class:il:01

Week 01 — Professional communication tools

Up to 10 points can be gained towards your final score.

1. Introduce yourself to the class [2 points]

Log in to MS Teams using your university account and post a short message to the Self Introduction channel of the Information Literacy team. Introduce yourself, your main interest(s), and say which topics of Information Literacy you already have experience with. (Throughout the course, use the Q&A (English) and/or 質疑応答 (日本語) channels to ask any questions you might have about the course or the content of the classes. If you can answer a question posted there, please do not hesitate to do so.)

2. Use e-mail for professional communication [8 points]

One of our teaching assistants (TAs) will send you an e-mail asking you to send a reply with an interesting or funny image attached. Our TAs are official members of the teaching staff for this class and so your reply should follow proper “netiquette”. It should be professional, formal, and polite. Use any reference materials you can to make sure your reply is professional, for example the notes posted on the course web site or articles/blogs about writing e-mail that you can find by searching online. When you think your reply has been properly prepared, send it to our TA.

Using proper netiquette in your e-mail includes

using an appropriate subject line, greeting, closing, signature, and “signature block” with your professional details;
using proper sentences, grammar, and punctuation
quoting the relevant parts of the original messages when you reply to questions; and
providing any relevant files as attachments to your reply.

3. Bonus [1 point]

Continue to use the Q&A (English) and/or 質疑応答 (日本語) channels to post and answer questions about the course content. Students who contribute outstanding answers to the Q&A (English) channel might gain a bonus point towards their final score.

Further practice

Team up with one other student from the class (e.g., the student who sits next to you). Send your partner a professional “business” e-mail asking if they would be willing to help you improve your communication skills. Be formal and polite, as you would when seeking a business partnership with someone you do not know personally.

Read the e-mail that you receive from your partner. Think of ways that it could be improved. Write a formal reply that explains how you think they could improve their e-mail to you. When you receive the reply suggesting how to improve your original e-mail, reply one more time formally thanking your partner for their time and kindness.

What you will learn from this class

What kinds of professional communications tools are available and how they can be used.
How e-mail works and the various parts of e-mail messages.
How to use e-mail for effective communication in a professional setting.

Glossary of e-mail terms

address: A symbolic representation of the sender or a recipient of an e-mail message. Addresses have two parts. The domain name says where on the Internet the message should be sent to (usually an organisation or e-mail service), and the local name says to whom the message should be delivered within that organisation.

archive: A file containing one or more other files. A program such as zip or tar can insert files into and extract then back from an archive.

attachment: A file sent along with an e-mail. Attachments are typically media files (pictures, sound files, movies) or archive files that cannot be represented as text and cannot be included in the body of the message.

blind carbon copy (bcc): A version of carbon copy (cc) that does not show who is in the recipient list.

body: The main part of an e-mail containing the text message that is to be sent.

carbon copy (cc): A list of recipients, in addition to main recipient, who will receive an identical copy of the message.

closing: A line just before the signature that politely terminates the message. Examples include: “Yours sincerely,” “Yours Faithfully,” “Best regards,” “Regards,” etc.

compose: The act of writing an e-mail message.

correspond: The act of exchanging an e-mail message.

correspondence: The e-mail messages that are exchanged between correspondents.

correspondents: The people engaged in an e-mail conversation.

content: The main body of the message.

context: Background information. Often relating to a reply, and sometimes needed to understand the reply. Parts of a received message can be quoted to provide context when replying to that message.

conversation: An exchange of e-mail between two or more people.

copy: Sending an e-mail to additional recipients using cc or bcc.

domain: The name of a service, organisation, or computer connected to the Internet that can receive and deliver e-mails on behalf of its clients, members, or users.

e-mail: Electronic mail.

emoji: Little colourful pictures sent in electronic messages that convey thoughts or emotions. They are often small yellow faces that are laughing, frowning, etc.

emoticon: A representation of an emotion using only text characters. For example `:-)' is smiling or happiness and `:-(` is sadness.

etiquette: The semi-formal rules that correspondents follow when exchanging messages. Etiquette dictates how messages are structured and what kinds of standard phrases (such as greetings and closings) should be used.

