The Internet and email communications are relatively new, and are growing in use every day. Initially, the rules of use, or etiquette of the medium were set by the technicians that invented, improved upon, monitored, wrote programs for, and in other ways governed the internet. 
  

When the Internet started overcoming its technical limitations and business by the drove flocked to get on-line, the netiquette started to change. It is still in transition, with technical guidelines giving way to a more human based set of guidelines. 
  

Netiquette, like most etiquette for written correspondence, is dividing into two basic and distinct sets of guidelines - Personal and Business.  You will find however, that etiquette for email is based more on ease, function-ability, and degree of usefulness, more than manors. And etiquette on the web, is often at odds against what is considered polite in person.
  

We encourage you to explore the links below, not only in order to create a more polite web community, but also for your own peace of mind and safety on the net. 
  

A Beginner's Guide to Effective Email  
Revision 2.0 by Kaitlin Duck Sherwood comprehensively covers the the ins and outs of utilizing email.
  

Netiquette 
by Virginia Shea, published by Albion Books. The complete online edition available here contains all the text and graphics from the bound book - you can use the Next Page / Previous Page links to navigate each and every page. A little more comprehensive than most people would want, but this is the definitive work on the subject.
  

The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette
Arlene Rinaldi's popular guide to the customs of the Internet including email, discussion groups, telnet, ftp, WWW, and more.
  

Everything E-mail: E-mail Glossary
Mary Houten-Kemp defines common email terminology and acronyms.
  

Business Netiquette International
A concise guide for business etiquette on the Internet.