Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 13:30:18 EDT From: Ellen Chamberlain *LESSON 04 EMAIL, PART 1: FUNCTIONS & OPTIONS "Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them." Adlai Stevenson, speech, Denver, Colorado, 1952 Regardless of your level of connectivity, you are sure to have access to some form of "email" (electronic mail) - as opposed to "snail mail" (traditional post office variety). Email is the most basic function of networks. It allows people on networks to communicate with each other and, through interconnected "gateways," to talk to people on other networks as well. Email, or electronic mail, is also one of the most popular and heavily used functions of computer networks. The ability to compose, send and receive messages within minutes and without regard to time zones or office hours is invaluable. With email, you can effectively avoid the routine delays associated with snail mail and the frustrations experienced by getting caught up in a game of "telephone tag." It's important to remember, however, that while communications over the Net usually take only seconds to reach their destination, in some cases, they can take minutes, hours or even as long as a day or two. Sometimes the size of the file being transmitted can slow it down. More often, delays are due to 'traffic jams' -- communications backing up because a major routing host is incapacitated or a communications line is severed along a major trunk line. Even though the Net takes advantage of multiple possible transmission routes (like long distance service), sometimes snarls do occur (this is especially true in email communications bound for networks that are only gatewayed to the Internet). Nevertheless, when compared to snail, email will always be characterized as "instantaneous." Email has many applications, such as exchanging information, communicating ideas, discussing issues, sharing files, and editing and reviewing manuscripts. I am communicating with you and bringing this "Back-to-School" classroom to you via email (lucky others of you may be accessing these lessons via the a World Wide Web browser at http://web.csd.sc.edu). Email also makes it possible for you to use the telnet, ftp, and gopher functions of the Internet (although not in a very straightforward fashion!). I wish I could tell you everything you needed to know about email, but I can't. There are nearly as many mail programs out there as computer systems, and practically every one of them uses a different set of commands for the same or similar functions. To send a mail message, for example, some of you might pull down a menu, or type the letter "r," while others might be asked to type a "send/edit" or "forward/edit" command, whereas I am instructed to hit the PF5 key twice. To learn how to operate and get the most out of your email system, you will have to contact your local service provider. Although I cannot lay out all of the differing commands for each separate email program, I can run through the functions common to most of them. INCOMING EMAIL FUNCTIONS: Access and read incoming mail messages Print incoming mail messages Save incoming mail messages in an archive Forward mail messages to another individual(s) Discard mail messages OUTGOING EMAIL FUNCTIONS: Send an outgoing mail message Reply to a mail message Include text of original message in your reply Answer on same subject Mail to multiple recipients (distribution lists) Send added copies and blind copies of messages Append documents Request an automatic acknowledgement Automatically add a signature file OTHER EMAIL RELATED OPTIONS: Create distribution lists Create address books for people you correspond with frequently Create email signature files Participate in mailing lists (LISTSERVs, etc.) Once you obtain an email account and your own address, you'll probably want to practice sending email messages. You can begin by sending one to yourself. That's easy -- all you have to do is enter the mail command followed by your own address, and your regular mail screen will appear. Once you've mastered the basics by mailing to yourself, you might want to consider sending an email message to President Clinton or Vice President Gore, both of whom would appreciate hearing from you. You can send an email message to either of them by using your mail command, followed by one of these addresses: President@whitehouse.gov or Vice.president@whitehouse.gov Within seconds after posting your message, the Secret Service will be knocking on your door. No, that's a joke! :-) What really *will* happen is that an electronic reply will appear in your mailbox telling you that your message has been received but that due to the vast volume of mail sent to the President and Vice-President, neither can reply to you in person. Instead, the issue you are addressing and your stand on it will be compiled in a digest of mail that is regularly prepared and given to our leaders. Of course, you may soon tire of writing to public officials, who don't seem overly eager to take your advice anyway, and so you'll probably want to start writing to people you know personally. As you acquire their addresses and begin to send email messages to them, you will begin to receive mail from them. One of the first things you should learn to do is manage your mailbox. When mail arrives in your "in" box, it lines up there until you read and respond to it. On many systems, if you do not do something with your mail -- log, download, print, forward or discard -- it will continue to pile up until your mailbox jams! On other systems, the system administrator may delete mail when you exceed your allotted storage space! Find out from your service provider how your mail system is configured and avoid a "crash" or a "house cleaning" by learning how to manage your mail now. Secondly, learn how to create an address book of the names of people you correspond with frequently. This will save you all kinds of time because the system will store and remember your addresses for you. Very likely, it will also allow you to assign an easily remembered "nickname" to each person you add to your address file. Then, when you type the mail command followed by the nickname you have chosen, your system will automatically supply the correct address and the form of the name (not the nickname) that you have designated to be printed in the mail header. Finally, if your system allows it, you may want to design and create your own "signature file." You'll see mine appended to many of the lessons I send to you. Signature files can be very helpful and informative but there are cautions I would like to give you regarding them. Before creating a signature file of your own, wait until you read what I have to say about them in the lesson on "Netiquette." YOUR ASSIGNMENT 1) Send an email message to yourself 2) Send an email message to someone you know 3) If you're politically minded, send an email message to the President or the Vice-President 4) Practice your email skills further by asking for a quote or an uplifting saying from almanac@oes.orst.edu Send an email message to: almanac@oes.orst.edu Leave the subject line blank In the body of the message, to receive a quote, type: send quote Or, in the body of the message, to receive an uplifting saying, type: send moral-support READ MORE ABOUT IT: You'll find lots of helpful information about effective email style and writing techniques in: Angell, David and Brent Heslop. _The Elements of E-Mail Style_. Addison-Wesley, 1994. There's tips on communication, productivity, organizing mail messages, addresses, and specific instructions for a variety of email packages in: Lamb, Linda and Jerry Peek. _Using Email Effectively_. O'Reilley & Associates, Inc., 1995 In addition, the basic Internet primers referenced in Lesson Two will provide you with more info on email systems; also, contact your local system administrator -- your institution or service provider may actually have documentation on your email system written specifically for you! Following are some on-line references for those of you with a WWW browser: Sherwood, Kaitlin Duck. _A Beginner's Guide to Effective Email_. (another style guide for electronic mail) at: http://www.webfoot.com/advice/email.top.html Yahoo's Collection on Email Software (links to FAQs on some of the more popular e-mail packages): http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Software/Electronic_Mail/ TIPS FROM THE READERSHIP: Cindy Krueger, from the Library of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan, offers the following URL for the 1995 version of EFF's (Extended) Guide to the Internet (formerly Big Dummy's Guide) v.2.3. written by Adam Gaffin for a joint project of Apple Computer, Inc. and The Electronic Frontier Foundation, 1995: http://www.cosy.sbg.ac.at/doc/eegtti/ Cindy also has an additional recommended reading selection: Valauskas, Edward J. & Nancy R. John. _The Internet Initiative: Libraries Providing Internet Services & How They Plan, Pay and Manage_. ALA, 1995. ISBN 0-8389-0668-0. pap Our thanks to Cindy Krueger, from the Library of Michigan, for this information. :-) _____ / /) /____ / ) Ellen Chamberlain, Librarian )_____)/) University of South Carolina Beaufort )_____)/) class email: bck2eln@sc.edu )_____)/