filter: A software algorithm that removes unwanted (spam or junk) mail from reaching your inbox.

flame: An aggressive, confrontational e-mail intended to insult or annoy the receiver, or embarrass them in front of the other people engaged in the conversation. To be avoided at all costs in professional communication.

forward: To send a copy of a received mail to another person who was not a recipient of the original mail.

from: A header item containing the address of person sending the e-mail.

header: Information about the e-mail message that is not part of the content. Includes the from, to, cc and bcc addresses, date, and subject.

inbox: The place where your incoming e-mail arrives.

netiquette: Etiquette for the Internet, including how to behave responsibly when sending e-mail.

opening: The first line of an email naming the recipient, with an honorific if they have one. Examples include: “Dear Dr. Spock,” “Dear John,” “Dear Madame,” etc.

participants: The people involved in an e-mail conversation.

pleasantry: A nice thing you say in the first part of your message after the opening to `break the ice'. Examples include: “I hope you are well.” “Thank you for your e-mail.” “Sorry to bother you at this busy time.”

postal: A mail delivery system using printed messages on sheets of paper sealed inside a paper cover and delivered to a physical location in the world. Typically unreliable outside Japan.

quoting: Including a portion, or even all of, the message that you are replying to in your reply.

recipient: A person receiving an e-mail message.

respond: Replying to an e-mail that you have received.

response: An e-mail sent in reply to one that was received.

safety: Protecting users against fraudulent activities and other e-mail attacks.

security: Protecting e-mail content against unauthorised viewing.

send: Begin the process of having a message delivered to the recipient(s).

sender: The person sending an e-mail.

shouting: Text that is typed using all capital letters. DON'T DO IT!

sign: Placing your name at the end of an e-mail.

signature: Your name written at the end of an e-mail acknowledging that you are the author.

signature block: Your professional details (position, telephone number, company, physical address, web site URL, etc.) placed at the very end of a message to act as a kind of `virtual business card'.

subject: A header item describing briefly the purpose or content of the message. The subject can be very important to the recipient(s) and should always be present and carefully written.

thread: A way to present e-mails to the reader by collecting identical subject lines together into a single group.

trimmed: E-mail content that has been edited to make it shorter. Typically done when replying inline so that only the relevant parts of the original message precede the answers.

zip: A program often used to package up many small files into a single file to be attache to an e-mail message.

Notes

There are many different kinds of communication tools. In an educational or professional environment the most important are collaboration support systems and e-mail.

Texting

Students and younger employees likely use text messaging (texting) for their daily communication. Text messages are brief and usually answered within a few minutes or hours. Because of the limitations of the message format, they are most suited for informal conversation with friends and family. However, texting from personal devices can sometimes be appropriate to alert colleagues to emerging situations such as arriving late for a meeting because of a train delay. Faculty members and managers are likely to prefer e-mail for all professional communication.

E-mail

E-mail is the standard communication tool in professional (academic, industry) life. Its advantages include permanence, searchability, non-invasive delivery, and the ability to compose messages of any length with as much care and consideration as are warranted by the situation. Just as you can send an informal birthday greeting to a friend or a formal request to the head of a company by postal mail, so you can send the same kind of content (with the same levels of formality) by e-mail.

The e-mail paradigm is very close to physical mail: a sender writes a message, a third-party mail delivery service (online rather than postal) delivers the message, and a recipient picks up the message and reads it. E-mail messages have several parts, some of which have names that correspond to the same parts of a postal message. Just as in postal mail, every message must specify the recipient's address (as is always written on the front of postal mail), the sender's address (as is often written in the corner or on the back of postal mail), some content containing the actual message (corresponding to the paper inside the postal envelope), and possibly one or more attachments (sometimes called enclosures in postal mail) which are separate documents sent along with the written message.

Headers and addresses

Every e-mail message contains a header which includes the date, the sender (From:) and recipient (To:) addresses, and the subject of the message. Messages can be delivered to more than one recipient by putting more than one address in the To: line. Messages can also be copied to other people using the Cc: and Bcc: fields. Replying to an e-mail message usually sends the reply to the sender (the From: address in the original message) although this can be changed by setting the Reply-to: field in the header.

