Caribbean ICT Virtual Community (CIVIC)
Proposed Structure and Organization chart
7 September , 2007
1. CIVIC Definition and Objectives:
7. Document approval – representation – mandates - votes
8. Tools available for the CIVIC members:
9. Access - public/private space – privacy rights
11. Netiquette rules or how to participate in virtual communities
Annex 1. How To Participate In Online Forums
1. CIVIC Definition and Objectives:
.engages in sharing information, discussing issues, advocacy, networking and linking actors, projects or initiatives on ICTs and development in the Caribbean.
.aims to contribute to the building of a common vision/perspective on ICTs, and to promote a Caribbean strategy and/or regional Caribbean-wide actions.
It is a Caribbean managed and Caribbean owned virtual community.
2.2 To subscribe, persons will complete:
.a voluntary registration (currently Dgroup) form; and
.send a self introduction message to the moderator. Shortly after membership confirmation it is required for the new member to post his/her self introduction to the CIVIC as a whole.
.can change their individual default settings and may receive digested messages instead of individual messages.
.when leaving for vacations, or being unable to read messages for a long period of time, it is recommended to change the settings to “read posts only through the web interface”.
.can change the email address to receive and post, their password, their user profile, etc., and unsubscribe from the list.
2.7 Members are requested to provide and maintain a functional email address. Emails that “bounce” (no longer existing) or present errors for a long period of time will be deleted, and membership will be lost.
.Be active participants who share information, ask questions, respond to requests, share answers, approve or disapprove motions and proposal, follow the collectively established discussion agenda, etc.
.Maintain a functional email address
.Respect the netiquette (see below) and the rules outlined in this document
.Respect the cultural, linguistic, political, sexual and religious diversity of CIVIC constituency
.Not use the list for political, religious, or commercial propaganda
3.1 The moderator's role is to:
.assist, redirect and process administrative requests (subscription, un-subscription, setting changes, etc).
.approve messages and/or requests from senders.
.reformat message (attachments, HTML or special encoding) before approving
.avoid the circulation of email attachments, viruses, commercial advertising (“spam,”), email chains and hoaxes, administrative requests, non members submissions, etc.
.ask the sender of a personal message to state the person for whom the message was intended, and/or if the sender still wants it to be posted to the main list.
.avoid information overload by only accepting Caribbean-ICT related posts/discussions.
3.2 Posts related to non ICT/non Caribbean or global ICT issues shall be accepted only with a short introduction note relating it to the Caribbean or a group specific interest or ongoing discussion.
3.3 Personal messages, “flames”, insults, disrespectful posts, one to one discussions shall not be approved.
3.4 The acting moderator shall not censor posts but is charged with keeping a “healthy” working environment.
3.5 Any member who feels that they are being censored may openly discuss this problem in the community
3.6 All rejected messages are to be kept archived for future reference.
3.7Any member may receive moderation administrative mails and monitor the work of the moderator(s).
3.8 The list shall be informed whether the moderator(s) are working voluntarily or working with a stipend.
The moderators at August 2007 are
Yacine Khelladi: yacine@yacine.net
Angelica Ospina: aospina@icamericas.net
4.1 The CIVIC is open to all Caribbean countries.
4.4Members of CIVIC undertake to give all messages equal attention, no matter which language was used by the sender.
5.1 To help attain its objectives, organize an agenda, guide the ongoing discussions, and articulate and document the inputs, the virtual community list shall be facilitated.
6.1 Among CIVIC members a specific facilitator may be chosen and mandated to:
.Promote a balanced participation from all Caribbean cultural/linguistic sub regions in the main virtual community (CIVIC) and the thematic working groups (TWGs)
.Ensure that concerns, views, and interests of all Caribbean cultural/linguistic sub regions are reflected in the CIVIC and TWG outputs
.Promote actions that formalize collaboration and vision sharing among participants from different Caribbean cultural/linguistic sub regions
.participate in the facilitators co-ordination group
.observe all ongoing thematic discussions
.propose and eventually implement, with the facilitators group and all the members, actions and mechanisms to have balanced participation
.follow up and report to the CIVIC
7. Document approval – representation – mandates - votes
7.1 CIVIC constituency approval shall be sought in order to:
.ratify a document, public position or action proposal, and identify is as an official CIVIC document or position
.authorize any of its members to represent CIVIC in any event or meeting
.define a mandate for working groups, commissions, negotiators, representatives, project or fund administrator, etc., to enter in any discussion, take any decision or work on its behalf
.approve or modify any chart or organization document.
