The purpose of these Participation Guidelines is to ensure that the Aquaculture Information Exchange remains a respectful, welcoming, and collaborative space for all members. By setting clear expectations for behavior and communication, we aim to foster a positive and productive environment where professionals and enthusiasts can share knowledge, engage in meaningful discussions, and advance the field of aquaculture together.
By participating in our community, you agree to abide by these Participation Guidelines and accept the procedures by which any violation of the Guidelines are resolved. Thank you for being a conscientious and thoughtful AIE member!
Summary
The Aquaculture Information Exchange online community is dedicated to maintaining a welcoming and supportive space for all our members regardless of background. This document contains our community’s governing values, expectations for behavior, and moderation procedures. Members agree to abide by these guidelines and respect the decisions of Administrators and Group Organizers regarding moderation and conflict resolution.
We ask our members to:
- Communicate according to our Shared Values
- Treat fellow members and group moderators with respect and empathy
- Empower each other to share knowledge, ask questions, and collaborate based on our interests and work in aquaculture
- Make a good faith effort to contribute and react, as we recognize that a community thrives when we learn, share, and create something together that we couldn’t on our own.
Please do not:
- Discriminate based on members’ background or experience
- Disparage or belittle members for their contributions, questions, responses, or opinions
- Share any data, including member contact information, without explicit permission from the contributors
- Violate copyright laws
If at any time you feel these guidelines have been violated, please fill out a feedback form and/or contact the AIE Manager.
In-depth Participation Guidelines
These Participation Guidelines contain the Aquaculture Information Exchange’s governing values, shared expectations for member interactions and contributions, and moderation procedures for conflict resolution.
All participants agree to abide by these guidelines. It is every member’s responsibility to familiarize themselves with this document, and to periodically check for updates. The AIE Manager will reach out to members whenever the document is significantly updated.
If you would like to submit anonymous feedback or suggest changes to these guidelines, please contact us at admin@aquainfoexchange.org.
I. Community Vision and Mission
The Aquaculture Information Exchange is an online community for those involved with or interested in the American aquaculture community. Our community’s mission is to provide an online space where our members, regardless of background, feel empowered to collaborate, connect, and support one another. By promoting the exchange of information across professions and geographical boundaries, our goal is to facilitate the growth of the community in an equitable manner.
II. Community Scope
Our platform is for members to discuss and explore aquaculture and related subjects. Members may share material that is not explicitly about aquaculture but is relevant for our work and the work of others in our community. As an example, a marine biologist could share insights from a study on coastal erosion and its impact on nearshore aquaculture operations.
We acknowledge that questions about what does or does not fall within the scope of the community are bound to arise; we trust our members to use their best judgment when choosing to share.
III. Shared Values
Our community is designed to facilitate discussions, learning, and collaboration between our members, who have varied backgrounds and levels of experience in aquaculture; therefore it is of paramount importance that all participants actively promote a culture of respect, empathy, and trust. By our very definition as an “information exchange,” we value the flow of asking and offering knowledge among each other. We act in good faith and with the assumption that others are doing the same.
We value:
- Connection
- Learning
- Collaboration
- Sharing
- Belonging
- By which we mean, help new perspectives be heard, and listen actively to those perspectives
- Trust
- Respect
- Questioning
- Equity
- Honesty
- Excellence
We recognize the value of our members’ time and voluntary participation. Our group moderators are committed to providing:
- Respectful interactions
- A safe and engaging environment
- Prompt and fair conflict resolution
- Openness to feedback and constructive criticism.
We will:
- Ensure the Aquaculture Information Exchange is a welcoming, supportive environment for our members, regardless of background.
- Recognize that the broad representation of disciplines within our community is one of our greatest strengths; the sharing of individual expertise, regardless of profession, is not only encouraged but requested, as is receptivity to responses from different perspectives.
- Broaden our collective understanding of aquaculture, and contribute to advance our community’s stated mission and goals
- Seek out opportunities to welcome others into our community who are aligned with our vision and mission
IV. Content Guidelines: Dos and Don’ts
Although our community exists entirely online and is a professional environment for discussing aquaculture, we don’t expect or want member content to be devoid of members’ personality or humanity.
