Learn about Listservs,
Subscribing to a list, and Unsubscribing from a list.
Lists
A list is a mailing list, maintained
by a Listserv program or a person, of people who share a common
interest and wish to communicate.
Anyone can subscribe to an unrestricted list by requesting a subscription
to a Listserv mailing address. Any message sent to the Listserv
address is duplicated and mailed to the address of every person
on the list. Everyone can respond to the message with each response
being sent to every subscriber by the Listserv program. The result
is a running group conversation. There are thousands of list groups
on virtually any topic of interest.
Caution: Be selective in maintaining subscriptions to various list
groups, you can easily begin to receive 50+ messages daily.
If the mailing list address begins with the word "LISTSERV",
(example: listserv@ksuvm.bitnet) then the list is automatically
maintained by a Listserv program.
Mailing list addresses that do not begin with Listserv are maintained
by a real person.
(example: Kidsphere-request@vms.cis.pitt.edu).
Click on the "List of Lists" drop-down list to see some lists.
A Listserv is a family of computer
programs that automatically manage mailing lists, by handling the
details of subscriptions (adding and deleting list members), storing
documents for retrieval by list members, and distributing messages
posted to the list.
As a list member, you can send a message to a central address (the
Listserv's address). The Listserv duplicates your message and sends
a copy to each person subscribed to your mailing list.
The distinction between mailing addresses of the Listserv software
and the list itself is important.
The Listserv software automatically handles the details of subscriptions
and mail distributions; the list is the group of subscribers holding
a common interest.
To subscribe to a mailing list, you must send your request to the
Listserv mailing address. Once you are on a mailing list, you use
the list mailing address to post and distribute messages.
For example, suppose you want to subscribe to the AEDNET mailing
list. (This list is an international electronic network for those
interested in distance education.)
To subscribe to AEDNET use the Listserv address: listserv@alpha.acast.nova.edu
Once subscribed, to distribute a message use the listname (AEDNET)
address: AEDNET@alpha.acast.nova.edu
There are two types of lists, one that
is managed automatically by a LISTSERV computer program and another
that is managed by a person or maintainer.
(Censorship is permissible in manually managed lists since list membership
is optional).
Each LISTSERV program (for automatically managed lists) and each maintainer
(for lists managed by a person) has a unique mailing address. This
is the mailing address used to subscribe to and unsubscribe from a
particular list under that management of the LISTSERV program or moderator.
Each list has a unique mailing address different from the LISTSERV
or maintainers mailing address. The list mailing address is the one
used to send a message to all members on the list.
How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe - automated
lists (LISTSERVs)
Use LISTSERV address to subscribe to and
unsubscribe from automatically managed lists.
Example: listserv@unb.ca is the Uniform
Resource Locator (URL) address used to subscribe to the list "Sais-l",
a forum for exchanging ideas about making science more appealing to
students.
SUB (Subscribe) is the program command to request subscription to
"Sais-l". Thus, you would send an e-mail message to "listserv@unb.ca"
with a single line message of:
SUB sais-l YourFirstName YourLastName
How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe - Manually
Managed Lists
Use the list name mailing list to subscribe
to or unsubscribe from manually managed lists.
Example: "telecom-request@eecs.ndu.edu"
is the URL address used to request subscription to the list "telecom",
a forum for discussions concerning the telephone. Since you are requesting
subscription through a human list maintainer, no program command is
used. You simply state in the e-mail message that you want to be added
to or deleted from a particular list. Thus, to subscribe to the "telecom"
list, you would send an e-mail message to the maintainer addressed
as
"telecom-request@eecs.ndu.edu" and simply state "subscription to telecom
requested".
Sending Messages to Maintainer
To send a message directly to the person
in charge of a particular list, use the mailing address form:
owner-listname@list-URL-address
Sending Messages to Other Subscribers
Once you are on a mailing list, to distribute
a message to all list members, the mailing address form is:
listname@list-URL-address.
Thus, to send a science-related message to the members of the list
"Sais-l", (Remember, this list is for science educators.), you would
use the address "Sais-l@unb.ca", name a
subject, then input your message.
