LERA’s E-list Etiquette (formerly Listserv Etiquette)

Often referred to as “netiquette,” listserv etiquette is informal rules and procedures established for users of e-mail and mailing lists to provide some simple guidelines to make these electronic communication tools more enjoyable and less annoying or bothersome.

1. Information posted should be of general interest to LERA members or the field of labor and employment relations.
2. Be sure to include a descriptive subject line. E-mails received with no subject line may likely be perceived as spam by an email filter and be deleted before reaching the recipient's inbox.
3. Responses to many list questions and discussion topics are of interest to the entire list. In these cases, it is appropriate to reply to the list address.
4. Personal replies should be directed to specific individuals rather than to the entire list. Remember to cut and paste the sender’s e-mail address when replying rather than simply hitting the “Reply” button, which sends the response to the entire list. Below are some examples of replies sent to an entire list in the past
5. If you receive a notice that your original e-mail was rejected or you received a delivery error, find out the reason for the rejection before resending the message so that people do not receive duplicate e-mails. Oftentimes, the error was in response to a problem with a single recipient's email and the message was indeed sent and received by many other list subscribers.
6. LERA lists may not be used for the solicitation, promotion, or sales of commercial products or services. Violators will be immediately removed from the list(s).
7. LERA lists may not be used for campaign purposes by LERA members running for an elected leadership position. Violators will be immediately removed from the list(s).
8. LERA lists may not be used to promote or engage in political activities, as it is a violation of our 501(c) status. Violators will be immediately removed from the list(s).
9. LERA lists may be used for posting job announcements or position openings in a limited way by LERA organizational members.  Submit job announcements to [email protected].
10. LERA ists are not to be used as personal blogs. There are many free online sites that are designed specifically for posting those random thoughts and ideas and offering others the opportunity to follow those postings. Listservs, on the other hand, are intended for distributing topic-related information that the list members as a group might benefit from sharing.
11. Be respectful and considerate of your colleagues in your postings. If you disagree or become upset with someone's response or use of the list, reply to that person directly when appropriate.
12. Become familiar with the features, settings, options, and other capabilities of your e-mail client system.
13. If the amount of mail from any particular list becomes cumbersome, rather than leaving that list, consider receiving the digest form of the list. Instead of getting each email individually; you will receive a summary email at the end of each day. Individual subscribers need to request this function directly for each list to which they are subscribed.
14. Be aware of the problems caused when using auto-responders or auto-replies to messages received via a mailing list. Our listserc system will generate error messages to the mailing list owners about each auto-reply received and will eventually result in your being "served off" the list, disabling your ability to send messages to the list. Please remember to either temporarily turn off your mailing list messages or set your email auto-replies to not respond to messages from our lists.
15. Turn off mail from the list(s) when going on vacation. NOMail is the command that stops mail but leaves you subscribed to the list. Please note, if you use an auto-responder while on vacation without setting your subscription options to NOMail, your out of office messages may bounce back to the listserv, and you may be "served off" from lists when you return.
16. Many members realize that mistakes do happen and choose to simply hit the delete button when many e-mails are received that are of no interest or do not apply to them. However, if everyone would consider the guidelines above regarding e-mail and listserv use, it might be a more pleasant experience for everyone!  Thank you for your cooperation and consideration of these guidelines.