Guidelines for SEELANGS listserv
Thank you for your interest in SEELANGS, the Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures discussion list.
SEELANGS is the primary professional e-mail discussion list for the field of Slavic and East European Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. At the time of its creation in 1991, SEELANGS was affiliated with the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL). That affiliation is no longer official, but an AATSEEL representative serves on the SEELANGS Steering Committee, along with a representative from the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES). There are also many AATSEEL and ASEEES members subscribed to SEELANGS, including members of the Executive Council and other standing committees.
SEELANGS was hosted for its first 16 years on the LISTSERV server at the City University of New York (CUNY). In March 2007, the list moved to the LISTSERV server at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, where it was hosted with the support of UA instructional technology and list owner Andrew Drozd. In 2021, the list moved to Indiana University, with a new set of list protocols in place, a steering committee composed of professionals from the field, and, thanks to the support of Indiana University’s Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, a newly moderated status.
SEELANGS exists to facilitate discussion of topics of interest to researchers, teachers, and students in the broad field of Slavic and East European languages and cultures, including, but not limited to, film, folklore, history, linguistics, literature, pedagogy, popular culture, religion, and translation. It also serves as a dissemination point for calls for papers, new publication announcements, funding opportunities, job postings, and more. Finally, the archives of the list, which have been preserved since 1991, have served as a research opportunity for several scholars interested in the history of the field and in changes of language use and disciplinary emphases over time. We welcome and encourage participation from a broad and diverse range of subscribers from across the world.
SEELANGS has thousands of subscribers. List members’ specific areas of interest vary, as do the knowledge, experience, and values they bring to our discussions. Please remember that every list member is deserving of respect and one’s conduct when posting should reflect this basic fact. Profanity is not welcome, nor is language that demeans or belittles other individuals or groups. It is expected that subscribers will conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner. Insults, pejorative slurs, and other forms of microaggression will not be tolerated. Harassment of other subscribers, on- or off-list, is inappropriate, and in some situations, illegal; therefore, subscribers who engage in such behavior will have their access to the list rescinded. As a rule, first-time offenses will result in a one-month suspension. However, the steering committee reserves the right to immediately ban users whose behavior violates the list guidelines. Subscribers who have been suspended or banned will be informed by the steering committee.
Please remember that “Slavic Languages and Literatures” is what brings people to this list, yet not every post will contain a question or comment fitting neatly under that heading. If you are concerned that someone has posted something falling, in your opinion, too far from the central purpose of the list, do not write to the entire list to express your displeasure. Instead, first understand that there must be some amount of wiggle room on a list like SEELANGS, as there will be some differences in what subscribers expect to see here. If you are new to the list, please observe for a while to see how most members are using it.
If you must voice your opposition to the fact that a given subject has been raised on the list, please write directly to the list owners, as they will be in a position to take action, or explain why taking action is not warranted. The list owners can be reached by writing to: SEELANGS-l-Request@LIST.indiana.edu
Please note that discussion of discrete political matters is not welcome on SEELANGS. However, as political and other concerns have influenced Slavic Languages and Literatures, if posting on such a theme, use common sense, refrain from using the list as a personal soapbox, and remember to respect the rights of all individuals subscribing to the list. There are many other discussion lists and similar on-line discussion forums that exist solely for the discussion of politics, and you should save your commentary for them rather than SEELANGS.
Because each message sent to the list address is distributed to all list members, personal messages and replies should not be posted. If you wish to reply only to the original sender of a post, make sure your reply is directed to that person and not to the list address (seelangs-l@list.indiana.edu). If you wish to contact only one subscriber, yet do not know that person’s personal e-mail address, do not use the list address to write to that individual. Instead, make use of the REVIEW seelangs-l command to receive a list of subscribers or write the list owners for assistance. (More information on sending commands will be provided below.)
VERY IMPORTANT: When you just use the Reply feature of your e-mail program to respond while reading to a SEELANGS post, your reply is directed back to SEELANGS, not to the person who posted. Failure to realize this fact is what often creates embarrassment when subscribers inadvertently send personal replies to the list address. The list moderators do not catch everything, so please be careful.
