The following message contains information on how to use the Fish-Sci mail list. It is the new welcome message that is automatically sent to new Fish-Sci subscribers. Because existing subscribers have not seen this message, we are posting it to the entire list. We believe this information will help you take full advantage of the Fish-Sci list, and we ask that you please save it for future reference.
We hope you continue to find Fish-Sci useful.
Thank you,
-The Fish-Sci list "owners" [log in to unmask]
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Revised: 19 Jan 1998
Welcome to Fish-Sci An International Forum for Fishery Science
Thank you for subscribing to the Fish-Sci mail list. The purpose of this message is to provide the basic information needed to make productive use of the Fish-Sci list. We ask that you read this message and save it for future reference.
Table of Contents.
I. An Overview of the Fish-Sci List. II. How to Use the List: Posting, Replying and Other Tasks. III. The Fish-Sci List Archive and World Wide Web Interface. IV. Rules and Principles of Use. V. Acknowledgments.
I. An Overview of the Fish-Sci List.
Fish-Sci is an international e-mail forum for the discussion of scientific ideas and events pertaining to fish and fisheries. For the purposes of this forum, fishery science is broadly defined to include relevant aspects of biology, oceanography, ecology, limnology, economics, mathematics, sociology and any other scientific disciplines contributing to current understanding of fish, shellfish and their fisheries. Our hope is that discussion of ideas will predominate as use of the forum evolves, though announcements and news items that are of interest to a broad cross section of fishery scientists are welcome.
Fish-Sci is provided and managed for fishery scientists and resource managers. However, all others who are interested in scientific aspects of fish and fisheries are welcome.
Fish-Sci is managed by a team of three "list owners" who help people with questions, approve posts from non- subscribers, and generally try to keep the list running smoothly. The real owners of any mailing list are the many subscribers who make it useful and successful.
Fish-Sci is the result of the merger of the former Fish- [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], and [log in to unmask] lists. The list owners and sponsors at SUNET are committed to maintaining Fish-Sci as a stable, enduring and professional forum.
II. How to Use the List: Posting, Replying and Other Tasks.
Participation in Fish-Sci requires a little basic knowledge about mail lists. The basic information needed to use the Fish-Sci list, which is implemented by using LISTSERV software, is included below.
II.1. Three Important E-Mail Addresses.
There are three email addresses associated with this list. Knowing how and when to use each address is critical to participating in the list.
II.1.1 [log in to unmask] This is the address of the computer that automatically runs the list. No human will see mail sent to this address. Use this address only to send command to LISTSERV, for example to change your subscription options.
II.1.2. [log in to unmask] Use this address to communicate with the Fish-Sci List owners. They can help you to resolve an problems with your subscription or to discuss other details of list management.
II.1.3. [log in to unmask] Use this address to send a message to all of the other subscribers to the Fish-Sci list. Mail sent to this address is automatically and immediately distributed to the entire list.
II.2. Basic LISTSERV Commands.
Send commands to LISTSERV to join or leave the list, and to change your subscription options. The following seven tasks describe commands that can be sent to LISTSERV. When sending commands to LISTSERV, leave the subject of your message blank and type the command as the *only* text in the body of your message.
NOTE: We recommend that you practice sending commands to LISTSERV by sending command II.2.7, below.
II.2.1. To join (subscribe to) Fish-Sci: Address: [log in to unmask] Command: subscribe fish-sci <full_name>
where <full_name> is your full name (not your e-mail address).
II.2.2. To leave the list: Address: [log in to unmask] Command: signoff fish-sci
II.2.3. To set your subscription to Digest mode to receive only one message per day: Address: [log in to unmask] Command: set fish-sci digest
II.2.4. To temporarily stop receiving mail (when traveling or on vacation): Address: [log in to unmask] Command: set fish-sci nomail
II.2.5. To resume receiving mail upon your return: Address: [log in to unmask] Command: set fish-sci mail
II.2.6. To search the list for an email address: Address: [log in to unmask] Command: scan fish-sci <name or partial name>
II.2.7. To get the LISTSERV REFCARD summary of commands: Address: [log in to unmask] Command: info refcard
REFCARD is a very helpful document and we recommend that you request a copy and save it for future reference.
