NETWORKING ON THE NETWORK

The Internet and other digital networks are currently undergoing
   explosive growth.  Several million people employ electronic mail
   for some significant portion of their professional communications.  
   Yet in my experience few people have figured out how to use the
   net productively.  A great deal of effort is going into technical
   means for finding information on the net, but hardly anybody has
   been helping newcomers figure out where the net fits in the larger
   picture of their own careers.  These notes are a first attempt 
   to fill that gap, building on the most successful practices I've
   observed in my fifteen years on the net.  I will focus on the use of
   electronic communication in research communities, but the underlying
   principles will be applicable to many other communities as well.
   Everyone's life is different, cultures and disciplines have their
   own conventions, and it's all just my opinion anyway, but perhaps 
   my suggestions will be useful.  Do not interpret them as rules of
   etiquette or morality, but rather as a resource in figuring out your
   own personal way of getting around in your particular professional
   world.  And definitely do not turn them into any kind of ersatz
   social identity or value system.  Instead, make sense of them within
   some larger set of values that you develop as you live your life.