those who are ill with CFS/CFIDS/M.E. (chronic fatigue syndrome). Archive-name: medicine/chronic-fatigue-syndrome/cfs-guidelines This discussion group on chronic fatigue syndrome is distributed both by e-mail subscription as the CFS-L list, based at LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV, and notices. TOPICS: Most messages can be appropriately posted to the basic 3 topics of , MEDical, or RESearch. The definitions of the designated topics are as follows: : This open category is appropriate for almost all postings except those dealing with medical issues, research, social chatter, and other special topics as listed below. (When using Listserv commands, refer to this topic as OTHER.) MEDical: medical care issues which are likely to have been discussed before, i.e. treatment and diagnosis questions for individual cases, for CFS or any related condition (warning: messages on this group cannot serve as medical advice); how to find a doctor; how to handle your doctor. RESearch: scientific discussion and news items about the illness; treatment and diagnosis issues which pertain to CFS patients as a class (i.e. not individual cases); news items about new research, publications, conferences, media reports. CHAT: humor, and social discussion about non-CFS issues. ADMIN: for discussing issues about this group itself; the rules, how they are applied, possible new topic categories. FAQ: special notices for "frequently asked questions"; the formal notices will be posted by the moderator only, but follow-up discussion about them or how they may be improved may be posted here Please see that your messages contain a designated topic keywords (see greater participation from the e-mail side of this group. The keywords must end with a colon with no intervening blank, e.g. ADMIN: . Multiple keywords must not be separated by a blank, e.g. ADMIN,MED: . E-mail subscribers can restrict received messages to only selected topics by sending a command in the form of SET CFS-L TOPICS topic1 topic2 etc. as an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV. By default, all new subscribers receive all topics. To later add additional topics, you can send a command in the form of SET CFS-L TOPICS +topic1 topic2. To delete certain topics, send a command like SET CFS-L TOPICS -topic1 topic2 . The open, "no keyword" topic may be refered to as OTHER. To see your current topics setting, send the command QUERY CFS-L. Digest and Index subscribers receive all messages regardless of topic. An abbreviation unique to the topic keyword vis-a-vis the other keywords may be used in place of the full keyword, and is encouraged. Please use the abbreviations as shown. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CFS Group -- TOPICS Cheat Sheet (print out and keep near your keyboard) all except medical, research, chat and others shown below MED: medical care, individual cases RES: scientific discussion about the illness, CFS patients as a class CHAT: humor, social talk ADMIN: about the CFS group FAQ: special notices on "frequently asked questions" topic keywords always include a colon, never a blank ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RULES: 1. On topic: Messages posted to this group must be limited to the topic of chronic fatigue syndrome. 2. No advertisements: Commercial advertisements are not allowed on this group. This rule is in place in part because of group sentiment, but also because this group's messages are distributed through the assistance of the NIH Computing Center, a U.S. government agency, and allowing commercial advertisements through the group would be an improper use of government facilities. Participants may post reviews of consumer products or services in which they have no financial interest. 3. No flames. a. Accent the positive: When posting messages, please comment on ideas and make positive suggestions. Please do not personally criticize other participants. Also, political discussions should be brief, and for the most part should be conducted on the CFIDS-L group (see notice B below). b. Refer flames to the moderator: If you are personally criticized, please do not respond directly on the group but instead bring the matter to the attention of the list-owner privately (i.e., Roger Burns at address CFS-L-REQUEST@LIST.NIH.GOV). If everyone responds directly to "flames", then the other person may exercise their right to respond, and soon we'll have a spiraling melee. Please bring concerns to the moderator. 4. Proper subject and topic keywords: Post your messages to the appropriate topic keyword, as described in the scheme listed above. Also, when replying to messages please don't automatically use the original your message contains key ideas that are not captured by the default Subject. Pay special attention to insert the proper topic keyword for your reply and don't automatically use the keyword for the original message you're replying to. This will make message-searching more effective for all. The special topic keyword ALL: is reserved for use by the moderator only. 5. Short quotes: When replying to messages, please don't quote the entire original message, but only that part of the message you are commenting on. A little bit of cutting will save much reading time for the hundreds of readers on this group. NOTICES: A. Disclaimer: Any advice which may be given on this list regarding diagnoses or treatments, etc., reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual