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Discussion / Mailing Lists: LISTSERV™ at the NLC
by Ene Kannel Network Notes #21 January 1, 1996 IntroductionSubscribing to discussion lists, also referred to as mailing lists, is one of the most common uses of the Internet today. Thousands of these electronic forums already exist or are being created, catering to a plethora of special interest groups, information services, electronic journals and research projects. The attraction is that the lists provide a relatively simple route to interactive communication via electronic mail, allowing Internet users around the world access to each others ideas, publications, and information. This Network Notes provides a glimpse into the popular, yet still mysterious, world of global communication via lists, with a special focus on the current situation at the National Library of Canada.
List Servers and Mailing List ManagersA variety of software is able to manage electronic mailing lists. You may have heard of: Majordomo, Mailserv, lisproc and listserv. Regardless of name, the main purpose of a list server is to distribute an e-mail message or posting sent to a particular list from one address, to all of the other addresses or subscribers linked to that list. A secondary function of the listserver is to handle subscriptions, signoffs, and other customized commands requested by users, owners, or administrators of the list. Since one discussion list can attract hundreds or even thousands of subscribers, it is important to ensure that the software and hardware used to manage the list are technically able to support it. At the National Library, we are now using the LISTSERV™ software produced by L-Soft International, Inc. to handle our discussion and mailing lists. This software was installed in spring 1995 and is running on our InfoServer, a DEC/UNIX computer that supports all the NLC's Internet services. (For more information, see Network Notes #20 "The National Library's InfoServer" by Yvon Lauriault and Gary Cleveland.)
What is LISTSERV?Before LISTSERV, there was electronic mail. As with ordinary mail, this was soon followed by the concept of mailing lists; where a single document (e.g. a letter, message, or report) could be sent to many different addresses at one time. Mailing lists made it possible for an individual or organization to sponsor and maintain special interest discussion groups through electronic mail. People wanting to join a discussion group would send a message to the sponsor, who would then add the individual's address to the group's mailing list. Similarly, when users wanted to contribute an article or posting to the list, they would send their contributions to the sponsor. The sponsor would then forward the postings to the other members of the mailing list. This concept became so popular, both in terms of the number of lists supported and in the number of participants, that sponsoring lists soon became a very time-consuming responsibility. It was quickly realized that many of the "messages" sent to the sponsor, could be standardized and acted on by a computer rather than by a human being. Eric Thomas, formerly of EARN and now TERENA, was one of the early pioneers of this type of software; after several revisions, his software is now commercially distributed under the name LISTSERV, a trademark of L-Soft International, Inc. Much like Kimberly-Clark's "Kleenex" facial tissues, LISTSERV has come to be synonymous with electronic mailing list discussion groups (e.g., "I'm looking for a listserv on life after death"). This is probably a salute to the originators of the LISTSERV software, but leads to confusion when discussing mailing lists. LISTSERV (in upper case) is a particular brand of mailing list manager.
How does it work?LISTSERV supports electronic mailing lists by automatically: maintaining subscriber information, creating message archives, preparing digests of messages, and interpreting and processing keyword commands. These are only some of the features; the software is flexible and allows various means of customizing it further to suit the needs of users and owners; for example, by modifying headers and templates. Since all of the above can be done via e-mail, it is possible to decentralize the administration of discussion lists. LISTSERV can support multiple lists, even if these lists have different requirements. Lists can be public or private, open versus closed, moderated or unmoderated. There can be one central list owner, or the responsibilities can be shared amongst several people, each having equal or varied levels of access. Popular user commands include: subscription settings, getting Help, options to postpone or digest your mail, seeing or reviewing other subscribers to the list, and the ability to conceal your e- mail address from other subscribers. (The scope of this Network Notes does not include a detailed examination of the administrative possibilities or command structure of LISTSERV; however, references to more information are included at the end of the article.)
