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Do review messages before you send them out to make sure they say what you mean to say. Be careful with sarcasm and humor that could be misunderstood.
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Do assume that anyone could read your e-mail. Treat e-mail the same as a postcard. If you don’t want to read it in the newspaper, don’t write it. Legal precedent has established that courts and employers have legal rights to access stored electronic communication.
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Do remember that deleting an e-mail message does not necessarily mean that the message is gone. For example, copies may still exist in your e-mail trash can or in other users’ files.
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Do keep messages short and to the point.
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Do be sure the subject line reflects the subject of your message.
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Do include your name at the end of the message.
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Do check your e-mail regularly. Delete unwanted messages immediately. Keep messages remaining in your mailbox to a minimum. Files you wish to keep should be stored on your personal computer’s hard drive or on diskette.
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Don’t send or reply to e-mail messages when you are angry. Avoid SHOUTING by capitalizing a word; it’s considered rude.
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Don’t reply to “all recipients” unless they all need to see your reply.
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Don’t send personal e-mail messages to the entire campus; this is “spam” and wastes campus resources and time.
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Don’t send harassing or excessive e-mail to another e-mail user; don’t send e-mail to a user who has specifically requested you to stop sending it.
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Don’t send chain letters or messages recruiting participants in make-money-fast schemes; doing so not only violates campus policy, but may also violate federal law.
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Don’t copy an entire large message in your response just to add a line or two of comment.
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Don’t forward an e-mail not intended for further dissemination without permission from the originator.
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Don’t attach documents to your e-mail whenever possible. Every mail browser can read text in the main body of the message, but some browsers may not access attachments as well. If you are uncertain what type of browser the recipient uses, send them an e-mail ahead of time.