All- We have added some new names and faces to the FIRM discussion forum. If this is your first forum e-mail, welcome! I am re-posting instructions on how to use the forum below. Some of you have forgotten the password to enter (please see below). For those of you who received this before I apologize. It still makes a good refresher. Please read below for the password, general info and two new rules we all should follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the first of hopefully many postings that you will begin to receive. This forum was set up to facilitate communication between all Federal Information and Records Managers council members. In order to make the FIRM work, we all need to get away from e-mailing each other individually and start putting all our thoughts and comments in one central repository. It is impossible to meet face to face as a group every week or every month. This forum will allow us to meet virtually as often as we want. If you need help in getting started, please contact Charley Barth at (703)-602-6526 or via e-mail barth.charley@hq.navy.mil, and I will walk you through the process. The forum is password protected. The password is now "firm" without the quotations. To help everyone out I registered everyone on the forum already. All you have to do is post information. To enter the forum go to: http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=Federal%20Information%20and%20Records%20Managers%20Council and enter the password. If you know of others that would like to join our discussion forum post their e-mail address and I will make sure they get added. To remove yourself from the forum send a post to me requesting such and I will remove you.

This forum is linked to the FIRM website. You do not have the capability to post documents to the forum but you do have the ability to post them on our FIRM website (thru Carol Brock, chairperson). However, you can cut and paste documents into the forum. When someone posts information, asks a question or makes a comment you all should be getting notified. The notification in your in-box will have a "greenspun.com" e-mail address. DO NOT DELETE these messages. It says greenspun.com because we are using his forum product. If you are not getting an E-mail notification, let me know. I will find the problem and fix it as soon as possible. There are two rules I would like you all to follow when you are posting:

1) Sign your name to what you write. 2) Specify whether you speak for your agency or for yourself - an important protection.

Lets see some activity on the forum. The more we use it the more the entire group will benefit.

Charley Barth Department of the Navy Office of the Chief Information Officer

-- charley barth (barth.charley@hq.navy.mil), December 16, 1999

-- Anonymous, December 16, 1999