AMS: AMS-L Guidelines

AMS-L is the electronic discussion list organized by the American Musicological Society to facilitate and encourage electronic discussion on musicology and related topics. Anyone may participate. It is kindly hosted through Indiana University at listserv.indiana.edu.

1. Posts to AMS-L should contain questions, comments or information relevant to musicology and of interest to the musicological community. Summary posts that include a number of responses to a previous query are welcome. Only list subscribers may post messages. The address to post messages to the list is AMS-L@listserv.indiana.edu.

Each post should have a concise subject line to tell the subscribers what is under discussion, for instance "Symbols in The Magic Flute" or "Ruth Crawford Seeger." If the topic of a thread shifts, it is helpful to introduce a new designation of subject while also mentioning the previous topic, for instance "Mozart and Masonry [was: Symbols in The Magic Flute]" or "American composers [was: Ruth Crawford Seeger]."

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4. Replies to messages should include only the parts of the previous message that are pertinent to the response. Non-essential text should be deleted from previous posts.

Messages with quotations from languages other than English should include an English translation if possible. Messages with foreign characters or diacritical marks should be avoided, as US e-mail programs do not interpret them correctly.

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7. While commercial advertising is not permitted, subscribers may send brief announcements concerning their new publications, recordings, and products relevant to musicology. They may also post notices of books, recordings, etc. that they wish to sell privately. Job announcements, calls for papers, and so forth should be sent to AMS-Announce and will not be posted on AMS-L.

8. Subscribers should post no more than three times a day. The moderator may request those who contribute frequently to delay or consolidate messages.

9. Off-topic, personal, "one-line-quip," minor typographical corrections, messages which include attachments, and test messages will be rejected.

10. Information protected by copyright may not be posted without the permission of the copyright owner. Posters retain copyright for their original posts. The AMS supports academic fair-use standards. more info...

Posters hold copyright for messages that they post to AMS-L. In accord with academic fair use policies, AMS-L messages may be privately circulated to non-subscribers, but posters' copyrights are retained; the posters' names must be included in any such circulation. Messages first appearing at AMS-L may not be publicly circulated without the posters' prior permission. Those who post to AMS-L accept these conditions as terms of their subscription.

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11. No defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, or illegal materials may be posted. Opinions, including strong opinions, are welcome; abusive formulations are not. Please post in a professional manner.

12. The AMS accepts no responsibility or liability for the opinions and information posted by list subscribers. Opinions presented on AMS-L are those of the authors, and in no way represent the policies or practices of the AMS in any official capacity.

The role of the moderator is to ensure that the guidelines are followed in all posts to AMS-L. Posts according with the guidelines will be approved by the moderator and sent to AMS-L in a timely way, usually one or more times a day, seven days a week.

The AMS-L assistant moderator and past moderator, together with the AMS-L moderator, constitute the moderating team. The moderating team is appointed by the President of the society on the basis of recommendations from the Board Committee on Communications. Normally, each position is for one year. The assistant moderator serves in this capacity as preparation for moderating the following year. Each year a new assistant moderator is appointed, the current assistant moderator rotates to moderator, the current moderator rotates to past moderator, and the past moderator rotates off the moderating team. The moderating team normally agrees to a method of operating that is agreeable to all and that relieves any one person from too much moderating work.

Messages are rejected according to the moderator's judgment. A rejected message may be simple to rectify and is often due to an error of omission. Rejections most often fall into the following categories:

a. The moderating team will review the appeal. The subscriber should state clearly and succinctly why the moderator's rejection rationale should not apply in the given situation.

b. Further appeal. If the appealer is able to adduce reasons, or perceived reasons, why the moderating team is unable to arrive at a fair decision, she/he may appeal to the AMS Communications Committee, explaining why this is the case, and providing all background correspondence in support of the claim. The Communications Committee will consider such appeals and give an answer within two weeks. The decision of the Communications Committee will be final.

Subscribers should monitor their subscription, set vacation mode, change their delivery options, e-mail address, etc., using the AMS-L web interface at https://listserv.indiana.edu. Subscribers will find extensive manuals for the Listserv software, list information, and detailed instructions and options for their subscription.

To request subscription to AMS-L, send a note to listserv@indiana.edu. The subject line can be blank or include any text; the body of the e-mail must contain in the first line

The software subscribes you according to the address from which the above message is sent.

For administrative AMS-L requests not handled via listserv.indiana.edu, send a note to AMS-L-admin@ams-net.org.

The purpose of the AMS-Announce electronic mail list and bulletin board is to disseminate and publish announcements pertaining to musicology.

1. Announcements appropriate to this list include job vacancy notices, announcements of fellowships or awards, conference announcements, calls for papers for conferences, calls for articles for journals, and similar items.

2. Instructions for how to subscribe to the list, browse the list archives, and have an announcement posted on this list are given at the AMS-Announce Information Page.

3. This list is maintained by the office of the AMS. Posts to the list may be made only by the AMS office.

Subscribers should monitor their subscription, set vacation mode, change their delivery options, e-mail address, etc., using the AMS-announce web interface accessible via the AMS-Announce Information Page. Subscribers may access extensive manuals for the software, list information, archives, and detailed instructions and options for their subscription. Addresses that "bounce" repeatedly will be removed from the list.