NMTC guidelines

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~~~~~~~~~~PLEASE SAVE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE NMTC GUIDELINES

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to: nmtcegroups

To write TO THE OWNER PRIVATELY send email to jphill@...

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/group/nmtc/info.html

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by entering your email address in the login area, then following the link for a

FORGOTTEN password. This will take you through the process of creating a

password. Please visit the above web site to see all of the features egroups

makes available to its members. If you ever have any questions about your

subscription, DO NOT POST TO THE LIST; write to the OWNER, jphill@...

Please keep a copy of these guidelines (they are also available on the NMTC web

page http://www.epix.net/~jphill/nmtc and in the " Vault " area of

/group/nmtc)

WHAT THE NMTC LIST IS ALL ABOUT: The NMTC mailing list is for discussion of the

medical transcription profession, with particular emphasis on the thoughts,

problems, concerns, and experiences of those who are new to the profession. The

goal of NMTC is to provide student MTs and new MTs a place to express their

thoughts openly, and benefit from the exchange with other beginners, as well as

support from more experienced MTs. While we encourage experienced

transcriptionists to be part of NMTC, we strongly discourage " newbie vs. oldie "

flame wars.

Topics for discussion on this list would include anything relating to the

experience of entering into the medical transcription profession. Experienced

MTs may wish to tell their own stories from their early days in MT. Students

and new MTs may ask questions, ANY questions, from general questions to

technical, equipment questions, word help, or anything else. Students and new

MTs are encouraged to express all their thoughts and enthusiasm about their new

profession. Experienced MTs are encouraged to give guidance and encouragement

to the beginners, but not to discourage them by telling them how difficult

medical transcription is (they already know that), or by telling them that their

questions are " too basic " or " stupid " (they'll never learn anything if they

aren't allowed to ask questions without fear of criticism.)

Commercial postings ARE allowed, provided that they are not excessive, and that

they promote products that are clearly of interest to medical transcriptionists.

The list is not moderated, but please follow these guidelines:

Don't send personal replies to the entire list. The list has deliberately been

configured so that replies by default do NOT go to the whole list. If you

choose to override the default, please make sure that it is warranted, i.e., ask

yourself if you are including information that would be of interest to the list

in general.

Don't discuss on the list something that was told to you in private - this is

rude and an invasion of privacy.

Please refrain from trivial responses (usually characterized by being 1-2 lines

long). Examples of trivial responses: " Me too! " " Ha, Ha! " " I was wondering

that too. " " Thanks! " These are probably appropriate if sent JUST to the

original poster, but unless such responses are accompanied by some further

elaboration, they really do little more than clutter up mailboxes if sent to the

whole list.

Don't feel that you need to respond to EVERY message on which you have an

opinion. A lot of good information comes from some of the most frequent

contributors, and it is typical that the majority of people on the list are

" lurkers, " and are quite happy to remain so. But sometimes one sees an

abundance of messages from the same person that fall into the " trivial " category

and it is then especially annoying. One solution, if you really must add your

two bits' worth to everything, is to assemble these responses into a file, and

post it once a week. Even if you feel that you are making worthwhile and

well-considered statements with every posting, try not to dominate the list with

your own postings.

Don't send flames (personal attacks or insults) to the list.

Don't send " constructive criticism " to the list. If you really feel you can

help someone see the error of their ways, you won't help them by embarrassing

them in front of everyone else, so send your gentle criticism to them via

private e-mail.

Don't quote the ENTIRE article when mailing a follow-up note. It is rarely

needed since most people have seen the original. Do, however, quote SOME of the

article to which your are replying. Take the minute or two extra time to edit

out all but the most pertinent part of the original article. If your mailer

does not make it easy to do this, don't subject everyone else to its

limitations. Learn how to save the file, edit it separately and read it back

into your reply. Some people still have 2400 baud connections to their on-line

services and this can make a BIG difference!

Please change the subject header if you are changing the topic. Like offline

conversations, mailing list threads sometimes take turns away from their

original subject. This is normal, but if you find yourself posting a message

that no longer has anything to do with the original subject, take the time to

change the subject header of your message to something more appropriate.

Don't type your messages in ALL CAPS! Occasionally, typing one word or even a

whole sentence in CAPS for emphasis is fine (as you can see, I've done it in

this letter several times myself), but to type an ENTIRE message in CAPS is

ridiculous - anyone on the internet will tell you that everyone on the internet

finds it extremely annoying, so please don't do it, on the NMTC list or anywhere

else!

Don't post " virus warnings " to the list. It is enough that everyone know that

they should never DOWNLOAD any FILE sent to them by a stranger; warnings about

specific viruses are unnecessary, because any file may be dangerous if you

didn't ask for it and don't know the person it came from (and you CANNOT get a

virus by simply READING e-mail.) Also don't post any kind of " please forward

this to everyone you know " messages to the list, no matter what it's about or

how valid it may seem.

Don't send attached files to the list; you don't want to be the stranger who

sends a file to someone who didn't ask for it (let alone a few hundred people

who didn't ask for it.) Remember also that some people may still be paying for

their e-mail per minute, may not have the ability to decode attached binary

files, or may simply not have the time to download a file.

Don't post to the list to criticize someone for violating any of the above

guidelines. If you feel you must point out someone's breach of netiquette, do

so in private e-mail; you only contribute to off-topic list clutter by posting

it to the list.

When you post to NMTC, please include your e-mail address in your message.

IMPORTANT: EVERY MESSAGE POSTED TO THE NMTC LIST IS ARCHIVED ON THE WORLD WIDE

WEB! The URL for the NMTC archives is /group/nmtc (note:

only list members can view the list archives.)

The NMTC also has its own web page at http://www.epix.net/~jphill/nmtc

This letter is available on this web page.

Once again, PLEASE keep this letter - it might be a good idea to create a folder

on your hard drive specifically for the Welcome Letters and Guidelines you

receive for all internet mailing lists to which you subscribe. You should also

either back up these letters on floppy disks, or print hard copies. You will be

doing yourself, your fellow mailing list subscribers and the list owners a

tremendous favor by simply being able to refer back to these guidelines when you

have questions or problems.

If you still have a question or problem with NMTC that is not covered here, then

write to the OWNER. You should NEVER post questions about list functions (i.e.,

your subscription, delivery issues, etc.) to the LIST. While some of the

subscribers may know the answer, the OWNER is the only one you need to ask, and

these matters should be handled between you and the OWNER in PRIVATE.

In the unlikely event that you ever write to the owner about an important issue

and do not receive a response within 24 hours, you should then write to any of

the following people:

Teri Darcy

Trisha ts@...

Cunningham

These people are NMTC " quiet owners " and serve as contacts if the primary owner

is unavailable.

Once again, welcome to the New Medical Transcriptionists mailing list!

- Judy , owner NMTC