Guidelines covering the use of electronic mail

Set out below are some guidelines which will help you to use electronic mail effectively.

Security

Unless you are using encryption techniques, you should assume that all electronic mail is insecure:
- Anything you send may be read by others.
- Anything you receive may not have originated from where you think it might have, as mail headers are easily forged.
Consequently, never disclose anything confidential (such as your password) in response to a received mail message, nor act on a message (such as a request for you to change your password) unless you are certain of the authenticity of the message.
Never send (or pass on) chain letters via electronic mail.
Never send "junk" mail.
Never respond in any way to any junk mail you receive. Just delete it.
Verify addresses before initiating "long" or personal discourse. Never guess mail addresses.
Know whom to contact for help. Find out who your local support staff are. Familiarise yourself with procedures for getting central support.

When forwarding or reposting a message you've received, do not change the wording. Before passing on any message received which was addressed to you personally, ask the permission of the message originator before doing so.
Always set a relevant subject heading when sending messages.
When replying to a message, only include the relevant parts of the original.
Watch for cc's (carbon copies) when replying. Only include all recipients in your replies when relevant.

Use mixed case. UPPER CASE LOOKS AS IF YOU'RE SHOUTING.
Wait overnight to send emotional responses to messages.
Limit your line length to no more than 72 characters. Although most decent mailers will automatically fold "long" lines for you, check this is the case with your mail program.
Remember that you are generally communicating with another human being. Don't mail anything you wouldn't put in writing or convey verbally.
Remember that impressions (first or otherwise) do count.

Know how large the message you intend sending is before sending it. Including files in messages (Word documents, PostScript files) can make your message so large that it cannot be delivered or at least consumes excessive resources. As a rule of thumb, do not send messages larger than 1 Megabyte. Consider file transfer or the web as alternatives.
Never send large messages (greater than 100 Kilobytes) to groups of recipients. Again, consider using file transfer or the web as alternatives.
Do not make assumptions about the capabilities of your recipients' mail programs. Don't send Word documents, for example, unless you know your recipients can use them.
Do not include non-ASCII characters in messages unless they are included as MIME attachments.

Find out how to subscribe to mailing lists. Don't guess.
Find out how to unsubscribe from mailing lists. Always do this before you leave the University.
Only use mailing lists for the purposes for which they were established. Do not, for example, use them for advertising something you might have to sell.