Who May Submit Messages to AMIA-L: AMIA-L currently posts messages from both AMIA members and non-members. Frequent contributors and regular readers are strongly urged to join AMIA and support the organization along with their colleagues. Membership information can be found in the Membership pages of this web site.

AMIA-L is sponsored by the Association of Moving Image Archivists to serve as a listserv dedicated to open communication about topics of interest to individuals concerned with moving image preservation. Participation on AMIA-L does not require AMIA membership.

AMIA-L Administration:  AMIA-L is not moderated.  Messages submitted to AMIA-L are not screened before they are posted. Submissions deemed inappropriate according to the following guidelines will be dealt with as outlined below. AMIA reserves the right to revoke the AMIA-L subscription of, and/or block further messages from, those who do not abide by the list rules and guidelines.

The Prime Consideration for Those Submitting Messages: Please do not submit messages to AMIA-L unless you are reasonably certain they are of sufficient concern to a group of AMIA-L subscribers - or that a reply would be of sufficient service to yourself and that it warrants delivery to the entire AMIA-L list.

Submission Requirements: Each submission must contain the following: A substantive question, comment or information that meets the description of an "Appropriate Submission" as described below. All postings must contain the submitter's full name, institutional or professional affiliation (if any) and e-mail address at the end of the message.   Please remember that the mission of AMIA is to facilitate communication and foster collaboration and it is in this spirit the listserv operates.

Disclaimer : This list is provided as a service of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). AMIA accepts no responsibility for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. AMIA disclaims all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether by AMIA or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall AMIA be libel for any special, indirect or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, arising out of, or in connection with, the use or performance of any information posted on this site. Neither the Association of Moving Image Archivists, the AMIA-L administrators nor the administrators of the list's host site can verify the content of postings for accuracy or be held accountable for message content.
Parties submitting messages to AMIA-L bear sole responsibility and liability for the content of their postings. This includes any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting such material, the posting party warrants and represents that it owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants AMIA and users of this list the non-exclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print and use such information or other material.

AMIA does not actively monitor the list for inappropriate postings, and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to AMIA's attention, AMIA will take appropriate action as described below. AMIA reserves the right to terminate the list access of any user who does not abide by these guidelines and rules.

Sanctions
While freedom of speech is a right in the United States, participation in AMIA-L is not. By subscribing to AMIA-L you specifically agree to the rules and guidelines and to the terms for removal. Non-subscribers who post inappropriate messages will receive an e-mailed warning of violation and a copy of the AMIA-L rules and guidelines.  A second inappropriate message from the same non-subscriber may result in the blocking of all future messages from that individual.

Subscribers  who violate  any  of  the AMIA-L rules  or  guidelines  as stipulated below will receive a  Warning of Violation.  A second incidence may result in removal from the list.  A Warning of Violation may take the form of an email, telephone call or immediate suspension, at the discretion of the list administrators.  Note that both the individual and the email address the post originates from are subject to sanctions for any inappropriate posting. 

Postings to AMIA-L
Postings about substantive issues relevant to at least a significant subset of the AMIA membership or AMIA-L subscribers are generally appropriate, except as described below in the Inappropriate Submissions Section.

Appropriate Submissions:

• When posting a message, let us know who you are. Include your name, affiliation and e-mail address. In the subject line, be specific in describing the subject matter of what you are positing.

• When replying to a message, include only the relevant information to which you are responding. This will make others who read your message understand the context of the conversation. Economize space by including only the relevant portion of the original message. Also delete the header information from the previous message. The minimum that is asked of subscribers is to put your response at the top of the original posting.

• Note that all AMIA-L  exchanges are in the public domain. AMIA-L messages are saved in accessible archive files available for use by the entire internet using public.

• Job announcements for positions are acceptable, and we encourage users to include detailed job descriptions and salary ranges whenever possible. However, announcements for specific positions should not be posted to AMIA-L more than once in any seven-day period.

• All submissions must be within the spirit of AMIA, fostering a collaborative environment for the benefit of the membership.

• Messages posted to AMIA-L must be civil and professional in tone and sensitive to issues of diversity. Communication via AMIA-L cannot provide the same freedom of expression as would be possible in a private conversation among confidants.

