INFODEP

• What is INFODEP?
• Terms of Use
• Technical Limitations of the list server application
• How to subscribe to INFODEP
• How to unsubscribe from INFODEP
• How to post messages to INFODEP
• About Majordomo
• Need help?

What is INFODEP?

INFODEP is a moderated list server maintained by the Depository Services Program (DSP) that provides a communication channel between DSP staff and management and subscribers in Depository Libraries in Canada and abroad. The system that manages the INFODEP mailing list is called Majordomo. (About Majordomo)

Topics for posting and discussion may include:

• Government of Canada publications, their production, content, distribution and availability;
• the services and operations of the Depository Services Program;
• the management and use of Government publications in Depository Libraries;
• announcements from Government of Canada organizations concerning their publications;
• cross-postings from other list servers concerning issues related to government publications;
• other topics deemed appropriate, of interest or useful to the depository library community by the list moderator.

Terms of Use

• The Depository Services Program encourages and supports the use of both Official Languages on INFODEP.
• Announcements and original postings by the DSP and other Government of Canada organisations will be in both Official Languages, with French text preceding English in the case of postings by the DSP.
• In responding to subscriber postings, DSP staff and management will usually reply only in the language of the posting unless the DSP response requires a substantive statement upon DSP operations or policy.
• INFODEP is a moderated list server that requires intervention by the list administrator before messages are distributed to subscribers.
• The list administrator will not post messages from unauthorised users, or messages that contain abusive, offensive or inappropriate language.
• The list administrator may choose not to post messages considered to be unrelated to the subject domain of INFODEP.

Technical Limitations of the list server application

Please keep the following in mind when you are posting messages to INFODEP:

• There is a 40 character limit (including spaces) in the subject line. Subject lines with more than 40 characters become scrambled.
• There is a 73 character limit for html links. Links with more than 73 characters become truncated and the link (when clicked on) produces an error message.
• The use of "tinyurl" is permitted if the full URL exceeds 73 characters or contains the "=" sign. The list administrator may substitute a "tinyurl" if necessary.
• Use of the "=" sign is not supported in any part of the message; the text or link becomes scrambled.
• Only plain text messages are allowed. Any messages with any formatting (e.g., bold, italics, underline) are automatically removed when the message is sent.
• No attachments, such as image or text files, are supported by the list server application.

How to subscribe to INFODEP

Read our Privacy Notice Statement before you subscribe to INFODEP.

To subscribe to INFODEP, send an email to majordomo@lists.canada.gc.ca with the following information. In the body of the message, type:

SUBSCRIBE INFODEP [ your email address ]

Please ensure that you also:

• Leave the subject line of your email blank
• Do not include any other information in the body of your email (including your signature)
• Replace the text "[ your email address ]" with your actual email address. For example, if your email address is John_Doe@doe.com, you would send the following information in the body of your message:
  

  SUBSCRIBE INFODEP John_Doe@doe.com

How to unsubscribe from INFODEP

To unsubscribe from INFODEP, send an email to the following address: majordomo@lists.canada.gc.ca

In the body of the message type: UNSUBSCRIBE INFODEP [ email address ]

Example:

To: MAJORDOMO@LISTS.CANADA.GC.CA
Subject: <blank>
Message Body:
UNSUBSCRIBE INFODEP John_Doe@doe.com

How to post messages to INFODEP

Send an email to the following address: infodep@lists.canada.gc.ca

Example:

To: INFODEP@LISTS.CANADA.GC.CA
Subject: <Your choice>
Message Body:
Hi, this is my first posting to INFODEP…

About Majordomo

Majordomo is an automated system which allows users to subscribe and unsubscribe to mailing lists.

You can interact with the Majordomo software by sending it commands in the body of mail messages addressed to "majordomo@lists.canada.gc.ca". Please do not put your commands on the subject line; Majordomo does not process commands in the subject line.

You may put multiple Majordomo commands in the same mail message. Put each command on a line by itself.

If you use a "signature block" at the end of your mail, Majordomo may mistakenly believe each line of your message is a command; you will then receive spurious error messages. To keep this from happening, either put a line starting with a hyphen ("-") before your signature, or put a line with just the word

end

on it in the same place. This will stop the Majordomo software from processing your signature as bad commands.

Here are some of the things you can do using Majordomo:

1. Finding Out Which Lists are on this System

   To get a list of publicly-available mailing lists on this system, put the following line in the body of your mail message to majordomo@lists.canada.gc.ca:

   lists

   Each line will contain the name of a mailing list and a brief description of the list.

   To get more information about a particular list, use the "info" command, supplying the name of the list. For example, if the name of the list about which you wish information is "demo-list", you would put the line

   info demo-list

   in the body of the mail message.

2. Subscribing to a List

   Once you've determined that you wish to subscribe to one or more lists on this system, you can send commands to Majordomo to have it add you to the list, so you can begin receiving mailings.

