Technology

With the advent of e-mail, it's easy to jot a disjointed note and send it off to clients or colleagues. But a slap-dash approach may lead you to say things you'd never consider appropriate if you were using a pen and paper. Keep out of trouble with these e-mail etiquette tips:

If you and your employees use work-related e-mail addresses, you probably face in boxes that bulge with spam, technically known as unsolicited commercial e-mail. And you're not alone in the battle against notices for low mortgage rates and questionable pharmaceuticals.

Long before my father was born, the world must have marveled at the steam engine.

Don't forget Web resources when advertising for a new veterinarian, says Lynette Ott, practice manager at Barton Heights Veterinary Hospital in Stroudsburg, Pa. Classified ads are expensive, so you want to limit the space you use-but you still want to provide potential associates with lots of information before they apply.

The Internet's an invaluable tool, but it also can pose a threat to your practice by leaking proprietary information and by opening your system to hackers and viruses, says Dr. Stephanie Slahor, JD, Ph.D. The key to protecting your practice: Make sure team members don't let sensitive information out via message boards, mass mailings, file transfer protocol sites, or chat rooms, she says. The safest bet? If it's confidential, don't say it online!