LIST RULES AND POLICIES:
- GENERAL USE & PROCEDURES:
- Staying on Topic:
- The topic of this List is Rockhounding, and any closely related subjects such as Lapidary, Fossils, Minerals, Geology, Earth Sciences, Mining, etc., as well as the tools, techniques, history, relevant law, chemistry, organizations, etc., involved in the pursuit of the hobby.
- Semi-rock related postings: There are some acceptable postings that are indirectly related to rockhounding as a hobby. Most notable are the messages regarding land-use and potential closures of large stretches of public lands, many of which contain valuable collecting resources.
- Off Topic (OT): Occasionally there are themes that may be of interest to rockhounds but do not specifically fit into the above topics. In this case [OT] should be placed in the Subject line, but these occasions should be rare.
- Fun: Humor is one of the things that makes this list appealing and lively, but please try to keep it rock-related, brief, and in reasonably good taste.
- Politics and Religion: These are not allowed on the list, not in humor, not with qualifications of "Don't hate me, but" or whatever, definitely not in seriousness, not in sig lines, etc. These rules are listed elsewhere, but people seem to be missing them so I'm reiterating them here. The only type of political commentary allowed are things to do with rockhounding/mineralogly/fossils - e.g. a bill exists to close sites to collectors. I shouldn't be able to tell if you are a Republican/Democrat, or if you are religious or not, by reading your post.
- Advertisements: ADs are defined as announcements or notices related to commercial activity, including (but not limited to) websites, sales, auctions, dealers announcing they will be at a show, and for-fee trips or collecting locations.
- Advertisements must be directly related to rockhounding, lapidary work, mineralogy, etc.
- In order to allow subscribers who do not wish to see ads to ignore or delete them, please place [AD] in your subject line, as in:[AD] (your subject here)
- Commercial postings should be limited to one per month.
- Subscribers who post ads should also contribute regularly or participate in list discussions. In other words, people should not be members solely for the purpose of posting ads.
- When announcing items for sale, include something like the following statement: "Inquiries should be made off-list," or, "Please contact me off-list for more information."
- If you want to respond to an AD make sure you do so off-list, unless your comment is of interest to everyone.
- Claims & disclaimers: If someone asks for help with a problem and you offer a solution with a product that you sell, this is not technically an AD, since the information was solicited. But please do not abuse the situation: if you jump in too often with "buy my product" you will annoy your potential customers and possibly warrant a warning (or worse) from the Admin Team. If you recommend a commercial product as a solution to a problem please include a mention of your relationship to the provider of the product (for example: "I am only a satisfied customer ," or "I am a stockholder in the company.")
- Club Announcements:
- Club announcements such as meetings, shows, trips are acceptable as long as they are clearly rockhound-related, and are not commercial in nature.
- Such announcements should be limited to 2 per month.
- Please place [SHOW] in the subject line when announcing a club show, whether there are commercial aspects to the show or not. As long as there are some non-commercial elements, [AD] is not required.
- Staying on Topic:
- Netiquette:
- Courtesy: Please be as polite in your posts as you would be in conversation in person. If you become angry, please wait, calm down, and reply with courtesy.
- Corrections or criticism: if you feel that correction or criticism of a subscriber is warranted, please contact Kreigh@gmail.com and let him handle the problem. This will avoid embarrassment or a flame war, and the List Admin member will make a general announcement if the problem is of concern for the whole List.
- Signature:
- Please sign your name to your message.
- Keep your email signature short; anything more than 2 or 3 lines becomes a bandwidth-waster.
- Signature lines with a religious or political nature should be avoided.
- Privacy: It's unwise to send personal or financial information via email, especially to a public group like this List.
- Subject Line:
- Please select a clear topic that will allow readers to decide if they will want to read or delete. Avoid cute or cryptic titles.
- Change the topic in the Subject line when you introduce a different theme. Depending on circumstances, you may want to use "(was)" to indicate the change.
- Use one topic at a time. If you have two messages that are not at all related, post them separately, with different topics in the Subject line.
- Trimming:
- When replying to an existing message, please remove the trailers at the bottom and unnecessary material from the text.
- Retain enough of the original message to allow readers to know what you are responding to.
- Preserve the original poster's name.
- Avoiding mistakes: Double check your post and especially the "TO" line at the top, so you don't post to the Rockhounds List when you intended to send privately to one member.
- PROHIBITED MATERIAL & ACTIVITIES:
- Binary Files and Attachments:
- Don't post attachments of any kind; they will be stripped from your message. To share pictures, maps, etc., send a message to the List announcing that they can be seen off-list by person-to-person contact, or make them available on a website; there are many sites across the Internet that offer free homepages.