Note: the address "Listserv@unb.ca" is used to request subscription
to list "Sais-l".
The address "Sais-l@unb.ca" is used to distribute messages
to list members.
Finding Names of Lists
How do you find names of lists? A listing
of Internet mailing addresses of the lists can be obtained by sending
an e-mail message to: "mail-server@nisc.sri.com"
The message should contain the line:
send netinfo/interest-groups
Warning: The list of lists contains over 30,000 lines of text.
Learn
to Read messages and Send messages to newsgroups.
Newsgroups
A newsgroup is a collection of messages
concerning a related topic. Think of a newsgroup as a bulletin board
where only messages concerning related topics are posted.
Usenet
Usenet is the network system that manages
the newsgroups. Although Usenet is a totally separate system, it can
be accessed from all Internet sites. Usenet messages are distributed
around the world to all host systems (the system your computer connects
to when you have Internet access). Your host system stores all of
its Usenet messages, by newsgroup topic, in a central place. Anyone
connected to a host system can access these newsgroup messages. Currently,
there are thousands of different newsgroups (or bulletin boards) covering
almost every topic imaginable.
Some access systems divide Usenet into
several broad categories. Select a category to obtain a list of
newsgroups concerning the selected category; then, select a newsgroup
of interest. Other access systems permit you to build your own reading
list so that you see only messages concerning topics of interest
to you. In both types of access systems, newsgroups are arranged
in a particular hierarchy.
Category Names
Newsgroup names start with one of a series of broad category names.
For example, newsgroups beginning with "biz" concern business topics.
A series of more focused topics, separated by dots,
follow the broad topics name (example: biz.realestate.Michigan).
The broad category names of the official hierarchies that are distributed
to nearly every news site (host system) are shown below.
News articles are distributed by thousands
of locations through USENET (a network independent of, but accessed
through, the Internet) in topic groups called newsgroups. Every
day hundreds of thousands of articles of all types, having varying
degrees of value, are distributed through several thousand newsgroups.
Most news users identify a small number of newsgroups of interest
to read and ignore the rest. You can subscribe and unsubscribe to
and from most newsgroups with ease.
Newsgroup Names
How do you identify newsgroups to join?
Newsgroups have multi-part names separated by dots, as in news.announce.newusers
(a newsgroup containing introductory material for new news users).
Newsgroups are arranged into hierarchies. The first part of the
name identifies the general kind of newsgroup. Thus, all newsgroups
concerning recreation would have a name beginning with "rec". The
official hierarchies of top-level names of newsgroups that are distributed
universally are:
comp: computer
sci: science
rec: recreation
soc: social
news: Net news
talk: usually political discussions
misc: miscellaneous topics
Many less widely distributed sets of newsgroups
names can be obtained by reading the newsgroup named "news.list".
The newsgroup name generally identifies the type of news article it
contains. An example would be soc.culture.canada, a newsgroup
containing articles about Canada and its people.
News Reading Ability
You need a news-reading program. Most
host-sites, the site through which you obtain access to the Internet,
will provide a news-reading program. Generally, single letter commands
will allow you to perform the functions necessary to navigate through
news reading activities (such as subscribe and unsubscribe to and
from newsgroups). Menu choices and directions are clearly identified
on the screens of the news-reading program. The commands are not
identified here since they differ for the different news-reading
programs.
Posting to a Newsgroup
You can post an article to a newsgroup
you have joined through use of the news-reading program commands.
Obviously, since your article may be distributed around the would,
care must be taken when posting articles (brevity is a must).
Objectionable Material
Since any newsgroup member may post
an article (uncensored) world-wide, use of newsgroup ( and list)
activities by non-adults must be monitored. Some newsgroups (lists)
circulate material that may not be appropriate for educational use.
Some possibly offensive material that is being retrieved for viewing
may first appear on the screen as gibberish (encoded information).
Decoding is necessary to actually view the material.
This is a partial list of articles
for the newsgroup misc.education.multimedia.
By selecting REQUEST: Curriculum Development Project the
article can be read.
