Get a grip on email

Managing email involves two skill sets.

1. the technical ~ how to:
   - access your email (via a web interface and/or with dedicated email software like Groupwise, Mac Mail, etc.)
   - effectively use your email client (client = a computer program used to manage email)
   - organize email that you want to keep
   - archive email that you want to keep longer
   - set up an automatic response (i.e., a vacation message when you're off the grid)
   - set up multiple folders to sort (and archive) messages
   - create "rules" for tasks like filtering messages into folders
   
2. the conceptual ~ how to:
   - keep up with email
   - set up an efficient schedule to read and reply to email
   - write clear email subject lines
   - decide who needs to have a copy (cc:) of a message or reply to a message
   - keep messages short
   - decide which messages to save/archive and which to delete

Here are some online resources to help with both:

Scripps specific resources

• Groupwise user guides - Instructions for how to use the Groupwise email software on the Scripps campus (in PDF format) including how to archive messages, filter email lists into folders, setup a vacation reply, and other tips and tricks.
  
• Get rid of unwanted email with Postini - techbytes post that addresses how to block specific email addresses and allow others, and deconstructs Postini's email quarantine summary

General online resources

• Taming Email: Tips, Tricks and Essays on Email Overload and Taming the Beast that is Email - 2006-2007 blog with many helpful and still timely posts
• Inbox Management Tips - actions to take when you receive email, respecting other people's inboxes and organizing yours, etc. from a direct marketing group
  
• Send business email like a pro - standard email practices that will help you to present yourself in a professional way in electronic communications

FYI

• Networked Workers, Pew Internet & American Life Project report, September 24, 2008 report on the impact of the Internet and cell phones on working Americans - more flexibility but also ambivalence about their impact on their personal lives

How students can share documents with Sakai

Sakai is the Claremont College's online collaboration and learning environment. Essentially, every Sakai course site is a full-featured web site with extensive, integrated built-in online tools — discussion board, email, announcements, chatroom, gradebook, resource area for any files you would like to share including web links to external sites, calendar, wiki, and much more.

Sharing resources
Many faculty have found Sakai's Resource tool useful for sharing web links, documents, and other types of files with students. Although it is not intuitively obvious, Sakai's Resource tool can enhance communication and collaboration among students too.

How students can share documents and other files

• In your Sakai Resources, create a new folder by clicking the "Add" Tab next to the Folder "[Class name] Resources."
• Select the "Create Folders" link from the drop-down menu.
  
• You then need to name the folder. You can name it Paper 1, Paper 2, etc. or whatever name you want, as long as it's clear to the students which which should go where.
• If you will be adding more than one folder, you can select the "Add Another Folder" option and you will then be prompted to enter the name of the next new folder; you can do this for as many folders as you would like to add.
• When you are finished adding folders, click the "Create Folders Now" button. Your folder(s) will appear in the "[Class name] Resources.
• To allow your students to upload their papers into these folders, you will then need edit the folder's permission as follows:

1. Click on the Actions drop-down menu next to the folder.
   
2. From the drop-down menu, select the "Edit Folder Permissions" link for the folder.
3. To allow your students to upload documents, the "new" box needs to be checked for the Student role.
4. You can also decide whether the students are able to revise or delete their own documents and/or those of their classmates. When the correct boxes are selected, click on the "Save" button.
5. Options for folder permissions include:
   new: Add new resources
   read: View and download resources (checked by default)
   revise.any: Modify any resources
   revise.own: Modify own resources
   delete.any: Remove any resources
   delete.own: Remove own resources
   all.groups: Allows participants to see all resources, even those assigned to specific groups
6. When the correct boxes are selected, click "Save" button.

Online resources

• Claremont Collaborative Learning Environment
  
  1. Login to your Sakai account and explore the helpful links at the bottom of your My Workspace tab.
     
  2. SC Faculty Support Sakai project > Resources > Sakai Resources - includes links to useful campus and web online resources and the Spring 2008 Student Survey results.
     https://sakai.claremont.edu
• Student instructional technology assistants can help you in your office, over the telephone, or in the Scripps Faculty Lab. For more information, please visit:
  www.scrippscollege.edu/campus/it/it-fits/
  To make an appointment, please fill out our online request form:
  www.scrippscollege.edu/campus/it/it-fits/help.php
  

Get rid of unwanted email with Postini

How to get rid of unwanted email - and make sure that you receive all of your email

As you know, when one student in your class asks a question, other students would also benefit from the answer. I receive a question from one of your colleagues and would like to share it with you for this reason.

Question
Hello Susan! I am in e-mail hell, and wondering how to block unwanted e-mail -- I try, and it keeps coming. This is an example. [Example removed]

Solution - https://login.postini.com/
Thankfully, Scripps uses Postini to scan incoming email for viruses and spam (junk mail). It works well!

Block specific email addresses with Postini

• Login to Postini using your Scripps email address and password.
• Click on the My Settings link (top right)
• Select the Block Senders link in Junk Settings
  
• Copy and paste the email address of the sender you wish Postini to block into the Block Senders box
  
• Click the Update Blocked Senders button
• Generally, it is not a good idea to block an entire domain, particularly free email services like hotmail.com. (I did add ebay.com to my Blocked Senders list because I do not use my Scripps address for eBay.)

Postini's quarantine summary

• Postini will send you an email Quarantine Summary with a list of suspicious messages that have not been delivered. It is a good idea to review this list.
  
• Occasionally a message is quarantined that you would like to receive. For example, if a student uses gMail to receive and send email from her Scripps email account, Postini marks this message as spam/junk email (because it is not sent from the Scripps server). If you see a message that you think should not have been quarantined, you can click on the Quarantine summary to have it delivered. If you are not sure, to be safe you can login to Postini, read the message in your Postini account, and then have it delivered.
• Under no circumstances should you add your own Scripps email address to your Postini Approved Senders list. Postini should not block your email from Scripps. Sending a message that is apparently from you is a technique that spammers use, and Postini can tell when it is used.
• For the same reason, it is not a good idea to add an entire domain, like scrippscollege.edu.
  

There may be an unsubscribe link or button at the bottom of a message. Clicking on it should be avoided–unless it is a legitimate company that you know like Adobe, Laemmle Theatres or someone you know using Constant Contact (a professional bulk email service). For email address collectors, clicking that only confirms that your email address works - and that you are reading your spam.

Here is a guide to using Postini:
http://www.scrippscollege.edu/campus/it/pdf/postini.pdf

Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any questions.