The Lyme listserv* -- An email discussion forum
for Lyme and Lyme Center.
Statement
of Purpose
The Lyme listserv is a public forum to post
notices, seek and disseminate general and consumer information, and in general
discuss topics of interest specific to residents of the Lyme, NH community. The
Lyme listserv is not set up by the Town of Lyme’s government and is not related
to the town’s official website, www.lymenh.gov, although Town officials and departments, and
the Lyme School District, may post informational notices on the Lyme listserv
from time to time.
The Lyme listserv has been “unmoderated” since its birth in 1996, which means that all
postings emailed to LYME@LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU address (uppercase not required: lyme@listserv.dartmouth.edu
is OK) are sent immediately to all current Lyme listserv subscribers.
*
The formal name of the online discussion forum is "The Lyme
listserv," though it is most often referred to by its informal, popular
name, "The LymeList."
Leaving
the List
Subscribers to the Lyme Listserv may end their subscription by
sending email to listserv@dartmouth.edu with only the
contents: SIGNOFF LYME
Posting
Guidelines
Subscribers
may post to the list (that is, send email to the full subscriber list) by
sending email to Lyme@listserv.dartmouth.edu . The majority of households in Lyme subscribe
to the list, 693 individual subscribers in 2009. You may subscribe to the listserv by sending
email to listserv@dartmouth.edu
with ONLY the contents: SUB LYME your
name. To
terminate your subscription to the Lyme listserv, using the mail address from
which you are subscribed, send email to Listserv@dartmouth.edu
with command: SIGNOFF
LYME In the body of the mail. Please restrict content to postings about
Lyme: the topic need not be unique to Lyme, but it should be specific to Lyme,
and Lyme listserv subscribers are requested to observe this simple constraint.
The goal of the Lyme listserv is to help
increase our sense of community and neighborhood within Lyme and Lyme Center,
by rapid, free, easily accessed communication among residents, such as these:
·
Announcements of community events open to the public
·
Invitations to concerts, plays, informal gatherings,
community dinners, and similar event postings
·
Announcements by town organizations
·
Weather cancellations of town, school, or community events
·
Items for sale or wanted by Lyme residents
·
Rides sought or offered
·
Living spaces coming up for rent, or sought
·
A lost or found pet notice, or a potentially dangerous
wildlife observation
·
Discussion of legislation in Concord or Washington seems
OK if it addresses a Lyme issue directly.
If in doubt about whether your topic is
appropriate for the Lyme listserv, ask Is it “Of Lyme,
for Lyme, by Lyme”? If there are other online forums, email lists, newsgroups,
or blogs that address your issue, the topic is likely better addressed there,
so the Lyme listserv can focus on Lyme.
A few examples of “Not OK” posts:
·
Announcement of events in other towns, unless there is a Lyme
connection such as significant involvement of Lymies,
or an event of likely or known high interest to Lyme residents.
·
Discussion of county, state, or national politics, unless in the
context of a Town Meeting warrant article.
·
Forwarding content of emails or web sites that are not
specifically related to Lyme is absolutely not
OK.
Civility
Rules!
No abusive or threatening postings will be
allowed. Each Lyme listserv posting must be civil and respectful to all
persons. Anyone who violates the Lyme listserv’s
concept of civility will be warned by the moderator – yes, there IS one – and
may risk having posting privileges revoked after a repetition. If the first
incident seems a serious enough threat to the integrity of the Lyme listserv,
the subscriber’s posting privilege may be revoked immediately.
Because the Lyme listserv was established
solely for the information and convenience of our Lyme community, occasional
business announcements are OK, such as a new business in town, an employment
offer in Lyme, a “special” from a Lyme business, information about a business
service offered in conjunction with a public event, a one-time listing about
baby-, pet-, or house-sitting by a Lyme resident, and the like. No business,
small or large, may use the Lyme listserv for ongoing business promotion.
The Lyme listserv centers on issues and events
directly affecting Lyme. While anyone is welcome to subscribe to and read Lyme
listserv postings, subscribers should note that only Lyme residents,
representatives of town government, and representatives of organizations and
businesses located in Lyme, may submit a post. While the market that Lyme
residents represent may be eagerly sought by businesses and events promoters in
other towns, the Lyme listserv is not a venue for postings about Upper Valley
commerce or events by non-residents, and Lyme residents are asked not to post
items for non-residents.
Some helpful “Netiquette” – suggestions
compiled from several online sources:
·
Subject line: For each new post,
enter a short “Subject” line to help readers see your topic at a glance. If you
are replying to a post, keep the same Subject line as the original post
contained. If you receive your Lyme listserv postings in the optional
“Digest” format, write a new Subject line; do not show “Re: LYME Digest - 2 Feb
2009 to 3 Feb 2009 (#2009-57)” as the Subject of your reply.
·
“Snipping, or quoting”: When
replying to a post, it is helpful for those reading your reply if you “snip” –
means the same as “quote” – a few lines from the original post in order to
remind or clue readers in, about what your reply is about.
Here is a suggestion posted back in October 1995: “When you are replying to a message or a
posting, be sure you summarize the original at the top of your reply, and
include just enough of the original to give a context. This will make sure
readers understand when they start to read your response.
It is sometimes possible to read a response before seeing
the original. Giving context helps everyone, but do not include the entire
original!”
See Wikipedia on the topic of Netiquette.
·
Attachments, or enclosures: Do not include them when posting to the Lyme
listserv. Subscribers to this list use a huge variety of different email
software, and many cannot handle attachments. If a photo or other
attachment is important to your post, ask people who want the photo to contact
you directly, and send the photo directly to those who request it.
·
Your signature: Keep
your signature short – your name is enough. Do not use a multi-line automatic
signature (nickname, full name, address, phone, fax, literary quotation, or any
boilerplate disclaimers such as a Notice of Confidentiality, or Tax Liability
Statement.
·
Privacy: It is inappropriate to
post the content of any private correspondence to or from a list member without
the permission of each correspondent involved.
The archives of this
list are available through the web.
However to access these archives you must be a subscriber to the list
and have established a password on the listserv. To establish a password, send email to listserv@dartmouth.edu
with the following in the body of the email: PW ADD somepassword
where "somepassword" is a password of your
choice. Please omit the quotation marks.
The listserv software will reply with a confirmation email to the
address from which you made the password request. The confirmation will contain a web link from
which you complete the password addition.
Once you have a password, when you connect to the archives you will be prompted for your full email
address and the password you have set. These are stored in a cookie on your computer
so you need not enter them on each visit to the archives.
Listserv
Postmaster &
Lyme
Resident since 1985