3.1    Address of [HM]

To submit a post to the HISTORIA MATEMATICA mailing list send an email to

historia-matematica@chasque.apc.org

Please check the message headers before sending your message so that you actually know where your posting is going.

Our [HM] list is set up to send replies to everyone on the list.


3.2    Cross-posting

Cross-posting (that is to say, sending a message to more than one mailing list or newsgroup at the same time) is discouraged.

If after reflection you decide to send a posting to more than one forum, PLEASE submit your messages as entirely separate emails.

A strong reason for rejecting cross-posting is that our mailing list is configured so that only [HM] members can post (with the only exception of occasional guests).

If cross-posting were accepted onto [HM], then members subscribed to other forums might reply to our list as well, which might cause fragmentation of the thread. Postings to many mailing lists often lead to discussions where members of each list see only a part of the ongoing exchanges, and this, more often than not, leads to confusion or misunderstandings.

I strongly encourage you to choose the appropriate list.


3.3    Subject line

The subject line should be meaningful and informative so that people can get a rough (but a good) idea about the subject of your message.

When you start a new thread, for instance,

First incommensurables

Majordomo attaches the prefix [HM] to your subject line, so that your posting will be sent out and archived as

[HM] First incommensurables

If anyone wants to post a follow-up on this thread, s/he is strongly encouraged to write any of the following subject lines:

Re: [HM] First incommensurables

[HM] First incommensurables

First incommensurables

Nevertheless, the subject line

Re: First incommensurables

is not appropriate, since generates another thread; namely

[HM] Re: First incommensurables

This has the effect that your response (with a new subject line) is not linked in the archives (at Swarthmore Forum) with the original posting, and so it is harder to locate or thread the reactions to the original message.

Besides, do not write RE: (or other prefixes) instead of Re:. Please, use the previous subject line with the same capitalization, etc. as was used before. This convention makes it helpful for the archiving software (at Swarthmore Forum) to sort postings by subject.

I strongly encourage list members NOT to change the 'subject line' unless there is good reason. Now, if over the course of a discussion, the subject evolves considerably it would be wise to change the 'subject line' accordingly.


3.4    Body of message

Please, edit your messages properly, and do not quote irrelevant segments of a previous posting when replying. Mind that it is unnecessary (and inconvenient) to cite the entire message, as everyone on the discussion group will have received a copy of the original post. This reasonable practice saves downloading time, reading time, disc space, and also helps with a better presentation of the digest.

Some email programs send out email in formats which cannot be read by others. Please, configure your mailer so that your messages are delivered in plain text (and NOT in enriched text such as 'html' output). Besides, refrain from putting non-standard symbols (such as special ALT characters) into your contributions.

The use of accents is strongly discouraged. If you think that a specific reference requires accents, then a code would be advisable. For instance:

/	acento agudo	[ matema/tica := matemática ]
\	acento grave	[ alge\bre := algèbre ]
,	cedilla	[ lec,on := leçon ]
~	tilde	[ an~o := año ]
"	umlaut	[ Ko"rper := Körper ]
^	circumflex	[ polyno^me := polynôme ]

Never submit attachments to the list, which are a particular problem to many subscribers, not only because of the format, but also because of the size of these files.

Before sending email, contributors should always ask themselves the following crucial question:

"Is my posting relevant to the purpose of this forum?"

If you are not quite sure whether your post is appropriate to this forum, please drop the list owner a private email.


3.5    Post from the web

Whether you are a list member or a guest you may also send us your contribution from the web. Click here.