WHAT IS FORUM-L?
WHAT KINDS OF MESSAGES ARE APPROPRIATE FOR FORUM-L?
IS THERE LIST ETIQUETTE I SHOULD FOLLOW?
HOW DO I SEND MAIL TO THE LIST?
HOW DO I SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE TO THE LIST?
HOW DO I CHANGE MY E-MAIL ADDRESS?
HOW CAN I RECEIVE ONE E-MAIL A DAY FROM THE LIST INSTEAD OF MANY?
CAN I RETRIEVE PAST MESSAGES?
I'M GOING ON VACATION AND WOULD LIKE TO TEMPORARILY SUSPEND MY LIST MAIL.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
JOIN FORUM-L

WHAT IS FORUM-L?

FORUM-L is a moderated discussion group in which preservationists can exchange views, ideas, and information about preservation issues. Access is limited to members of Forum, the professional and organization membership program at the National Trust.

FORUM-L is a discussion list, also known as a "listserve" or "mailing list," in which members of the list can send a message to a single e-mail address which distributes the message to everyone on the list.

The goal of FORUM-L is to act as a catalyst for engaging preservationists in an animated dialog about preservation issues, and to create a community in which preservationists can mutually benefit from their shared knowledge.

WHAT KINDS OF MESSAGES ARE APPROPRIATE FOR FORUM-L?

FORUM-L is a moderated list. The National Trust reserves the right to reject messages that do not meet the guidelines below.

• Suggesting a preservation-related topic for discussion or debate, e.g., "Are preservation and affordable housing mutually exclusive goals, or can they both be achieved?"
• Sharing your community's success stories.
• Alerting others about action they can take to intervene in a preservation crisis.
• Asking how others have successfully handled preservation challenges, e.g., "A superstore has been proposed on a former civil war battlefield. How can I mobilize citizens to prevent this?"
• Asking for help to locate a specific preservation resource.
• Advertising is prohibited. Recommendations or endorsements by persons not associated with the company or service are okay.

Announcements about opportunities in preservation (e.g., jobs, events, grants, awards, requests for proposals, calls for papers, etc.) should be sent to Forum Online, rather than to FORUM-L. Announcements for Forum Online can be sent to: FORUM_ONLINE@NTHP.ORG.

Newspaper, magazine and journal articles may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast on Forum-L without prior written permission from the newspaper or magazine. Links to a website where the article can be read are acceptable. The National Trust reserves the right to reject any email submission to Forum-L that contains articles or copyrighted materials from other source; alternatively, the list administrator may (at his or her discretion, and without prior notice to the email author) remove the copyrighted material from the email submission and substitute a link to the original source before posting the email submission to Forum-L.

Don't send list commands or administrative requests to FORUM-L@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG. If you do, your message will go to everyone on the list, and you'll be doing a disservice to your fellow listmembers.

Instead, list commands and administrative requests (such as temporarily suspending list e-mail, changing your e-mail address, and selecting the daily digest version) should be sent to FORUM-L-REQUEST@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG. Requests for assistance or comments about FORUM-L should be addressed to FORUM_ONLINE@NTHP.ORG. When asking technical questions about the list, be sure to include a detailed description of the problem you are encountering.

IS THERE LIST ETIQUETTE I SHOULD FOLLOW?

When sending messages to FORUM-L, please keep the following suggestions in mind. They will help keep the list user-friendly for everyone:

• Keep discussions focused on the topic at hand.
• When you send a message to the list, please include your e-mail address and your full name at the bottom, so that other list members will know who sent the message.
• Include a subject line in each posting.
• While lively debate is very much encouraged, users are expected to maintain professionalism and respect when responding to members of the list. Flaming will not be tolerated nor will abusive language.
• While critical comments are expected in the course of topical discussion or debate, Forum-L is not to be used as a public grievance or complaint board, either for complaints directed at the National Trust or directed any of the many other organizations that are represented on Forum-L.
• Do not forward messages from this list without first obtaining permission from the author. Similarly, private e-mail addressed to you should not be forwarded to FORUM-L without the permission of the sender.
• Use discretion when composing and posting your messages; there is always the possibility that your message may be received by someone other than your intended audience.
• Send your e-mail messages in plain text format. This is a courtesy to your colleagues who do not have HTML capable e-mail or receive the daily digest.
• Whenever appropriate, respond directly to the author of the message instead of to the list.
• Avoid sending lengthy messages. When replying to a message, quote as little of it as possible.

HOW DO I SEND MAIL TO THE LIST?

• To send a message to everyone on the list, address your message to: FORUM-L@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG

HOW DO I SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE TO THE LIST?

• To subscribe, you will need to access the subscription form on Forum Online. The form is easily accessible from the left-side navigation bar and in the Forum Member Services section of the site. You will need your e-mail address and Forum membership number to subscribe.
  
• To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail message to:

UNSUBSCRIBE-FORUM-L@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG

HOW DO I CHANGE MY E-MAIL ADDRESS?

• You can change the e-mail address that messages from the list come to by sending an e-mail message from your old e-mail account to:

FORUM-L-REQUEST@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.

In the body of the message, type:

set email=[new-email-address]

For example, if you are currently subscribed to FORUM-L as bob@acme.com and want to be subscribed as bob@widget.com you would use your bob@acme.com account to send the command: set email=bob@widget.com
Note: the text after <email=> cannot have any spaces in it.

If you no longer have access to your old e-mail account, send a request with your old and new e-mail addresses to FORUM_ONLINE@NTHP.ORG and we will take care of it for you.

HOW CAN I RECEIVE ONE E-MAIL A DAY FROM THE LIST INSTEAD OF MANY?

FORUM-L is a very active list, which means you may receive several e-mail messages a day. A DIGEST version of the messages from the list is available. The DIGEST e-mail is sent out once a day and contains all of the e-mail messages from the previous day. You may prefer this method if you don't want to receive numerous e-mail messages over the course of a day.

• To receive the digest version, send a blank e-mail to:

DIGEST-FORUM-L@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG

• If you later decide that you would like to receive messages as they are posted to the list not as a daily digest, send a blank e-mail to:

MAIL-FORUM-L@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG

CAN I RETRIEVE PAST MESSAGES?

Forum Online features a FORUM-L archive which includes messages as of September 16, 1998. Messages are threaded by topic. The archive is searchable by date or keyword. You can access the FORUM-L archive in the Forum Research Tools section of Forum Online.

I'M GOING ON VACATION AND WOULD LIKE TO TEMPORARILY SUSPEND MY LIST MAIL.

• To temporarily stop receiving messages from FORUM-L, send an blank e-mail to:

NOMAIL-FORUM-L@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG

• When you're ready to start receiving e-mail from the list again, send another blank message to:

MAIL-FORUM-L@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Requests for assistance, questions or comments about FORUM-L should be addressed to FORUM_ONLINE@NTHP.ORG. When asking technical questions about the list, be sure to include a detailed description of the problem you are encountering. You can also call us at 202-588-6123.

Don't send list commands or administrative requests to FORUM-L@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG. Instead, list commands and administrative requests (such as temporarily suspending list e-mail, changing your e-mail address, and selecting the daily digest version) should be sent to FORUM-L-REQUEST@LISTS.NATIONALTRUST.ORG.

Updated 10 August 2006