Join Café Toronto

Join Café Toronto

Signing in

To join us and make your voice heard, all you have to do is fill in the following small form, which will automatically activate your application. Once your application has been processed by the awful robot, you will within minutes receive an email with the information you need to enter the private parts of the supporting communications and information site. That's all there is to it.

And if you can think of others who can join to the mutual benefit of all concerned, please use the form to initiate their application. They will be contacted shortly thereafter with clear instructions as to how to join.

Participation and Email Frequency

Participation makes it easy to access the Public Library, link & Media and other sections of the Café, as well as receiving messages of the list into your own email box, in the manner you prefer. When you have signed up you can elect to receive feedback from this site in any of several ways:

Individual emails. To receive all individual email messages.

Daily digest: To receive all emails for the day in one message.

Special notices*. Only send important update emails from group moderator.

Don't send me email*, I'll read the messages at the Web site at leisure.

Note: If you wish to leave the list at any time, just send a blank email to

cafetoronto-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Finding your way around the Cafe

Please consult the Welcoming Note, both in order to be able to make full use of this set of working tools, but also to be a good neighbor when it comes to communicating.

Messages Procedures & Etiquette

When you answer a group message, your answer will in many cases be sent to all the members of the list. If you wish the sender only to receive your answer, please click on the "Forward" button instead of "Respond" and copy the sender's email address into the "To" box. We would ask you to be extremely careful about distinguishing between

Basically personal messages (such as a thank you note, a specific question or an observation intended for this or that person) which are best addressed to your individual correspondent, and
Communications to the group as a whole.

Exception Information:
We are all asked to bear in mind that our colleagues are very busy people and we want to make sure that whatever comes out of this forum (i) they do not receive more than a handful messages a week on average and (ii), more important, that what is distributed to the group is quite literally "exception information", i.e., communications which address issues which are of high common interest. We hate to say it, but when we see people being a bit too casual in their choice of mode, our list administrator actually goes in and picks off what we think to be a bit too personal and indicate this to them as such. This may strike you as a bit priggish on our part, and indeed is a bit of a bore to actually do; but we think it's better that than overloading people who have a lot of real work to do and who see this as a useful tool and not one more wasteful Internet chore.

How many messages should YOU be posting to the group? Certainly no more than one or two per week. Thank you. In exceptional cases let's get together and figure out a strategy (since there are other options including our several "cafés".)

Copying content of earlier communications! Please do not simply copy and pass on the content of all previous communications. Nobody, nobody likes to wade through this stuff. Moreover, it obscures the point of your message for those whose time is important. Where you need to cite an earlier note for context purposes, please do this in a sparing and structured way ("judicious snipping" we call it). We will all appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Retaining Subject Headings: Once a discussion of any given topic has got underway, it helps retain the original subject heading. (This is because this heading in one of the main ways in which we can recall any given dialogue and exchange around that topic, a process of recall which we believe is extremely important to the extent to which this collective intellectual patrimony is available to be mined for subsequent uses. Likewise, if you note that the subject heading is preceded by a FWD: or Re: in any given case, it's a good idea to delete this so that your message will enter into the correct repertory.)

Other guidelines to keep in mind:

Proof-read your submissions. The time you take is magnified 300-fold in time savings by readers in trying to understand your points.
If you feel yourself getting heated about what another has written, consider sending that to only that person, not the entire list. This keeps the recipient from feeling as defensive and possibly escalating the exchange into a conflagration.
When referring to research or statements, try to cite them, either a bibliographic or web reference.
In a reply, don't include the entire contents of the other's message, only the part you are commenting on. If your point is more general, consider only restating in summary point the comments of another (be careful to be accurate and not self-serving).
After joining, don't post for at least a few days, so that you can get a sense of the style of the list. Your first post might contain a short (one para.) introduction of yourself, but this is not required (when lists first start, introductions are the best way to get things started).

And what if you can't get in, or forgot your password?

That's simple. Here's the drill.

Just enter YahooGroups home page at http://www.Yahoogroups.com
Where you see, mid-page, the slot to put your email address to register... Don't! Instead click, "Forgot?".
You then just calmly follow the routine, bearing in mind that it will take about two minutes for the robot to send you via email your 'validation number'. (Be sure to check your email to get it.)
From there on in, it's quick. Just follow the several instructions and you are back in and fully registered and ready to go.

Thank you for your patience in this. We know that can be trying, but neither did we learn to read over night.

A Closing Word on YahooGroups

For the last several years we have been using YahooGroups as the supporting platform for this central communications and information storage function. We chose to do this because we felt YahooGroups provided useful functionality in support of our independent cooperative program, and because it was free (bearing in mind that we carry out all these programs under The Commons without any form of external financial support... so money is scarce). The only shortcoming of this arrangement are the publicity messages and the need to sign in, but this has been judged by most of our colleagues as a bearable inconvenience under the circumstances. Until recently, that is, since things are steadily getting more intrusive and off-putting.

On the other hand, you may have some better ideas for us. We know we can do better and want to hear from you. So if you have leads, free storage space or funds, don't be shy.

And if you run into a problem

Don't hesitate. If you have a problem with any of this or anything else in our fine Café, you are invited to click here to email to the Support Team. That should do it.