CAPAL-L Listserv

Community Code of Conduct & Policies

Introduction

A listserv is a discussion group that comes to you through your email. Listservs, sometimes called email lists, give you the ability to interact with many people simultaneously as messages that you send go automatically to everyone on the list. In effect, this allows a group conversation via email. CAPAL-L is a members only listserv which is meant to allow members to share information, seek advice, and to ask and/or answer questions.

CAPAL-L is provided for the discussion of issues and interests of particular relevance to Canadian academic libraries and librarians. It provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and information amongst CAPAL-ACBES members who are staff at Canadian academic libraries, as well as CAPAL-ACBES member colleagues in other countries. It is a members-only, unmoderated list.

Guiding Principles

We want CAPAL-L, our listserv community, to be a welcoming and constructive environment.
The listserv administrator does not moderate, pre-screen, or filter subscriber emails posted to the listserv. The administrator relies upon subscribers to ensure that their listserv or discussion group submissions are appropriate. The administrator, Membership Representative, and/or hosting institution accept no responsibility for the opinions and information posted by subscribers. To ensure the integrity of our listserv, we ask all subscribers to agree to the following code of conduct and adhere to established policies when participating on the listserv.

CAPAL-L Code of Conduct

  • I agree to behave responsibly and courteously towards all subscribers of the listserv, respecting their values and viewpoints as well as their rights and feelings.
  • I agree to keep in mind that readers may receive and interpret messages in a different context from the author’s.
  • I agree to work with other subscribers to ensure the listserv remains welcoming to new participants and ideas, and embraces diversity.
  • I acknowledge that differences of opinion and conflict will undoubtedly occur, but I agree to resolve conflict constructively.
  • I acknowledge that if it is deemed I have repeatedly and willfully violated this agreement and/or the established listserv policies, my privilege to participate in the listserv will be suspended or terminated, at the sole discretion of either the listserv administrator, Membership Representative, or hosting institution.

CAPAL-L Policies

  1. Postings should be relevant to the academic librarian community.
  2. By subscribing to CAPAL-L, participants grant the administrator (Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians – l’Association canadienne des bibliothécaires en enseignement supérieur), owner (Membership Representative) and/or hosting institution (University of Toronto) permission to record essential contact information (names and email addresses) in a central database (subscribers list). The list of subscribers is only available to the administrator (Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians) and listserv owner (Membership Representative).
  3. To be removed from the list, send a message (from the email where you receive your CAPAL-L postings) to listserv@listserv.utoronto.ca with the following line as the only content:
    signoff CAPAL-L
  4. When replying to listserv postings, be conscious of whether you need to reply to the entire listserv (on the list) or edit the address to reply to an individual poster (off the list).
  5. Identify yourself in the messages you post. An email signature is the most convenient way to do this.
  6. Repeatedly posting identical messages or similar content or information is discouraged.
  7. Posting of spam (the sending of unsolicited or junk e-mail on the internet), viruses, advertising for academic librarian and academic librarianship – related products and services (not including employment opportunities), illegal, or pornographic material is prohibited.
  8. Abusive, threatening, profane, offensive, or degrading language will not be tolerated. Defamatory comments or potentially libelous derogatory statements attacking any individual, institution, or organization is expressly forbidden and will be immediately removed from the listserv records. The listserv is meant to stimulate discussion and may not be used to make personal attacks on others.
  9. Do not engage in persistent off-topic comments, postings or statements.
  10. No infringements of intellectual property including trademark, patent, or copyright are allowed. Do not upload files or post messages that contain photos, software, or other material protected by intellectual property laws, rights of privacy or publicity or any other applicable law, unless you own or control the rights thereto or have obtained all necessary consents.
  11. By posting material, the subscriber represents and warrants that they own copyright on such material or have received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting subscriber grants the listserv subscribers the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.
  12. Do not post any files or programs containing destructive features such as viruses, Trojan horses; or bots (programs that operate as agents for a user or other programs. On the internet, the most ubiquitous bots are programs, also called “spiders” or “crawlers,” that access websites and gather their content for search engine indexes).
  13. Maliciously impersonating (pretending to be another individual in order to deceive others and gain some advantage) is forbidden.

Disclaimer

The CAPAL-L listserv is provided as a service to the CAPAL-ACBES membership. The administrator, owner, and/or hosting institution will not be liable or responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by subscribers. The opinions expressed on CAPAL-L do not necessarily represent the policies or views of the administrator, list owner, and/or hosting institution. The administrator, owner, and/or hosting institution shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever, including damages for indirect or consequential loss, or loss of use, data or profits, arising out of or in connection with the posting, availability, non-availability or use of any information or opinions.

Suspension of listserv Privileges

Subscribers to CAPAL-L are expected to conduct themselves in a courteous, civil, and respectful manner, as outlined in the Code of Conduct and CAPAL-L Policies. Offending messages may be permanently removed at the discretion of the administrator. Further, the administrator, owner, and/or hosting institution may act together or unilaterally and at their own discretion, to unsubscribe, suspend, or give a user notice that their privileges may be suspended or impose conditions on any user’s privileges for breach of the Code of Conduct or CAPAL-L Policies.

This document has been adapted from http://archivescanada.ca/uploads/files/Documents/ARCANL_policies_code_of_conduct_EN.pdf with the permission of the ARCAN-L owner. We are grateful for their guidance.