CHI-WEB Posting Guidelines
People who wish to contribute to CHI-WEB should become familiar with the information on this page
before they post to the list.
CHI-WEB has a moderation team led by William
Hudson. The moderators provide 3 levels of "filtering" of submissions before
they are approved and sent out to the list membership.
Most of our moderation happens at "level 1", where we ask people to resubmit
because of an attachment or blind quoting. We also do some basic checking, like
making sure any URLs in the email actually work.
We regularly ask people to make "level 2" changes, such as adding the "reply directly to me" text to the bottom
of their request and asking people to clarify their message because we cannot understand it.
We rarely have to step in with "level 3" moderation, since most CHI-WEB members act professionally.
Level 3 moderation is based heavily on feedback from list members, so when you think someone is acting
unprofessionally, please let us know, and we will try to deal with the problem directly. Send your feedback to
chi-web-request@acm.org.
These are mainly technical limitations we have put on postings to the list for the greater
good of the membership. For example, attachments pose a security risk and HTML email can be a usability
problem. If your submission violates one of these rules, the moderators
will not accept it (unless we make a mistake, which happens sometimes).
- The email must be in plain text, not in HTML or in some other format
that is not accessible by all list members. See the FAQ
for help with this.
- The posting can have no attachments. This includes an HTML version
of the email, signatures included as MIME attachments, or other documents
included as additional information. If you feel the need to send an attachment,
post the file on a web server and send the URL instead.
- Replies should not blindly quote an entire post. Unfortunately, some
email programs make this easy to do by automatically including the original
email at the end of all replies. For CHI-WEB, you need to edit the original
post to only quote relevant pieces and put your comments in context.
- Copyrighted material should not be posted to the list. In general,
long articles should be referenced by URL, rather than copying large portions
into an email.
- We cannot in general accept cross-postings (made simultaneously to
other lists). This is because some replies may not be valid for CHI-WEB
and the resulting partial thread can be incomprehensible.
- The moderators also filter accidental postings, such as SPAM, list
administration ("add me", "remove me", etc.) and replies mistakenly sent to
the list instead of an individual.
The following conventions have evolved for CHI-WEB over the years. Please respect the list conventions.
- Make sure it is specific to the web and HCI/usability/human factors/user
experience. That is the focus of CHI-WEB. We use broad definitions here,
but if it is a general web or general HCI question, try some other list.
- Do not ask really basic or frequently asked questions: do some research
first! Start at Usable Web and search
the CHI-WEB archives before you ask the list. And make sure you mention
what research you have already done in your question (it makes you look smarter).
- The best discussion-starters are firmly on-topic (both web and usability/HCI)
and present a substantial amount of background information. For example, "approach
x presents these problems and solutions while approach y solves some of them,
let's talk about this" is a good discussion-starter. But "so what do you think
of..." is not as good because you have not set the stage for a meaningful
discussion.
- When sending information-gathering-type questions (as opposed to
discussion-type questions), you should use the CHI-WEB "collect and
summarize" approach. This is faster and more efficient than having
multiple, similar replies go to everyone.
- Collect and summarize when you are gathering information on a topic,
such as a list of sites that use Flash for searching or what browser sizes
members design for. We do not want members sending the equivalent of survey
responses to the list as a whole.
- When submitting a collect and summarize message, include some text to
remind other members of how they should reply. "Send your replies
to me and I will summarize for the list" is common.
- After a week or so of collecting replies, compile the replies and send
it to the list. Include a brief "executive" summary and use contributors
names unless they ask to be anonymous.
- Replies to a collect and summarize posting should be sent
directly to the contributor. They will not be approved for posting to the
list. If a collect and summarize posting raises issues that you feel require
public debate or clarification, there are two possible options:
- Wait until the contributor posts the summary. The topic is then open
to general discussion.
- Start a new thread about the posting. The new posting will need to conform
to all the usual CHI-WEB conventions.
- When replying to the list, make sure you provide some positive contribution
to the discussion. Simple "me too" replies will not be approved.
- We do not allow advertisements or announcements of any kind.There
are other ACM lists specifically for this purpose (see http://sigchi.org/listserv/
for further information). The subscription and posting instructions for these
lists are the same as those given here with the appropriate list name substituted
for CHI-WEB:
- CHI-ANNOUNCEMENTS for
non-commercial conferences, seminars, events and news.
- CHI-RESOURCES for both commercial
and non-commercial resources for the CHI community (events, courses, publications,
software, hardware, etc. of direct relevance). Note that many non-commercial
postings should go to CHI-ANNOUNCEMENTS as well.
- CHI-JOBS for job postings.
- Remember that we have an international membership with a wide variety
of backgrounds. Avoid (or explain) cultural references, acronyms, and so on.
- Be as clear as possible in stating your case or asking your question.
Think about what you want to say before you write it. Write it once,
throw it away, then write it again (better). If the moderators cannot understand
what you are talking about, they will deny your posting and ask you to clarify.
If English is not your first language, then the moderators will work with
you to understand what you want to say and how best to say it.
- Make sure people can figure out your full name and affiliation. Your
email address might provide enough information (if it is John.Smith@somecompany.com,
for example). You can also use a "signature" at the end of your email. But
email from a vague address like "xyz@hotmail.com" with no signature can be
rejected simply because professional discussions require that you identify
yourself.
Email removes the visual and audible cues we normally rely on in
telephone and face-to-case conversations. Because of this, contributors
need to be especially considerate of their choice of language and tone.
- Do not make debates personal. Avoid "you" and "yours".
- Try to be clear and concise.
- Do not imply fault. Misunderstandings occur frequently; work to resolve
them without apportioning blame.
- Accept that having a different opinion does not make anyone "wrong".
- Do not present opinions as fact.
- Give some attention to accepted standards of spelling, grammar and punctuation.
- Do not be dismissive.
- Say that you agree (when you do) even if only partially.
- Consider whether what you have said could be misinterpreted.
- Try not to "fight to win". The purpose of the debate is to exchange ideas,
not to score points or demonstrate inadequacies.
