Communication Studies - Internet Skills - Listservs

Introduction

Mailing lists, also known as electronic discussion lists or listservs*, allow people with common interests to exchange e-mail on a specific topic. They are an excellent resource for sharing ideas, finding out the latest research in an area, or locating people who are "experts" in a field. Discussion lists may be moderated (person or group of people who intercept messages before posting to the list) or unmoderated (all messages are posted automatically). The traffic on any single list may vary from a few messages per week to dozens per day. When you subscribe to a list, you must check your e-mail frequently, saving or discarding messages as appropriate, in order to keep your e-mail account from filling up.

*Refers to a particular kind of mail list management software, although it is often used generically to refer to any kind of discussion list the way Kleenex refers to any kind of facial tissue.

Subscribing to Discussion Lists

Discussion lists are "housed" or kept on computers called mail servers. In order to "join" the discussion, you must subscribe to a list, using e-mail. To do this, you must know two pieces of information. The first is the address of the mail server where the discussion list is housed (e.g. listserv@listserv.kent.edu). The second is the name of the mailing list. For example, in order to subscribe to the COMHIST discussion list, you should do the following:

1. Start your e-mail software and open a new message.
   
2. In the TO: line, type the address of where the list is housed: comserve@cios.org
   
3. Leave the SUBJECT line blank.
   
4. In the BODY of the message, type the following:
   subscribe CMC YourFirstName YourLastName
   
5. Send the message.

PLEASE NOTE: The exact commands that you use will depend upon the kind of discussion list software used by the site where the list is housed.

Once your request to subscribe has been received and processed by the mail server where the discussion list is located, you will receive two messages. The first will be an acknowlegement from the the mail server stating that you have been successfully subscribed, and the second will be a welcoming message from the list. SAVE THIS MESSAGE!! The welcoming message contains important information about the discussion list: its scope and focus; where to send messages; additional commands that allow you to customize certain features of the list; and most importantly, how to unsubscribe from the list. At this point you will begin to receive messages posted by other subscribers. You may also post messages to the list, according to the instructions found the welcome message, or to individuals who are subscribed. Typically, you should not post a message meant for a single individual to the entire list.

Discussion List "Netiquette"

When you send a message to be posted on a discussion list, you are sending to a public forum possibly consisting of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people. As with e-mail, there are suggested guidelines for communicating via discussion lists which will allow you to function responsibly and effectively. Please consult them before posting messages to the listservs to which you subscribe.

Locating Discussion Lists

There are several web sites that provide the information about and the location of discussion lists. Here are a few:

• Topica, the mail list directory
  (Formerly Lizst.com) A comprehensive search service and directory of nearly 85,000 discussion lists, searchable by keyword and also arranged by broad subject category.
  
• The Directory of Scholarly and Professional E-Conferences
  Screens, evaluates, and organizes discussion lists, newsgroups, interactive web Chat groups, and more according to their main academic subject area.
  
• Tile.Net Lists
  A search service that lets you look up discussion lists by topic, name, country.

Additional Reading

L-Soft International. (2003, September 12). CataList: The Official Catalog of Listserv Lists . Retrieved September 12, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html
A useful site for identifying mailing lists on most topics.

Topica: The Mailing List Directory . (2000). Retrieved September 12, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://www.topica.com/
A mailing list search service that allows you to locate discussion groups on a topic.

Lyris Technology, Inc. (2000). Tile.Net . Retrieved September 12, 2003 from the World Wide Web: http://tile.net/lists/
A search service that allows you to locate discussion groups on a topic. It also searches newsgroup and FTP sites.