This message is in response to Lanny Weddel but I am posting
it to the list because I think it may be of some interest to
other list-members. Comments - polite and constructive - are
welcome.

Ben Winter
=== === === === ===

Hello Lanny,

You asked about "differences, hows and wherefores of
'posting personal mail' versus posting to the list".

First, DIFFERENCES.

Personal mail is e-mail addressed to one individual
recipient; it will be received only by the designated
recipient. It will _not_ be automatically sent to all
members of this list - unlesss the recipient deliberately
forwards it to the list. [Instead of _one_ recipient, there
can be a small group of deliberately designated recipients].

On the other hand, a 'posting to the list' is e-mail
addressed to the LIST ADDRESS, [log in to unmask]
; sometimes that address is 'hidden' behind the displayed
label  Parkinson's Information Exchange Network. Such mail
will be received by _every_ member of the PARKINSN list.

Next, HOW.

The recipient of an e-mail message is determined by the
address fields,
        To:  and  Cc:  and  Bcc:  .
The message will go to all recipients specified in those
fields.

If you want to send a message to all list members, put the
LIST ADDRESS into the  To:  field [or into Cc or Bcc]. You
can type [or in some other way insert]
[log in to unmask]  in the  To:  field. Or you
can take a list-distributed message and use the Reply
function; that will automatically put  Parkinson's
Information Exchange Network  in the  To:  field. --
Caution: if you use Reply, be sure to adjust the content of
the  Subject:  field, to ensure that it properly reflects
the content of _your_ message.

If you want to send a personal message that will _not_ be
seen by list members, you type [or in some other way insert]
the recipient's address in the  To:  field - and make sure
that none of the three address fields contains the list
address. For example, to send personal mail to me, make sure
that the  To:  field contains  [log in to unmask]  and that
none of the three address fields contains the list address.
If you are starting with a message you received via the
list, and are using the  REPLY  function, you'll see that
the list address was automatically put in the  To:  field;
for a personal message to me, you need to DELETE the list
address and INSERT my address.

And finally, the WHEREFORES.

That's really quite simple. If you really think there are
some list members - out there, unknown to you - who could
find a particular message useful or interesting, then post
it to the list. But if it is likely that only X [and Y and
Z] would find the message useful or interesting, then send
it as personal e-mail to X [and Y and Z].

I should add that, besides being potentially useful or
interesting to list-members, a list-posted message should be
_relevant_ to and _appropriate_ for the list. But the
question of relevance and appropriateness is the subject of
vigorous debate and remains, for the moment, unsettled.

Ben