Chat Room: You've Got Too Much Mail
Tips for interacting with your peers in discussion groups
By Walter Minkel -- School Library Journal, 2/1/2004
But there's a hazard to subscribing to these groups—the sheer volume of e-mail messages. On a busy day when school is in session, discussion group members may receive more than 150 messages. If they don't routinely delete a lot of them, their mailboxes can become so full within a few weeks that it's impossible to send or receive messages.
Peter Milbury, a library media teacher at Chico High School in California who manages LM_NET, admits that many of the group's 15,000-plus members feel like they're drowning in e-mail messages. That's led some members—especially new ones—to cancel their subscriptions, and that's a shame.
How can you benefit from discussion groups without feeling overwhelmed? The trick is to learn to manage your e-mail more efficiently, save the good stuff, toss out the irrelevant. For starters, librarians need to become more discerning readers and writers of subject lines. Don't hoard messages that you "might look at later"—if you're not sure, delete them. And when you send a message, give it a meaningful subject line. "When is the New Harry Potter Coming Out?" is better than a subject line that says "New Book" or even "New HP." If your message is only of interest to librarians in Iowa, begin your subject line with "Iowa Only."
Some online discussion groups have strict rules for requesting information; Milbury asks LM_NETs members to head queries directed to a broad audience with a subject line such as "Target: Inkjet Printer Cartridges." The sender should also request that members respond to her directly. Then later, the collected responses can be shared with the entire group under the subject line, "Hit: Inkjet Printer Cartridges."
You'll also want to make sure to include your "signature" at the bottom of each message—you know, the few lines that say "Mary Doe, Media Specialist, John Smith Middle School Library, Jonesville, TX." Other members want to know who you are and where you work.
If you want to make a personal request—for example, you're headed from Santa Fe to Toledo to celebrate your parents' 50th anniversary and you want colleagues in Ohio to recommend a fancy local restaurant—be sure to put "Off Topic" in the subject line.
Don't let these rules keep you from participating in an online group, though. It's your professional responsibility to help your peers—and the kids they serve—and share your opinions on issues and practices.
Shannon Van Hemert, head of the children's department at Columbine Public Library in Littleton, CO, who manages PUBYAC , says she was surprised to discover that some library administrators don't like their staff members to participate in discussion groups without getting their messages preapproved. Evidently, administrators are worried that some postings may be misconstrued as representing the library's official position on things. Van Hemert finds this ironic: "Here we are in a profession that is [a] gatekeeper of the First Amendment. We have a wonderfully easy means of communication to help solve problems or to get advice, and librarians are still constrained from using it." I encourage librarians to participate in discussion groups, even if you're required to end your messages, "My opinions are my own, and not necessarily the views of ___ Public Library [or School District]."
A final piece of advice: don't lurk. You don't have to post messages regularly, but when you have something significant to contribute, make sure to share it. Don't just watch passively from the sidelines. When you contribute to the discussion, all of the profession benefits.
