The Internet

Listservs

• A listserv is an Internet discussion group; members of the group communicate to each other through email.

• Other names of Listserv -- there are many discussion groups on the Internet, and they may use one of the following names other than listserv:
  • mailing list
  • discussion list
  • interest group

• Things you can do on a Listserv
  • Ask questions related to the interest of the group
  • Offer your knowledge to the members of the group
  • Make announcement to the members of the group
  • Participate in the discussion
  • Request for archive files related to the group
  • Or, you can just be an observer

• How to find a group of your interest
  • You can browse through the following lists
    • Tile.net/Lists
    • Liszt directory of Email Discussion Groups
    • Email Discussion Groups/Lists and Resources
  • Or, send a "LIST GLOBAL" command with a subject keyword through email to any Listserv site, to search through all the names of all Listserv lists. For example :
    • LIST GLOBAL /library
    • LIST GLOBAL /interior design

• Who manages the listserv -- the mailing list manager (MLM)
  • Software administrator -- the administrative address of the list usually indicates which software manages the list, for example:
    • listserv@infoserv.nlc-bnc.ca -- the managing software is Listserv
    • listproc@educom.edu -- the managing software is Listproc
    • majordomo@world.std.com -- the managing software is Majordomo
  • Human administrator -- some lists could be managed by human administrator ( or administrators). For example :
    • jmgoode@ukcc.uky.edu

• How to become a member of a listserv
  • Send an email to the administrative address of the list to SUBSCRIBE to the list. If your list is managed by Listserv or Listproc, enter the following in your email message:
    • subscribe listname your name , for example
    • subscribe LIBJOBS kim lim
  • If your list is managed by Majordomo, you may not need to include your name.
  • If your list is managed by a human, you can send an ordinary message to the administrative address for subscription.
  • You will receive a "welcome" message from the administrator. You should save this message, because it gives you important information such as how to unsubscribe and who to approach in case of any problems.

• Communicating in the Listserv
  • Addresses
    • Administrative address -- the address to subscribe or unsubscribe to the list, and to get help regarding your subscription (by commands).
    • List owner or moderator's address -- you may find this address in the "Welcome" message when you subscribe to a list. This address is for you to report problems or ask questions that computer administrator can not answer.
    • List address -- the address that delivers messages to all the members of the group.
    • Individual's address -- when you receive a message from a member of the list, the member's address is on the message. You can reply to the member individually by replying to the individual's address, or you can send the reply to everybody in the list by using the list address.
  • Commands -- the commands used by different mailing list managers may be different, go to the following Web page to compare the differences.
    • Mailing List Manager Commands
    • Some important commands
      • The command to unsubscribe a list
      • The command to temporarily suspending messages
      • The command to resume your mails
      • The command to obtain a list of archive files
      • The command to retrieve an archive files
      • The command to search the archives