Etiquette Reminder

[Coral Health and Monitoring Program]

Following is an etiquette reminder for the coral-list members, as 
requested of me by many researchers whom I had the pleasure of 
meeting at the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium: 

1)  When responding to a posting to the list, do not respond 
	*back* to the entire list unless you feel it is an 
	answer everyone can benefit from.  I think this is 
	usually the case, but responses such as, "Yeah, tell 
	me, too!" to the entire list will make you unpopular 
	in a hurry.  Double-check your "To: " line before 
	sending. 

2) Do not "flame" (i.e., scold) colleagues via the coral-list.  If 
	you feel compelled to chastise someone, please send them 
	mail directly and flame away. 

3) Please conduct as much preliminary research into a topic 
	as possible before posting a query to the list. (In 
	other words, you shouldn't expect others to do your 
	research for you.) Please consider: 

	o  Your librarian (an extremely valuable resource) 
	o  The CHAMP Literature Abstracts area at the CHAMP Web: 
		http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov 
	o  The CHAMP Online Researcher's Directory 
		(i.e., search for your topic, ask the 
		experts directly) 
	o  The CHAMP (and other) Web sites' links page(s) 

  But please do avail yourself of the list when you've exhausted 
	other sources. 

4)  Please see the CHAMP pages for employment related issues 
	instead of posting job requests to coral-list. 

5)  Please carefully consider the purpose of the coral-list 
	before posting a message.  This is a forum comprised 
	primarily of senior researchers who devote major 
	portions of their work time to the study of corals 
	or coral-related issues. 

6)  Succinct postings are greatly appreciated by all. 


	This etiquette reminder may be re-sent from time to time. 

	I hope to have separate list-servers for various 
coral-related issues in the near future, and at that time you 
may wish to switch lists, or subscribe to them additionally. 

	Thanks for your help and support. 

	JCH