The Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative is home to more than a dozen projects that focus on educating and raising young children. ECAP hosts research, technical assistance, and service projects.
Electronic Discussion Lists Hosted by ECAP

Listservs

ECAP hosts several electronic discussion groups (or lists) on the Internet. These groups operate on Listserv software on the University of Illinois's listserv computer.

  • ECEMEN-L
    ECEMEN-L is an open, unmoderated Listserv dicussion list intended for any man or woman who would like to discuss the issue of men working in the field of early childhood education.
  • ECPOLICY-L
    ECPOLICY-L is co-sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and ECAP. Discussion centers on policy issues pertaining to children and families, child care, preschool education, and related concerns.
  • ECPROFDEV-L
    ECPROFDEV-L will foster communication among those who teach pre-service and in-service early childhood educators, train Head Start or other early childhood program staff, and consult or facilitate learning with early childhood professionals in any setting. Among other topics, discussion will center on the varying philosophies in approaching the education and training of diverse groups in early childhood education, the design of learning activities, and new resources, assessment, and other issues related to fostering learning.
  • MIDDLE-L
    MIDDLE-L provides a place for sharing ideas, information about resources, and problems and their solutions related to middle level education. It is intended for middle level educators, teacher educators, and others interested in education at the middle level.
  • PROJECTS-L
    This discussion group focuses on the Project Approach, which is "an in-depth study of a topic undertaken by a class, a group, or an individual child," as the approach is used in early childhood, elementary, and middle level classrooms. This list is co-owned by Sylvia Chard at the University of Alberta and by ECAP.
  • SAC-L
    SAC-L is a discussion group for those interested in school-age care planning, resources, funding, and related topics. SAC-L is co-owned by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time at the Center for Research on Women (Wellesley College) & ECAP.

ECAP Listserv Policies

If you have a question about the appropriateness of a posting that you would like to make to the list, or if you have a comment or complaint about a posting that was made to the list, please contact the list owner (see the list page on the ECAP Web site for the list owner) or send an email message to the list administrator at ecap-listadmin@illinois.edu.ECAP has established the following policies that apply to each of its lists:

Advertisements of Products or Services

The Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative at the University of Illinois promotes discussion of education issues in a noncommercial environment. Our Listservs exist for the exchange of information among members related to the topic of the Listserv. We encourage the exchange of information about products or services, commercial or otherwise, but not the advertising of products or services (i.e., providing information about a product for sale by a person who might benefit from the sale). ECAP has established the following points to foster discussion of education issues in a noncommercial environment:

  1. Only members of a list are allowed to post to the list.
  2. The advertising of products and services, including publications, is discouraged. (Again, here advertising means providing information about a product or service for sale by a person who will benefit from this sale.)
  3. Posting information about commercial or noncommercial materials that you have used and about which you want to share your opinion is appropriate and encouraged.
  4. Posting information about the existence of a product or publication, commercial or otherwise, that is responsive to a query on the list and that will be of general interest to the list is appropriate. However, if you have not used the item, post your message with the caveat that you have not tried the particular product or service.
  5. If somebody requests help on the list and you have a product or service for sale that you think would be useful, please respond to that person in a private email message. Please do not send your response to the entire list.
  6. We have observed that the most productive way for consultants to use Listservs is to take part in the discussions of a list. Adding to the discussion of a particular topic in a constructive, thoughtful manner can be the very best "advertising" of your services as a consultant. If you are a consultant or would like to suggest that you can consult on certain issues, you can provide information in your signature line that directs members to your own Web site or provides contact information. If you have consulting expertise that you believe would be of interest to a list member, email that person privately.
  7. In the interest of sharing information and providing valuable information to list members, job listings and conference announcements are welcomed.

If you have a question about the appropriateness of a posting that you would like to make to the list, or a complaint or comment about a posting that was made to the list, please contact the list owner (see the list page on the ECAP Web site for the list owner) or send an email message to the list administrator at ecap-listadmin@illinois.edu.

ECAP will contact individuals who appear to be unaware of this policy, reminding them of our purpose. ECAP reserves the right to remove individuals from the list who continue to detract from discussion by advertising products and services.

We feel that one purpose of this list is to bring relevant new products and services to the attention of subscribers. Several people who have commented on this issue stated that one of the major reasons they subscribed is to stay abreast of new resources, particularly if the person posting the message has personally "reviewed" the resource and can comment on it, and it is relevant to the discussion. We appreciate your cooperation in helping this Listserv remain an open, noncommercial forum for discussion.

