Like most people, I've been using e-mail for many years, and I've never really though about this stuff. It just seems so obvious that I take it for granted but when you compare it to more traditional forms of written communication, care should really be taken not to forget the intent of all the various "extras" that e-mail offers.
1. What information about a user's email, the origin of a message, and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?
The origin of an e-mail and the path it took can be determined by searching Outlook Express under "File" and then "Properties". Click on Details tab and then Message source. This will show the internet headers for this message and the path it took: eg
Return-Path:
Received: from iaamta03sl.mx.bigpond.com ([134.7.32.6])
by imta02sl.mx.bigpond.com with ESMTP
id <20080325033721.ehkg29398.imta02sl.mx.bigpond.com@iaamta03sl.mx.bigpond.com>
for
Received: from sm-mailgw1.curtin.edu.au ([134.7.32.6])
by iaamta03sl.mx.bigpond.com with ESMTP
id <20080325033719.nfpg626.iaamta03sl.mx.bigpond.com@sm-mailgw1.curtin.edu.au>
for
Received: from student.curtin.edu.au (smcln1.curtin.edu.au [134.7.33.13])
by sm-mailgw1.curtin.edu.au
(iPlanet Messaging Server 5.2 HotFix 2.09 (built Nov 18 2005))
with ESMTP id <0jy900hj8oq6pb@sm-mailgw1.curtin.edu.au> for
vmrayner@bigpond.net.au; Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:37:18 +0900 (WST)
Received: from [134.7.32.6] (Forwarded-For: [121.210.121.19])
by soms-ms1.curtin.edu.au (mshttpd); Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:37:18 +1100
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:37:18 +1100
From: Vivien Rayner
Subject: Test Message net11
To: vmrayner@bigpond.net.au
Message-id:
X-Mailer: iPlanet Messenger Express 5.2 HotFix 2.09 (built Nov 18 2005)
Content-language: en
X-Accept-Language: en
Priority: normal
X-Antivirus: AVG for E-mail 7.5.519 [269.21.7/1335]
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-disposition: inline
Even without this technical information however, there is much that can be gleaned simply from the header information of an e-mail. Apart from the date and time that it was sent, the user name and domain of e-mail address of the sender usually gives us some idea of the nature of the e-mail ( business or personal). The country code obviously gives us a clue to broad location as well.
You should be able to determine the subject of the message even before opening the e-mail message. If the subject starts with "re:" it is a response to an earlier e-mail. Other recipients of the message (although not necessarily all of them if "bcc" was used by the sender) should be apparent.
Any attachments to the e-mail should be apparent as well.
A message trail may exist where you can follow the thread of a discussion from it's origins and all the senders and recipients along the way.
In the "to:" and "cc:" fields, it will be apparent whether you were the targeted recipient of the e-mail message or whether you were copied in on the message for your information. If you are in the "bcc:" field it is apparent that the sender did not want the receiver to know that you were receiving a copy of the e-mail.
2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc', 'bcc' and 'reply all functions of email?
The cc function is used if you wish other recipients to know the content of this message and the fact that it was sent but not necessarily to reply to it. Care should be taken however as all recipients will be able to see and copy the e-mail addresses of everyone else "CCed".
The bcc could be used if there is some sensitivity in the recipient knowing that other people have a copy of the e-mail. It would also be used if you do not want the e-mail addresses of the recipients to be seen (and potentially used) by other recipients.
The "reply all" feature, is very handy in making sure everyone who received that e-mail is aware of your response to it, like if you were trying to arrange a meeting time for everyone.
In my opinion, the "cc" and "reply all" functions are very overused in today's workplace. The ease with which one can add another recipient to the message sometimes overrides the sender's sense of whether that person REALLY needs or wants to receive the information. And once your name is on that e-mail, the "reply all" function potentially opens up a flood of subsequent e-mails that take up your time either sifting through the message to discover you have no business or interest in them OR simply deleting them. Grrrrr!
3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?
If you make reference to it in the body of the message, then the recipient will be alerted to it being there, why you sent it and why they need to open it. You should also tell them the format of the file to ensure they have the application to open it.
4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?
Prior to reading the material in this module I had no filters however I now have filters to screen out that annoying spam about cheap Canadian drugs among OTHER things! They get deleted straight away. I also subscribe to a few wine club newsletters and I have these sent to a special folder where I can view them when I'm not doing tutorials.
Just a start...
5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?
I am a self confessed e-mail hoarder. As I find it difficult to delete anything I may one day need to refer back to, my inbox is ridiculously huge. I have however, resolved to grouping e-mails in order to make them easier to find. So as well as the standard, inbox, sent and deleted folders, I have set up a few more. My kids sporting involvement seems to generate a considerable amount of ongoing mail which I now group together. Mail that requires action is grouped as such and I keep e-mails relating to new user ids and logins for various websites in a "Keep" folder.
No comments:
Post a Comment