guyton@randvax.UUCP (Jim Guyton) (09/22/85)
A new Rand report on electronic mail has been released that may
be of interest to some of you. Copies can be ordered by sending
a check for $4.00 to:
Publications Dept.
Rand Corporation
1700 Main Street
Santa Monica, Ca. 90406
R-3283-NSF/RC. "Toward an Ethics and Etiquette for Electronic Mail,"
by N.A. Shapiro, R.H. Anderson. July 1985, 35 pp., $4.00
This report discusses some important general attributes of electronic
mail and message systems, and the effects of those attributes on the
quality and appropriateness of communication. The authors discuss the
"etiquette" of sending and receiving electronic mail, drawing on personal
observation of inappropriate and counterproductive uses of these systems.
By presenting some initial guidelines, the authors attempt to accelerate
the process by which social customs and behavior appropriate to electronic
mail become established, and thereby to accelerate the effective use of
such systems.