Job and Conference Announcements

The purpose of the Listservs sponsored by the Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative at the University of Illinois is the exchange of information related to the topic of the Listserv among professionals and others. ECAP has established the following points as part of its Listserv policy related to postings of information about job and conference announcements.

  1. The posting of job announcements in commercial or noncommercial settings (e.g., universities, professional organizations) is appropriate.
  2. The posting of information about conferences, workshops, courses, etc., is appropriate.
  3. When posting information about jobs or conferences, please keep postings to a reasonable length. If you have a great deal of information to share, please post a summary or overview of the information and direct members to another appropriate source for more detailed information. (For example, they might visit the conference Web site for a complete schedule of conference sessions; or they may email you personally for details of a job application.)

Netiquette

The purpose of the Listservs sponsored by the Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative at the University of Illinois is the exchange of information related to the topic of the Listserv among professionals and others. ECAP has established the following points as part of its Listserv policy related to general netiquette.

Respect for All Participants

It is expected that list members will respect the views of others on the list in all online conversations, regardless of how different the others’ views are from their own.

  1. Expressing opposing points of view can be done with consideration for the feelings of others. If you are upset and want to respond to a controversial posting, a good suggestion is to wait a day before sending your response.
  2. Use of profanity or derogatory comments is not appropriate.

Postings: General

  • New members: New participants are encouraged to follow the discussions for a few days and then to post an introduction about themselves.
  • Subject lines: To help other members screen messages that may be on topics of interest to them, use a short phrase in your subject line that describes the topic or topics included in your message.
  • Short responses: Do not send one-line responses or other responses that do not add substantively to the discussion.
  • Long responses: If you are responding to a long message, it is best to cut out those parts of that message that are not relevant to your response.
  • Copyrighted materials: It is important to be aware of copyright issues on the Internet. Members should not post copyrighted information to the list (e.g., an extended excerpt from a research article). Please note that email messages, like written letters, are considered copyrighted by the author of the message. Therefore, it is inappropriate to forward another person's email message to the list without permission from that person.
  • Signatures: It is helpful and courteous to "sign" your message or to include your signature with every message.
  • Postings to individual members: To post a message to the entire list, send the message to the discussion address for that list. If you want to send a reply to an individual list member only, remember to change the address in the "To:" field of your outgoing message to that individual member’s email address, not the list discussion address.

Postings: Specific Types of Posts

  • Jobs: Job and conference announcements generally ARE appropriate. (See related document, "Listserv Policy: Job and Conference Announcements.")
  • Commercial: Commercial postings generally ARE NOT appropriate. (See related document, "Listserv Policy: Advertisements of Products or Services.")
  • You should NEVER post long unsolicited attachments. If you have a long document that you think some list members may be interested in, either put the document on a Web site and let members know the URL of the page; or post a note to the list that you have the document and you will be glad to send it to anyone who specifically requests it from you. Long Attachments: Generally, you should not post attachments to the list. Because many list members may not be interested in the attachment, it is discourteous to require them to spend downloading time and disk space (some members may be paying for time and disk space) for a document they don't want to read. Some email systems are unable to handle large attachments. Also, many list members are concerned about viruses that may accompany an attachment.
  • Questionnaires: Posting a questionnaire or other type of survey to the list IS NOT appropriate. If you would like list members to complete a survey, send a request to the list owner or list administrator describing what you would like to do. The list owner will determine if it is appropriate for the list members. Then, the list owner will post a message to the list describing the survey, and asking list members to contact you if they are interested in completing the survey.
  • Chain letters: Posting chain letters IS NOT appropriate. This refers to any type of chain letter, whether it is a money-making letter, a petition, or a "feel good" letter.
  • Personal messages: It generally IS NOT appropriate to post to the entire list a message of a personal nature intended for one person. Simply send such a message to the person him- or herself.

Administrative Issues

Note that if your electronic mailbox becomes full or if your e-mail server is down, those who send you email messages will have their messages bounced back as error messages. If this happens when you are subscribed to a Listserv list, messages sent to you through the list by other list members will be bounced back to the list administrator's mailbox. After a certain amount of time, the Listserv software automatically deletes a subscriber when this happens. If your subscription is removed for this reason, you can, of course, always resubscribe when your mailbox is cleared or your server is back online.

If you have a question about the appropriateness of a posting that you would like to make to the list, or a complaint or comment about a posting that was made to the list, please contact the list owner (see the list page on the ECAP Web site for the list owner) or send an email message to the list administrator at ecap-listadmin@illinois.edu.

ECAP will contact individuals who appear to be unaware of this policy, reminding them of our purpose. ECAP reserves the right to remove individuals from the list who continue to detract from discussion by violating list netiquette.