Module 2 - Tasks

Easter has been a lot of fun but consequently I am behind - again. (There is a pattern developing here).

Email Tasks

1. What information about a user's email, the origin of a message, and the path it took can you glean from an email message?

Email messages contain the senders email address. This provides us with both a user name and a domain name. The user name identifies the sender of the message and the domain name indicates the main computer the email account is managed by. The email message has therefore visited this domain on it's journey to it's destination. Email messages also tell us when the email was sent. Many email messages also contain subject headings allowing the receiver of the message to obtain an idea of what the message is about so that they can choose which messages they want to read.

I have not previously considered the metadata of an email.. I think this would be useful to determine if an email is actually from where it is claimed to have come from, thus indicating it's legitimacy.

After reading the concept associated with this question I was confused. I was unfamiliar with the term 'metadata'. My searches lead me to a pater written by Chris Taylor at the University of Queensland which explained the term in depth (Taylor,2003).

Taylor C, (2003) An Introduction to metadata, Retrieved 3rd March, 2009, from www.library.uq.edu.au/iad/ctmeta4.html

2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc','bcc' and 'reply all' functions of the email?

cc - Send a copy of my email to another address other than the one it was initially intended for.
bcc - Send a copy of my email to another email address without the knowledge of the person who it was initially intended for.
reply all - To send a reply not only to the original sender of the email but to all the other email addresses who received a copy of the email message.

These functions would be of great benefit in business as it is often required that people are aware of what other people know about a situation or issue. Sending copies of an email would enable receivers of a copy to know precisely who has received the same information. The bcc function would be beneficial when employees wanted to show their employer that an email was sent to a customer for example. Thus enabling the employer to know what was discussed in the email without the customer knowing the inner workings of the business.

I tend to not use these functions very often as I find them a little impersonal. I consider that if I wish to send someone a message I generally take the time to send them their own personal message rather than a copy of a message intended for someone else.

3. In what ways can you be sure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

To ensure attachment is easily read by the receiver reformat the file as 'rich test file' format.

I normally would send any attachment in the format it is in on my computer enabling what I have in front of me to be replicated as close as possible. Most of my emails thus far have been of a personal nature and the receiver of the information has always been able to easily contact me if there has been a problem. However, I understand when it is important information that is being sent or when there are great volumes of attachments being sent, there is a requirement to know that all receivers of the information are able to access the content without problems. It is then that I see reformatting being helpful.

4. What sort of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?

I currently have no filters or rules set up on my email accounts mainly because the amount of emails I receive does not require such systems. I appreciate that these forms of automation would be of benefit to people who receive many emails.

5. How have you organised your folder structure and why?

I put in a new file on my curtin email account mainly so that I could see how this worked. I have since deleted it as I do not receive enough emails to warrant this and I consider looking in different sections to gain access to all my emails a waist of time.

I can however see how this could be useful for someone who receives many messages. My only concern is that files can be missed if the condition required by the organizer to go into a certain foulder is not met. I do not believe this would be a problem often, especially when metadata is used to sort messages.

Curtin University of Technology (n.d.) Net11; Module 2 - Communicating in the infosphere. Retrieved 16 April, 2009 from http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_14736_1%26url%3d