The benefits and curses of electronic mail

At the time of writing this editorial, the issue of electronic mail (email) seems to be widely reported and discussed in the newspapers and broadcast media. The breaching of the security of Microsoft's Hotmail service by a group of hackers, coupled with recent stories of a new generation of email borne computer viruses, which not only infect their recipient's machines, but are able to dispatch themselves to others with whom they have had contact, have both served to raise the issue of the rapidly growing impact of this form of communication on our professional and personal lives. All kinds of commercial, academic, governmental institutions now seem to advertise their e-mail addresses and World Wide web pages, and increasingly the mass media solicits communication in this way. Much of the work on the compilation of this journal, including contact with contributors, referees, publishers, and typesetters, is now conducted in this way. Since it is also exactly ten years since I acquired my first email account, I will take the opportunity of considering why the use of this form of communication has developed so rapidly over the last decade, and the impacts (both positive and negative) that it is having, and will have upon the information professions.

My introduction to email in 1989 was using a mail handler on a mainframe computer using the Unix operating system. Mail users then needed to learn a limited range of commands and a specific syntax in order to compose, send, retrieve, scan, read, search, answer, file or delete their messages. This task can hardly be described as intellectually taxing, but it was neither intuitive nor inviting to new users, and consequently the technology was not widely used outside academic environments. Some of the messages received had no signature files and unintelligible return addresses, so did not provide the normal clues as to who one was communicating with, which might be present with a letter on headed notepaper. Likewise it was often difficult to track down the email addresses of individuals one might wish to contact, and there was no guarantee that they were mail users. Sometimes it was a little like sending a message into a void with no guarantee that it would ever be received or acted upon. Finally the technology then appeared to be limited to the sending and receipt simple (plain text messages) - at least to non-computer scientists such as myself. After a few vain attempts at wrestling with the complexities of the uuencode and decode facilities, ending up with email messages full of unintelligible gibberish many users gave up trying to send formatted files in and reverted to sending diskettes through the post.

However, even with all these limitations, there were obvious advantages over the available alternatives. Email has the advantage of being both an asynchronous and yet a rapid means of communication. That is to say it does not require both parties to be communicating at the same time, but if they are, then it is possible to have a half-duplex conversation with someone on the other side of the world. Information could be received, points clarified or transactions made in seconds that would previously take days or sometimes weeks.

Email is also far more flexible and less formal than traditional mail - one message may be sent to a large number of users simultaneously, or else forwarded together with comments to other recipients. It also has the advantage over the telephone in so far as it results in a textual record of the communication, which may be stored and referred to at a later date. Above all else it has the advantage of incredible cheapness over all other remote forms of communication, once the initial costs of purchasing a terminal and gaining access to a network has been met.

The technology began to grow in popularity with the introduction of intelligent mail client software such as Eudora or Pegasus, operating under Windows and other graphical environments, thereby making the routine processes of dealing with mail far easier to understand and use. However specialist mail clients are perhaps just an intermediate stage as latest trends have tended to integrate mail within all-purpose scheduling/organiser software, or even word processors.

Locating and keeping track of email addresses, is now far more easy to do with the use of directory services and integrated address books. In any event addresses are often now more decipherable and easy to trace- identifying individuals rather than their computer logins. Likewise the development of widely used multi-media encoding systems such as MIME (Multi-media Internet Mail Extensions) and client software which can recognise and interpret which encoding system has been used, has made the prospect of sending formatted documents, images, sounds, Web-pages, and small computer applications by Mail far easier.

Another significant reason for the growth in e-mail has been its successful integration with the World-wide Web. Many mail systems are now Web based and often are provided freely funded only by means of advertising. Also Web browsers such as Netscape are able to connect to mail servers and perform the functions of specialist mail clients. The mailto: function in the hypertext mark-up language (html) also means that a message screen or mail client may be called up from a dynamic link in a Web page. The advantage here is that the means of communication can be integral with a source of useful information. Thus when planning a recent trip to libraries in the USA I was able to look up all travel details and then book flights, hotel accommodation, and also make contact with the libraries concerned from my desk, and using a single piece of software.

A third important factor in the growth in email has been the development of list-servers such as Mailbase, which was also established in 1989. It has always been relatively easy task to create lists within a local mail environment or on a specific mail client. However the advent of automated list-server has enabled the growth of thousands of specialised discussion lists during the 1990s providing a forum for mail users to take part in informal discussions, or seek advice or information from colleagues. There are now lists covering not only specialised academic disciplines, but also for professional specialisms. The list servers also maintain searchable archives of their discussions. I have posed specialised questions to such lists and received useful and thoughtful answers from individuals whom I would never think of contacting by mail or telephone, even if I knew their addresses.

During the summer of 1996 I was involved with a colleague in conducting interviews with different groups of library and information professionals ranging from students and the newly qualified to strategic managers. One of the most noteworthy findings was the impact that the use of email and electronic discussion lists was having on their work. This ranges from routine library communications such as reservations and overdue letters, which now may be generated automatically from housekeeping systems, through to requests for inter-library loans, or the day to day seeking of information and advice from other professionals who have faced the same problems.

