Chapter Seven: Listserv

Table of Contents: Course Syllabus Course Assignments and Due Dates Tips and Tricks Part One: Understanding The Internet Chapter One: Definitions Chapter Two: How the Internet is Changing the World Part Two: Getting On The Internet Chapter Three: Getting Connected Chapter Four: Surfing the Net Part Three: Communicating Over The Internet Chapter Five: Internet Etiquette (Netiquette) Chapter Six: Electronic Mail Chapter Seven: Listserv Chapter Eight: Usenet Newsgroups Chapter Nine: Communicating in Real Time Chapter Ten: Telnet Part Four: Finding Things On The Internet Chapter Eleven: Searching for Information Chapter Twelve: Commonly Found Internet File Types Chapter Thirteen: Downloading From the Internet Chapter Fourteen: Bibliographic Style for Citing Internet Resources Part Five: Creating Web Pages Chapter Fifteen: Web Page Creation Strategies Chapter Sixteen: Web Page Design Chapter Seventeen: How HTML Works Chapter Eighteen: Creating Your Web Page Resume Chapter Nineteen: Putting Images on Web Pages Chapter Twenty: Using Tables for Advanced Web Page Layout Chapter Twenty-one: Making a Local Web and a Home Page Chapter Twenty-two: Publishing Files on the World Wide Web Part Six: Using Multimedia On The Internet Chapter Twenty-three: How Web Browsers Do Multimedia Chapter Twenty-four: Waveform Audio Recording Part Seven: Planning For The Future Of The Internet Chapter Twenty-five: Societal Issues Chapter Twenty-six: Emerging Technology Chapter Twenty-seven: How to Keep Up Send E-Mail to Instructor Internet Resources Home Page

After completing this chapter, you will be able to: Describe how listserv works through e-mail protocols. Find out the names of listservs in your discipline or any other subject that interests you. Subscribe to a listserv. Know when to lurk on a listserv. Respond to messages received from a listserv. Send new messages to a listserv. File messages received from a listserv. Unsubscribe from a listserv. Mailing Lists Mailing lists and Usenet news permit widespread sharing of information among people with similar interests. Email discussion groups are made up of people anywhere on the Internet who agree to communicate about a certain topic using email. Usenet, Netnews or News permit the users the exchange or read information about specific topics. Messages are posted in a manner similar to that of a bulletin board rather than exchanged as email. Definitions Subscriber: Person who belongs to a mailing list. Synonym: participant Lurker: Person who is subscribed to a mailing list (or newsgroup) but never actively participates. Listserver: The mailing list software that actually maintains one or more mailing lists. Listserv, Listproc, and Majordomo are the most popular. You are encouraged to join a mailing list on a topic of interest to you. By being in touch with people who have a similar interest as yours, you have access to a vast amount of experience and advice. If you join a mailing list, you are not expected to jump right into the conversation. "Lurking" is a time-honored tradition in mailing lists and newsgroups. Lurking means reading the messages that are generated from the list, but not contributing any of your own. In fact, it's strongly suggested that you lurk for at least a short while to get the flavor of the group, and not embarrass yourself by saying something off-topic. Make sure you know the difference between the address of your mailing list and the address of the listserver. The "listserver" does all the housekeeping functions for the mailing list, such as letting people subscribe and unsubscribe to the list. Everything it does is automatic. It's address usually looks something like these: listserv@domain.com majordomo@domain.com maiser@domain.com The actual emails that you want to send to every other member on your list go to a completely different address. Be sure to save the welcome message instructions for every list you belong to. That will help you to know when to use which address. Netiquette (Dos and don'ts when communicating through newsgroups and mailing lists) On-line etiquette is often referred to as "netiquette." It’s basically a set of guidelines that, if followed, will assure your maximum effectiveness as an online communicator and keep you out of trouble. 1. When you join a list, monitor the messages for a few days to get a feel for what common questions are asked, and what topics are deemed off-limits. This is commonly referred to as lurking. When you feel comfortable with the group, then start posting. 2. See if there is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for a group that you are interested in joining. Veteran members get annoyed when they see the same questions every few weeks. 3. Avoid blatant advertising - create dialogs and offer useful information. 4. Follow any and all guidelines that the listowner has posted; the listowner establishes the "netiquette" standards for her/his list. 5. Keep in mind the broad, global audience that subscribes to newsgroups and mailing lists. Some readers may not understand your references. 6. Don’t be offended by other people’s ideas or opinions. And, if you do read something that you really feel uncomfortable with, try to ignore it. There are people who will post controversial positions just to bait others. 7. No one can see that smile on your face or the twinkle in your eye in the newsgroups or the mailing lists. Therefore, humor can sometimes be misperceived as sarcasm or callousness. Emoticons can help :-) (like this sideways smile). 8. Keep your questions and comments relevant to the focus of the discussion group. 9. If you can respond to someone else's question, do so through email. Twenty people answering the same question on a large list can fill your mailbox (and those of everyone else on the list) quickly. 10. Resist the temptation to "flame" (the Internet word for attacking another person’s ideas or actions). Remember that these discussions are "public" and meant for constructive exchanges. Treat the others on the list as you would want them to treat you. 11. When replying to a message posted to a discussion group, check the address to be certain it's going to the intended location (person or group). It can be very embarrassing if you reply incorrectly and post a personal message to the entire discussion group that was intended for an individual. 12. When signing up for a group, it is important to save your subscription confirmation letter for reference. That way if you go on vacation you will have the subscription address for suspending mail. Online Resources: Listservs: Tile.net/Lists Liszt, the mailing list directory Search The List of Lists Educom-Edupage Index Insider Home Netsurfer Digest Home Page The Internet TOURBUS - Home Page EFF's (Extended) Guide to the Internet - Internet Mailing Lists BCK2SKOL Lesson 7: LISTSERV, PART 1: OPTIONS Information About E-mail Lists Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists Assignment to turn in for credit: Search for email discussion groups on any topic of your choice, using any or all of the links below. Come up with a list of three discussion groups, along with the administrative email address and list email address for each. For one of the three discussion groups, briefly describe the type of information it had available. Catalist Liszt: The Mailing List Directory Publicly Available Mailing Lists Reference.COM Tile.net Lists Submit your answers Go to: Chapter Six Chapter Eight

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