• The mission of AMIA includes the development and promotion of best practice within the field, and AMIA recognises that this will lead to professional disagreements on substantive issues between informed individuals.  Where it is polite, collegiate and focused on the issue at hand (e.g. 'Evaporated metal tapes should be kept dry because tests have shown that humidity will destroy them'), the expression and debate of such disagreements is acceptable.  However, such expressions that could reasonably be understood to constitute an ad hominem attack (e.g. 'If you store your tapes like that, you are a moron') will be considered to be an inappropriate submission.

Inappropriate Submissions:

• All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Proper etiquette applies for all postings and you should not say anything in a message that you would not want the world to see and to know came from you.

• All submissions not within the spirit of AMIA, or submissions that do not foster a collegial, collaborative environment for the benefit of the membership and the field.
  

• Commercial advertisements (SPAMs) or solicitations generally irrelevant to AMIA should not be submitted. Do not post commercial messages that do not relate specifically to the topics of the list. The Cyberspace term for this is "spamming." It is considered very bad etiquette.

• Do not post anything that is not original unless it meets the "fair use" guidelines of copyright law, or unless you have permission from the original source. Gain permission to reprint copyrighted material before posting it. If you send information that is not your original work or ideas, please specify to readers the original source of your information. When posting materials, the poster voluntarily presents him/herself as the copyright owner or as having received permission to reprint copyrighted materials. AMIA reserves the right to reject any postings to AMIA-L containing material that may be in violation of copyright.

• Replies to individuals' requests for information that are obviously not of significant interest to the membership at large should not be sent to the entire list.

• Personal or confidential information about others, or personal communications between individuals are not appropriate. Personal criticism of, or attacks on, individuals will not be accepted. The discussions put forward on AMIA-L are meant to stimulate conversation using acceptable rules of etiquette, and should not create a contentious environment or defame or intentionally hurt another individual.

• Messages whose content, were it posted, might present legal problems for AMIA or AMIA-L subscribers are not acceptable.

• Messages of inconsequential or non-substantive content should not be posted on AMIA-L. This includes messages devoted solely to humor, jokes, or light conversation that are off topic. If you are replying with a message that just says, "thanks for the information," a request to receive a copy of what someone has offered to share, or simply to agree with someone by saying, "me, too," then please do not reply to the entire group. Instead, send your response directly to the e-mail address of the person who posted the message.

• Attachments and Long Messages: Exceptionally long messages in the body of the e-mail, or as an attachment, are discouraged because they cause problems for some subscribers with limited e-mail storage. Persons wishing to share large documents such as term lists or catalogs should instead announce that interested individuals may request the material directly from the person making the offer, and the document(s) should then be sent directly to the interested parties' e-mail addresses, not via AMIA-L. Attachments also can carry potentially harmful viruses. You should not send anything to AMIA-L that existed as a word processing document unless you first convert it to plain ASCII text. In most cases, you can simply cut and paste from your original document to your e-mail message. If you have any questions, please contact your local network administrator.

• Replies to Requests for Specific Information: Replies to online surveys or to requests for an isolated bit of information for one's own need should be sent directly to the inquirer, not the entire AMIA-L list. When appropriate, the inquirer can later post a single summary of multiple responses to the list.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY & INDEMNITY

The great danger for us, and for all operators of online listservs, is that we might be held accountable for the wrongful actions of our subscribers.

We did not start this listserv to take responsibility for others' actions, and we cannot afford to operate it if we must take that responsibility. Accordingly, all subscribers must accept responsibility for their own acts, and to accept that an act by another subscriber that damages them must not be blamed on us, but on the other subscriber. Therefore, as a condition of participation in the listserv, participants must agree as follows:

You agree, by your participation on this list, that AMIA  will not be responsible to you for any indirect, consequential, special or punitive damages or losses you may incur in connection with our listserv or any of the data or other materials transmitted through or residing on our listserv, even if AMIA  has been advised of the possibility of such damage or loss. In addition, you agree to defend and indemnify AMIA , its officers, directors, employees, and agents and hold AMIA , its officers, directors, employees, and agents harmless from and against any and all claims, proceedings damages, injuries, liabilities losses, costs and expenses (including attorneys fees) relating to any acts or omissions by you or materials or information transmitted by you in connection with our listserv leading wholly or partially to claims against AMIA , its officers, directors, employees, or agents or our listserv by other users or third parties.

Questions: Questions: Please contact the AMIA-L List Administrators at <AMIA-L-request@lsv.uky.edu> with any questions or problems you might have.

© 2011 The Association of Moving Image Archivists