However, alongside the obvious benefits of this new means of communication there are also disadvantages which are becoming increasingly obvious as its use becomes more pervasive. The potential for disseminating computer viruses via email has already been mentioned. These may be in the form of macro viruses within word-processed or other documentary attachments, or else as executable files. However alongside the viruses themselves there have been a far greater number of virus hoaxes, frequent disseminated further by well-meaning recipients. In terms of the disruption caused virus hoaxes can be equally effective as the viruses themselves and may originate from similar sources.

The volume of unsolicited mail, whether electronic or otherwise seems to be growing at an alarming rate - much of it commercial in nature. A least with traditional ‘junk’ mail there is some small satisfaction in knowing that it has cost the sender something, whereas emailing discussion lists can be a very effective and inexpensive method of disseminating a message – whether advertising or otherwise. However my experience to date has been that email has been used to generate far more offensive communications of this type than traditional mail - this is not just invitations to visit pornographic web-sites or purchase Viagra directly, but more insidiously unpleasant or threatening messages. Email can be used to create elaborate nonsensical chain messages with implied menace to those who break the chain, or for disseminating racist or other hate messages, or to threaten or harass individuals. Why this should be so requires further investigation, but may be something to do with the mind-set of individuals who spend much of their time interacting with computer screens rather than human beings.

Since email does not yet have any form of electronically verifiable signature there is also the potential for individuals to create mischief in the name of another. Carelessly leaving a computer logged on to a network, or breaches of password security can provide the potential for the use of an account for unauthorised and possibly criminal purposes which might be tracked back to an innocent. Likewise, it is relatively easy to sign on to one of the many anonymous email services available an impersonate another.

A lot of press discussion seems to be centred upon the potential lack of security of email messages, which might be intercepted and read either by the organisation operating the local mail server, or else by other unknown hackers into the computer networks. This undoubtedly an issue, but is not inherently different from the lack of security of other forms of communication. I have always assumed that there was at least the potential for my telephone conversations to be intercepted or mail to be opened and examined prior to delivery - either by my employers (if I am using facilities provided in connection with my work), agents of the state or other individuals. If I am really so determined to keep communications secret I would have to take specific measures to ensure encryption. However why anyone else should be remotely interested in my letters emails or telephone conversations is beyond me. One other advantage of electronic mail is that one is sometimes able to filter such materials directly into the wastebasket - although the spammers often manage to remain one step ahead.

Other problems relate to the increase in the volume of communication generally. Specialist discussion lists can suddenly become hijacked by a few opinionated and extremely verbose individuals with not another to do. Likewise they can be used a shortcuts by lazy individuals to questions answer basic questions that could far better be answered by visiting their local reference library. Thus what started off as a useful forum of specialist communication can degenerate into a source of irritation. One way round this is for the discussion lists to be moderated, but this then depends on recruiting an individual willing to receive and read yet more emails before deciding whether or not they should be posted.

Email is also used as a forum for casual communication or enquiry on a global scale. From time to time I receive emails from individuals with the same surname - usually from the mid-west of the USA - asking if we are related, whether I am related to my namesake (recently executed in Indiana for multiple murder), or whether I might help them trace their genealogy. Likewise in a professional capacity, I frequently receive emails which have to be passed on to other individuals in the university. A Welsh-speaking colleague mentioned recently he receives requests to translate Welsh words, or advice on the origins of place names. One tries to be polite and helpful (within bounds) but it all serves to increase the pressure. A friend working in a Record Office recently mentioned that email not only serves to generate far more enquiries from individuals who could not reasonably be expected to visit in person, but also at the same time puts pressure on for a rapid and unconsidered response. No sooner has one question been answered than a follow-up is received - perhaps within a matter of hours, when in the past a week or two might have elapsed.

This leads on to the final curse of email - ill-considered or ambiguous messages, or those inadvertently sent to the wrong recipient. The simplicity and rapidity of the means of communication - coupled with the lack of associated semantic information (such as tone of voice, facial expression, gesticulation) can easily lead to misunderstandings resulting in rude and ill-considered responses. A message that was mildly irritating or thoughtless can start off a whole series of abusive communications, simply because those involved have not taken time to cool down and think of what they were saying before responding. There have been some attempts to overcome inadequacies of email such as the establishment of Netiquette (Internet etiquette) including guidelines for posting messages and the creation of 'Emoteicons' such as ;-) or :-( as a means of conveying facial gestures.

A misunderstanding of the nature of discussion lists can sometimes mean that responses addressed to one individual can sometimes be inadvertently copied to the whole list. If nothing else this is both impolite and irritating to the members of that list, but can be more serious. I was once a split-second away from wrecking my career when I was about to copy a sarcastic observation on a distinguished individual to virtually everybody working in the same field. - including the individual herself. It is far too easy to make such defamatory or libellous comments by email that might be bitterly regretted later. Also it is becoming increasingly obvious that mail messages are not as easily disposed of as many users assume. Mail messages, even if they are deleted by both the sender and recipient, may well be recoverable from their file stores, or else have been backed up on some mail system en-route, and as such, may still be recoverable in a legal action.

The use of electronic mail has grown phenomenally over the last decade and will undoubtedly continue to revolutionise both individual and also mass written communication. However perhaps our understanding of the nature of this new means of communication, including its many benefits and pitfalls, has not yet had time to mature. In the meanwhile I think we are all bound to use it with care.

David Stoker

September 1999 - With thanks to Tim Gillison.