ConsDistList Instructions

The Conservation DistList (ConsDistList) is a project of the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works (FAIC), which supports conservation education, research, and outreach activities that increase understanding of our global cultural heritage. To help sustain the ConsDistList, please donate to FAIC.

For questions or thoughts about these instructions, please email list moderator Scott Devine.

BASICS:

1. Subscribing

To subscribe, apply at

http://cool.conservation-us.org/mailmain/listinfo/consdistlist

2. Turning list mail off temporarily

If you want to "turn off" the ConsDistList for a while, send a note to consdistlist-request@cool.conservation-us.org with the subject line: SET DELIVERY OFF

Then, when you return, send a message to the same address with the subject line: SET DELIVERY ON

3. Unsubscribing

If your email address changes or you wish to leave the list, please unsubscribe by sending a note from the subscribed/old email address to consdistlist-leave@cool.conservation-us.org. Then subscribe from the new email address (see Subscribing, above).

4. Posting Messages

All articles must pertain to the conservation/preservation of library, archives, or museum materials, or carry information likely to be of importance to people interested in these subjects. ConsDistList postings are not edited, only approved or returned for corrections. Compose them, including the subject line, exactly as you would like them to appear to readers. Do not include text addressed to the list moderators. Pay strict attention to the subject line (in your email) of your submission; subject lines become the table of contents entry for your submission and a good one will help the right people find your posting. Most edits the moderators require result from badly written subject lines (more below, especially in "Styles and Policies" section 5).

To post a message to the ConsDistList, email it to

consdistlist@cool.conservation-us.org

Make that address the primary recipient (not a Cc: or Bcc:). Do not include any other recipients.

The ConsDistList strongly prefers that replies be sent back to the list, not personally to the sender. Don't request personal replies. If you are replying to an item in a ConsDistList mailing, in almost all cases you should send your reply to the list.

Assuming you have sent your message to the correct address, you should receive an automatic message indicating that your message has been received and will be reviewed. Upon review, the message will either be sent back to you with instructions, or posted to the list. Recipients will then receive the message as part of the next twice-weekly issue.

IMPORTANT: All ConsDistList postings will be published on the Internet and should be considered permanently public. ConsDistList postings are never removed from the archives except when legally required; recognize that any posting to a list of this size is likely to be duplicated in other locations as well, including some over which FAIC has no influence.

STYLES AND POLICIES:

1. One subject per message (you may send as many messages as you like, but keep each one to a single topic).

2. Use a meaningful subject. "Re: Posting for the ConsDistList" is not a meaningful subject; "Removing aged varnish" is.

3. When replying to an earlier posting, please do not quote the entire ConsDistList mailing. Rather, quote a short fragment of the item to which you are replying, e.g.

> ... I have an object with an odd discoloration. The discoloration 
> suggests some form of copper corrosion, but it does not have the 
> characteristic substrate damage associated with such corrosion

4. When posting, identify yourself clearly. If you have a commercial interest in a material/service that you are commenting on, make this clear (e.g. by including your company name). However, elaborate signatures are prohibited.

5. Special instructions for job postings, internships, events, workshops, conferences, etc.:

A. Only jobs directly involving the conservation/preservation of museum, library, or archive materials will be accepted. In the subject line of your email, include the job title, the institution, and the geographic location of the position (at least city and country). Include at least a brief description of the job in the posting. It is acceptable to link to a full, outside job description/application system, in addition. Job announcements must include information on how to apply and, if appropriate, contact info to get more info and any relevant dates such as deadlines and job terms.

B. For conferences, workshops, and the like, provide a specific Subject: line that uniquely identifies the event, including the name of the conference, its dates, and its geographic location (at least city and country), e.g. "Museum Computer Network Annual Conference 2014, Minneapolis, USA, October 14-18." Include precise, complete information on the location of the event in the posting, as well as relevant URLs for registration or more information.

6. This is an international list; addresses and phone numbers must indicate the city/country or international country code.

7. Expand acronyms as well as the names of your institution, city, etc., at least once in your message.

8. This is a professional publication in English: write in complete sentences, spell-check your document, and use conventional punctuation.

9. All contributions to ConsDistList are presumed to represent the opinions of the author and in no way imply the endorsement of any institution. For this reason, and because "for your eyes only" warnings are senseless on publicly-archived mailing lists, "Disclaimer" signatures are frowned upon in ConsDistList (and indeed, all mailing list) postings. (If your institution requires such sigs, please show your counsel this policy statement.) Eliminate any disclaimers like "The ideas expressed here are not those of my employer."

10. Post only plain text. Do not send file enclosures, attachments, HTML or encoded text. The primary reason for messages that don't look good is excessive styling of the text--differing fonts and font sizes, bolded text, etc. Avoid it.

11. Repeat postings are not accepted. Substantive new information referring to prior posts is acceptable.

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