- Please don't use HTML formatting; use text instead.
- Email Harvesting: Creating a private mailing list out of subscribers' posts without explicit permission of the List Administraton AND any involved member(s) is not permitted, and will result in immediate moderation or banishment, with or without warning, at the discretion of the List Administration.
- Spam: Spam or "Unsolicited Commercial Emails" (UCE) not related to rockhounding will not be tolerated and will result in immediate moderation or banishment, with or without warning, at the discretion of the List Administration.
- Inappropriate topics:
- Do not engage in flames or personal attacks. If you think that someone has posted content which violates these rules, please send a message to Kreigh@gmail.com off-list and we'll take care of it. Otherwise, if you must make personal remarks, do so off-list.
- Politics, Religion, etc.: It's simpler to just say "stay on topic" than to list prohibited ones, but politics and religion are topics that seems to seep in now and then. If you feel you must make political/religious comments to a listmember, do so off-list.
- Rule Violation Remedies: Rule violators, including the commercial (AD) policy and engaging in flames or personal attacks, will be warned once, warned and placed on moderation for a second offense, and banned upon a third offense.
- Binary Files and Attachments:
- ADMIN RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Censorship / Moderation: Normally the List is not censored or moderated. The only restrictions are the ones outlined above. There are, however, special cases.
- Bounces: Occasionally, we get bounced email from non-subscribers. If it seems relevant (like certain show announcements) we will forward it along with a note to respond to these posts directly to the sender. As they are not List members, they will not receive any posts to the List.
- Off-Topic Threads and Flame Wars: We will try to warn individual members before we take action. Usually you will get at least one warning, sometimes two. If, in our judgment, things are out of hand, or if a member has ignored the warnings, the member may be put on moderation, the entire list may be put on moderation, or the unruly participants may be banned, entirely at the Admin Team’s discretion.
- We reserve the right to put the List, or individual members, on Moderation, with or without notice, in order to prevent offensive or abusive postings from reaching the List. If you continue to violate List policy or our judgment you will be banned. Politeness counts.
- Administrative Posts and Administrative Bounces: Occasionally, the Admin Team will send administrative postings about list management or policy changes. These messages will always have the following subject line: [ADMIN] (subject goes here)
- Problems & Complaints:
- Please address problems or complaints off-list to one or more of the Admin Team members, unless your problem is particularly related to the entire List or you hope other people than the Admin Team can propose a solution.
- Remember that every Admin Team member is an unpaid volunteer, taking time from work and family to run this List as a public service. So even if you are angry for some reason, please try to be considerate and polite. A helpful suggestion will bring better results than sarcasm or meanness.
- Admin Team Members and Duties:
- Kreigh Tomaszewski: The current "list owner" at Drizzle; will be responsible for money collections, being the "point of contact" as far as Drizzle is concerned. He is the Admin Team Leader and has the final word on Team decisions.
- Julie Siebel: Previous list owner. Mostly removed from day-to-day administration, she will fill in where necessary with technical and moral support.
- Aaron Fox: Previous list owner (once removed). Removed from day-to-day administration, he will fill in where necessary with technical and moral support.
- Kitty Heacox: Responsible for keeping discussions on track, defusing flame wars, handling disputes and, in general, keeping the place friendly.
- John Siebel: Responsible for keeping discussions on track, defusing flame wars, handling disputes and, in general, keeping the place friendly.
- Carol J. Bova: Responsible for keeping discussions on track, defusing flame wars, handling disputes and, in general, keeping the place friendly.
- Censorship / Moderation: Normally the List is not censored or moderated. The only restrictions are the ones outlined above. There are, however, special cases.
- COPYRIGHT, PRIVACY, AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY:
- Rockhounds is a non-commercial list; you MAY NOT use ANY postings from this list in a commercial manner without the express written permission of the author. Copyright is retained by the author of the message or post. It is up to individual posters to defend their own copyrights and intellectual property rights. The doctrine of fair use does apply, so long as the original author, and the List, are credited.
- Archival or inclusion of the messages contained within the rockhounds archives or taken from the list directly for other than personal, non-commercial use, is prohibited. This includes websites that offer to subscribe you to mailing lists (onelist.com, Yahoo GroupsTM, etc).
- The rockhounds mailing list information, which includes subscriber names and email addresses, is kept private and confidential. It is not available to the general public, or to anyone requesting it. Your names and email addresses will never be sold, traded, or exploited in any manner. The Admin Team has no commercial interest in anything that goes on or comes over the list; it is run as a public service to the Internet community.