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SCOUTS-L Welcome and Introduction 06/06/2013
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List: SCOUTS-L@SCOUTS-L.COM
Coordinator: Jon Eidson <eidson@scouts-l.com>
WELCOME
Let me be the first to welcome you to SCOUTS-L, the "Electronic Roundtable
that Never Ends". SCOUTS-L provides opportunities for members of youth groups
world-wide to interact, compare notes on their programs discuss organizational
problems and concerns, and communicate with members all over the world!
While the groups discussed may be heavily weighted towards the programs
of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), we DO INCLUDE WAGGGS (Girl Scouts and
Girl Guides), Boys' and Girls' Clubs, and other world-wide scouting and
youth organizations. We also welcome you if you belong to NO national youth
organization.
I realize this is a rather long file to read but the time taken will
be well spent. Hopefully many of your initial questions will be answered
here. The guidelines set forth will help make for a more enjoyable SCOUTS-L
for all. I would also highly recommend that you keep a copy of this file.
It contains a lot of reference information that you WILL need in the future.
WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT ON SCOUTS-L?
If you can imagine a daily meeting with parents of Scouts, leaders at the
unit level, Scouters (scouting leaders) at the group, local Council or Regional
level and occasionally some people who make Scouting their career (or did
at one time or another) -- from all over the nation and from around the
world -- you have an idea of the impact this discussion list has.
We talk about a wide variety of issues and topics, from the silliness
of a "Woodbadge animal" to the very seriousness of child protection policies
that many organizations have recently installed. While we don't profess
to have the answer to EVERY issue or question, we do spend a great deal
of time answering as many as we can. In most cases, we not only answer the
"where it can be found in the literature" question, but also give some practical
applications of why it is or is not so.
We tell stories of how our units or groups are doing, to inspire and
to just share with others our anxieties, our fears and our joys. We get
personal occasionally, because we have grown to be more than merely people
discussing youth programs...we've become friends. We care when our fellow
members are in the hospital, or when their new son or daughter is born,
or when we attended our first training session or when we decide that perhaps
our service is needed elsewhere.
And we are listened to, comforted, and encouraged to move forward by
the others here. We get lots of useful answers and suggestions and we joke
around with each other from time to time. Then, we move on to another topic
and the process starts over again.
As you can imagine, not everyone here is in total agreement every day
with all issues and resolutions of issues. We do argue, we express ourselves
with deep personal emotion, but we also remember that we are in the company
of fellow Scouters...people who understand that disagreements are a part
of being human; that the disagreement is with the other point of view, and
NOT the other person. Therefore, you will NOT find here the outlandish language
and ongoing discussions about topics that have no real answer to them. We
don't have time for such nonsense...we're too busy discussing issues that
CAN be resolved.
We try as hard as we can NOT to censure or ignore ANYONE's point of view
or thought on ANY topic, but we have "driven some topics deeply into the
ground." Please check the logs *before* bringing up a sensitive topic that
we have talked about before. Also, please think before replying to a issue
which "may set off firerockets." If you have any concerns, please let the
list administrator know or send him a copy of your proposed posting BEFORE
you post it to the list.
We would also appreciate it greatly if you sign your name somewhere in
the posting so that replies can be "personalized" to you rather than a pseudonym.
This makes it nicer for you to be recognized as an individual.
Finally, the list quality has been maintained by the number of questions
that we've answered over the years. In many cases, the questions we've asked
have also been raised by others who are not on the list, only to be ignored
or discarded. Some of our questions --and our collective answers-- have
resulted in program or policy changes by the BSA or other organizations.
This is *your* chance to ask questions that you felt "stupid" asking
local officials; to get the REAL answer to that policy that someone told
you was "in the book and that's the way it is"; to resolve just WHERE do
you wear that new award that your son or daughter or you received. We are
MORE than willing to answer ALL questions, concerns, or problems that you
may be having with your unit or organization. However, we do so ONLY with
the understanding that you cannot get answers anywhere else. We don't want
SCOUTS-L to be your ONLY source of information about what should or should
not be done. We urge you to seek out the local offices of your youth organization
BEFORE posting here...it avoids embarrassing "gaffes" between you and your
organization and it also keeps us from coming between youth agencies and
your unit. The advice given here is given on the same basis as what you
would receive from a friend (which we all hope to become). None of us speaks
on behalf of a youth organization in any capacity, except in the cases where
we have identified ourself as a volunteer or career executive.
You are free (and encouraged) to extract and download the information
shared and share it with those that you work with in your youth agency or
group. In this way, you are not letting the information die! Many Scout
"roundtables" use the information from this list each month!
