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EMEC Support Documents: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Methodological Process


How will it work?

Back to the list of the questions

There are three important points in the project EMEC:

  1. sending of a presentational e-mail of the original message (that is to say a mail with the key data of the message and a summary of it)
  2. Storage of this message in an associated web site
  3. Translation of each message (of the original message - sent by the member - and of the "synthesis" - written by the EMEC team -). In the case of the experiment inside MISTICA context, the translations will be carried out in Spanish, French, Portuguese and English

What type of information can be found in the mail that is sent to the list?

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In this mail we will find several descriptive elements of the integral message. It will contain:

  • the author
  • the title
  • the date on which the original message was sent
  • the size of the original message
  • the key words
  • the synthesis
  • the identification of the language of the original message
  • URL of the original message, or of their translation (into the language of the subscribed list)
  • URL of the linked document, if necessary.

How are the keywords chosen and how will they be used?

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The keywords will be used to describe in a neutral way the themes found in the original message. To use keywords is a complement to the synthesis since we will choose between 2 and 5 keywords inside a list. We will be able to add words to this list as the new messages arrive.


How will a message be processed in the EMEC context?

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First of all, the EMEC team gets the mail from the virtual community. We moderate this message. The synthesis and the document record are then written. The synthesis is translated as well as the original mail. The original message and their translations go on the web and, finally, the synthesis are sent (the syntheses in the language of the original message and its translations) to the corresponding lists. For each message received by the virtual community there will be a link towards the original message or its translation.


What is "moderation"?

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Moderation allows to avoid the contamination of the list by messages that would be out of focus (administration messages, advertisement�). Moreover, it also allows to send texts with an easy-to-read presentation (eliminating non standard formats like HTML). This way, each message received by the moderation will be checked before being sent to the list. Moderation should not be seen as censorship, as the aim of moderation is to maintaining fluent discussion at a good level, eliminating repetitive, out of focus and provocative messages and also disguised advertising messages. If any doubt occurs, the moderation always establishes a direct dialogue with the person who sent the message before deciding not to send it to the list.


What does the animation of the list consist in?

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One person (a moderator or a member of the list) starts and facilitates the discussions, he helps to keep the focus or to manage the delicate situations... The animation is needed to have a flowing and efficient discussion.


Why will the synthesis of the messages be written and sent to the MISTICA list?

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So that the virtual community knows quickly whether the integral message interests them or not. This way, the members won't lose time and will decide whether they want to read the original message or not.The EMEC information specialists extract the main ideas from the message and write a synthesis. It is a rigorous and brief summary (between 300 and 500 characters) of the main ideas of the message. The synthesis is inserted in a model of standard mail.


Why is the signature of the author cut off from the message?

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This is made in our concern to synthesize as much as possible. We will keep the electronic addresses, the name and the last name of the author. Also, if there is an appointment at the end of the message that is related with the topic discussed in the mail, we will keep it. Otherwise, we omit it. But, in each message it will be possible to find a link toward the author 's personal page (through the directory of MISTICA'S web site).


How many distribution lists will be part of the EMEC project?

Back to the list of the questions

We will continue with the MISTICA list with the difference that it will exist in Spanish, Portuguese, English and French. Moreover, we may create thematic lists in the future. Finaly, the list [email protected] from the Alliance for the World of Solidarity and Responsability will also experiment with EMEC.


Why there are no lists by topics in MISTICA?

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There are no lists by topics due to the low traffic of messages in the list at the moment. However, by reading the explicit title of the message you can understand what the message deals with. Indeed, in the title one can find the name of the list, an abbreviation indicating the language, and the topic followed by the title of the message. For example: MISTICA-EN: Health: Kosovo (The kosovo is the last flu virus in Republic Of the Dominican Republic).


What will change from having one list per language?

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It will hardly change anything in the way of sending messages, because the members will send them as usual to <[email protected]>. The only thing that will change is that the members will be able to write and to get e-mails in their preferred language (Spanish, English, French or Portuguese). For this reason, they will have to subscribe to the list that corresponds to the language in which they want to receive the messages. If they don't subscribe, the default language will be Spanish.


How will the messages be classified?

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The EMEC messages will be divided into five categories:

  • C1: the contributions rejected for ethical considerations; these contributions are not filed. The administration messages will be added to this category(subscription etc.)
  • C2: the contributions rejected because they don't respect the rules (for example, messages out of focus), but which will be kept on the web for one month (to prevent the censorship argument).
  • C3: the contributions limited in time (for example, advertisement for a conference), and which will be classified per periods (future / present / past).
  • C4: all the other messages that are stored.
  • C5 (optional): if necessary, a new category can be defined for the outstanding contributions so that an institutional memory of the CV can be progressively built.
 
 
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Last update: 08/09/1999