Because all posts to SEELANGS are archived, and because even the cloud is finite, subscribers are asked to pay close attention when they reply to messages on the list and quote text. Including brief portions of original messages is fine, as long as it’s done to provide context for the reader and is done selectively. However, quoting entire original messages within the body of replies, when the original messages are more than just a few lines, is prohibited. Not only does it fill up our cloud space with extraneous text, but those list members receiving SEELANGS in DIGEST format are forced to read through the same messages three and four times.
The list uses UTF-8 encoding, which is by far the dominant encoding worldwide and has been a widely adopted standard in mail clients and elsewhere for decades. It should be able to handle any non-Latin scripts subscribers may wish to post, though for the benefit of everyone, you might consider providing a transliterated version.
Messages with attachments will not be approved for distribution to the list.
Since only subscribers have the ability to post to SEELANGS, no outside entity will post advertisements directly to the list. From time to time the list administrators receive requests from vendors of Slavic-related products and services. If the list moderators determine that the information may be of interest, they may forward it to the list if the vendor complies with the following conditions:
The advertisement will:
List members who wish to advertise businesses or products in which they have a financial interest are discouraged from doing so on SEELANGS if the businesses or products have nothing to do with Slavic Languages and Literatures. If they do relate to Slavic Languages and Literatures, subscribers are asked to comply with the above guidelines. When in doubt, please send questions to seelangs-l-request@list.indiana.edu.
NOTE: The above guidelines regarding advertising on SEELANGS do not apply to seminar and conference announcements. Such announcements may contain dollar amounts (or references to other currency) and, due to the occasional inclusion of forms, may exceed 60 lines of text. If posting an announcement or including a form, please be sure to insert your own “Reply-To:” tag in your out-going mail header or write the list owners for assistance if you do not know how to do that.
As a SEELANGS subscriber, you will communicate with the IU List server when you want to post to the list, alter your subscription options, search the archives, or update your subscription address. There are two ways to communicate with the IU List server: (1) e-mail and (2) web interface. Instructions for using the e-mail method are included in the relevant sections of this message, below. To use the web interface, you will need to go to the IU List website in your web browser: https://list.indiana.edu/sympa
To utilize IU List’s web interface (which is optional but recommended), you must register a password for purposes of authentication and authorization. To register your password, you will need to use your Subscription Address (the e-mail address from which you are currently subscribed to SEELANGS) and a password of your own choosing. You can register an IU List password here: https://list.indiana.edu/sympa/firstpasswd
Should you ever forget your IU List password, don’t panic. Just request a new one by going to this page: https://list.indiana.edu/sympa/renewpasswd
If you choose not to utilize the web interface for sending routine commands, you can use e-mail. Single commands can be sent in the subject line (with the body empty), while multiple commands go in the body of the email (with the subject left blank). All commands should be sent to the following address: list@list.indiana.edu. Command formulas are set out in boldface throughout this message.
To post to the list, just compose your message and send it to the list address, which is: SEELANGS-l@LIST.indiana.EDU.
Whenever you post to the list, you are encouraged to “sign” your submissions by including at the bottom both your name and academic affiliation (if any), so that other list members know who you are.
There are four ways to receive mail from the list:
1) MAIL - Each individual message is sent to you as soon as it’s posted.
2) DIGEST - All posts are bundled into just one, two, or three messages sent to you each day.
3) NOTICE - You receive only the subject line of each message.
4) SUMMARY - A listing of the messages posted is sent to you just one, two, or three times each day. You select from that listing which messages you want to read.
You can alter your subscription options using e-mail, as described below, or you can use the web interface. Use of the web interface assumes that you have already registered an IU List password, as described above. Visit the IU List website, click on the SEELANGS list under “My Lists,” and then click on “Subscriber Options” in the left-hand menu. You can select a delivery option under the section entitled “Receiving mode.”
MAIL is the default option. When your subscription options are set to MAIL, you receive one new e-mail for every message distributed on the list. If you’d like to receive posts from the list in this manner, you need not do anything; you’re already set up. NOTE: On the web interface, this option is listed as “standard (direct reception).”
