How to find and use a Mailing List ~ Tutorial by Roy Bowers

Listserv© and its bretheren (listproc, majordomo, listserver) refer to the software which administers a mailing list. To find a mailing list running on listserv, begin by consulting Tile Net.
If you can't find one at Tile Net, try Liszt: Searchable Directory of Email Discussion Groups which includes listserv and other types of lists. (As of June 10, they had cataloged 48,000 groups.) Other mailing list directories include:

Search the List of Lists by keyword
Interest Groups Finder
Lists of Lists - MIT
Mailing List Info and News Groups
Thousands of Mailing Lists

How is listserv like a Coke Machine?

A Coke machine does only one thing. It receives your money and gives you Coke (or change).
Listserv and its bretheren do only one thing. They accept commands and execute them.

You see, a mailing list has two addresses:

The listserv address for administrative commands [example: listserv@asu.edu]
The mailing list address which is directed to the group of people [example: talk-l@asu.edu]

So....

Sending your thoughts to listserv is like trying to talk to a coke machine.

Send it your commands only.

Sending commands to the group is equally ineffective.

Your friends on the mailing list expect intelligent conversation from you.

Remember:

Send your commands
to the listserv. (it) Send your comments
to the group. (them)

Quiz:

Questions	Answers
To: ____________ A. listserv B. talk-l C. Neither Dear Listserv, Please unsubscribe me. I've enjoyed the list. Thanks.	C. Neither. Listserv is software. It can only respond to commands. The group can't help you either. They don't have the power to unsubscribe you.
To: ____________ A. listserv B. talk-l C. Neither Dear friends, I have an idea I'd like some feedback about...	B. Talk-l Talk-l is the name of this forum. Your mail will be distributed to them, and hopefully they will respond.
To: ____________ A. listserv B. talk-l C. Neither set talk-l digest	A. listserv Listserv will respond to this command by setting your subscription to "digest" (see commands)

Helpful hints

When you first subscribe, the mailing list program sends you a message with its most important commands. This information will be useful to you later, so be sure to save that message. Many commands are program specific.
Turn off your automatic signature when communicating with listserv. Coke machines don't care who you are.
Lurk before you post. (Net jargon meaning "Evesdrop before you contribute.")
Who are you are replying to? Look at the To: line of your reply. Are you responding to the author or are you responding to the group? Know who your audience is before you click on "Send."

Listserv Commands:

There are many Listserv commands; only three of them are listed here. The rest you can learn by sending the command "help" to the listserv address. All listserv commands are case insensitive.

1. The most important is the subscribe command. With the exception of majordomo, all mailing list software accepts:

subscribe [listname] [your first name] [your last name]

as in: subscribe talk-l Joey Netster

(Majordomo doesn't care about your name, so don't include it.)

2. It is equally important to know how to unsubscribe. All mailing list software accepts:

unsubscribe [listname]

as in: unsubscribe talk-l

3. I believe the third most important command is the digest command. For active lists, this command will preserve your sanity. When you invoke the "digest" option, you will receive one message per day of all the day's postings. If you are subscribed to an active list, set your mail to "digest" with:

set [listname] digest

(Note: listproc uses a different syntax, so send the help command for the listproc command.)


Send your commands to the listserv. (it)		Send your comments to the group. (them)