7.2Any item for decision shall be submitted to the main CIVIC list, with a clear subject line including "decision" or "approval request".
7.3 A "grace period" of at least five (5) working days should be reserved to receive comments, disapprovals, amendments, alternative proposals, etc. The "grace period" shall be respected in each instance that a decision item is rewritten or amended and resubmitted for approval.
7.4 An abstention shall be considered to be an "assent" unless the voter openly opposes the matter before the community
If there is no opposition, amendment or counter proposition on a decision, then it will be considered approved by consensus.
7.5 If no consensus can be reached, a vote shall be organized by the moderator as follows:
.A mail message with "vote" in the subject line should contain all voting instructions, options, references and any other relevant information.
.The moderator may be assisted by a volunteer member for vote scrutiny.
.In voting no quorum is required but five (5) votes shall require a reformatting of the decision.
.Votes shall be recorded as: Approved; Against; and Abstain.
.Any opposition to a decision item shall require no less than four supporters with reasons for rejection
8. Tools available for the CIVIC members:
.the web interface logging in at http://www.dgroups.org/groups/icacaribbean/.
8.5 Other tools which could take advantage of emerging technologies will be added to support the efficiency of CIVIC
9. Access - public private space
9.1 Posting and receiving messages, accessing CIVIC web site, mail archives, resources, etc., is for registered members only.
9.2As a matter of courtesy, it is preferable, but not mandatory, that members ask permission to forward any email, partially or totally, to non list member(s).
9.3 List owner(s) and moderator(s) shall not erase or modify a member(s) archived post, profile data or posting history without the expressed permission of the particular member(s).
9.4 No person is authorized to use the members list or email addresses for any purpose other than for CIVIC business.
10.1 CIVIC members may work in groups:
.in thematic channels mandated by the CIVIC;
.in specific working groups which are task oriented and facilitated to produce specific outputs within specific time frames
10.2 Thematic channels shall be permanent and organically linked to the main group and shall have access to the tools available for collaboration.
Examples of thematic channels are :-
1.CIVIC Capacity Building
2.Advocacy
3.Regional Governance forum
4.Human resource development
5.Private sector Development
6.Trade and Commerce
7.E governance and regulatory issues
8.Gender issues
9.Education and Youth
10.E finance
11.Regional network infrastructure
12.e-Health
13.Use of Free and Open Source Software.
10.3Working groups may be created by members and the outputs of these working groups shall be validated by the CIVIC. Each working group shall have specific mandates and shall produce outputs within set timeliness
11. Netiquette rules or how to participate in virtual communities
11.1 General Requirements (See Annex 1):
1.Do not send attachments (place them in our resource center or send a web link)
2.Do send Plain Text (change the settings of your mailer)
3.Write a good subject line (change it if necessary)
4.Make your subject line readable
5.If replying, don’t leave the whole previous message below your answer, just specific parts to which you are responding
6.Include contact information- Mention the source(s), web links, copyrights, etc.
7.Be careful not to spread viruses and do not send "spam".
11.2 Good practices for newcomers
.Consult the list archives or FAQ, if available, before posting a question; this is a good way to become familiar with a list.
.Lurk, listen and learn what's acceptable before posting to the list.
11.3The Art of the Subject Line
Make sure that the 'subject' field of your email message is meaningful as it can be very frustrating to others not to be able to judge the content of a message from its subject.
When you use the 'reply' option, ensure that the subject still accurately reflects the content of your message (like the title of a book). If it doesn't, change it.
Try to restrict yourself to one subject per message; send multiple messages if you have multiple subjects.
One subject per message allows recipients to use the 'subject' field to judge the importance of the messages they have received.
Sometimes groups develop code words to make it even easier to identify the purpose or content of messages.
Appending the words News, FYI, URGENT, Update etc. to your subject line can help people judge the importance/relevance of your message.
11.4 Message Formatting
.Whenever possible, keep posts to the list brief.
