Comments or queries about this Charter should be directed to
Gerbil Mailing List Charter V1.08.3 - 12 July 2003
This document will be posted on the first of every month to the Gerbil Mailing List and can always be found on the National Gerbil Society pages at http://www.gerbils.co.uk/gml/charter.htm.
The Gerbil Mailing List is for the discussion of any subject relating to keeping gerbils as pets or the scientific study of gerbils. This includes all species belonging to the Subfamily Gerbillinae. Mongolian Gerbils, Shaw's Jirds, Bushy-Tailed Jirds and Duprasi are all members of the Gerbillinae
This is a very informal and easy going list but all postings are subject to the following rules and suggestions, in order of importance:
Rules
1) No postings of a provocative nature, ie, suggesting cruelty, torture, or unnatural sexual practices involving gerbils. (If you think this is the place to post concerning sexual practices, then you have not searched the Internet properly!)
Messages breaching rule 1 are likely to result in complaint being made to your ISP without further warning.
2) Abusive language and tone is unacceptable on this list. It is fine to argue a point in the other persons discussion, unacceptable to attack the person for it.
Breaching rule 2 could result in complaint being made to your ISP without further warning.
3) No binaries. If you have a picture or program you want to share then post it somewhere else and advertise its location to the list. There are several people on the list who may be able to host your file for you. It will not hurt to ask. It may hurt to post it to the list.
Breaches of rule 3 are likely to lead to complaints from irritated list users who have had to pay to download your message. If you persist in mailing binaries your ISP might be notified that you are breaching a mailing list charter.
4) Do not post chain letters, petitions, "commercial offers" or virus warnings, whether you think they are genuine or not. Do not post jokes or game hints that have nothing to do with gerbils. There are plenty of other places on the Internet that deal with these subjects.
5) Do not use the membership of the mailing list as a convenient list of email addresses. E.G. For petitions, commercial mailings etc. Selling of the membership list is expressly forbidden.
Breaches of rules 4-5 are likely to lead to complaints from irritated list users. This sort of behaviour could get you labelled as a newbie. Steps will be taken to prevent repeated commercial exploitation of this mailing list.
6) All posters should try to avoid over quoting previous posts to the list. If your quotation is longer than your response you probably need to trim it.
7) All posters should try to keep the subject line of their message relevant to their posting.
8) Comments directed to another list user regarding breaches of etiquette or misuse of the list must be sent directly via private E-mail. Discussions of list etiquette are only appropriate on the mailing list as far as they apply to general list policy.
Breaches of rules 6-8 are minor contraventions of list etiquette, but don't be surprised if it is commented on by other list users.
Suggestions
1) It is suggested that coarse language be moderated to avoid offending the sensibilities of other users, with some care given to the thought that children also read this mailing list. However, users should be aware this is a multi-cultural and multi-national mailing list. What one may find offensive may be completely innocuous to someone else.
2) If you feel you must comment on a person's use of language, please use private e-mail direct to the person concerned. Abusive complains, or abusive responses will not be tolerated. (See Rule 2)
3) Regrettably some discussions properly conducted on this list may be offensive to some people. Care should be taken to avoid slang. Using tact and sticking to accurate and appropriate language will significantly reduce any offence.
4) Please remember that there will never be a complete consensus of views on the correct way to care for gerbils. Whilst list members are free to, and encouraged to, voice their views on the proper care of gerbils, care should be taken to voice such postings in a mature and tactful way. Remember that you are more likely to be listened to if you avoid causing offence.
5) If your post concerns an urgent matter of life and death for which you need an immediate reply then start the subject line of your message with the letters: SOS. Please only use this for genuine emergencies.
6) If your message is intended for an individual member of the list, please consider carefully whether it needs to be sent to all the other list members. Whilst many people might be interested in your personal exchange, please bear in mind that other people might see it as an unnecessary contribution to the high level of traffic on this list. This is a delicate distinction and no hard and fast rules can be applied. You are asked to try and consider how others will view your post.
7) Posters are asked to familiarise themselves with the Gerbil FAQ. It answers many common questions and contains a lot of helpful advice about gerbils and their care. The FAQ can be found at http://members.nanc.com/~mhaines/gerbil.html. There are also other places where the FAQ can be viewed including several webpages where the FAQ is being translated into languages other than English. There is also a GML FAQ that answers many questions about this list at http://www.gerbils.co.uk/gml/faq.htm.
8) Posters may wish to follow the following protocol:
Mails to the list should show headers coded to indicate their content as follows (Use one code only, at the end of the subject line, try and choose the most appropriate):
| :B | for breeding discussions that are less genetics intensive and cover more stuff like how to get a pair to breed, what groups are stable for breeding, etc. |
| :C | for general care, feeding, housing, bedding, etc discussions. |
| :G | for long, "alphabet soup", genetics discussions, although the :G and :B discussion may overlap sometimes. |
| :S | for information on gatherings and shows. |
| :Z | for zoological and scientific postings that do not fit into any other category, for example behaviour or ecology. |
| :M | for meta discussion, ie discussion on the group itself. |
| :$ | for selling gerbils, wanting to buy gerbils or related information. |
| :I | for this is completely irrelevant and "we're just babbling" discussions. |
| :E | for this relates *only* to exotic species of gerbils.
|
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