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If you have a long-term research project, you may decide to
join a mailing list where you can get all the group's
messages sent to your e-mail address.
There are organized mailing lists on almost any topic. You
can join one of these e-mail conferences by merely sending a
message to the organizer. Warning! you may get a flood of
e-mail, so select your list carefully and cancel when you
are no longer interested.
First select a list
You can search a list of descriptions and addresses at
http://liszt.com.html
or
http://scwww.ucs.indiana.edu/mlarchive
There are two types: moderated (where a person or committee
selects which messages will be posted to the group) and
unmoderated (where the computer sends all messages out to
the group, regardless of content).
Some groups also sort messages by content (threads), so you
can read only those messages that interest you.
- If your e-mail program doesn't subscribe you
automatically, you'll need to print out and save the
directions to subscribe and (most important) to
unsubscribe. Listserv is the program which manages the
subscription to mailing lists.
- Note that there are always two addresses--one to subscribe
or unsubscribe (the address with serv in it), and one to
address messages to the group--usually the name of the
group@its address. Don't confuse the two. Because computers
dumbly process your e-mail message, it's equally useless to
tell the whole group of subscribers to unsubscribe you as it
is to give your remarks on an important topic to the
computer that is composing the subscription list.
Submit a request to subscribe by sending an e-mail message
according to the directions: Usually, you leave the subject
line blank. In the body, you give your real name and e-mail
address and add the line "subscribe"
- If you can, specify a summary or digest form. (The
directions will tell you if that is possible. Often you
specify that after you are a subscriber.) The digest form
means that you'll get summaries of the messages--an
advantage when there are many responses each day, as there
sometimes are
- When you're finished with your project, be sure to
unsubscribe, sending the appropriate message as
given in the initial directions--usually the same message as
your first one with the substitution of
the word "unsubscribe" for the word "subscribe," sent to the
subscription address
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