WWWomen: Mailing Lists Primer

Electronic Mailing Lists Primer

What is a Listserv?

The Internet provides thousands of discussion groups via e-mail by allowing users to place themselves on electronic mailing lists.

A listserv is program that maintains one or more of these mailing lists (i.e., a list server). A listserv automatically distributes an e-mail message from one member of a list to all other members on that list. Listservs maintain thousands of lists in the form of digests, electronic journals, discussion groups and the like.

When you subscribe to a list, your name and e-mail address is automatically added to the list. You will receive a standard letter of welcome (via e-mail) telling you about the list. SAVE THAT FILE! It will remind you how to unsubscribe should you ever want to do that. It might also provide important information about that group. From that time on, you will receive all mail (postings) sent to the list by its members. You may follow the discussions or join in on them. If you respond, you can send your response to the list (in which case, all members of the list will receive it), or to an individual on the list. You can signoff (unsubscribe) from a list at any time. You can also get a listing of all the members of a list and their e-mail addresses.

Subscribing, Unsubscribing, and Posting

In general, these commands work for Listserv. Other type of mailing lists will have their own instructions.

Subscribing

To subscribe to a list, send an e-mail message to the listserv address with one line in the body of the letter:

SUB listname yourname

where listname is the name of the list, and yourname is your full name (e.g. sub SAS-L Angela Smith).

Unsubscribing

To have your name removed from a listserv, send an e-mail message to the listserv address with one line in the body of the letter:

SIGNOFF listname

where listname is the name of the list (e.g. signoff SAS-L).

Posting

If you have an article (comments, questions, etc.) that you wish to distribute to all members of a list, send it as e-mail to the list address for that list. Please note that the list address is different from the listserv address.

Other Listserv Commands

Acknowledgement

You can control the amount of acknowledgement you receive from a list at the completion of a mail operation by sending an e-mail message to the listserv address with one line in the body of the message:

SET listname option

where listname is the name of the list, and option is ACK, MSGACK, or NOACK. ACK provides mail acknowledgement, MSGACK provides acknowledgement of interactive messages only, and NOACK provides no acknowledgement.

Review and Conceal

Sending an e-mail message to the listserv address with one line in the body of the message:

REVIEW listname

will provide you with the network address and name of all the list's subscribers.

Sending an e-mail message to the listserv address with one line in the body of the message:

SET listname CONCEAL

hides your name from users issuing the REVIEW command.

Email Etiquette

Electronic mail makes it easy for you to draft a message to someone and quickly send it on its way. With just a few more keystrokes, you can even send copies of that message to others. But, because of the normal drawbacks of written communication, like the lack of visual cues, your email messages may say more than the words you use to compose the messages. For example, the phrase you chuckled at as you wrote it may be interpreted by your readers as insulting or inflammatory. Such communications can escalate into a "flame war," all because of one small misunderstanding.

When using email for your correspondence, use the following guidelines when composing your messages. They will help you communicate more efficiently and effectively with your colleagues.

Make email messages brief and to the point. Avoid abbreviations that your reader might not be familiar with.
Use the SUBJECT line when sending a message. Busy users do not have time to read all mail at one sitting. The subject line allows users to scan for messages with the highest priority.
If you are responding to a previous message, summarize that message before you reply. This helps your reader remember their original comments. It is confusing to get a simple "no" or "yes" in reply to a question. Make a note of where in their original comments you "snipped" things out.
Use upper and lower case letters in your messages. All upper case is harder to read. In addition, messages typed in upper case give the impression of SHOUTING AT YOU!
Do not abuse the power of electronic mail. Flooding the network with large messages or "junk" mail can paralyze some computer nodes and disrupt normal network operations.
Do not use mailing lists as your personal advertising billboard. Mailing lists are for exchange of information, not selling or marketing unless it specifically says this is okay.
Use special symbols or words to indicate humor or an emotional response. Many people use symbols such as :-) or ;-) to indicate humor. Emotional responses can be indicated with the annotation "Flame!" or "Flame on" and "Flame off." Such indications alert the reader that you realize you are being emotional.
Use correct grammar and spelling. Your correspondence will appear more professional and will help generate a good "first impression" on your new email correspondents.
Never send a message when you are angry or upset. Try to re-read both the original message and your response before sending it.
If you find yourself involved in a flame war, try to find another method of communicating to break the cycle. A telephone call or face-to-face conversation can easily clear up any misinterpreted messages.
Never read messages displayed on another person's monitor without permission. It is rude, as well as a breach of privacy, to read someone else's mail, whether it is postal or electronic mail.