IGBO--NET POLICIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

[By UO]

   Igbo--net address:         	igbo--net@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu
   (for posting messages)


   Igbo--net listprocessor:   	listproc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu	
   (for administrative requests)


   

A place where there are no clearly defined rules of engagement is a jungle. The essence of this document, therefore, is to clearly spell out a set of guidelines that are designed to help us maintain a civil atmosphere within igbo--net. In this way we will stay focussed on issues that are germane to the mission of this list.

This list belongs to all of us -- Igbos and friends of Igbos and international scholars whose research interests intersect with any aspect of Igbo life. Let us make this list a forum for the free discussion, debate, and the sharing of ideas on and about the Igbo speaking peoples of West Africa.

The policies, special features and the organizational structure of igbo--net mailing list are outlined below.

Postings in igbo--net can cover any topic of interest so long as they do not contravene the etiquette of the list. Such topics can be drawn from any one of the following (and are by no means restricted to these) fields: anthropology, culture, art, linguistics, economics, education, history, folklore, religion, geography, architecture, agriculture, medicine, literature -- written and oral, science and technology, etc. Postings can also include news, opinions, observations, humor, announcements, or requests. Whatever ideas you have, or issues you want to raise in any of the afore-mentioned fields that concern the Igbos -- the good, the bad; the beautiful and the ugly -- we encourage you to lay them bare on igbo--net. Nothing about the Igbos or Igboland should be sacrosanct! It is in this spirit of openness that we hope to critically analyze the issues affecting Ndi Igbo with a view to finding lasting solutions to them.

We are not interested in recreating a "virtual Nigeria" in cyberspace. Should anyone be interested in a broad sense on issues about the entity called Nigeria, perhaps that person could check out any of these lists: <naijanet@mitvma.mit.edu, <soc.culture.nigerian and <soc.culture.african. In igbo--net, our specific interest hinges on the Igbos and Igboland.

Membership in this list is a privilege and not a right. A member's access to the list can be permanently or temporarily revoked at any time for bad and anti-social conduct that is in any way inimical to the orderly functioning of igbo--net. Such conduct could entail the placing of unlawful information on the system, the use of racist, or sexist, or derogatory language (popularly known as flame mails) in messages sent to the list; the sending of "chain letters", or "broadcast" messages to the list, or any other type of use which could cause congestion of the network or otherwise interfere with the work of others.

The list administrator has the right to unsubscribe anyone who willfully violates the netiquette of the list. The removal of such an individual shall be effected only after the person has been duly warned by the list administrator, either publicly or privately. The length of one's suspension or the duration of one's enforced period of absence from the list will depend on the gravity of the offense. Anyone who is temporarily suspended from the list must demonstrate a willingness of not violating the netiquette of the list again before he/she will be reinstated. Anyone whose membership is permanently revoked will simply be kept off the list indefinitely, except in circumstances in which the offender makes a very compelling case for his/her reinstatement. Such a reinstatement must be preceded by a pledge from the offender, stating explicitly that he/she will not willfully violate the netiquette of the list again.

There are no dues associated with Igbo--net. The only cost to be incurred would be by those members who subscribe to commercial internet or gateway providers. Igbo-net itself, has no dues, no fees, no charges, no budget, pays no salaries, and funds no projects. In essence, Igbo-net will have no financial operations and obligations.

To become a member of Igbo--net mailing list, one has to send mail to:

listproc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu

This is where subscription and unsubscription requests should be sent to. The body of the mail should contain just one line:

subscribe igbo--net <First_name Last_name

or

unsubscribe igbo--net <First_name Last_name

For instance, to subscribe Ibe Ike, he would type ONLY the following in the body of my mail:

To unsubscribe Ibe Ike from igbo--net, he would have to type ONLY the following in the body of my mail:

The list processor figures out your return address from the mail system header, so there is no need for you to provide your address again.

All administrative requests including removal from the list, either permanently or temporarily will have to be submitted to the listprocessor. To acknowledge the success of your subscription request, the list-processor will send you an acknowledgement notice that contains a set of instructions of what you should do next, one of which is resetting your assigned password. Suppose your assigned password is ABCDEFGHI and you want to change it to NMOPQRSTU. Again, you send mail to

listproc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu

The body of the mail should contain just one line:

At this point, you are pretty much done with the list-processor <listproc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu. Subsequently, to post messages to the list members, send the mail to:

At the risk of redundancy, note the following:

1) You interact with [listproc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu] for getting into the mailing list.

2) To post mail to igbo--net, send it to

3) Note the double dashes "--" in the "igbo--net."

Third party requests will not be honored. A member can only ask for his/her name to be added or removed from the list.

Mails can be posted to igbo--net in either Igbo language or English language, using standard ASCII format.

Igbo--net has no political, religious, or economic affiliation. It will draw its strength from the diversity and depth of opinions and ideas expressed by its members.

Igbo--net has the following distinctive features:

1) "Unmoderated"

Igbo--net is an unmoderated mailing list. "Unmoderated" means that all messages posted to the list are automatically forwarded to the entire members of igbo--net.

2) "Wide Open Subscription"

Igbo--net has a wide open subscription. This implies that subscription to the list is granted automatically by the listprocessor to anyone within the whole universe of internet who requests it.

3) "Open Posting"

Posting of messages to igbo--net is open to anybody in the entire universe of internet.

4) "Forward Rejects"

Rejected messages sent to igbo--net from non-subscribers are forwarded to the list administrator for handling.

5) "Digests"

The list is configured so that individual members, should they desire, can choose to receive messages in digest form. The digests are sent out on a weekly basis.

6) "Archives"

All transactions on igbo--net are archived.

I hope we can be able to maintain an orderly and civil atmosphere within igbo--net with these simple guidelines.

Thank you for your cooperation.