WAGGGS-L is an international electronic mailing list for adult Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world. Most of the members are GG/GS leaders but we also have trainers, staff people, Campus Scouts and even some older girls as members.Individuals subscribe to the List and any post made from the members gets redistributed to all the members. It can not be read by those who have not subscribed.
WAGGGS-L was formed in June 1996 after another list, Scout-Girls-L, had outgrown the software and server being used to run it. The list changed names as it changed hosts; its name is the acronym of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. The list is not officially sponsored by WAGGGS, but with its new name, the list grew progressively more international, with members all over the world.
Things change and so has the list as other lists have been created. There are now lists catering to every level of Girl Scouts and numberous Girl Guides lists too. Many are web based, unlike WAGGGS-L which uses listserv software.
To subscribe to the list, send only the following command in the body of your email to: listserv@jupui.edu
subscribe wagggs-l yourfirstname yourlastname
Once on the list:
* To send a message to everyone, write to: WAGGGS-L@listserv.iupui.edu
* To send a message to the computer, write to: listserv@iupui.edu (drop all quotes ")
- To find old postings, send this: "search prominent-keywords-you're-
searching-for in WAGGGS-L" - To get help commands, send "get WAGGGS-L help"
- To unsubscribe, send this "unsubscribe wagggs-l your name"
Some WAGGGS-L resources created by list members:
Cyber Cookbook
WAGGGS-L Favorite URLS
This list exists to promote discussion about Girl Scouting and Girl Guiding. The topics of discussion vary from day to day, but commonly discussed items include ceremonies, songs, recipes, and traditions; other messages discuss dealing with difficult issues such as over- or under-involved parents, behavior problems, helping older girls stay involved, etc. Any issue relating to Scouting/Guiding is possible.
It is not appropriate to post to WAGGGS-L about non-Scouting or Guiding topics. Furthermore, it is never appropriate to post a chain letter (even a friendly, pass-this-poem-to-20-people chain letter) to WAGGGS-L.
WAGGGS-L Etiquette
The list relies on members' good will and good "netiquette" to run as smoothly as it does. From time to time the listowners post a list of hints that help make the list a pleasure to all of us. In general, the following principles help make the electronic discussion continue:
Be patient. Electronic mail can be sent in an instant, and it can't be recalled.
If you read something that makes you angry, don't reply immediately. Wait an hour or two, or a day, and then reply.
Use the Girl Scout and Girl Guide Promise and Laws to guide your postings.
Sign your messages. Always put your name, geographic location, and e-mail address at the bottom of your posts.
Explain terms or abbreviations. Please remember that there are representatives of many different scouting or guiding associations on the list, so customs, abbreviations, rules, and laws may differ from country to country.
After you've been on the list for a while, you'll become familiar with some of the basic differences, but remember to explain acronyms or terms that may be unfamiliar.
Use appropriate subject headings. If you receive the list in digest form, you'll need to change the subject heading when you reply to the list. Your subject heading should reflect the topic(s) you discuss in your posting.
Posts to the list vs. posts to individuals
We ask that members think carefully about whether a particular post should go to the whole list, or only to a single participant. If you are reading your mail several days behind, please read through all your mail before responding to the whole list, since you may find that others responding to WAGGGS-L have already posted what you were thinking.
If someone has asked a question that has a single (or limited) answer (such as "Where can I find the book Trefoil Around the World?" or "What's the name of the youngest age level group in Spain?"), or a question that virtually all members can answer (such as "How many years have you been involved in Girl Scouting or Guiding?") post the answer privately.
People who ask these sorts of questions should offer to collect responses off-list and then post a summary for the whole list. When such a question is posted, and you're interested in the answer, instead of sending a message to the list saying "I need that info, too", consider sending it to the person who posted the question to begin with.
Similarly, postings that say "I agree!" or "Me, too!" or "Good idea!" should be sent privately.
If someone has asked a question that can have many answers (such as "Any ideas for a Guide's Own? or environmental wide games?), post the answer to the list.
The format of messages sent to the list
When replying to a message, only include those portions of the message which are absolutely necessary to make your own posting clear.
In general, it's not necessary to quote more than a line or two from a previous posting.
When discussing variations in song lyrics, please don't repost the entire song (after a while it gets repetitious); simply indicate where your lyrics are different.
Send only plain text messages. Learn enough about your own mailing system to be able to send only plain text to the list. Even if your mailer allows you to send hot links, italics, bold-face, underlining, or different colors in your mail, do not send such posts to the list. They will be unreadable in many readers' mailboxes, and they may interfere with an entire day's worth of mail for some people.
It is particularly important that you avoid sending winmail.dat encoded mail to the list; this is something that can be generated by Windows-based mail systems like Microsoft Exchange.
Generally speaking, attachments, unusual characters, graphics, zipped or encoded files, etc. can be difficult for many list members to read. Given the variety of e-mail systems around the world, simplicity is best.
Don't send HTML postings. If you are using a web-based mailing system, please make sure that your messages to the list do not include HTML markup language.
Similarly, please do not send encoded messages to the list, and do not use a single line of hyphens. Many people will not be able to read such messages.
Privacy and Problems
We should all remember that WAGGGS-L is a public discussion, and that e-mail is not always private. Messages sent via e-mail might be shared with others, and posters have no control over the final destinations of their messages.
While the sharing of craft ideas or recipes poses little problem, the sharing of posts about personal experiences or local problems can cause personal difficulties.
We ask list members to be considerate about sharing personal posts without the author's express permission.
We also ask all participants on the list to recognize that the list is a valuable problem-solving resource. There have been a few cases in which list members posted queries about local problems, asking advice or assistance, which in turn caused problems for the posters when others in the local area saw the posts. These readers saw the request for assistance as criticisms of particular individuals, service units, or councils.
We want WAGGGS-L to be a place where people can communicate openly and honestly about problems they are having at all levels of Girl Scouting/Girl Guiding, from the troop to WAGGGS.
In order to make this possible, we ask that all readers bear in mind the pride we all take in our involvement with Girl Scouting/Guiding, the delicate nature of problem-solving, and the creativity that the list discussion brings to bear on hard situations.
Listmembers shouldn't be afraid to ask about difficult issues, although posts about local problems might tactfully delete identifying information about individuals, and sometimes about locations, in order to minimize potential embarrassment. We also ask that listmembers who may be familiar with a problem posed not chastise or reprimand the poster for raising a difficult issue. It is our hope that readers interpret problems discussed not as a reflection on the people involved, but rather as a description of a situation that could happen anywhere.
Welcome aboard!
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