Skilled Nursing Resource Site for Web-based Continuing Education

Discussion Lists

Frequently Asked Questions

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What is a discussion list?

• The purpose of a discussion list is to provide instantaneous electronic asynchronous communication to a select community of like-minded persons. A discussion list happens by email, so you must have an email account to participate.
• Discussion lists are sponsored by someone, either a private individual or an institution (such as a school, a consultancy group, or a software company), and this means the sponsor is responsible for everything running smoothly (technologically speaking).
• Some lists are "moderated" which means a human reviews all the messages prior to posting to all list members. "Unmoderated" lists, therefore, require that the members themselves adhere to keeping list messages on topic and appropriate to the purpose of the list.
• Good behavior is expected by all even with moderated lists.

What continuing education opportunities do lists have to offer me as a health care professional?

Joining a list offers you membership in a community of like-minded professionals with contemporary questions, answers, resources, support, suggestions, and collaboration -- cutting-edge information, and new solutions. Join a list, or several lists, that pertain to your practice area or specific area of interest. You will be amazed at how this collegiality contributes to your continuing education, and to the continuing education of your discussion list colleagues.

Any rules or advice?

• Get to know what the list is about before posting messages. Read about a week's worth of incoming messages before you write -- make sure your posts are appropriate to the tone and membership of the list.
• Introduce yourself, but keep it brief (one screen or less).
• When replying to posts, edit the original message .. show where you have deleted (for example, you can write ==snip== when editing). It is discourteous to send long messages, especially ones that have been posted previously.
• When replying to posts, evaluate whether a reply to the person's private email address would be more appropriate, since your reply message may not pertain to the whole membership.
• No advertising. Ever.
• Have fun, make friends, learn a lot. You are the leaders for the future of health care.

How do I join?

You will join a list by sending a subscription email to the list manager. Note you will find two addresses for lists -- The subscription email address goes to the subscription service, and you use this to join. (The other address is to "post messages to the list members", and you use this to broadcast your email to everyone. Once joined, you will receive this address; you do not need this to join.). Shown below is an example of how to send a subscription email. Subscription addresses are found on list evaluations within this subject area guide, or you may search for lists using the search engines given at the top of this page.

• To join, send a subscription email message to the list server address (example below).
• Do not put more stuff on your subscription email than is shown in the example. If you have a "signature" on your email, turn it off when sending list subscription requests.
• After sending the subscription email (example below) you will either receive a confirmation reply or an error message. Follow the instructions you receive from that point.
• Print and save the confirmation email, and the initial instructional post that usually follows. This usually contains information on how to "unsubscribe" and you will be glad at some future date that you saved this material.

--EXAMPLE: compose your subscription email as shown below--

TO: listsubscriptionaddressasgiven

FR: yourfullemailaddress

RE: DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING HERE

--TEXT OF YOUR EMAIL SHOULD LOOK LIKE THIS:--

subscribe listname yourfirstname yourlastname

What's next?

Please do write to me. Let me know how you are enjoying the LIST experience. I hope to hear from you.

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