Listservs

Policy for Creation, Management, and Electronic Mail Distribution through LISTSERVS

Audience

All employees of the Clemson University Libraries and members of groups formed by the Libraries.

Policy Statement

This policy is subordinate to all other Clemson University Information Technology (CCIT) policies.

Purpose

The purpose of the listserv is to serve as a professional communication tool for Libraries employees and its associated groups. Listservs must serve an academic, administrative, or social function that relates to some aspect of the Libraries.

Definitions

Listserv: This term is commonly used to refer to email software list applications; a group of email addresses used for distribution. All lists hosted on Clemson University Listserv system must be related to Clemson University.

List Managers: The people responsible for lists are known as list managers.

Subscribers: Individual email addresses contained in a Listserv email list are known as members or subscribers.

Responsibility

LISTSERV Owners

  1. Two owners must be identified for all listservs. Owners must be full-time employees. If a list owner leaves the Libraries, then a replacement owner must be assigned. If two list owners can’t be identified, the listserv will be disabled.
  2. Submit a Listserv Request form to Digital Strategies to request a listserv. List names are required to follow a standard set of parameters. All Libraries’ listservs must start with LIB- and all letters in the name including LIB must be in caps.  The name must be a minimum of 9 characters long and no greater than 26 characters long. Hyphen(-) and underscore(_) are the only special characters supported. Spaces are not acceptable.
  3. Notify Digital Strategies of any change of his/her/their status, including affiliation with the University, change of office, phone numbers, and so on.
  4. Are expected to acquire sufficient knowledge and skills using Central to create and maintain listservs. They should be familiar with basic list maintenance functions, such as adding and deleting members, changing subscription options, and changing the list parameters as needed to keep the list functioning properly. Information about managing lists through Central is available on the Web at
    this link.
  5. Are responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of their list(s), including adding and deleting subscribers, answering questions from list subscribers, and assisting Digital Strategies in resolving problems related to the list(s).
  6. Owners should be able to identify and solve simple subscriber problems, such as a discrepancy between a subscription address and a sending address.
  7. The list owners are responsible for communicating and enforcing the rules for participating on the list.
  8. When subscribers contact Digital Strategies regarding a particular list, that inquiry is first referred to the list owners. If list owners are not able to resolve the issue, then the owners, not the subscriber, should contact Digital Strategies for assistance.

Requesting a List

To request a list, please submit a Listserv Request form

All subscribers and the list managers should be aware and in agreement with their inclusion on the list. Subscribers who request to be unsubscribed from a list should be removed.

Note: Not all requests will be honored with a list. Digital Strategies may ask for additional documentation regarding the granting the list or may recommend other electronic conferencing technology that would better serve the purpose of the request. Other considerations that will determine the status of a list request include the relevance of the list to the education, research, or the administration of the Libraries and University and the capacity of available resources.

Policies

Lists are subject to all University e-mail policies.

Lists may not be used for:

  • Commercial or advertising purposes.
  • Purposes which violate University policies, local ordinances, or state or federal laws.
  • Posting obscene or otherwise offensive material (e.g., messages with sexual, discriminatory, racial, or derogatory connotations).
  • Posting copyrighted materials, trade secrets, proprietary financial information, or similar materials without appropriate prior authorization from the owner of such information.
  • If there is reason to believe that the list will be used for any of the purposes above, that list will not be established. If it is operational, it will be disabled after consultation with Digital Strategies.
  • It is imperative that these lists are properly maintained and managed in order to prevent inappropriate messaging or spam.
  • All members of the listserv should be treated with respect; if someone has a difference of opinion, do not challenge or attack.
  • Listservs should not adversely affect or jeopardize the University services or those of its members.
  • Forgery, or attempted forgery, or masking the identity of an account in an e-mail message is prohibited.
  • Use caution when discussing items. Information posted on the lists is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.

Listserv Owners and Subscribers

  • Will inform Digital Strategies should technical or administrative problems occur, or other infractions of policy are
  • Understand that Digital Strategies may suspend or terminate any news group or mail list for failure to comply with mail list or news group guidelines or for interference with the normal operation of the system on which they reside.
  • Agree to not use another person’s account or password and not share your own account or password with another.
  • Will not use the list for anything other than the list purpose as stated on the original application.
  • Any list that has not been used for one year (based on the archive contents) or does not have two valid owner address will be disabled.
  • Digital Strategies reserves the right to disable any list for which these responsibilities are not met.

Transfer of List Ownership

The current list owners may transfer list ownership to someone else without involvement or approval from Digital Strategies. The new owners must meet the requirements and assume the responsibilities of list ownership as outlined above.

If the current list owners need assistance with the transfer, they should contact Digital Strategies directly to make the request, specifying the name of the list, and the new owner’s email address, name, and phone number.

Digital Strategies will verify that the transfer request is legitimate and notify the new owner when the change has been made.

Requests to delete lists that come from someone other than a current list owners will be referred to the current list owners.

Manage Listservs Through Central

Going forward, creation and management of all new listservs will be completed through Central.

Older listservs will continue to be managed through Outlook email. To Manage Listservs through Central, please refer to this document.

Scheduled Reviews

This document will be reviewed on an annual basis, or as deemed necessary.

—

Policy approved by Dean’s Council on October 14, 2022.