List Charter


The list is not moderated but only restricted
Restriction means that no outsiders can join/post to the list without approval. Moderation is control of incoming messages from members to the list. This means that our list which is "NOT moderated" allows its members to post directly to the list. The list is made unmoderated to give you the convenience of posting messages directly without control or delay. Most scholarly lists are run this way. Therefore, the validity/suitability of the contents of their message is the responsibility of its sender and members are expected to consider that as all have received information about the list in the "Welcome message."

Membership status

Members can choose to have a NO-MAIL status, NO-POST status, DIGEST status, or to temporarily be unsubscribed. No mail status means that the member will still be on the list and continue to post messages to the list but will not be able to read any messages from the list. The No-post status prevents a list subscriber from posting to the list and you don't want to be that person. A digest status gives you the option of receiving a daily list of the messages sent to the list instead of receiving them individually. The temporary unsubscription is recommended when you are travelling away for a month or so.

The list is only for linguists
All members are supposed to be linguists. The database reflects that most members have submitted information about their background, but some members did not. Therefore, it is important for every member to use the next message to complete the form for the list database.

The list is for Saudis
Non-Saudis are not accepted to the list for efficiency and planning reasons. The list is growing regularly and the number of members is expected to increase even further when English departments in Saudi Arabia get more involved in Internet-related activities. Restricting the list to Saudis is meant to restrict the topics discussed on the list to those ones of interest to Saudi Arabia's linguists. Establishing communication between linguists in Saudi Arabia is another reason for that restriction.

Topics
Mostly, the list has always discussed great and completely relevant topics. The welcome message outlines the guidelines for the topics acceptable on the list. It is understandable that some messages go to the list by mistake <especially if the sender uses the auto-complete feature in their email client>, but it is important that members make sure that messages discuss the appropriate topics and go to the correct address. Members are expected not to overreact to messages that come to the list by mistake or bear an inappropriate content. Contacting the maintainer at <the.linguist@usa.net> may be a good idea.
Topics expected on the list include:

  1. Calls for papers

  2. Sharing academic information

  3. Conference announcements

  4. Research and scholarly discussions related to the field

  5. Internet site announcements/notices

  6. Computing and linguistic inquiries

  7. Research inquiries & requests

  8. Search for academic information

  9. Sharing personal academic experiences/news

  10. Research data collection

    Considering the above list, I can proudly say that our list has been
    doing great. I have been <and still I am> part of many other reputable
    lists and haven't learned from them as much as I learned from this
    list. I have to thank everybody for that wishing for more.
    Many other lists reach a daily volume of messages that may reach 100
    messages (e.g. LANTRA-L) but when you check the contents of the
    messages you see that people talk about extremely irrelevant topics.
    The policy may allow that but you spend a lot of time managing that
    mail. That's way I wish our list will continue to improve all the
    time.



Replying to messages coming from the list
Our list is set to send any reply directly to the sender. If you
choose to reply to all, the list address will get your reply. Therefore, in case you want to reply to the sender, use
the sender's address which appears at the beginning of each message or use the reply to sender button.

We wish you find the information useful and helpful to you as a member/potential member. If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns please let me know at my email address listed below. It is always good to hear from you.

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