posting the message. Those who have CFS are urged to consult with a licensed health care practitioner who is familiar with the illness. B. Posting privileges: This group is moderated. Those who would like be register for direct posting privileges by doing the following: send the commands SUB CFS-L YourFirstName YourLastName SET CFS-L NOMAIL as an Internet e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV. C. Technical advice / message archives: For advice and information about this group and its message archives, and about other CFS groups and resources on Internet/Usenet, read the CFS Internet help file. To obtain the file, send the command GET CFS NET-HELP as an e-mail message to the Internet address LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV. D. News sources: Readers of this group are advised to also follow the CFS-NEWS electronic newsletter and the CFS Newswire service. These are described in the CFS NET-HELP file mentioned in notice C above. E. CFS info: General resources on CFS information are described in the CFS-RES TXT file. To obtain it, send the command GET CFS-RES TXT file to the address LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV. Other detailed files, some of which contain the text of medical journal articles, are stored at the CFS-FILE and CFS-D file bases, which are described in the Internet help file mentioned in notice C above. F. Other networks: For information about CFS discussion groups and resources on other networks and on BBSs, read the "CFS/ME Electronic Resources" guide. To obtain an electronic copy, send the command GET CFS-NET TXT as an e-mail message to address LISTSERV@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU. For further advice, contact the moderator, Roger Burns at address CFS-L-REQUEST@LIST.NIH.GOV. bedfellow.mit.edu faqserv fatigue syndrome (CFS). Archive-name: medicine/chronic-fatigue-syndrome/cfs-index E-mail: send GET CFS INDEX to LISTSERV@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU CFS Index to FAQs This document describes the several FAQ files about chronic fatigue syndrome and explains where to find them. These FAQs will be posted to by ftp. Details about how to retrieve these documents as files are described at the end of this document. Some FAQs overlap in their coverage since some of them have been developed separately and independently. The CFS Resources FAQ will have much of its info repeated in the general CFS FAQ and in the Electronic Resources FAQ. Catalog of CFS FAQs ------------------------------ ftp archive name: cfs-index Listserv filename: CFS INDEX (at SJUVM and Albany) This file. ------------------------------ ftp archive name: cfs-faq Listserv filename: CFS FAQ (at SJUVM and Albany) Answers to typical questions about chronic fatigue syndrome. There is a separate FAQ on CFS treatments. ------------------------------ ftp archive name: cfs-treatments Listserv filename: CFS TREATMTS (at SJUVM and Albany) Treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome. ------------------------------ ftp archive name: cfs-guidelines Listserv filename: CFS-L RULES (at NIH) Rules and technical info about the CFS discussion group, i.e. the ------------------------------ ftp archive name: cfs-network-help Listserv filename: CFS NET-HELP (at SJUVM, NIH and Albany) Where to find discussion groups and info files about CFS available on Internet, Usenet and Listserv. ------------------------------ ftp archive name: cfs-resources Listserv filename: CFS-RES TXT (at SJUVM, NIH and Albany) General resource file for CFS. Lists books, articles, national organizations, newsletters, and electronic discussion groups and files. A large document (60K). ------------------------------ ftp archive name: cfs-electronic-resources Listserv filename: CFS-NET TXT (at SJUVM) Lists all computer network resources for CFS on Internet, commercial services, and BBSs. Includes advice for those new to compter networking. ------------------------------ ftp archive name: cfids-guidelines Listserv filename: CFIDS-L WELCOME (at American) Procedures and rules for the CFS political action group, i.e. the ------------------------------ ftp archive name: cfs-hello Listserv filename: CFS SURVEY (at Albany) Survey for the get-to-know-you "Hello" files for the participants of ------------------------------ lines as shown in the description above. Via anonymous ftp these files can be found at rtfm.mit.edu in directory The documents can also be obtained by e-mail from various Listservs. To do so, create an e-mail message which contains the command the command GET followed by the two-part Listserv filename. Send to the Listserv indicated in the description above. The various Listserv addresses are shown below. For example, to get the CFS Network Help file, send the command GET CFS NET-HELP as an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU (or to any of the other Listserv that are also listed in that document's description shown above). Listserv addresses NIH LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV SJUVM LISTSERV@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU Albany LISTSERV%ALBNYDH2@ALBANY.EDU American LISTSERV@AMERICAN.EDU ------------------------------ For inquiries about these files, send e-mail to CFS-L- REQUEST@LIST.NIH.GOV. To participate in the development of the general and treatments FAQs, mailing list at CFS-L@LIST.NIH.GOV (which is the same group.) -- Roger Burns CFS-L-REQUEST@LIST.NIH.GOV