|
|
A Basic Guide to Listserv Lists |
This document is intended to provide you with the basic information you need to subscribe and unsubscribe to a Listserv list via e-mail. Mail references will be general; please refer to the documentation your your particular mail program or client for specifics.
This document uses several fonts and styles to clarify the meaning of the text:
| fixed text | indicates computer responses that you do not type. |
| bold fixed text | indicates words or characters that you type. |
| italic fixed text | indicates words or characters you type for which you must substitute text. |
| italic text | a general word or phrase for which you must substitute text (for example, for listname you might substitute WMST-L) and is used to place emphasis on text. |
| bold text | places emphasis on text. |
Note: Access to WAM labs at the University is limited. You must have a valid University ID to use the labs.
E-mail is an important part of life at the University. The use of e-mail is a common requirement in academic classes. Many instructors require participation in e-mail discussion groups known as Listserv lists.
A Listserv list is a single e-mail address that contains the e-mail addresses of all its members. When any one person sends an e-mail message to (or replies to) that single address, everyone on the list gets a copy of the message. This makes Listserv lists an ideal tool for discussions, whether they are simply covering local topics within the University, or specific topics of interest among the list members.
Note: Not all mailing lists are Listserv lists.
A Listserv list's address consists of two parts - a listname and a host-address. The listname generally reflects the topic discussed on the list. The host is the computer on which the list resides. For instance, listserv.umd.edu is the University of Maryland Listserv host. It handles a large number of lists, with names such as WMST-L (the Women's Studies List) and BIOL105 (the Intro to Biology list).
An example of a full Listserv list address would be:
WMST-L@listserv.umd.edu
Note: For information about how to start a new Listserv list, see http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/topics/email/lists/background/4009/.
A Listserv list is one type of e-mail discussion list. Others include Majordomo and Coursemail mailing lists. They may have different procedures and commands than those shown in this document and are beyond the scope of this document; we mention them here to alert you to possible differences. For more about Majordomo, visit: http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/topics/email/lists/majordomo. For more about Coursemail, visit: http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/topics/email/lists/coursemail.
Another type of e-mail discussion medium used at the University is known as a mail reflector. Most mail reflector addresses include @umd.edu within the address. When in doubt, contact the OIT Help Desk with the full address of the mailing list. For more about mail reflectors, visit: http://www.helpdesk.umd.edu/topics/email/reflectors.
Note: Certain University departments run their own mail reflectors, but these are beyond the scope of this document.
Subscribing is just one of many services Listserv provides. Remember that whenever you are asking for a service (as opposed to participating in the e-mail discussion), you must send mail to:
LISTSERV@host-address
For services relating to lists that are local to the University, this would be:
LISTSERV@listserv.umd.edu
Keep in mind that there is no "E" at the end of Listserv. Also keep in mind that you are writing to a machine for service, not a person, and it will ignore the Subject: line of your message. So you may leave the subject line blank.
Your specific request for service, in the form of a Listserv command, goes in the message-text portion of your e-mail message. Throughout this document, we will illustrate this service-request process with:
| Send a mail message to: | LISTSERV@hostaddress |
| Subject: | (none) |
| Message-text: | listserv-command |
When you are subscribing to a list, use the Listserv SUB command in the message-text of the request for service, along with the listname and your first and last names (not your e-mail address).
To subscribe to a list that is local to the University, send mail to listserv@listserv.umd.edu. Use the SUB (subscribe) command in the body of your mail message to the host computer (the machine connected to the network). You must also include the listname and your-first-and-last-names:
SUB listname your-first-and-last-name
For example:
SUB WMST-L Jane Doe
Your name is important because that is what appears on a list of list members. You should not put your e-mail address here.
You will receive (usually immediately) an e-mail acknowledgment of your subscription. Unless the list is one of the relatively few that require an additional confirmation from you (usually just a reply saying "OK"), all that you need to do to start participating in the discussion is read and respond to your e-mail.
The important thing to remember when participating in a discussion is that discussion mail must be sent to the listname - as opposed to requests for services, which go to listserv. One of the two most frequent mistakes beginners make is to confuse these two.
| If you are:... | send mail to: |
|---|---|
| Participating in a list discussion... |
listname@hostaddress
For example: WMST-L@listserv.umd.edu |
| Requesting system services... |
LISTSERV@hostaddress
i.e., when subscribing to a list (see How Do I Subscribe to a List?) and using other services discussed in this document (see How Do I End a Listserv Subscription?) |
How replies are handled varies with the mail-handling program you use. Refer to the documentation on your mail program or client for specifics on the following sections.
When you reply to someone's mail that you received through a Listserv list, there are two important questions to answer before you can type your reply (depending on the way the list has been set up).
In a discussion, the best reply to this question is yes. It is useful to include in your reply the material to which you are replying, because the discussion may have progressed beyond what you've seen, and will need context. Use your mail programs editing features to remove irrelevant lines of a message.
You need to determine whether your reply goes to the entire list (probably the address on the Reply-to: line, or just the sender (probably the address on the From: line. In your outgoing mail, make sure you're sending it to the intended audience; for example, try not to send replies directed to the original sender to the entire list.
Note: The first time you reply to mail from a given list, look at these two lines to ascertain where they are going.
To get a basic command list, send mail to the Listserv service address with the command:
GET LISTSERV REFCARD
This will return a file with basic Listserv commands which you can save and refer to later.
When you no longer wish to be part of a discussion list, use the Listserv service-request procedure (see How Do I Get Listserv Services? to send the command:
UNSUB listname
For example, if you will not be able to access your e-mail account regularly over the summer break to read/send messages to the WMST-L (Women's Studies) list, then you would type UNSUB WMST-L as the first line in your mail message to LISTSERV@listserv.umd.edu. If you do not unsubscribe from your lists when you leave, mail messages from your lists will accumulate in your e-mail account and reduce the amount of storage space available for other mail and files.
If you are not able to access your account for several days and you don't want to have a large backlog of discussion items waiting for you when you get back, use the service-request procedure (see How Do I Get Listserv Services? with the SET NOMAIL command to suspend delivery of list mail. Then, when you return, use SET MAIL to resume mail delivery.
SET listname NOMAIL
Using our earlier example for the WMST-L (Womens Studies) list, you can turn mail off for this list by sending mail to LISTSERV@listserv.umd.edu. Just type SET WMST-L NOMAIL in the body of the mail message. To turn the mail on, send mail to LISTSERV@listserv.umd.edu and type SET WMST-L MAIL as the mail message.
Use the LIST command and the service-request procedure (see How Do I Get Listserv Services to get a listing of all the publicly available lists handled by the host machine to which you mail the request. The host machine at the University is listserv.umd.edu.
| Send a mail message to | LISTSERV@listserv.umd.edu |
| Subject: | (none) |
| Message-text: | LIST |
Note: Not all Listserv lists are advertised publicly; they are private lists and will not show up via the LIST command.
If you want more detailed help, visit http://www.lsoft.com/resources/manuals.asp or contact the OIT Help Desk .
Last Updated 12-13-05 - JLG