So now that you know what happens here on this list EVERY DAY, here's
some common information that you need to be aware of:
SUBSCRIBING
The act of SUBSCRIBING to the SCOUTS-L list is
to place your name on the list which will allow you to receive all postings
to the SCOUTS-L list as well as to be able to post messages to SCOUTS-L.
To subscribe you should send a 1 line email message to LISTSERV@SCOUTS-L.COM
without any extra headings or signature lines. This message should be as
follows: SUBSCRIBE SCOUTS-L your name
You should use your REAL NAME in place of "your name". Handles are not
accepted on SCOUTS-L. Your email address is taken from the "FROM" line of
your email heading.
LISTSERV
The Listserv is a computer that accepts commands or
inquiries. THERE IS NOBODY PHYSICALLY AT THE LISTSERV ADDRESS!
Take some time to learn how to use and interact with the LISTSERV. This
will save you a lot of time and headaches when you want to search for some
past topic, retrieve files, or change some of your options. Remember there
are 2 email ids that you use:
- SCOUTS-L@SCOUTS-L.COM (email id is used when you want to POST a message
to the group)
- LISTSERV@SCOUTS-L.COM (email id is used when you want to subscribe,
unsubscribe, get files, database searches, and change options)
The commands to LISTSERV are contained in the body of your email message.
A good command to start with is "HELP". Other useful commands to LISTSERV
are:
SUBSCRIBE SCOUTS-L your name Can be used to change your name
UNSUBSCRIBE
SCOUTS-L Signoff your id from SCOUTS-L
SET SCOUTS-L NOMAIL To stop list
mail temporarily
SET SCOUTS-L DIGEST Turn ON the digest feature
SET SCOUTS-L
MAIL To turn ON mail again (reset DIGEST)
SET SCOUTS-L REPRO To receive
a copy of your postings
QUERY SCOUTS-L To see your distribution options
REVIEW SCOUTS-L Get a copy of SCOUTS-L subscription list and list header
INDEX SCOUTS-L Get an index of SCOUTS-L files
GET SCOUTS-L LOGyymm SCOUTS-L
Get a particular log file
GET SCOUTPCX BSADSK0 SCOUTS-L Get a file from
the archives
DIGEST OPTION
For those of you who read SCOUTS-L only once-per-day,
have trouble keeping up with the volume of email postings, or those who
are only reading SCOUTS-L and don't intend to post, the DIGEST feature may
be what you need. Once set, you will receive ONLY one posting per day that
contains all postings consolidated into a neat package.
To set this option, send email to
LISTSERV@SCOUTS-L.COM with the following
message: SET SCOUTS-L DIGEST to revert back to normal receipt of individual
messages: SET SCOUTS-L MAIL
A special note to those who reply to a digested SCOUTS-L is to change
the subject line to something appropriate.
UNSUBSCRIBING
I know a lot of SCOUTS-L users out there
will lose their computer accounts due to the end of a semester. PLEASE,
PLEASE, PLEASE remember to "unsubscribe" from SCOUTS-L before you lose your
account. In case you don't understand, every bounced piece of SCOUTS-L mail
ends up being sent to me. This is very frustrating on a busy day when I
receive about 5-10 bounced postings for every note that goes out to SCOUTS-L
... and we have had some pretty busy days!
To unsubscribe, send email to LISTSERV@SCOUTS-L.COM with the following
message: UNSUBSCRIBE SCOUTS-L
INTRODUCTION
When first subscribing to SCOUTS-L, please
feel free to post a brief message (about a screen's worth) about yourself
to introduce yourself to the list.
When responding to someone's introduction, please DO NOT USE the reply
function of your mailer as your reply will then also be distributed to the
entire list. Use private Email. SCOUTS-L makes a concerted effort to keep
network traffic and "junk mail" to a minimum, since there are many subscribers
receiving SCOUTS-L through their place of work.
FLAMING
First, a reminder to everyone about network "etiquette".
The so called "flaming" (insults) do NOT belong on the SCOUTS-L list and
will not be put up with. Personal vendettas will NOT be tolerated. The Boy
Scout Oath and Law is the best guidelines I can think of in these matters.
PLEASE remember this! Flaming will result in action by the list coordinator.
Discussions will naturally bring disagreement, however, rebuttals should
always be made in a rational, logical and mature manner in public. What
has made SCOUTS-L such a success is the manner in which most subscribers
handle their postings and how they address a topic. Let's keep it up!
NETIQUETTE
The SCOUTS-L list continues to grow and now has
over 400 direct subscribers (I have no idea how many scouters get our list
through other means). Many users access SCOUTS-L via their work place or
through some commercial services (i.e. they are paying to get our messages)
and some even use 2400 baud modems to get their email -- this is why it
is VERY important that we follow some rules in our postings.
These rules are sometimes known as "NETIQUETTE".
- Everyone is asked to send an introduction of themselves when they subscribe.
