Internet Listservs
Table of Contents:
Listservs are one of the most fun, interesting, and easy to use resources on the Internet. Listservs are also one of the most accessible resources, because they employ the simplest technology: e-mail. People signed up with a commercial Internet access provider, or a major online service like Compuserve and America Online, as well as people living in Siberia--virtually anyone with e-mail--can participate in Listservs.
Technically speaking, Listservs are automated electronic mailing lists in which a message sent to a single address (the "list address") is automatically re-routed to everyone signed up on the Listserv. Listservs operate as e-mail messages which come to your mailbox.
Another way of thinking of Listservs is as "virtual communities:" groups of people, from all over the globe, interested in the same field. Most Listservs serve as a forum where list subscribers share ideas and discuss issues of mutual interest. They also serve as mechanisms for people to announce upcoming events and new resources. Subscribing to the right Listserv is an excellent way to learn about Internet resources in your area of interest.
Posting questions is one of the most useful aspects of Listservs. At first it takes a bit of courage to ask a question of so many faceless strangers. However, every list has a group of people who will help answer even the most elemental questions. Besides, what better place is there to uncover information than from the hundreds, or thousands, of people interested in the same topic as you?
There are thousands of Listservs and news groups. There are even Listservs which you can subscribe to that are solely dedicated to posting news about new Listservs. In future issues of NetTalk we will profile a variety of Listservs and also identify helpful Lists of Lists.
Listservs are so efficient because they are automated. This means subscribers must sign up and sign off from a list by themselves. The procedure is very simple, but it is important to be clear about one thing: all Listservs have TWO ADDRESSES.
There is the "List Address" to which you send a message when you want to talk to everyone on the list. Such a List Address is:
- [email protected]
And there is the "Listserv Address," which you use to sign on to, or off of, the list. E.g., the Listserv Address for the E-Europe list is:
- [email protected]
The first part of a List Address, the section before the @ symbol, is often referred to as the "List Name" and it usually offers a pretty good clue about the List's focus. For example:
Listservs require software programs to run them. There are several common Listserv software programs, including: Listserv, Listproc, and Majordomo. Usually the first part of a Listserv Address indicates the software program running the Listserv. For example, the following addresses are all Listserv Addresses:
Sometimes one address serves as the Listserv Address for many different lists. [email protected] serves as the Listserv Address for Balt-L and RFERL-L (the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Listserv).
Despite the different Listserv softwares, the process and syntax of subscribing to most lists is the same:
- Send an e-mail message to the Listserv Address
- In the body of the e-mail message type, on one line:
- subscribe
the name of the list, e.g., E-Europe
your name, e.g., Mary Doe
For example, when CCSI subscribed to the E-Europe list, our e-mail message looked like this (the bolded words were the ones we actually typed):
Date: Fri, 12 July 1993
To: [email protected]
Subject:
- ------------Message Text------------
subscribe E-Europe Richard Upjohn
Note: If your e-mail software has a "Subject" line, you should leave it blank. It also usually does not matter whether you capitalize letters or not.
Once you subscribe, you will usualiy receive a message acknowledging your
subscription and a list of directions for a variety of Listserv utilities. Most of these directions are confusing and can be ignored. However, you need to make note of two directions:
- how to unsubscribe from the list, usually requiring the Listserv Address
- the List Address to which messages should be sent for distribution to the entire list of subscribers
Don't lose this information. There is nothing more exasperating for the members of a list than when a subscriber who wants to unsubscribe, sends an "unsubscribe" message to the List Address (everybody) rather than to the Listserv Address (the list moderator).
To unsubscribe from most lists, do exactly what you did to subscribe, except substitute "unsubscribe" for "subscribe" in the body of your e-mail message. (And keep the unsubscribe directions to each of the Listservs you have subscribed to!)
After you have subscribed you will begin to receive messages. It is common, though not an ironclad rule, that e-mail from Listservs will have a header that looks like this:
- Date: Sun, 14 July 1994
From: Gleason Sackman{[email protected]}
To: E-Europe {[email protected]}
Subject: New Russian Business Resource
This header tells you that the message went to (and came from) the E-Europe list and that it was originally sent by Gleason Sackman. Now suppose that you wanted to comment on the new Russian business source Sackman has told everybody on the list about.
- If you wanted to send a reply to only Gleason Sackman, you would send it to:
- [email protected].
- If you wanted to send a message to everyone on the list, including Gleason Sackman, you would send it to:
- [email protected]
That�s all you need to know to enjoy this fun and powerful Internet utility.
This article is from the September 1994 issue of
Net Talk
For more information or to order a
subscription, see our publications page.
The URL for this page is: http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~ccsi/nettalk/94-09/listserv.html
Last updated: October 8, 1996
