In the tradition of list owners everywhere, USC is posting a list of recommendations for good manners when participating in lists. In the tradition of the Internet, we have appropriated other's hard work for this list. They will help keep the group user-friendly for everyone. Keep each line in your message shorter than 70 characters.
Longer lines can cause problems with some e-mail systems.
When replying to another message, try to refrain from quoting entire messages. Paraphrasing or quoting selectively are both kinder to people's eyes and e-mail boxes. Because it can be difficult to interpret e-mail addresses, you are encouraged to include your institutional affiliation. Long signatures are discouraged. Some folks tire of the time spent having to skim over them.