ATLA-Ethics

The ATLA-Ethics discussion list was created in response to a roundtable discussion, "Professional Ethics in Theological Libraries: What, Why, and How?," presented at the 2006 ATLA Annual Conference in Chicago. The roundtable focused on the fact that we have no established mechanisms within ATLA for providing guidance or resources on issues relating to information and professional ethics in our theological (and other academic) library settings. The initial roundtable discussion could do little more than introduce, raise awareness, and gauge interest in continuing to formalize the issue within ATLA. Participants expressed a clear desire that we continue to discuss the issue, and work toward some formal statement (e.g., code of ethics?) and/or proposed course(s) of action (e.g., constitute a standing Ethics Committee, develop and/or collect educational resources and workshops on pertinent ethical issues, etc.).

ATLA-Ethics list is a venue for continuing this conversation. The list is open to any interested persons within ATLA. A specific purpose of the list conversation is to work toward developing a formal statement of professional ethics and/or suggest various proposals for action. It is planned that the results of this conversation will be collected and presented in a second roundtable at the 2007 Annual Conference in Philadelphia.  

	Subscribing
	Posting Address
	Sending Attachments
	Using the Lyris Web Interface
	E-mail Commands
	Dealing with Problems
	Unsubscribing

Subscribing

Subscription to ATLA-Ethics is upon request only to the list administrator. If you wish to subscribe, click here. In your e-mail, please include:

• your full name and e-mail address

• what you hope to derive from participation in ATLA-Ethics

Posting Address

The address for posting to ATLA-Ethics is atla-ethics@list.atla.com. New discussion group members are encouraged to send an initial e-mail introducing themselves.

Sending Attachments

Attachments are permitted on ATLA-Ethics; however, in order to reduce the risk of infection from attachments, it is advised that you paste information within messages if you can to avoid unnecessary attachments. If you need to include an attachment, as a courtesy to other readers, identify in the body of your message the nature of the attachment (such as, "I have attached a copy of the bibliography" or "Minutes from the meeting are attached").

Using the Lyris Web Interface

Through the Lyris web interface, you can manage your personal settings and read and search archived messages. You can access the interface at http://list.atla.com:81/read/. In the upper right-hand corner you will find the list you are currently viewing and who is logged in. You can click on either item to change it.

The My Forums tab displays all the lists to which you are subscribed. To change your settings for a list, click on My Account when you are in that list. Here you can add a password for accessing the interface, change the way you receive messages, etc. For example, if you are going to be out of the office and do not want to your inbox to get cluttered, you can change your setting to digest to receive a summary at the end of each day or set the list to nomail so that you do not receive anything. The Messages tab lists messages that have been posted. If you change your settings so as not to be sent mail, then this is how you would read messages.

A manual for Lyris is available on the web.

E-mail Commands

Although the same functions may be performed using the web interface, occasionally you may want to perform a command through e-mail. Commands for all lists are sent to lyris@list.atla.com (note that this is not the same as the address of the list itself). If you want to change your ATLA-Ethics subscription so that you do not receive mail for a particular time, then send a message that says set ATLA-Ethics nomail. To receive one message at the end of the day, say set ATLA-Ethics digest. When you return, you can send a message that says set ATLA-Ethics mail.

For a full list of commands, see the Lyris manual on the web.

Dealing with Problems

If you are unable to post messages or suspect that you are not receiving messages that have been posted to the list, send an e-mail to the list administrator.

Unsubscribing

You can unsubscribe at any time by notifying the list administrator.