After careful consideration, on June 1 all University Libraries part-time employees, both student and non-student, were added to the ULibs e-mail listserv.
Libraries leadership made this decision after acknowledging that important communications shared with employees that are related to the normal course of Libraries employment — to help them effectively stay informed about updates affecting the University-wide Libraries community — may not have been reaching all employees.
The ULibs listserv is intended to reach all Libraries employees at all locations. Our part-time employees are very important to our ability to operate effectively, and as valued employees they deserve to receive these communications directly and in a timely manner. Sharing the listserv with everyone within the Libraries community was made to ensure this information delivery.
ULibs communications include safety information, systems service interruptions, weather-related changes to hours, parking and traffic alerts, announcements of full-time employment opportunities and strategic hiring updates, and policy updates.
Please note: Because of the significance of this information, there is not an “opt-out” option, and employees will not be “unsubscribed.”
Communication best practices
This change presents an opportunity to remind all employees of some best practices for communicating within our community:
- Select the appropriate listserv. This change presents an opportunity to remind all employees to use our listservs appropriately. This is important not only to your ability to use e-mail to effectively communicate, but also to show courtesy and respect to your coworkers.
- Use appropriate key word prefixes in subject lines. This allows those who wish to filter their incoming e-mail using those words to do so. Similar to the “Opportunity” e-mail subject, new categories include Service Interruption, Event, Parking, Weather, and CFP (Call for Proposal).
- Be careful about using “Reply to All.” It is rarely appropriate to reply to everyone on the list. In most cases this is done accidentally. Always double check the “To:” line to make sure you are responding to the appropriate individual.
- Stop and think — is e-mail the best vehicle to communicate your message to your audience? Would a face-to-face or telephone conversation be more effective? Is a formal letter more appropriate?
The web page, which includes additional information such as frequently used listserv addresses, is available at https://staff.libraries.psu.edu/libraries-technology-i-tech/library-listservs-ull.
Ryan Johnson, technology training coordinator, is offering trainings on listserv filtering and training. If you are interested, please register via the Learning Resource Network, http://lrn.psu.edu, or click on one of the links below:
Using Library Listservs and Filtering: June 7, 2:30 p.m.
Using Library Listservs and Filtering: June 15, 10:30 a.m.
If you are not a Libraries employee, please contact Libraries Human Resources at UL-Human-Resources@lists.psu.edu. Please do not reply-all to the listserv to send requests to unsubscribe.
