VisualMat Listserv Terms of Participation
(Modification based on Archives & Archivists
Listserve Terms of Participation)
VisualMat is a list begun in 1999 as an open forum for topics relating to
visual materials collections in archives and as a means of communication among
members of the Visual Materials Section and the Visual Materials Cataloging
and Access Roundtable of the Society of American Archivists.
Mission
VisualMat provides a venue for the discussion of all aspects of the
management and cataloging of historic visual materials collections, particularly
in archival repositories.
Audience
The principal audiences include professional archivists and visual materials
catalogers. The list is open to all with an interest in image collections
and their preservation, arrangement, description, and use.
Its initial, core membership is members of VMCAR and the Visual Materials
Section of the Society of American Arvhists, however, membership in the society
is not required for participation in the list.
Scope of the List
- Visual materials in archival repositories;
- Management of visual materials collections;
- Cataloging of visual materials;
- Administrative business of the Visual Materials Section and the Visual
Materials Cataloging and Access Roundtable of the Society of American Archivists;
- Resources and events relevant to visual materials professionals.
Subjects to be avoided include:
- Offtopic discussions
- Messages unrelated to visual materials or the profession
- Commercial advertisements for goods or services
- Messages directed to specific individuals (contact them directly)
- Flames (personal attacks)
- Virus warnings, chain letters, or œplease post widely” messages
Participation
Anyone may subscribe to the list and receive messages at no cost. Those
wishing to post to the list agree to abide by these Terms of Participation;
to restrict their messages to the scope of the list; to respect the interests
and rights of other readers and of the list host; to follow generally accepted
principles of netiquette; and to respect the law.
The list is unmoderated. Hence, individuals are expected to be selfpolicing.
In genenral, participants are not sanctioned for failing to comply with these
guidelines, although the list manager reserves the right to block an individual
from posting if a significant number of offtopic or abusive postings threatens,
in the opinion of the list manager, to disrupt the functioning of the list.
An individual blocked from posting may be allowed to post when the list manager
feels that the individual is willing to abide by these guidelines.
An individual may be blocked from posting if the list manager believes,
in his or her sole opinion, that the individual has violated these Terms
of Agreement and has persisted in posting messages that violate these Terms
after notice from the list manager. An individual blocked from posting may
have that block removed at the discretion of the list manager.
Copyright
Participants retain copyright to their individual postings to the list and
control all rights to the use of those postings. Commercial publication of
the discussion posted on the List requires the permission of the the individuals
who own copyright to the posting.
Participants forwarding messages written by others should recognize that
they are effectively publishing those messages. As such, the participant
should consider the possibility that they are violating the original author's
copyright and that they are opening themselves to the possibility of litigation.
Copyrighted material beyond brief quotations should not be posted to the
List without appropriate permissions AND citations. Participants should assume
that any material not authored personally to be protected by copyrighted.
Participants assume responsibility for all materials they post to VisualMat.
Netiquette
For a general discussion of netiquette, see Netiquette by Virginia Shea:
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/index.html
Messages should trigger discussion through a question or observation, or
should further a discussion by adding something new.
Participants should remember that other readers receive messages in a different
context from the author.
Messages, especially responses, should be long enough to be understandable,
including enough of the original message (by quoting or paraphrasing) to
provide context. When replying to a message, avoid including the full text
of long messages.
Avoid inflammatory remarks of a personal nature. Similarly, when reading
a message, be slow to take offense. In general, assume that an individual
had good intentions when posting a message, but the rapidity of the medium,
the lack of visual cues, and other factors may make an otherwise innocent
message seem insulting. Countering with insults on the list is considered
off-topic.
Participants should consider whether their reply if of interest to the list
as a whole or only to the individual making the posting. Do not automatically
use the reply key (which usually responds to the whole list). The best and
most experienced participants will occasionally make this mistake, which
is entirely forgivable.
Avoid posting styled text (messages formatted with html code) to the list,
as many email readers and the digest readers are unable to read these messages
easily.
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