Do: Humor
Humor is encouraged! Learning, collaborating, failing, and succeeding can be very comical processes. Please keep comments tasteful, though. Overtly crude or cruel jokes are not allowed.
Do: Sharing personal experiences
Members are encouraged to share personal experiences that are relevant to their work or interest in aquaculture, such as achievements, challenges, or insights.
Do: Spell it out
Rather than use an acronym with which some members may not be familiar, please spell out the entire phrase the first time you use it. For example, instead of posting about ‘RAS’, spell out “Recirculating Aquaculture System.”
V. Content Don’ts
In addition to the material listed in the introduction of this document, the following are not permitted on the AIE:
Providing open access to copyrighted material
Members must respect copyright laws and share published literature by providing a link to the manuscript, along with a reference and abstract. Only documents that are openly accessible, such as open access manuscripts, may be directly uploaded to the site in formats like .docx or .pdf.
Sharing licensed images, or images of people/members without credit or permission
Members should make every effort to identify and credit the original author of an image and include that information (including links to the source material) in the caption boxes of the image uploader. If you have a picture of another person or people, you must have the permission of everyone in the photo to share. Unless the image is licensed under Creative Commons, always ask the poster’s permission before using any image posted on the AIE outside of the community.
Images that are clearly inappropriate– contain nudity, are denigrating, inflammatory–will be removed and the member who posted the material may be suspended or removed from the AIE.
Images that may fall outside the scope of the community will be reviewed by the AIE Manager, and the posting member may be asked to remove the image.
Threatening harm to self or others
If a community member threatens the bodily safety of others, or indicates that they are in danger of harming themselves, please alert the AIE Manager immediately. Members should not feel obligated to engage or “talk down” a person who is in crisis. If the community member happens to be in your immediate physical vicinity, dial 9-1-1.
If you are in crisis, please call 9-1-1 or dial the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org to chat online with a counselor.
VI. Moderation
We are committed to ensuring the safety and comfort of all our members. In the case of conflict, the AIE Manager will take action to ensure that our environment remains a safe space for all.
Reporting an incident
If you feel these Participation Guidelines have been violated because of content posted by another member, please fill out a feedback form, which can be submitted anonymously. If you are able, please alert the AIE Manager to the content. The AIE manager has discretion to immediately remove inappropriate content; if after review it is determined that no violation has taken place, the content can be reposted.
If a member has been accused of violating these guidelines, they will be notified and given an opportunity to explain his or her actions and provide additional details. If necessary the report and related documentation will be presented to the Advisory committee. Action will be taken within 15 days of the initial accusation being made.
If the AIE team and Advisory Committee rule that the content was in violation of the Participation Guidelines, the violator will be contacted. Depending on the severity of the offense, the response will range from a warning to their expulsion from the Aquaculture Information Exchange.
VII. Member privacy and data
Contact information
The Aquaculture Information Exchange and its partner organizations do not and will not ever share or sell member information. Members are strictly forbidden from sharing other members’ contact information, including the email address attached to community profiles, without express consent of the owner of said email address/es and related information. Members agree to use the contact information furnished in profiles for the purposes of communication/collaboration as they relate to aquaculture, and not for personal or unrelated matters.
If a member requests an account but never logs in or is inactive for more than 18 months, they will be given notice and have 30 days to re-activate their account, otherwise it will be deleted and all contact information will be permanently erased. They may re-request an account at any time, at which point the contact information they provide will be subject to the same rules and regulations as above with a new 18 month opportunity to engage.
Email Newsletters
Upon activating an account, all members are automatically subscribed to our onboarding/tutorials, weekly newsletter, and monthly newsletter email list. Members can unsubscribe from any or all of these email lists at anytime.
Cookies and website data
Our website uses cookies to track member activity as it relates to engagement. We use Google Analytics to learn more about what our members find most interesting, and which tools are the most useful. We do not sell or furnish member activity to any third party for the purposes of profit or material gain.
Please see the full Terms of Service here.
AIE Manager:
Joseph Caterine
admin@aquainfoexchange.org
Many thanks to the Ocean Acidification Information Exchange for sharing their participation guidelines to help us create this document. By extension, their guidelines were informed by The Carpentries’ Code of Conduct shared by Toby Hodges, The Recurse Center User Manual, and the rOpenSci Code of Conduct shared by Stephanie Butland.