   To receive list mail at the address from which you're sending your mail, simply say "subscribe" followed by the list's name:

   subscribe demo-list

   If for some reason you wish to have the mailings go to a different address (a friend's address, a specific other system on which you have an account, or an address which is more correct than the one that automatically appears in the "From:" header on the mail you send), you would add that address to the command. For instance, if you're sending a request from your work account, but wish to receive "demo-list" mail at your personal account (for which we will use "jqpublic@my-isp.com" as an example), you'd put the line

   subscribe demo-list jqpublic@my-isp.com

   in the mail message body.

   Based on configuration decisions made by the list owners, you may be added to the mailing list automatically. You may also receive notification that an authorization key is required for subscription. Another message will be sent to the address to be subscribed (which may or may not be the same as yours) containing the key, and directing the user to send a command found in that message back to majordomo@lists.canada.gc.ca. (This can be a bit of extra hassle, but it helps keep you from being swamped in extra email by someone who forged requests from your address.) You may also get a message that your subscription is being forwarded to the list owner for approval; some lists have waiting lists, or policies about who may subscribe. If your request is forwarded for approval, the list owner should contact you soon after your request.

   Upon subscribing, you should receive an introductory message, containing list policies and features. Save this message for future reference; it will also contain exact directions for unsubscribing. If you lose the intro mail and would like another copy of the policies, send this message to majordomo@lists.canada.gc.ca:

   intro demo-list

   (substituting, of course, the real name of your list for "demo-list").

3. Unsubscribing from Mailing Lists

   Your original intro message contains the exact command which should be used to remove your address from the list. However, in most cases, you may simply send the command "unsubscribe" followed by the list name:

   unsubscribe demo-list

   (This command may fail if your provider has changed the way your address is shown in your mail.)

   To remove an address other than the one from which you're sending the request, give that address in the command:

   unsubscribe demo-list jqpublic@my-isp.com

   In either of these cases, you can tell majordomo@lists.canada.gc.ca to remove the address in question from all lists on this server by using "*" in place of the list name:

   unsubscribe*
   unsubscribe jqpublic@my-isp.com

   
   Top of Page

4. Finding the Lists to which an Address is Subscribed

   To find the lists to which your address is subscribed, send this command in the body of a mail message to majordomo@lists.canada.gc.ca:

   which

   You can look for other addresses, or parts of an address, by specifying the text for which Majordomo should search. For instance, to find which users at my-isp.com are subscribed to which lists, you might send the command

   which my-isp.com

   Note that many list owners completely or fully disable the "which" command, considering it a privacy violation.

5. Finding Out Who's Subscribed to a List

   To get a list of the addresses on a particular list, you may use the "who" command, followed by the name of the list:

   who demo-list

   Note that many list owners allow only a list's subscribers to use the "who" command, or disable it completely, believing it to be a privacy violation.

6. Getting More Help

   To contact a human site manager, send mail to majordomo-owner@lists.canada.gc.ca. To contact the owner of a specific list, send mail to that list's approval address, which is formed by adding "-approval" to the user-name portion of the list's address. For instance, to contact the list owner for demo-list@lists.canada.gc.ca, you would send mail to demo-list-approval@lists.canada.gc.ca.

   To get another copy of this help message, send mail to majordomo@lists.canada.gc.ca with a line saying

   help

   in the message body.

7. Command Summary for Advanced Users

   In the description below items contained in []'s are optional. When providing the item, do not include the []'s around it. Items in angle brackets, such as <address>, are meta-symbols that should be replaced by appropriate text without the angle brackets.

   It understands the following commands:

   subscribe <list> [<address>]

   Subscribe yourself (or <address> if specified) to the named <list>.

   unsubscribe <list> [<address>]

   Unsubscribe yourself (or <address> if specified) from the named <list>. "unsubscribe*" will remove you (or <address>) from all lists. This _may not_ work if you have subscribed using multiple addresses.

   get <list> <filename>

   Get a file related to <list>.

   index <list>

   Return an index of files you can "get" for <list>.

   which [<address>]

   Find out which lists you (or <address> if specified) are on.

   who <list>

   Find out who is on the named <list>.

   info <list>

   Retrieve the general introductory information for the named <list>.

   intro <list>

   Retrieve the introductory message sent to new users. Non-subscribers may not be able to retrieve this.

   lists

   Show the lists served by this Majordomo server.

   help

   Retrieve this message.

   end

   Stop processing commands (useful if your mailer adds a signature).

   Commands should be sent in the body of an email message to "majordomo@lists.canada.gc.ca". Multiple commands can be processed provided each occurs on a separate line.

   Commands in the "Subject:" line are NOT processed

Need help?

If you have questions or technical difficulties related to the list server, contact the INFODEP List Administrator