How do I sign up? Important LISTSERV addresses and netiquetteLISTSERV commands are based on standard formatting of e-mail messages. To subscribe to a LISTSERV discussion list, send a command via e-mail to the host computer asking LISTSERV to add you to the mailing list. For example, to subscribe to the recently-created National Library discussion list, BIBCANLIB-L, send the following e-mail message:
To: LISTSERV@infoserv.nlc-bnc.ca Please note that sending messages to LISTSERV means that a computer is receiving and processing them; therefore, the format and terminology must be precise to achieve the desired result. However, LISTSERV is not case-sensitive. Soon after sending a subscription request to LISTSERV (sometimes only a few seconds or moments later), you will receive a system message indicating that you have successfully been added to the list. In most cases, you will also receive a "welcome" message including information about the list and useful commands. Keep this message for future reference! You will need this information later, when you want to postpone messages during a holiday, find out who else subscribes to the list, etc. Once you have subscribed to a list, you may wish to "lurk" for a while and see what others are sending and discussing -- this precaution could avoid unnecessary pitfalls and embarrassment. When you are ready to post your own contribution, please remember that postings should not be sent to the LISTSERV address, but to the address of the discussion list. Using the same example as before:
To: BIBCANLIB-L@infoserv.nlc-bnc.ca In the examples, note that the subscription request is sent to the LISTSERV and the actual message is sent to BIBCANLIB-L. Keep in mind that message postings usually go to the entire mailing list -- hundreds or thousands of people. It is therefore good "netiquette" to take the trouble to respond only to an individual's address if you think that the content of your message may not interest the entire membership. Although individual addresses can be traced through mail headers, it is good practice to include a short "signature" on your postings, including your e-mail address, so that others can easily contact you electronically. At some point, you may need to contact the person(s) responsible for the list -- perhaps to give comments or to ask questions related to the list.. Of course, the list owner's address is different depending on the list, so you should check the information that is provided upon subscription to find out the correct location. However, LISTSERV provides a generic address that should reach the list owner(s). Again, using our example, here is how to contact the list owner of BIBCANLIB-L: To: BIBCANLIB-L-REQUEST@infoserv.nlc-bnc.ca At first, it may seem confusing to have to distinguish among the three addresses, yet it makes sense when you realize that they lead to three different places -- the LISTSERV computer, the mailing list and its subscribers, and the list owner respectively. Good netiquette includes understanding these differences -- there is nothing more irritating or embarrassing than several hundred people on a discussion list receiving an individual's request to sign off the list!
What's the difference between Newsgroups and List Servers?As a participant, not much: you subscribe, you post, you read, you sign off. The mechanisms used are different, but the effect is the same. List servers use e-mail as the supporting communication software whereas newsgroups have their own distribution mechanism known as USENET (that supports its own electronic mail feature). The main difference is that subscription to news groups is anonymous -- you don't know who else has subscribed. Also, correspondence from mailing lists arrives in your personal e-mail inbox; with newsgroups, you need to sign on through a stand-alone news reader (client software) or an interface such as a World Wide Web browser. Many discussion / mailing lists are also "gatewayed" to newsgroups. Newsgroups tend to have more "anonymous" readers and are, therefore, more prone to such Internet plagues as "spamming" (cross-posting a message to numerous lists and groups, regardless of the content) and "flame wars" (back-and-forth correspondence of a slanderous or inappropriate nature). At present, the National Library is not planning to make its LISTSERV discussion / mailing lists available through a newsgroups gateway.
LISTSERV Lists at the NLCCurrently, these are the LISTSERV discussion / mailing lists available on the NLC's InfoServer:
Resource List List Owner's Manual for LISTSERV™, version 1.8b. L-Soft International, Inc. August 14, 1995, Revision 1. Listserv List Owner's Survival Guide. TERENA, 1995. Thomas, Eric. LISTSERV for the non-technical user. Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 1993.
Fact Sheet - LISTSERV™
How to Subscribe to a List Server
Internet Mailing Lists Guides and Resources
Listserv Discussion Groups & Electronic Journals
The LISTSERV Server
Mailing List WWW Gateway (LWGate)
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