II.3. Posting to the Fish-Sci List and Replying to Members.
To post messages to all Fish-Sci members send your message to:
[log in to unmask]
Only e-mail from list subscribers can be distributed to the list; mail from all others will be blocked unless special arrangements are made with the list owners. It is important to note here that you must post from the same e-mail address from which you originally subscribed to the Fish-Sci list.
Before sending please consider carefully whether your message is appropriate for the entire list.
When requesting information that might be of broad interest to others, it is good practice to post a summary of your findings back to the list. Typically you may request that responses be sent directly to you, and note in your message that you intend to compile all responses and post it back to the list. The reduces email traffic and provides a convenient summary message that many people may find useful.
When you reply to a message distributed to Fish-Sci the default action is for your mailer to send your response back to the entire list. Therefore it is important to consider whether it is more appropriate to send you reply back to Fish-Sci or whether to manually change the address to that of the person who posted the message.
A comprehensive document on use of LISTSERV, mailing lists and mailing list etiquette is available on the Web at
http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/user/user.html -or- http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/userindex.html
III. The Fish-Sci List Archive and World Wide Web Interface.
Communications posted to the Fish-Sci list are archived and are accessible on the World Wide Web at
http://segate.sunet.se/archives/fish-sci.html
Links off this page can also be used to post messages and to join or leave the list, which include options for modifying your list subscription. This interface communicates directly with the LISTSERV software which will send a message to your email address requesting confirmation. Replying 'ok' to the message will tell the software to process the comand.
IV. Rules and Principles of Use.
We hope that all subscribers will post only those messages that are consistent with the list topic as described in Section I, above. Fish-Sci is an appropriate place to discuss scientific ideas, post to requests for information, and to announce scientific conferences, meetings, symposia, job vacancies, research assistantships, fellowships and internships.
Informative one-time announcements of _new_ products or services that have _unique_and_specialized_ use in fishery science may be helpful to some subscribers and may be posted to Fish-Sci. However, Fish-Sci is _not_ an advertising service, and commercial use of Fish-Sci would violate the terms of services provided by our SUNET host. Therefore advertising will not be tolerated.
Please do _not_ send any binary files to Fish-Sci. Binary files include graphics, executable programs, word processing documents and macros, and spreadsheets. All messages and attachments should be plain ASCII text. Presently there is no uniform standard for encoding and decoding binary files sent across the Internet and the only way to insure that all subscribers can read a message is to transmit it as ASCII text. If you need to share a binary file with other subscribers, please ask them to contact you directly.
Everyone makes mistakes on occasion. However, any persistent abuses of the Fish-Sci list will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Simple reminders of proper use from the list owners should be adequate. The list owners reserve the right to terminate the subscription of anyone who willfully or repeatedly misuses the Fish-Sci list.
The list owners welcome open discussion of the rules of the list and list management. Present you ideas to the list owners or to the entire list as you believe appropriate. The list owners The Fish-Sci list owners can be contacted collectively by e-mail at
[log in to unmask]
V. Acknowledgments.
Fish-Sci is served by segate.sunet.se, a computer on the Swedish University Network (SUNET). We are grateful to SUNET for their unwavering support in promoting scientific communication for the international community. Eric Thomas of SUNET and L-Soft International, Inc., and developer of the LISTSERV software provides technical support. Any good mail list forum is a product of the subscribers. May you enjoy Fish-Sci and find it useful!
-The Fish-Sci owners (alphabetically)
Steve Gutreuter, Statistician Peter Hagen, Fisheries Biologist Bill Silvert, Theoretical Marine Ecologist
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