Salsa List Chart
Content
Objectives of the SALSA
Discussion List
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This mailing list has been created in order to facilitate the
exchange among the members of a virtual community of researchers and
actors working on culture in the Caribbean.
Openness
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The community is open to culture operators in the Caribbens;
however, the list is technically closed, as subscription is not
automatic. That means that the participation requires you to complete a
questionnaire
(on the web or by e-mail sent to [email protected]
- see list of Commands). This questionnaire has been designed in order
to track the statistical evaluation of the experience. However, the
information of this questionnaire will be available in a directory
associated with the list, and each member will be able to remove
partially or totally any information that was submitted to the Project
Coordinators. The Project Coordinators do not divulge this information.
Animation / Moderation
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The list Salsa is animated. This means that the debates are
led by a person who starts and facilitates the discussions, helps
keeping the focus, manages delicate situations, etc. This allows fluent
and efficient discussion.
The list [email protected] is moderated. This means that
all the messages sent by the members will first arrive to the moderator
who will then send them to all the subscribers (with or without
editing). This procedure allows avoiding "noise" in the discussion that
could be caused in particular by the messages that don't commit to the
aims of the list, the messages of commercial nature, or "hoax" messages
(the email with "Internet virus" or various chains). It also allows to
maintain the focus of the list on the given topics, to reduce the size
of the messages in order not to overload the members, etc.
This allows combining the freedom of speech with the
editorial responsibility, just as they are defined and guaranteed by
the laws on the freedom of the press.
With all the messages, the moderation reserves the right of
editing (mentioning it clearly when it occurs) if necessary for
maintaining the debates inside the given norms. However, the content
and the style of the contributions will always be respected. In the
case of doubt, the moderator will contact the author before taking a
decision on editing.
The list animator and moderator is Yacine Khelladi
of the Fundacion
Taiguey.
Archiving the Discussion List
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All the messages of the list are automatically filed
specifically in the "memoria"
or archives of the project:
This device allows to preserve and to make the contributions
accessible. Democratic principles prevent us from altering, modifying
or erasing the archives of the contributions. Once a message has been
sent to the list and has been processed by the moderators, it will be
automatically stored and put on the web without possibility of
successive modifications.
Member Responsibilities
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All members of our community commit to:
- Participate with contributions focused on the general topic,
always referring to culture in the Caribbean, or to the specific topics
that have been established.
- Respect and use technical aspects of the communication by
means of computer. These are explained in detail in Rules.
- Assume the basic principles of this project, which are:
pluralism, respect for the diversity, democratic and respectful
management of the differences, in particular of the conflicts
- Not to use the electronic conference for ends differing from
its objectives; any distribution of messages of commercial character is
strictly forbidden.
Translations
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- The contributions that go through the Carena list are sent
after they have been translated into French, Spanish, and English. This
allows the members of the list to send and receive messages in their
preferred language.
- Therefore, unless the sender does not wish it, the mails sent
to <[email protected]>, have been processed through the
Globalink automatic translator software, then sent in three different
languages to the whole list.
- The Globalink automatic translator software is a tool meant
to help to better understand, and the quality of the translation cannot
be equivalent to a human translation. It is thus useful to refer as
much as possible to the original text during the reading of these
translations. We suggest as well on the website of the project and on
the list, a short series of recommendations
concerning the redaction of the mails. These recommendations are meant
to help the automatic processing of the texts and to improve the
precision in the translations.
Discharge / Modifications
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FUNREDES can in any moment make changes in the facilities of
the lists. Also in case of an abusive use of the lists or any other
technical reason, FUNREDES can refuse any access to the lists within
the funredes.org domain without any notification (temporarily or
permanently). Funredes can do this on its own initiative or on the
demand of the list administrator. Equally, FUNREDES can close a list.
Finally, FUNREDES can use the lists under its domain for its own needs
like diffusion of information it considers relevant. This will,
however, always be done respecting the established rules.
