Module Two - Email Tasks

What information about a user’s email, origin of a message and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?

Like a URL (or web address) an email address is made up of a number of different segments (username and domain) which give an indication of where the email came from.

From the above information, we could work out the email is from/to a person called Jane Smith who has an account with Hotmail which is a commercial entity. By using my email address at Curtin University – gaynor.osullivan@student.curtin.edu.au the receiver can see that I am sending an email as a student of Curtin which is an educational institution in Australia. If my email address was gaynor@johnflynn.org, the receiver would be able to see the email is from me and that I work for a non-profit organization called John Flynn.

In what cases would you find it useful to use “cc”, “bcc” and “reply all” functions of email?

“cc” – carbon copy or circulation (notification) copy. Normally this line has the addresses of the people who will receive a copy of the original email for information purposes only, but who is not the recipient of the email.

I would use this function if am concerned about the behaviour or academic performance of a particular student. I would send an email to the student expressing my concerns, but I would also copy our Principal and the Senior Resident of that student’s floor into the email for their information and so that they are aware that we may have a potential problem.

“bcc” – blind copy. Addresses placed in the “bcc” line are undisclosed (blind) to the recipient of the email. Discussions on the “bcc” function so far have revolved around the negative aspects of sending one person’s email to a third person without their knowledge. I agree that this can be seen as being sneaky.

However, I personally use the bcc function daily and usually more than once, but not for the reasons above. I work at a university residential college which accommodates more than 200 students and the best way to get information to the students and staff is via email. We have set-up an email alias (or distribution list) with 200+ students and staff email addresses. If I type the email alias in the “to” or “cc” line and send an email, each recipient receives an email with every email address (approx 225) at the top. This creates two issues, firstly privacy, not every person wants every other person on college knowing their email address and secondly, there is nothing more annoying than printing out (or scrolling down) an email and finding that three quarters of a page is wasted on email addresses. By using the “bcc” line neither of these issues are a problem, because all addresses are blind.

“Reply All” – When an email is sent to a number of people regarding a meeting or a discussion, instead of replying to each person individually, the recipient can select “reply all” and send their response to all of the other recipients and the original sender.

Admittedly this is a function that I have not used before, but would stop short of saying I would never use it. I can see the benefit of being able to reply to a number of people in one email about a meeting time rather than emailing each individual.

In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

It would appear that people who are able to access the Internet and email on their computers these days have programs (or at least compatible programs) that would allow for attachments to be opened. However there are a few options of ensuring that the receiver is able to open email attachments.

Communication: Contacting the recipient (by email or phone) prior to sending an attachment to verify that they have the programs necessary to open the attachments.

File format: Send documents as plain text (ASCII) or a rich text file (RTF) that can be read by many applications. Although you may lose special formatting (bold or italic text, underlining, etc.) by using text files, you can be sure your attachment can be read.

Cut and Paste: If all else fails copy the information from the document to be attached and paste it into the email. However as the study notes say “This approach is an under-exploitation of the capabilities of the internet…” and should only be used as a last resort.

What sort of filters or rules do you have setup and for what purpose?

Filters – “instructions that you give your email program which it then follows when it downloads a new message” (webnotes).

I have very few filters setup on my email, as most of the emails that I receive need to be acted on or replied to almost immediately. However I do have a few email addresses that are sent directly to a specific folder for viewing at another time, for example the Townsville Court Lists are emailed daily and are sent out of the Inbox to a specific folder for viewing later.

The only other time I use a filter is when I am on leave, at which time I setup an auto-reply specifying details of who to contact while I am away and when I will be returning.

How have you organized the folder structure of your email and why?

Setting up a folder structure helps to keep your inbox uncluttered and your emails organized. Corresponding by email is really no different than corresponding by post - letters, queries etc still need to be filed away for future reference and if you put them in a folder that is relevant to their content you shouldn’t have problems relocating them. Like most mail/paperwork that is not filed, it can be frustrating trying to locate what you are after.

The folder structure of my work computer is setup into the different departments that I am involved with, and as I deal with each query or request I “file” the email for future reference in the appropriate folder. Some of the folders also have sub-folders, for example the “Functions” folder has sub-folders for different major student functions (eg Valedictory Dinner, Semi-Formal, Trivia Night) held throughout the year which take a lot of organization.

At present the Curtin email folder is not set-up into any structure, but I will probably end up organizing it into “administration” and subject codes (eg. NET11).