reply, "I agree with John that etc." or, "Hello John, thanks for your useful comment." This is particularly important if your name is not clear from your email address.
The Don'ts
Please do not use the discussion forum for the following purposes:
Sending attached files-if someone raises a question that you think can best be answered by reference to an existing document, it is best you either:
Post a message in the discussion forum telling them where the information exists and how to get a copy
Post it on the Web and provide the URL in your message
Advertising
Discussing the purpose and/or management of the discussion forum, or the more general topic of how to run discussion forums. Experience has shown that such debate (discussion within a discussion forum about its own purposes and organisation) is sterile and very off-putting for others who joined to discuss the discussion forum's stated topics.
'Quoting' in replies
A common practice in discussion forums, email discussion lists is reply with quote, where one includes part of the previous person's message and then replies to it. This is helpful in providing context for your reply, but it is often overdone and can be annoying, for example:
You quote the whole of the last message. Then the next person quotes the whole of your new message, including the whole of the earlier one that you quoted. The next person quotes all of both messages, etc.
Here are some basic guidelines for "quoting":
Only quote when it's necessary-often the meaning and context of your message are clear without any quotes.
Do not quote the whole message-it may be quicker and easier for you, but remember that several hundred people may be reading your message. If you want them to pay attention to you and your ideas, an extra few minutes to help them will be time well invested.
Never put the whole of the prior message at the beginning or end of your message, as this is not necessary and just adds more traffic to the networks, more phone time for everyone to download, more file space for anyone who wants to keep the messages for posterity, and no other value.
Quoting may be more appropriate on a very busy discussion forum, where there may be several threads running and people have difficulty keeping track of the discussion, but even then do use it selectively.
Do not relay whole texts from outside the discussion forum to the discussion forum (including messages from other discussion forums or private messages you receive). Quote selectively from outside texts in the context of a relevant discussion, and tell the discussion forum where to find the original text of the discussion forumwhere it originated.
Quoting messages outside the discussion forum
The author of a message sent to the discussion forum is the copyright owner of that message but by posting it in a publicly accessible discussion forum has effectively placed it in the public domain. The understanding is that anyone can subsequently quote from any message, but should state:
The author
The date
Where it was published
Example:
"The moon is made from blue cheese" (John Tan, 2 Jan 2008, HCI Discussion Forum, www.online.chs.edu.sg )
Reposting of notices
The normal accepted way to do this is to attribute where you acquired it and how to find that source at the beginning or end of the notice, for example:
Reposted from the HCI Discussion Forum (http://www.online.chs.edu.sg)
Signature Blocks
We have suggested that participants 'sign' their messages with their usual name and there is no objection to adding a short signature block, for example:
Best wishes
John Tan
Faculty of Arts and Social Science
johntan@nus.edu.sg
Please do not make your signature block much longer than this and do not add irrelevant material, specifically advertising copy, clever formatting, etc. These will increase the traffic level on the network and the discussion forum server.