The SLA Business & Finance Division’s discussion list is a service provided at no charge to subscribers abiding by a few simple etiquette guidelines. While no serious difficulties have ever been experienced, the following orientation is offered for the benefit of all.

The list’s purpose is to provide a forum for exchange of information among information professionals who are members or friends of the SLA Business & Finance Division. All subscribers are encouraged to use the list to benefit from the community’s collective insight and to contribute wherever possible.

As the list is open to a wide community and there are no confidentiality provisions, common sense prevails: Posts are seen by a trusted community of fellow professionals, but no one would want to post anything that could potentially cause damage or embarrassment if it were shared beyond the list. (Some put it this way: Don’t post anything you would not want to see on the front page of the newspaper with your name attached.) Posts should reflect a positive, respectful spirit.

Remember – You are interacting with people, so strive to keep debate civil. It is easy to forget that an actual person sits on the other side of a message to the list, and this may lead subscribers to write messages they would not otherwise, potentially causing ire or hurt among other subscribers. As such, when posting to the list, one should always consider it as a face-to-face conversation.

Use of disrespectful, abusive, defamatory, profane and/or threatening language of any kind will constitute a violation of the positive, respectful spirit of the list. Please note that the administrators of the Discussion List will monitor all new postings and reserve the right to delete postings if they do not fall within the scope of the List or are inappropriate or offensive in any way. Determination of whether specific postings violate these guidelines shall be at the sole discretion of the B&F Division President. The B&F Division reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to revoke a user’s subscription to the list.

Note: New members of the SLA-B&F Division are regularly added to the Discussion List by the Membership Director and Discussion List Coordinator. Questions about how the List works can be directed to the Discussion List Coordinator: Gregory Horvitz at gphorvitz@gmail.com or 410.765.3898.

Best Practices for SLA-B&F Division’s Discussion List

List-Wide vs. Off-List Responses
Posters may request that responses be sent privately as opposed to the entire List. It is regarded as a courtesy in such situations for the requester to summarize the responses in a later post without indicating the names of responders.

If forwarding a message that was not originally sent to the List, include a note indicating that you have the author’s permission to post it.

Reciprocal Posting Arrangements With Other Organizations
The B&F Division has a collegial relationship with many other professional associations and organizations, and if these organizations would like to post to the B&F Discussion List, they should contact the Discussion List Coordinator to arrange a reciprocal agreement for posting to each organization’s respective list. At any time, SLA-B&F reserves the right to remove messages posted by organizations that have not sought a reciprocal relationship with the chapter.

Even if a reciprocal arrangement is in place, solicitation of volunteers by other organizations on the B&F Discussion List is never appropriate.

Scope Of Topics: Queries And Announcements
Appropriate topics for discussion list postings include the following

• Core topics associated directly with our profession, ranging from specific queries such as “where can I get a copy of publication A” or “does anyone have a fix for technical problem B” to more general ones such as “can you offer assistance in my search for C” or “what is your experience with company D and its products, software, or services.”
• Queries such as “how have you dealt with a situation in which E occurs …” or “what would you recommend given F circumstances.”
• Calls for contributions to the Courier, conferences, and other events.
• Calls for volunteers to serve on SLA committees or run for elected office.
• Announcements of SLA and non-SLA (subject to a reciprocal
  arrangement) events, activities, and courses of potential interest to list
  subscribers (including vendor sessions free of charge).
• Links to publications or websites of likely interest to subscribers,
  preferably with a synopsis of the content.
• Job postings or requests for referral to individuals with specific expertise.
• Self-introductions from new subscribers or job seekers, and career news — i.e., job changes and the establishment of a new business or blog.

Also Note: The wider SLA community as well as the B&F Division support and encourage collegial communication. Although the SLA-B&F Discussion List is not a Craigslist-type of service, B&F generally welcomes postings peripherally related to our profession. For example: “I am going to City G for a conference and would be grateful for tips on libraries and museums to visit during my stay.”

Subject Line Of Posts: Tell The Story So Readers Can Decide To Open Or Skip The Message
Please state key information in the subject line to help subscribers determine if the post is relevant or if they may skip the post without opening it.

Examples

• Job Opening: [details so subscribers can decide on relevance – i.e. industry, level, etc.]
• Thanks – Response Summary for Query on H: [subscribers will already know it is or is not relevant]
• Seeking publication: [details so subscribers can determine if the needed item is in their domain]
• Found – Seeking publication: [subscribers will know to stop looking for the needed item]
• Event: [details]
• Announcement: [details]
• Looking for work: Have experience in … [subscribers will immediately
  know whether to open the post]

Identify Yourself
It is best practice to include a few lines at the end of your message indicating your name and email address. Those who do not identify themselves may be considered to be Internet “trolls” and B&F reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to revoke such a user’s subscription to the list.

Comments Or Questions
Please direct any comments, questions, or concerns to the Discussion List Coordinator: Gregory Horvitz at gphorvitz@gmail.com or the B&F Chair.