`Date:`	the time and date the message was sent
`From:`	the sender's address (becomes the `To:` address if the message is replied to)
`To:`	the address of the recipient(s) who are expected to contribute actively to the conversation
`Subject:`	the purpose of the message or a one-line summary of the content
`Cc:`	'carbon copy' address(es), for observers of the conversation or non-active participants
`Bcc:`	'blind carbon copy' address(es), for observers of the conversation whose names will not be made visible to anyone else
`Reply-to:`	The address that will become the `To:` address in a reply (instead of the `From:` address)

E-mail addresses contain two parts separated by an @ symbol. The second part (after the @) is the domain name of the organisation that is responsible for receiving the message. The first part (before the @) is the local name of the person (or department) within that organisation who should receive the message. For example, mail to katsuma.yoshiyuki@kuas.ac.jp will be delivered to a particular organisation (KUAS) and within that organisation a particular person (Mr. Katsuma) will be able to retrieve and read the message. Similarly, e-mail sent to sales@honda.co.jp will be delivered to the sales department within the Honda Motor Company, Ltd.

Message content

Writing a professional letter on paper means following social conventions and business etiquette. Writing a professional e-mail means following “netiquette” (from Internet + etiquette). Many of the conventions of netiquette are related to making your e-mail easier for the recipient to read. To develop an intuition for netiquette, just ask two simple questions about every part of your e-mail message:

What is the purpose of this word/sentence/paragraph (or other part) of the e-mail?
How can I maximise its efficiency (make it shorter) and effectiveness (make it convey my message better)?

For example…

`Subject:`	Does it accurately reflect the content of the conversation? (Some people look quickly at just subject lines and immediately delete e-mail that appears irrelevant to them.)
	Could the recipient find this conversation again in the future based only on the subject line?
message content	Does the recipient really need to know/read this content at this moment in time?
	Is the amount of detail just right for the recipient?

An e-mail message can be composed as if it were a postal letter to the same recipient. The same stock phrases, order of items, and levels of formality and politeness, can be carried over from paper letters to e-mails.

Greeting	Indicates the name of the person you are talking to. Titles (e.g., “Dr.”) can be used if appropriate. Women are “Ms.” (instead of “Mrs.” or “Miss”) unless you know their preference. Using “M.” leaves the gender unspecified, for situations in which it is unknown.
Greeting	Dear Sir, Dear Madam, Dear Professor, Dear Mr. Secretary, Dear Dr. Spock, Dear Ms. Jones, Dear Mr. Kite, Dear all, Dear colleagues, etc.
Opening line	Brief introduction to the message including references to any prior communication if appropriate. In a reply, a thank-you to the sender for their previous message.
Body	Main content written simply, clearly, and concisely.
Closing	Thanks the reader for their time, expresses eagerness to receive a reply, etc.
Signature	A sign-off including “Regards”, or “Sincerely” if you opened with the person's actual name, or “Faithfully” if you did not use their name, followed by the name of the sender.
Signature block	Professional contact details about the sender: job title, postal address, telephone number, etc. Can provide similar information to a “business card”.

Replying

When replying to an e-mail, most mail software automatically inserts a copy of the original message in the reply. This is called quoting the original content. Typically each line of the quoted original is preceded with a > symbol to distinguish it from the reply. Replies can be divided into three styles, according to how this quoted material is used.

top-posting	The reply is at the start of the message and the entire original message is left quoted underneath the reply.
bottom‑posting	The entire original message is left quoted at the top and the actual reply is added underneath it.
inline reply	The quoted original message is carefully edited to extract just the relevant parts, and associated replies are inserts underneath each quoted part.

Efficiency and effectiveness are also important for replies. Top-posting accumulates lots of previous content in reverse order (compared to the chronological order of the conversation) and therefore creates more work for people joining the conversation later on. Bottom-posting accumulates lots of previous content at the top in correct chronological order, but this can force readers to scroll past a lot of history to reach the important part of the message. (The quoted content can be trimmed to minimise the amount of work the reader has to do.)

