In response to requests for electronic mail addresses that are easier
to read and remember, Library and Technology Services creates a standardized
e-mail "alias" for students, faculty, and staff.
Aliases are of the form "firstname.lastname@lehigh.edu"; anyone who knows your alias can use it to send you mail.
Note that the use of this alias is completely optional and that the standard 4-character ID-based addresses may continue to be used for electronic mail. Also note that this alias pertains only to electronic mail; you MUST continue to use your 4-character ID to log into Lehigh computer systems.
If you want to change your personal alias, go to the web page http://www.lehigh.edu/account ; you will be prompted for yourusername (ID) and password. Select the Email Alias option and follow the directions. See "Changing an E-mail Alias" below before doing so.
Note that while these new aliases will make it easier to remember someone's
e-mail address, guessing at an e-mail address could result in unforeseen circumstances
and should generally be avoided. Since individuals may have identical first
and last names or be known by either their middle names or nicknames, guessing
incorrectly at an alias will result in either an innocuous bounced message
or the delivery of the mail to the incorrect individual.
There are multiple ways to search for an e-mail address at Lehigh.
In addition to the Web-based search at
http://www.lehigh.edu/people,
Library and Technology Services provides an LDAP (Lightweight Directory
Access Protocol) server which can be accessed from most modern mail
programs (e.g., Netscape, Outlook Express, etc.) and can be used to obtain
Lehigh e-mail addresses.
Once the alias is set, anyone can send you mail addressed to either your mail alias or to your 4-character ID-based e-mail address. No other action needs to be taken on your part other than to inform people of what your alias is set to be. If you wish to continue using only your 4 character ID, you may simply ignore your alias.
For mail that you send to appear as being sent from your alias you need to set the e-mail address to your alias within your mail program. For example, within Netscape 4.7 click on Edit, on Preferences, on Mail & Newsgroups, and then Identity; enter your alias (e.g., firstname.lastname@lehigh.edu) within the "Email address:" field. In Netscape 7, choose Mail and Newsgroups Settings from the Edit menu, select your account name, and enter your alias (e.g., firstname.lastname@lehigh.edu) within the "Email address:" field.
Note that the alias entered as the e-mail address must be identical to
that displayed on the web page (http://www.lehigh.edu/malias);
if it is not, any attempts to respond to mail sent out with this incorrect
alias will fail. Also note that the "mail server user name" for your particular
mail program must remain set to your 4-character username.
There are two important factors to consider regarding changing e-mail aliases: keep it professional and descriptive, and change it NO MORE THAN once. The object of an e-mail alias is to make it easy for others to remember your e-mail address, and to try to keep e-mail aliases at Lehigh relatively similar in format. If your name is Robert, but everyone knows you as Bob, changing your alias from "Robert.lastname@lehigh.edu" to "Bob.lastname@lehigh.edu" is perfectly acceptable. However, since there are more than a few people named Robert, changing your alias to "Bob@lehigh.edu" wouldn't be acceptable. If you are known by your middle name (or by a non-offensive nickname), "middlename.lastname@lehigh.edu" would also be an acceptable form.
The reason for picking an alias (i.e., keeping the pre-assigned one or
changing it once before using it) and sticking to it is really quite
simple: any mail sent to a name that does not exist will bounce back to
the sender. If you use one alias one week and another alias the next, anyone
sending mail to, or responding to mail from, the old alias will not get through.
This is particularly important when subscribing to electronic mailing lists
such as LISTSERVs (see "Effect
of Aliases on LISTSERVs" below). Additional information on changing
an alias, along with instructions for doing so, can be found on the Email
Alias link off of http://www.lehigh.edu/account.
Note that the process to integrate changed aliases into the mail system runs periodically throughout the day. As it is always a good idea to test a changed alias (by sending yourself mail using the alias), always wait at least 15 minutes after changing the alias before testing the alias.
LISTSERV electronic mailing lists typically require users of the list to be subscribed to the list, especially if you intend to send messages to the LIST. The e-mail address used when subscribing to the list is the only address used by the list. Any messages that you post to the list must be sent from that address and any messages you receive from the list will be sent to that address. A message to unsubscribe from the list must also be sent from that address.
However, this can be a problem if you are sending mail with your alias as the address. If you subscribed to a list with an alias and then change your alias, any mail sent to the old alias will bounce back to the list (i.e., you won't receive it). Most likely, you also won't be able to post messages to the list or even unsubscribe from the list.
To avoid this problem, it is recommended that you unsubscribe from all LISTSERVs before you change your alias, and then re-subscribe after you change your alias.
Questions pertaining to electronic mail aliases can be directed to any
Library and Technology Services consultant or to the Help Desk at ext. 8-HELP.