Using electronic mail ("e-mail") to keep in touch and contact people about research activities and ideas offers many advantages over other methods such as the postal service or telephone. E-mail can provide you with the advantages of a letter, with the opportunity to draft and edit a message, and the advantages of a telephone, with the opportunity of a speedy reply. In addition, an e-mail message can be stored for future reference. It is also possible to set up e-mail groups to foster discussion around a particular topic.

This Yenza! section is not intended as a comprehensive guide to using e-mail. On the one hand, most Yenza! users are located in tertiary institutions and are familiar with at least the basics of e-mail. On the other, the specificities of different e-mail programmes make it impossible for us to cover the full range of commands and features. This page simply highlights some of the key tools and skills for the effective management of online communication:

• Address books
• Folders
• Automatic mail filters
• Chain letters and virus warnings

For general information about how e-mail works and how e-mail addresses are constructed visit Learn the Net's section on e-mail:
http://www.learnthenet.com/english/section/email.html

For more information about particular e-mail programmes, try your programme's "Help" page, or seek training within your own organization.

Using folders for storing e-mail messages is an important part of effective e-mail management. For example, you may wish to set up folders and sub-folders to separate personal messages from those related to work, or create folders relating to particular research topics. Remember that the number of messages you can store overall will depend on the amount of computer storage space you have been allocated. Regular scanning and deletion is necessary.

Automatic mail filters

Most e-mail packages allow you to set up mail filtering rules which automate some of the processes of electronic mail management. Each rule will trigger a particular action for dealing with messages. For example, you might want to set up a rule which automatically directs messages from your institution's research office to a particular folder, or one which automatically forwards all incoming e-mail to a colleague while you are away from the office, or even one which delete all mail from a particular sender.

As the Rough Guide to the Internet explains it:

"Most mailers can filter incoming mail into designated mailboxes, either as it arrives or on selection. It looks for a common phrase in the incoming header, such as the address or subject, and transfers it to somewhere other than the default inbox. This is indispensable if you subscribe to a lot of mailing lists...or get a ton of junk office e-mail." (Angus Kennedy, 1998. The Rough Guide to the Internet, p. 115. London: Rough Guides)

Look at your e-mail programme's help menu for the topic "rules" or "filters" for information on setting up rules for your particular programme.