Inline replies avoid the disadvantages of both top- and bottom-posting. Inline replies are more efficient for the reader, help keep the total size of the message small, and produce better results when searching through e-mail messages for specific information or conversations.

While conducting an e-mail conversation, anything that is no longer needed can be removed, anything that is lacking can be added, and anything that is inefficient or ineffective can be modified.

`Subject:`	Does it still accurately reflect the content of the conversation?
`To:` and `Cc:`	Is the message still going to exactly the right group of people?
reply content	Is the structure of the reply efficient and effective?
	Is replying above the original message more or less effective than replying inline or below it?
	Is the amount of quoted material just right to give the best context for the reply?

Emoticons

Facial expressions and other body language are not available when communicating by e-mail. In less formal professional e-mails, the use of emoticons can help to indicate emotions that would accompany parts of a message delivered face-to-face. Some mail software will convert emoticons into graphical emoji for the reader.

emoticon	emoji	typical meaning
:-)		humor or happiness
:-(		sadness or unhappy
:-D		very large grin
:-) :-)		laughing
:-p		sticking out tongue (“so there!”, “I told you so!”)
;-)		winking
:-\|		disgust
:-/		puzzled
:-o		surprised

Text effects popular with adolescent users, such as aLtErNaTiNg CaPiTaLs iN nOrMaL tExT are very difficult to read and therefore contradict the goal of maximising the effectiveness of communication. Similarly, writing in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS can be interpreted as shouting or yelling; alternatives such as using punctuation for virtual /italics/ or _underlining_ or *boldface* are much gentler on the reader.

Attachments

Documents that are separate from the main e-mail message but sent along with it are called attachments. Attachments are best kept small and limited in number.

Some mail delivery services will delete e-mails having large attachments, without warning or indication. Original photographs can be very large and are often down-sized before sending by e-mail. PDF files that use unnecessary text effects such as drop-shadow can also be very large. (A good solution to that problem is to avoid using unnecessary text effects in documents.)

Some mail services might also reject messages with too many attachments. Programs such as zip let you gather many files into to a single archive for attaching to an e-mail message.

Some mail software reformats message content. If layout such as

+--------------+-------------------+
| tabular      | data              |
+--------------+-------------------+
| written as   | mono-spaced text  |
+--------------+-------------------+

needs to be preserved then a plain text file containing the content can be sent as an attachment, to protect it against reformatting.

E-mail security

E-mail is inherently insecure. Messages are transmitted and stored without encryption, making them relatively easy to intercept and read. Secret information sent 'in private' by e-mail might easily become public knowledge. If sensitive information must be sent by e-mail, one way to protect it is to send it in a password-protected .zip archive.

Accidentally sending e-mail to the wrong recipient, or replying to everyone in a conversation instead of just the original sender, is a common mistake. One way to mitigate that problem is to leave the recipient fields blank and fill them in just before sending the message.

The sender of an e-mail has no control over who might read it. Negative comments made about a person in an e-mail could eventually be seen by that person, causing embarrassment (or even loss of job) for the sender. A recipient address might be mistyped, for example, or one of the intended recipients might decide to forward the message to the person mentioned in the negative comment.

E-mail safety

Cyber-criminals can use e-mail to compromise your computer or your personal information. This includes stealing your financial information to commit fraud. Messages received from unrecognised sender addresses might include attachments that introduce viruses to a computer when opened. Phishing messages are written so that they appear to be sent by a trusted person, such as a bank manager (asking for account details or password “confirmation”), or by an unknown sender seeking a collaboration with apparently huge benefits for the recipient. It is extremely unlikely that such messages are genuine.

A good way to increase the safety of e-mail is to install a spam (junk mail) filter to delete suspicious messages before they are presented for reading, and an anti-virus program that scans attachments for potential threats. Many online web mail services provide these functions for all their users' incoming e-mail. Some (such as gmail) go further by banning outgoing attachments that might contain harmful content.