Email Account Descriptions and Guidelines
OWLSnet offers two different types of email accounts to OWLSnet members libraries. These are personal accounts and library accounts. Following is a description of each type of account and recommended procedures for handling email delivered to that account.
All accounts – please apply the following guidelines to use of all OWLSnet email accounts:
- Virus awareness – Unexpected emails should not be opened, in order to guard against viruses. In particular, please avoid opening any attachments that you have reason to be suspicious of. If you know the sender, please send a follow-up email, or call them to verify that they intended to send out an attachment.
- Server space – there is a limited amount of space available for email storage on our server. Please check all email accounts regularly, and delete all unnecessary emails.
Personal accounts are available to all staff at member libraries, at the director’s discretion.
- OWLSnet will use these accounts to communicate with individual staff members, or to send out critical messages to the entire network, so these accounts should be checked every day the staff member is working.
- There is a limited amount of space available in the inbox, so additional folders should be created to store large documents or large numbers of documents.
- Directors can request an email account for a staff member by filling out the OWLSnet Email Account Request Form.
Library accounts are set up for each location, and are used primarily for patron emails from the online catalog, patron replies to automated notices, book club holds and emailed reports. Some libraries also use these accounts for a public contact point on the library’s website.
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For each library, this email account is in one of the following formats (where lib is the three letter van code.)
- lib@mail.owls.lib.wi.us
- lib@mail.nfls.lib.wi.us
- Because these emails often require a timely response, these accounts should be checked every day.
- In order to manage server space, older reports and emails should be deleted on a regular basis.
- Library accounts are intended to be generic email accounts, often accessed by multiple members of the library staff. Please reserve them for their intended purpose, and use personal accounts for any correspondence that is directed to an individual staff member.
Supporting public libraries in Outagamie and Waupaca counties