Appendix 1: Discussion List
Commands
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The whole list management is made through electronic
messages. Here are some of these messages:
- to subscribe to the list via mail: send the message SUBSCRIBE
salsa to the
[email protected]
- to unsubscribe the list: send the message UNSUBSCRIBE
salsa to the [email protected]
- to receive this message of information: send the message INFO
salsa to the [email protected]
- to obtain the list of all the commands: send the message
HELP to the
[email protected]
The messages to all the members of the list should be sent to
the [email protected]
Appendix 2: Advice on
Writing for the Proper Use of the Lists
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Electronic mail is a means that is similar both to oral
conversation and to the written world. Given this, the exchanges can
sometimes be difficult. To facilitate the global understanding and to
share ideas that you express efficiently, we are providing some rules.
They derive from our experience of electronic forum management:
- Before reacting with an angry answer, think for a second: did
you really understand the speaker?
- Avoid irony and jokes - you don't know in which context will
speaker receive your message. Avoid personal attacks.
- Avoid too short (a single word messages, for example) or too
long messages, as they both disperse the discussion. Moreover, very
long messages also require time and attention that few can provide.
- Don't leave the message to which you respond uselessly quoted
after your answer: quote only the parts of the messages that you reply
directly to.
- Your ideas deserve to be exposed for the benefit of all.
Therefore, be concise and direct (go straight to the point).
- When you introduce other people's context, make it explicit:
think that your readers cannot have the same references as you.
Appendix 3: Rules for Proper
Use of the Lists
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- As author of your own messages, you are responsible for the
information you publish on this list. Never forget that the messages
sent to the list are public texts conserved in an archive, exposed on
the WWW, and susceptible to being indexed by the search engines.
- Don't confuse the address of the list with the address of the
listserv: never send the "unsubscribe" command to the list.
- Don't use HTML code in the composition of your messages. The
listserv can process only text.
- Never use the list to diffuse commercial information.
- Never use the list of subscribers in a context different
from that of the list.
- Send only messages that are relevant to the discussion topic.
- Don't make individual attacks publicly.
- Don't forget the public aspect of the lists; take care when
sending a message, you will not be able to prevent its diffusion once
it's sent.
- To subscribe, always use your real address (the one that is
used in the "From" field of your messages) to be subscribed.
- When you go to the listserv so that it processes a command,
it is preferable not to include the signature in the body of the
message.
- Do not divulge the list of members to any other person, or
for a different use from the context for which it was created.
- Any commercial use related with the list is prohibited.
Appendix 4: Writing Rules
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We shall invite you to respect the following writing
recommendations so as to make our translation job easier.
OT = original text
PT = preferred text
- Check the spelling and grammar of the messages you send us. A
spelling error will result in a mistranslation or the non-translation
of a word. A grammatical error will make it more difficult for the
program to identify the syntactic function of all words in a given
sentence. Use your spellchecker!
- The translation engine used to translate your messages is
designed for texts that are correctly punctuated. Punctuation marks,
such as commas and periods, help the program to identify sentences and
clause boundaries. A period should therefore be placed at the end of
each sentence. The symbols /, *, _ and - should not be contiguous with
words. Add a space to separate them. For instance, change male/female
to male / female.
- Use upper and lower case. A sentence should always start
with a capital letter; a sentence typed entirely in upper case may
cause translation problems.
- Divide lengthy and complex sentences into shorter sentences.
In particular, avoid using parentheses and dashes to set phrases apart.
- Whenever possible, avoid using passive structures, for
example: OT: A copy of the report will be sent to all Allies. PT: We
will send a copy of the report to all Allies.
- Whenever possible, avoid idiomatic expressions:
OT: It happens
once in a blue moon.
PT: It rarely
happens.
- Include optional words that clarify the function of other
words in the sentence, such as "that" or "whom" in the examples below:
OT: The book I
bought was very interesting.
PT: The book
that I bought was very interesting.
OT: The man I
wanted to see was on vacation.
PT: The man whom
I wanted to see was on vacation.
- Similarly, if the subject of a sentence refers to more than
one verb and is separated from the second/third verb by a number of
words, you should repeat the subject in front of each verb, like this:
OT: They visited
our warehouse yesterday and bought several products.
PT: They visited
our warehouse yesterday and they bought several products.
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