Rules for the APA Listserv Purpose: The APA list serve provides a forum for announcements and academic discussion for members of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association. Those who are on the list are connected by their interest in Ambulatory Pediatric issues. The list serve provides an opportunity to send information to thousands of readers using a message multiplier at a single e-mail address. How to subscribe: Send an e-mail message to info@ambpeds.org with your request to "sign up". How to unsubscribe: Send an e-mail message to info@ambpeds.org with your request to "unsubscribe". To initiate or to reply to any message posted to the list, please follow the following steps: First, decide if you think that the rest of the readers of the list will be interested in your message or response. We do want to read about your ideas, opinions, observations regarding recent developments in ambulatory pediatrics We do want to read what you think if it elucidates a pediatric dilemma, a clinic management problem or a regulatory issue We don't want to read every response to survey questions that somebody posted to the group as a whole. Address those only to the individual who asked. That person will be responsible for summarizing the responses and posting them to the list after a couple of weeks. When you've decided whether to broadcast your message to the list as a whole or to an individual, choose the address appropriately: Messages to the individual are addressed to him/her. That's usually listed as the FROM: part of the broadcast message's header. Messages to the whole group are addressed to apa-net@listserv.ambpeds.org Please indicate the specific subject of your message clearly in the Heading. For example, if you want colleagues to know about a job opening, indicate "Job Opportunity" in the header. Anyone not in the job market can quickly delete the message. Sign your messages with your full title, institutional affiliation, city and state. You'll get more appropriate answers to your queries if readers can tell who you are. Suggestions: Remember that about 2,000 clinicians from all over the country are going to get your message, so be brief and easily understood. Appropriate postings include: Announcements Queries about clinic management Requests for collaborators Ethical concerns Conferences (one announcement per event, please) "Forbidden" message styles: Charitable pleas Despite the temptation that might be there to reach thousands of sympathetic and well-paid colleagues, do not solicit donations to your favorite worthy cause. Most professionals do make an effort to contribute their time and dollars to such efforts, but apart from their participation in this list serve. No exceptions, please. Political campaign messages Please don't stump for your favorite candidate or broadcast your own candidacy for public office. Attachments to Mail Messages Don't broadcast mail attachments, whether photographs, executable code or formatted word documents. Unlike e-mail text, these are often huge download obstructions, and are capable of carrying inadvertent viruses to our entire community. Entire Web pages Please don't broadcast the entire text of a web page. First of all, the page is already available to the readers, and providing the address (URL) is all most require to visit there. The best approach is to provide a description of the resource and its advantage to APA members, the full URL (including the "http://" part) and a paragraph about its content. Advertising The list serve is not for free advertising or commercial promotions. Updated 8/15/06