E-mail Legal and ethical issues Suggestions for staying

E-mail Legal and ethical issues Suggestions for staying (mostly) out of trouble

How e-mail works Asynchronous n Store and forward n Multiple copies of each message n

Digital packrat v Felix Unger Which information will be useful? n Which information will get in your way? n Which information might be uncomfortable? n

Permanence Multiple copies n Backups n Don’t believe ‘unsend’ n

Ownership Sender n Recipient n School system n Web-based v client (Outlook) n FOIA n

Recipient v CC v BCC v Redirect n Recipient (To: ) n n Carbon copy (CC: ) n n Implies FYI Blind Carbon Copy (BCC: ) n n n Implies responsibility Implies “you should know about this. . . ” Use with extreme caution Redirect n n n Not supported by all e-mail clients Takes you out of the loop Implies “You deal with this. ”

Social virus Forward this to everyone you know. . . n ALWAYS fake n Use Snopes (http: //www. snopes. com/) to confirm n

Guideline 1: Intended recipient Picture person reading your message n Picture her or him reading your message five years from now n How is her or his context different from yours? n

Guideline 2: Unintended recipient n Mention by name? CC the person n Or at least act as though you did n

Guideline 3: Important message Look for “RR” (return receipt requested) n Ask a question n

Guideline 4: Attachment Attach file as soon as you type “Attach” n Be sure file format is compatible n PDF for files everyone can open and no one can edit n RTF for files everyone can open and everyone can edit n JPG or GIF or BMP for graphics n

Guideline 5: The T Shirt rule n Would you wear it on a T shirt. . . To your grandma’s house? n To the person’s house that you’re writing about? n