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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 animators and moderators are Mr. Pedro Ureña <[email protected]>
and Mr.
Yacine Khelladi <[email protected]>
from Kalal�-Danza
.
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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