WHAT IS LIB_SCI?  It is an Internet discussion group for Sam Houston State University Department of Library Science students, faculty, and alumni. It is THE source of announcements, reminders, information, and communication for all who are part of our SHSU Library Science program family. This is a moderated group. That means that no one can join without approval, and all messages must be approved by the sysop (systems operator) before they appear. This group is a part of Yahoo Groups. Instructions for joining are provided below.

WHO SHOULD JOIN? Every currently enrolled student MUST enroll in order to keep up with important updates from faculty and fellow students. All department faculty are active members. We hope that alumni will enroll or continue enrollment after graduation. New students...sign up as soon as possible!

Tips for Successful Use

• The most common mistake people make regarding this listserv is that they receive a message posted by a certain member, such as our Department Secretary Rebecca Lewis, or by a fellow student. The person reading the message wants to reply to that message. So this individual just hits REPLY in his/her email application. THIS SENDS THE MESSAGE TO THE ENTIRE GROUP RATHER THAN TO AN INDIVIDUAL. Folks, as your moderator, I can say that this happens almost daily. I have seen messages that include people's Social Security Numbers come to me for approval. Of course I deny such personal communications. Rather than hit REPLY, address the message to the person you want to receive it. REMEMBER TO ALWAYS CHECK THE ADDRESS LINE BEFORE SENDING OUT ANY EMAIL MESSAGE!

• The second most common mistake is that people fail to sign their messages. Remember that if your email address is cutiepie@yahoo.com and you do not sign, no one can possibly know who you are. PLEASE SIGN YOUR MESSAGES!!!

• Students, many of you join with your SHSU email address. This is fine BUT it does mean that when you graduate, you can no longer get messages and you are essentially out of the group. The best thing to do if this describes your situation, is to just re-enroll with a permanent address. The same will be true, of course, if you join with a work email address and then change jobs. To avoid having this problem, get yourself a permanent anywhere/anytime email account and use it. GUESS WHAT? WHEN YOU JOIN YAHOO IN ORDER TO JOIN THE GROUP, YOU AUTOMATICALLY HAVE A YAHOO MAIL ACCOUNT. USE THAT!!!!!

• This may appeal to some of you, who do not want to receive email coming directly to your box. You can elect to NOT have the emails come to your box but instead plan to go to the page and see them. This is not for most people but might appeal if you get a large volume of email and fear you will miss a message. As your sysop, I do this because I must go there to oversee group submissions. You will see a threaded discussion board format similar to what you see at Blackboard if you do this. You can visit the group board at this address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LIB_SCI/
• What if I want to go back and revisit a post that came through some time ago? There was information I needed to review...how can I do this? Again, this is a reason to visit the group site page. Once you get there you can scroll through recent messages or, if it was quite a while back, you can use the SEARCH feature:: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LIB_SCI/
• It is a good idea to check spelling and punctuation when submitting messages to any large group. If you want to promote a favorable impression of yourself to your colleagues and professors.

FAQ

1. Why is this list moderated? Your moderator makes sure that SPAM, sales pitches, double submissions, and other distracting messages are not sent. She also makes sure that messages that were meant to be private communication are not sent out to the entire membership.

2. Who is this moderator? Your sysop/moderator is Dr. Mary Ann Bell. She can be reached at (lis_mah@shsu.edu). Because she does OK each message, there may be a delay between submission and posting. Please do not post a message repeatedly. Usually messages appear on the day they are submitted.

3. What kinds of postings are appropriate? We encourage you to engage in any type of discussion that lends itself to conversation among our family. This can include current issues as well as department/university business. It is not a good place to vent about private job problems or other topics that you would not want read by a group of people. Often students tell me that they will miss Blackboard Discussion Board when they graduate. Many of the things discussed there could very well be shared in this group as well.
4. Why must I include the "magic sentence" put forth in "How Do I Join?" when I submit a request to join? Your sysop gets many applications from people who are not associated with SHSU. They may be vendors, or just curious individuals. Their membership requests are denied.

HOW DO I JOIN? Thanks to Ms Sara Catherine Howard, we have this easy-to-follow set of directions:

• You must first REGISTER with Yahoo Groups before you can join.

  Go to  http://www.yahoogroups.com. 

  Click on Register if you are new, or Sign In if you already have a Yahoo account.

  If you presently have Yahoo mail, you already have an account and just use that same login/password.

• Once you have registered, choose the group you want to join. From the Yahoo home page, 

  you may "Search"  Yahoo and enter "LIB_SCI."(Please note that there is an underscore between the LIB 

  and the SCI.)

• You will be asked for your full name and a brief message as to why you want to join the discussion group.  

  USE THIS SENTENCE: "My name is _________, and I am a Library Science student at SHSU."

• You will receive a notification message from LIB_SCI.  Read notification e-mail carefully and save.  

  You must wait until you get the notification before you can post a message.

• The Notification message will tell you how to Post & Unsubscribe.  SAVE THIS

• To Post a message, from the e-mail address where you subscribed,(THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT) send an e-mail 

  message to: LIB_SCI@yahoogroups.com