The second option is called digest. If, rather than receive 20 (or so) pieces of mail from the list every day, you’d like to receive only two or three pieces of e-mail in which are bundled all those 20 posts, send the command SET seelangs-l DIGEST in an e-mail to: list@list.indiana.edu.
The number of daily digests you get will depend on how many posts the list receives in a given day and how long they are. Each digest will be no longer than 800 lines of text. When the server reaches that number, it sends out a digest and starts the next one. In other words, the number of daily digests you get from day to day will vary (but will likely not exceed three). As noted above, single commands can be sent in the subject line (with the body empty), while multiple commands go in the body of the email (with the subject left blank)
The third option is called NOTICE. If you would like to receive only the subject line of each posting and not its contents, send the command SET seelangs-l NOTICE in an e-mail to: list@list.indiana.edu.
The fourth option is called SUMMARY. If you like the idea of receiving only two or three e-mails per day from the list, but don’t want to have to sift through all 20 (or so) posts, you can have the list server send you only a listing (summary) of the posts distributed that day that includes the message number, the sender, and the subject line for each post. Looking at the listing, you can then decide which messages you want to read. To read a message, click on the message number and the post opens in a web browser window.
If you choose to use this method, send the command SET seelangs-l SUMMARY in an e-mail to: list@list.indiana.edu
NOTE: If you choose to use this method of delivery, you must also register an IU List password, as described above near the top of the Welcome message. The first time you click to read one of the posts you will be prompted for your subscription address and IU List password. However, once you enter that information and click the Login button, your information is saved in a cookie on your hard drive and you will not be bothered with that intermediate step again (unless you change subscription addresses or log in from a different computer).
If you want your SEELANGS mail sent to a new address, you do not have to re-subscribe. There are two ways to go about changing your subscription address.
The first way to update your subscription address is to use the web interface. This method assumes that your current subscription address still exists and you can access it. Assuming you’ve already saved your IU List password, just go to the website, click on your profile in the upper right-hand corner and then select “My preferences” from the drop-down menu. On this page you can enter a new address. Keep in mind that this will update your email address for ALL your IU List subscriptions.
You should avail yourself of the second method only if you can’t get the first one to work for you (e.g., if you don’t have web access or no longer have access to your old e-mail address). The second method involves asking the list owners for help. Write them at the list owners’ address: SEELANGS-l-Request@LIST.Indiana.EDU
Explain that you would like your subscription address updated. Remember to include your name and old subscription address in your message. The list owners will then update your subscription address at their earliest convenience. Depending on what else the list owners have going on, this option might take a bit longer than the others.
If you’re going away on vacation or will otherwise be away from your computer for any period of time, you may want to stop the list mail from coming while you’re gone. There are two ways to do it.
The easiest way is to use e-mail. To stop the mail via e-mail, send the command SET seelangs-l NOMAIL in an e-mail to: list@list.indiana.edu
When you come back and want to start it again, send an email to that same address containing the command SET seelangs-l MAIL
The second way involves making use of the web interface. You will have to be registered on IU List, as described above. Log in to the IU List website, select SEELANGS under “My Lists,” and then click on “Subscriber Options.” Under the section “Suspend subscription” you can enter the date that you would like to stop receiving messages and the date you would like to resume your subscription.
If you should ever decide to leave the list permanently, you can unsubscribe by sending the command SIGNOFF seelangs-l in an e-mail to: list@list.indiana.edu
You can also unsubscribe under “Subscriber Options” on the IU List web interface. Alternatively, if you receive summaries or digests of list posts, you can unsubscribe from the list by clicking the “Unsubscribe” link that appears at the top of these messages.
Your SEELANGS subscription never expires and you will never be asked to renew. IU List assumes that if you remain subscribed then you want to remain subscribed. However, if SEELANGS mail sent to you starts to bounce back as undeliverable, IU List will check to see whether the problem is permanent. Depending on the nature of the problem and number of errors, IU List may send you a notification or automatically remove you from the list. If you should ever find yourself accidentally removed from the list, you may simply resubscribe.
All messages posted to SEELANGS are archived and the archives can be searched by any list member. The steering committee is currently working on updating the archiving process and the search protocols that go with it. We hope to have these ready for use by summer 2022.