School of Medicine

E-mail 

E-mail is a form of online communication and although it's a faster form of communication than postal mailing, it isn't an instant message and should in no way be construed as a means of communicating priorities or confidential information. E-mail and postal mail delivery have a lot in common when it comes to processing and delivery. Sending an email across the internet can pass through many systems for processing and any system can cause a delay in delivery - this should be taken into account when you wish to convey messages of immediacy.

Tips for composing and sending an e-mail message

These are basic tips for e-mail messages. These tips are important to remember whether you are sending a message to one person or a group of people.

1. Be considerate. Don’t automatically forward jokes, chain letters, and such to everyone in your address book.
   
2. Before forwarding information about a virus, check to make sure that the information is correct.
3. If you are sending a message to a long list of recipients (20 or more), put the addresses in the BCC: field (rather than the TO: field) so that the list of recipients is not displayed as part of the message.
4. Include a subject line. A descriptive phrase in the subject line of the message header helps the recipient know at a glance what the message is about, and sometimes it helps persuade the recipient to read the message.
5. Use capital letters to stress an important point, but be careful. TYPING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IS CONSIDERED TO BE RUDE, THE ONLINE EQUIVALENT OF SHOUTING. So use caps sparingly.
6. Sign your message. This is especially important if you want recipients to RSVP to a message that is sent out by a group ID. Tell them the e-mail address for the reply, and make it clear not to reply to the mailing list.
7. If you are sending a link to a Web page, type the URL in the form of “http://…” (e.g., http://support.med.wayne.edu). In most cases, the recipient will be able to click on the URL to open the Web page.
8. Not everyone uses the same e-mail client. To ensure that the recipient can read your message, do not use elaborate formatting such as italics, bold, fancy fonts, or Web page codes.
9. In most cases it is better to send information in the body of a message than to send an attached file because the attached file may be in a form that is unreadable by the recipient. However, if you are sending an attachment, we suggest the following:
   • For best readability, save attached files in MSWord RTF format with no spaces in the file name.
   • To ensure that all formatting remains as is, save attached files in PDF format. PDF files can be viewed with Adobe Reader.
   • To cut down on the size of your message, instead of an attached file, send a link to a Web page.