Creation of a list requires the editor/owner
to assume some degree of responsibility for enlisting the help of
a Listserv administrator, initial organization and supervision,
and the continued success of the discussion group.
Steps
Steps to create a list include:
Locate a computer site running LISTSERV software
preferably near you for ease of communication. Send the command
INFO LISTSERV to the Listserv at your selected site to obtain
documentation concerning the creation of a list.
Request permission to use the software and disk
space from the Listserv administrator of your selected site. Generally
the processing time and disk space will be free of charge.
Decide on the initial aspects of the proposed
list regarding:
Name of group
Purpose of group
Membership characteristics
Type of subscriptions (automatic or moderated)
Scope of group discussion
Editorial control
Source of and access to messages
Services - manual or automatic
Write brief documentation to introduce new list
members.
Request the Listserv administrator to set up
your list.
Send announcement of your new list to:
NEW-LIST@NDSUVM1 and
Arachnet@UT or Arachnet@VM
Responsibilities
Regular maintenance responsibilities of the editor/owner
include:
Monitoring contributions for inappropriate postings
or network problems.
Monitoring and responding to subscription requests
and distributing the introductory software to new members, unless
site software performs these functions automatically.
Monitoring and responding to addressing or software
problems.
Maintaining a good relationship with the Listserv
administrator. She or he will be of great help in time of need.
There is a set of guidelines to follow
to create a newsgroup. The Guidelines can be obtained via Internet
by using the FTP command to access "rtfm.mit.edu" to download the
helper document located at:
/pub/usenet/news.answers/usenet/creating-newsgroups/helper.
A quick overview of the Guidelines identifies five main stages.
Test the Waters
Discuss the idea of your proposed group. If an
existing newsgroup centers on a topic related to your proposal,
poll newsgroup members to test interest. Post an RFD
Post an RFD (Request for Discussion) to all interested
groups and to "news.announce.newsgroups" (n.a.n.) and "news.groups".
You must post your proposal to n.a.n. Review Reaction
During the next 30 days after the RFD, reaction
to your proposal will develop in the form of support, objection,
or helpful suggestions. Call for Votes
E-mail a voting request to rdippold@qualcomm.com.
The official CFV, (Call for Votes) will be handled by the votetaker.
The voting period is 22 days. Approval of a proposed newsgroup
requires 100 more yes/create votes than No/Dont create votes AND
at least two-thirds of the votes must be in favor of creating
the proposed newsgroup. Count Votes
The voting results are posted then to the NET
by the votetaker. If the vote is in favor, the new newsgroup will
be placed on the NET in 5 days. If the vote is negative, another
vote cannot be taken for six months.
From: jdoe1@aol.com (Joe Doe)
Newsgroups: misc.education.multimedia
Subject: REQUEST: Curriculum Development Project
Date: 10 Jan 2002 15:59:14 GMT
SEEKING PROJECT COLLABORATION
-----------------------------------------------------
High School or equivalent level teacher is needed to collaborate
on a science curriculum development project. Four high school teachers
and two research physicists located in northern California, USA,
are working on developing an interdisciplinary learning module based
on the theme of global security.
Our initial focus is on the problem of the proliferation of nuclear
weapons throughout the world. We will be designing a five-day curriculum
that includes activities in several subject areas. We hope that
these activities will include utilizing telecommunications, through
the Internet, to allow students in a classroom in the USA to exchange
views with students in classrooms in other countries on various
aspects of this important world problem.
Many questions relating to the issue need to be explored from a
worldwide perspective in order for students to gain a more complete
understanding of the problem. These questions include:
What is your view of the monopoly on nuclear
weapons held by the existing nuclear powers?
(Is it fair? Why or why not?)
Does that monopoly make a non-nuclear weapon
state feel more or less safe?
Because this issue is of more immediate concern to certain regions
to the world today, we are seeking the collaboration of a teacher
with access to a secondary level classroom (16 to 18 year old students)
in a country in South Asia or the Middle East.
If you are interested please respond by E-mail to jdoe1@aol.com.
::: joe doe ::::::: jdoe1@aol.com ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
