<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

The Listowners are pleased to announce that the Celiac List has over
2200 subscribers from 36 countries.  We like to use these milestones as
an opportunity to pass along general List information.

Our host, St. Johns University, is undergoing growing pains in its
Internet outreach programs.  Those of you on other St. Johns Lists may
see some changes in operating rules.  On the Celiac List, our general
guidelines already meet the new St. Johns requirements (if we all follow
them!).  These rules as stated in the welcome messages are generally met
by everyone.  However, people sometimes do not read the initial messages
that are sent out after joining a List.  Therefore, allow us to
highlight a few of the most important policies:

1.  Logfile searches, the reference files, and the WWW site are all
important resources.  If you use these resources to check for previous
posts on a subject, the volume of messages is reduced. ("Too many
messages" is the number one reason given for departing from the list.)

When you subscribe to the List, you are sent a copy of several reference
files.  These give you the procedures for obtaining reference files and
doing searches, and they summarize the subject matter in our reference
files.  New reference files are announced to everyone on the List as they
become available.  To obtain replacement copies of these files, send an E-Mail
message to [log in to unmask] containing the
following lines in the body of the message:

        GET CELIAC WELCOME
        GET CELIAC FILEDESC
        GET CELIAC CMDS

2.  When you post a question or introduce a topic on the list, we ask
that you later post a summary of the private replies you received as a
result of your original post.  This way others can learn from your
question.

Each time you make a post, the Listserve sends you an automatic reminder
message asking you to save replies and to collect them into a future
summary message.  Please allow a few days for replies from listmembers
who do not read their messages every day.

Therefore, there is no need for others to post to the List, "I would like to
see the same information".  In fact, unless there is no summary post within the
next week or so, you probably don't even need to send this sort of message to
the individual privately.

Many mail programs will automatically address a reply to both the List
and the original poster.  In order for the summary process to work,
please override the default addresses by deleting the List address and
send your reply only to the original poster.

Also, you can make it easier on the poster to summarize by selectively
quoting the original post.  Too many people take the easy way out and
return the complete message.

3.  It is often hard to determine what is appropriate as a post to this
List.  Our goal is to keep it related to the GF diet and Celiac Disease.
We say that it is hard because everyone can make a very strong case that
any condition is celiac related.  If you are not sure if a topic is
appropriate or have a question, please contact one of the Listowners by
sending an E-Mail message to [log in to unmask]

Those who are not celiacs, but follow the GF diet because of Autism or a
wheat allergy, are still considered part of our List family.

4.  Posts that are primarily child-related should be sent to our sister
List, Cel-Kids.  In any case, you should never send the same post to
both the Celiac and Cel-Kids Lists; please choose one or the other.

5.  Requests for local information should be directed to a local support
group (when one exists) instead of the 2200 members of the List.  We
have a complete set of reference files containing the known support
groups.  The easiest way to obtain this information is to view the names
at our WWW site.

If a local contact does not exist or is unable to help, then it is
appropriate to come back to the List with your question.

6.  Holiday greetings as the main concept behind a post should be
avoided.  For example, suppose each subscriber makes a Merry Christmas
post to the list.  By the time you plowed through all 2,200 Merry
Christmas messages, your holidays would no longer be happy.  It is far
better to save such wishes for private exchanges with your closest
E-Mail friends.

7.  Last month we had a computer failure at St. Johns.  The welcome
message has some general thoughts on how to determine if a problem is
unique to your ID or is system wide.  If you ever have any question
about List operations, please contact one of the Listowners directly.
Never post such questions to the List.

8.  Please include your location as part of a short signature block.
This is critical for all posts that request or divulge information
regarding products or services.  Our International scope and
differences in brands between countries is the reason for this request.

9.  Please do not send administrative commands to the List address.
Only the Listowners can assist you, not the other 2196 subscribers.
This includes requests to signoff or stop your mail.  You can always
reach the Listowners at [log in to unmask]

10.  The address for our St. Johns WWW page recently changed to:

        http://rdz.stjohns.edu/lists/celiac/index.html

and as always, our reference files are mirrored by Ted Hodges (thanks,
Ted!) at:

        http://www.fastlane.net/homepages/thodge/archive.htm

You can also receive any of the reference files by E-Mail.  For a list
of all the reference files and instructions for getting them by E-Mail,
send an E-Mail message to [log in to unmask] containing the
following line in the body of the message:

   GET CELIAC FILEDESC

From your Listowners,

        Mike Jones
        Bill Elkus
        Jim Lyles