Email
What is Email?
A message sent from one computer to another over the Internet. To start sending
emails you will need:
• A computer connected to the Internet (You can use the library computers!)
• An email address
Getting an Email Address:
You will need to get an email address from a company that has “mail servers”, i.e.
special computers that can deliver emails to the right place.
Email from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) Company:
ISPs (Internet Service Providers) are companies that provide a connection to the
Internet for a monthly fee. They usually include one or more email addresses in the
monthly Internet connection fee.
Examples of ISPs in Halifax:
See the yellow pages for a complete list of ISPs under Internet-Products & Services.
• Aliant - (High speed Internet via the phone lines)
• Chebucto Community Net (Dial-up Internet)
• EastLink (High-speed cable Internet)
If you have email from an ISP you will be able to check it in two ways.
1. At home: using software (e.g., Outlook) which can automatically remember your
login name and password for you.
2. At the library or at home: by logging in to the company’s webmail website. You
will need to remember your login name and password.
Free Web-Based Email Service Providers:
To sign up for a free web-based email account, go to one of these websites and look for
links like “Sign up now” or “Register here” to access the registration form.
•
•
•
•
www.gmail.com
www.yahoo.com
www.hotmail.com
www.lycos.com
Tips for Selecting a Secure Password:
Do use a combination of letters (upper and lower case), numbers and symbols.
Do not use words in the dictionary, your phone number, birth date or other things
that would be easy to guess.
Email
Updated: February 2010
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Parts of an Email Address:
johnsmith@gmail.com
User name: a unique
name that identifies a
user.
Domain name: a company or
organization name that
provides the email service.
.
The @ symbol is read as “at” and can
be typed by holding down the SHIFT
key while typing the number 2 on the
keyboard.
Sending a Message:
STEP 1. Fill in the boxes:
When you start to write an email message you will see a form with numerous empty
boxes. Here is an explanation of what you need to type in each box.
To:
Type the email address(es) of the people to whom
Note: You must type
you are sending the message. When writing to more at least one address
than one person put a comma between their
in the “To” box
addresses. (e.g., sam@mail.com, jen@mail.com)
otherwise your
CC:
Type an email address in the “Carbon Copy” box if
message can’t go
you just want to “cc” someone for their information,
anywhere. It is not
necessary to use
and you don’t expect them to respond. The main
“cc” or “bcc” every
recipient in the “To” box will be able to see the email
time.
addresses in the “CC” box.
BCC: Type an email address to “Blind Carbon Copy” if
you want someone to
receive the message without the main recipient knowing.
Title: Type a brief title/subject for your message. This is not mandatory but it is
helpful for the recipient.
Message: Type your message in the large box.
STEP 2. Click “Send”:
Email
Tips for Sending Emails:
- To see the messages you have sent, click
“Sent Mail”. (It might be called “Sent” or “Sent
Messages”)
- Most email providers offer a spell check
feature. They’re quick and easy to use!
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Reading Your Messages:
1. Click on “Inbox” to see a list of the messages you have received. For each
message, you will typically see the message title/subject, the email
address/name of the sender, and the date sent. Messages that you have not yet
read will be in bold text.
2. Click on a message’s title to read the full message.
Example of Messages in an “Inbox”:
□ service@macpass.com
□ George Smith
□ j.macdonald@mymail.com
□ George Smith
□ Jennifer White
□ Tourism Nova Scotia
Your January Statement
Re: Birthday cake
Re: lunch at Pete’s
Birthday cake
Fwd: Sam’s contact info
Free Bluenose Tickets!!
Mon 2/1 12:00am
Sat 1/30 5:03pm
Fri 1/29 9:13pm
Fri 1/29 5:03pm
Wed 0 2:00pm
Tue 8:03am
Replying to a Message:
1. View the message by clicking on its title in
the Inbox.
2. Click “Reply”.
3. Type your response in the message box.
4. Click “Send”.
Note: When someone
replies to an email “Re:” is
automatically added to the
subject/title.
Forwarding a Message:
To share a message that you have received with others, you can “forward” it to them.
1. View the message by clicking on its title in
the Inbox
2. Click “Forward”
3. Type an email address into the “To” box
4. If you wish to add something to the message
type it into the message box
5. Click “Send”
Email
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Note: When a message is
forwarded “Fwd:” will
automatically be added at
the beginning of the
message subject/title.
www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
Sending Attachments:
You can “attach” files (e.g. digital photographs, your resume, etc.) to an email. The
exact steps differ depending on your type of email. Use the lines provided to write down
the steps for yours.
1. Follow the usual steps for sending a message (put an email address in the “To”
box, type your message and give it a subject.)
2. “Attach” the file
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
3. Click “Send”
Note: When you receive a message
with an attachment it will have a little
paperclip beside it in your inbox.
Organizing Your Messages:
Your inbox might start to feel cluttered and you might have difficulty finding older
messages once you have received lots of mail. To avoid this you can organize them into
folders. Some people have a different folder for each of their friends, others prefer to
have folders for categories (e.g. dogs, cars) or events (NewYear2010).
The process is slightly different for different types of email. Write in the steps for yours
below:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Email
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Using Your Address Book:
Email addresses are difficult to remember. Most email programs allow you to save your
friends’ names and email addresses in an address book. Write the steps for using your
address book below:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Email Etiquette:
•
•
Avoid using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS or bold letters in your email messages. In
the email world, this is equivalent to SHOUTING!!!
Use sarcasm and humour with caution. Misunderstandings are common because
the recipient can’t see your facial expressions or hear your tone of voice.
Email Privacy & Security:
1. Passwords: do not write them down or give them out to other people
2. Always sign out at the end of your email session, especially if you are using a
public computer (like at the library).
3. Never send personal information like your SIN or bank account number by
email. Email is not a secure way to send information.
4. “Spam” is unsolicited email. Like the junk mail you get in your mailbox at home it
could be legitimate companies advertising their products or con artists trying to
make a quick buck. To avoid getting spam don’t give out your email address.
5. There are many scam artists trying to make money off unsuspecting or gullible
email users. The best way to protect yourself from these “phishing” emails is
just to delete them. Do not click on any of the links they send to you as this may
open your computer up to a virus. Beware of messages that:
• come from people you don’t know
• ask for donations
• seem to be coming from your bank or any other bank, or ask for your bank
account information even if they say they want to put money into your account
• ask you to click on a link in order to login and verify personal information
• inform you that you have won a prize/money and ask for personal information
in order to give you your prize
This work is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 license. You may share and adapt
it for non-commercial use if the original is cited. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ca/)
Email
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