IASL Procedures and Guidelines

Guidelines: IASL-LINK [Email Discussion List]

Name

• The official email discussion list of the International Association of School Librarianship is IASL-LINK
  

Objectives

• IASL-LINK is for communication between members of the Association throughout the world, and for the distribution of announcements, discussion papers, articles, news, information about projects, and information from IASL conferences and meetings. It supports the aims and objectives of the Association by providing a communications link and a means of disseminating information. It is not intended to replace other activities of the Association, like the IASL newsletter, but rather to add another dimension to the Association's activities and programs.
  
• While the primary focus of IASL-LINK is for communication within the Association, and furthering the objectives of the Association, it may also be used to provide members with information from a range of sources, such as from other email discussion lists in the fields of school librarianship, librarianship, and education.
  
• IASL-LINK has an important function in making activities of the Association, such as the annual conferences, more accessible to members. IASL-LINK can be used to enable members who cannot attend the annual conferences to participate in "virtual conference" activities through the dissemination of papers and summaries and through opportunities for discussion. It can also be used to disseminate information from discussion groups and the decisions of the Annual General Meeting.
  

Language

• English shall be the official language of the email list.
  

Format

• IASL-LINK is a "closed" email list, that is, restricted for use by IASL members and one of the benefits of IASL membership. Members of IASL can join IASL-LINK by sending an email message in the prescribed format. They will then be registered on the list by the email list manager. 
• IASL-LINK is an unmoderated list, that is, messages can be posted to the list by anyone who is a registered member of the list, and messages are not checked or reviewed before they are distributed.
  

Content and Coverage

• Any member of IASL-LINK may post messages to the list. Messages may be related to: activities of the Association and its committees; activities of member associations; information about current developments in school librarianship in their own country or elsewhere, conferences, publications, documents; information about Internet resources of interest to school libraries; any other topics that may be of interest to members or information that may help to further the work of the Association; members may also use the list as a vehicle for discussion of professional issues or to collect information.
  
• IASL-LINK will carry information from the IASL Board, the office bearers, the Committee Chairs, and any special working groups or committees and the IASL Newsletter and will be used by the editor for announcements and to solicit material for the newsletter.
  
• IASL-LINK will carry advance information about each issue of School Libraries Worldwide and calls for contributions; it will also carry a contents listing (with abstracts) for each issue of the journal as it appears, about each annual conference, and will be used by each conference organizing committee to provide members with updated conference information on a regular basis. IASL-LINK will be used in conjunction with each conference to provide opportunities for participation for members who are unable to attend the conference itself.
  
• IASL-LINK does not accept advertisements, product announcements, or self-promotional posts from either individuals or publishers or producers of print products, software, web pages, etc. Posts to IASL-LINK about these items, in response to specific questions and/or discussions initiated by IASL-LINK subscribers bout products, websites and services are appropriate, in order to provide an avenue to receive recommendations, suggestions, and help from colleagues on the list.
  

Areas of Interest

• highlights and important actions and resolutions of annual conferences of IASL;
  
• school library developments and significant news about school libraries and librarians around the world;
  
• international library events of interest to school librarians, teacher-librarians, school library media specialists;
  
• news on special school library projects, including research projects.
  
• brief abstracts of selected articles in the periodical literature;
  
• requests for help, materials, exchange of jobs, and other personal items;
  
• details of study tours relating to school librarianship;
  
• travel plans and dates of visits of IASL members to other countries;
  
• awards and prizes of interest to school librarians, including awards to IASL members and associations;
  
• reviews of publications relating to school librarianship.
  
• All messages posted to the list should carry the name of the sender and contact information. The opinions and views expressed in list messages do not necessarily reflect the view of the International Association of School Librarianship or the IASL-LINK manager.
  

• Any school library association which is a member of IASL may obtain permission from the IASL-LINK manager and the original author to reproduce all or parts of messages or documents in the language of that country in a publication or on a different list, at no cost to IASL, provided credit is given to IASL in the message or the publication. 
  
• Authorization to copy messages and documents for personal use is granted by IASL for education/training purposes. 
  
• Permission to take multiple copies must be obtained from the IASL-LINK manager and the author in advance. 
  
• Press releases and other promotional material posted to the list by IASL Committee Chairs and office bearers may be redistributed to other lists or reproduced in print form in magazines and newsletters.