RESOURCE CENTRE MANUAL
HEALTHLINK WORLDWIDE
Each . is pronounced ‘dot’, so the above e-mail address would be pronounced:
info at healthlink dot org dot UK
Advantages of e-mail
• fast and relatively cheap
• easy to send the same message to more than one person
• text sent via e-mail can be copied into other documents
• does not require a separate telephone line (although the fax or telephone
cannot be used at the same time as sending e-mail)
• does not require a separate computer
• enables faxes to be sent more cheaply than via a fax machine
• enables multimedia messages (containing sound and movement) to be sent if
the computer has multimedia facilities
• makes networking easier.
Disadvantages of e-mail
• requires computer skills
• requires Internet access and associated fees
• requires training to use the e-mail system
• software can only be used in a few languages
• legal status of messages has not yet been tested in some countries.
6.6.1 Using e-mail
As well as sending individual messages, e-mail has a wide range of uses, including
sending faxes, participating in electronic conferences or mailing list discussions,
receiving newsletters and bulletins, and joining networks.
Fax
E-mail can be used to send and receive faxes directly, instead of printing them
out and sending them via a fax machine. It is cheaper to send faxes by e-mail,
because the messages travel faster, and the telephone charge is for a local call
only. This facility requires a fax modem. It is also important to check that the
Internet service provider can support sending fax over e-mail.
Electronic conferences
An electronic conference may also be known as a conference list, discussion list,
discussion group, or discussion forum.
Electronic conferences allow a variety of people to communicate with each other
to discuss issues, ask questions and exchange ideas and experiences. An e-mail
sent to the conference address is automatically distributed to all its members.
Some larger conferences have a 'moderator' who sees all messages before they
are sent out to the member list, to ensure that they are relevant and appropriate
to the conference.
A conference may focus on a subject area of interest, such as the prevention and
control of HIV/AIDS; or it might have a geographic focus, such as library
SECTION 6: COMPUTERS, ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AND DATABASES
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