I know we Scouters are a very friendly bunch and want to welcome these new
subscribers... in fact I think it would be really neat if each new subscriber
received 400 "welcome" notes, but NOT NOT to the list! Learn how to reply
to individuals and NOT the list. This applies to many "congratulations"
messages and others.
- Netiquette dictates private responses to private email. Please do not
post private mail to SCOUTS-L, even if you cannot find a mailing path. Contact
your local postmaster or the list coordinator for help. The list coordinator
will keep all communications confidential.
- Whenever possible, REPLY TO THE SENDER of a message and NOT THE ENTIRE
LIST unless the reply is of benefit to the group. Summarize whenever possible.
- If you are a new subscriber, check out the archives (via LISTSERV)
so that old subjects are not "rehashed" over and over again. All postings
to SCOUTS-L are automatically archived into monthly log files for this purpose.
- We tend to discuss a particular topic for about two weeks or so. While
this is not a hard, enforced rule, we ask that time is not endlessly spent
on topics which we as Scouters have little or NO control over resolving
or which stray over to other topics. On the other hand, if you have *new
information* to provide (even after the topic has "died naturally"), please
send it to the list to consider.
- As a courtesy, please identify and cite newspaper clippings, magazine
articles, or postings from other sources (local BBSs, America Online {tm},
CompuServe {tm}, etc.) when you post them here. This list is used by some
members as a research reference or indexing tool.
- Please refrain from using any language that might be considered questionable
(even by the most conservative of us) on SCOUTS-L.
- As a rule, DON'T QUOTE MESSAGES! (Quoting messages is the act of including
the text of the message you are replying to.) Many are reading messages
once per day and have just read the note you are replying to and don't need
to read it again. If you must quote a previous message, please take the
time to delete all the extraneous text that does not apply.
- Please keep signature lines short and simple. There is a 99% chance
we already know who you are and your return email address is in the email
header anyway.
- If you want to post an item to the archive, please mail it directly
to me (eidson@scouts-l.com) but NOT to SCOUTS-L. All postings to SCOUTS-L
are automatically logged, and there is no reason to have items in the log
files as well as the archives. Archive files are usually larger than a normal
posting and are available to subscribers when/if they want them.
- Subscription to SCOUTS-L is *not* limited to the members of any specific
organization. Therefore, please do not discuss ANY confidential ritual or
ceremonies of any organization that is considered "safeguarded". If you
are unsure on whether the content of a posting is inappropriate, contact
an officer of the organization or the list coordinator.
- When posting messages, keep your line lengths to 72 characters or less.
This length seems to be a bit more universally accepted. Longer lines tend
to wrap in unusual places and make your messages generally unreadable.
- Don't use all uppercase. This is considered "shouting" in most email
circles.
Thank you for adhering to these guidelines. While SCOUTS-L may be one
of the more active mailing lists, following these guidelines will ensure
that the majority of subscribers can and will stay involved.
ARCHIVES
What is archived on SCOUTS-L?? Anything that YOU, the
subscriber of SCOUTS-L deems important enough to share with the world!
The archives of SCOUTS-L continue to grow and are (in my opinion) one
of the list's more valuable resources. They have become so valuable that
many of the archived items are in high demand by Scouters world-wide and
have been exported to other providers. Many of the SCOUTS-L archived items
are also found on GEnie {tm}, America Online {tm}, and CompuServe {tm} in
various Scouting "libraries".
Besides the logging of messages, there are several files that have been
compiled and archived that may be of use to many of you. Recent additions
include "Eagle tips" and the FAQs from USENET's "rec.scouting."
To get a list of files, send email to
LISTSERV@SCOUTS-L.COM with the
following message: INDEX SCOUTS-L To get a particular file, send email to
LISTSERV@SCOUTS-L.COM with the following message: GET SCOUTFAQ SILK SCOUTS-L
Additional contributions are encouraged and welcomed. Please send contributions
to EIDSON@SCOUTS-L.COM Currently FTP access is NOT available for SCOUTS-L
files.
LOGS
All postings to SCOUTS-L are automatically archived into monthly
files. You may retrieve these log files by sending the following command
to LISTSERV@SCOUTS-L.COM either by interactive message or as the first line
in a mail file: GET SCOUTS-L LOGyymm where "yy" is the year and "mm" is
the month of the requested notebook.
When first subscribing, it is nice to get the last few log files so that
you can "catch up" on what has been going on. Log files are also useful
to see what has been discussed while you've been away from the list for
a while.
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I hope to see SCOUTS-L be a resource to Scouters and others as well as
a forum for which ideas can be expressed and the differences that we all
have can be appreciated.
Yours in Scouting, Jon Eidson, Listowner SCOUTS-L (eidson@scouts-l.com)
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