.One or two screens is a good space to use.
.It's always better to give recipients the option of reading more with a link or attachment, rather than forcing them to read a lot in your message.
.Do not send HTML, rich text, or stylised email, or messages in "quoted-printable" format; not all email programs of list members will recognize such formats.
.Send messages in plain text aka: ASCII.
.When sending to mailing lists, send a link instead of attachments (especially large ones); the majority of Internet users (even in the "North") have relatively slow modem connections.
.Sign your name. Sometimes, your name will appear in the "From:" field.
.If you are quoting someone else's message, quote sparingly, and try to eliminate any leftover or unnecessary headers.
.If responding to many parts of a single message, you may alternate between original quotes and your responses.
.DON'T SHOUT! WHEN YOU TYPE IN UPPER CASE, IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE YELLING ONLINE.
.When you want someone's attention, hard-hitting and lowercase words are more effective than simple, but uppercase, words.
11.5 Other
.If you are forwarding an email from someone to a mailing list, always ask for permission first to make their thoughts public.
.If you do use information that is not your own, give proper credit.
.We highly recommend you to consult other sources; some are listed in the Annex 2 below.
N.B. The above content was partially taken and then modified from:
* http://exodus.oucs.ox.ac.uk:8123/salamander/rules3.html
* http://www.idrc.ca/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&Product_ID=177
END
The following was written by Shady Kanfi Senior Program Officer - Bellanet:
1.Be aware that whenever you post you always have two options: you can send to the list, or you can send to individuals.
2.When your message veers away from the purpose of the list, or from the principle discussions, or when it gets personal, send your message to an individual and not the whole group.
3.Follow the norms set by your community and/or facilitator.
4.Everyone has freedom of speech on the Internet, but nobody has the right to say anything they want “anywhere” they want.
5.If you join a group, and then don't follow group norms, that group has the right to kick you out.
6.If you feel the need to flame, send hate mail, or otherwise reprimand another list member, do it off-list.
7.Such messages destroy the tenuous sense of trust and community that group facilitators try so hard to encourage.
8.Be courteous to other list members. It's OK to disagree, but always be respectful of the person even while you debate the issues.
9.Sometimes what you say is lost when the way you say it is seen as disrespectful.
10.Be cautious when responding to messages that make you passionate. Email lacks the other cues and clues that convey the sense in which what you say is to be taken, and you can easily convey the wrong impression.
11.It is good practice to wait before responding, or to draft your message and review it sometime later before posting.
12.It is always easier to edit a message you drafted earlier in the day, than it is to compose a new message with explanations for those who misunderstood the intent of your original post.
13.If you meant something in jest, use a 'smiley' :-) to convey that meaning. The subtleties of sarcasm are different from culture to culture, and it may inadvertently cause offence.
14.If you engage in a debate, try not to debate in order to change a person's mind, it happens less frequently than you might expect.
15.Be satisfied with
presenting your point of view clearly and thoroughly, so that others in
the group understand what you are saying.
Mailing List Manners 101: http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05386
E-mail Tips & Techniques how to send e-mail without burning bridges or closing doors: http://www.planetfriendly.net/emailtips.html
General Rules and Procedures Inside the MISTICA Virtual Community: http://funredes.org/mistica/english/emec/rules/proceedings.html
How To Participate In Online Forums: http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/onlinetips.html
This guide is also available in Spanish: http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/onlinetips2.html
From Workplace to Workspace: Using Email Lists to Work Together - by Maureen James & Liz Rykert: http://www.idrc.ca/books/848.html
Intro to Mailing Lists -- Int'l Federation of Library Assoc: http://www.ifla.org/I/training/listserv/lists.htm
Netiquette Guidelines. - Hambridge, Sally: http://www.ifla.org/I/training/listserv/rfc1855.txt
Rinaldi, Arlene H. The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette. July 1994: http://www.fau.edu/netiquette/netiquette.html; URL http://www.ifla.org/I/training/listserv/netiquet.pdf PDF
Brochure suitable for classroom use: http://www.ifla.org/I/training/listserv/netbroch.pdf PDF
AT&T Netiquette Notes: http://www.ifla.org/I/training/listserv/netqttel.txt URL