Subscription & Net-Etiquette Information

Updated May 18, 1998

To subscribe to any of these lists use the standard listserv format.

To: [email protected] (example, @lists.psu.edu)
From: Yourname
Subject: Blank

subscribe nameoflist Yourfirstname Yourlastname
(example, subscribe TRDEV-L Marcia Conner)

Many of these lists also have archives, help files, and information files. To retrieve them put the word INFO in the body of the message and then the list name. Though this option may not be available for all lists, your request will prompt the listserv robot to send you more information on what is available.

Some notes about subscribing to discussion lists on the Internet:

Almost all lists have at least two addresses. One is for the computer/robot that handles the discussion group's clerical duties. That address often begins with LISTSERV@... The other is to write to the people on the list. Those addresses usually begin with the name of the list such as TRDEV-L@... Sending the people on the list messages such as subscribe or postpone does not make them happy. They have already figured out how to work with the discussion list robot and would rather read messages on the topic they have subscribed to. Once you get on the list, you won't want to read administrative messages either. ;-)

Save the first information you get back when you subscribe to a new list. It contains vital information such as the computer address you'll need to stop your mail when you go on vacation, and maybe the address of the list owner to whom you should write if the robot won't do what you want.

Make sure you can send a personal message that does not go back to the whole list. Test your method with something simple and non-controversial to a close friend who can confirm it was a personal message and did not go to the list. There is nothing more embarrassing than sending a personal note to a colleague and later learning it was sent to everybody. The reply function in some mail programs sends the response to everybody imaginable. Check first.

Listen and absorb for a while to catch the tenor of a new list. Most lists don't encourage personal replies to the whole list, but some do. Some lists are very busy, some are indolent. If the list is too busy for you, try setting the distribution to DIGEST and receive all the mail, but only once a day. If even that is too much, try setting it to INDEX, and only get the Subject: lines. Chose which you want to read and get them from the listserv address (not from the list-people address). Hopefully someday all lists will have the digest and index features.

When you do get on a list and begin to send messages please "sign" your messages with your name and at least your e-mail address. Some e-mail packages remove the header information from all incoming messages so the reader has no way of knowing how to contact the writer if he/she did not include an e-mail address in the body of the message.

A few other net-etiquette issues:

Send personal replies or notes to individual subscribers, not to the list.

Avoid postings messages to lists that say no more than me, too! or that request information to be sent to you personally.

Responses to postings should include some information about the issues to which you are responding.

Do not duplicate the original posting to which you are responding, especially if the original posting is over three or four lines long.

When you ask subscribers for information about a topic, please ask them to respond to you, personally. You can always post a summary to the list later of what you gleaned.

Please keep subscribers' mailboxes in mind when you create a posting. Some subscribers pay for each piece of e-mail they receive over the Internet.

If you would like to be removed from a discussion list send the message signoff nameoflist or unsubscribe nameoflist to the listserver. If signoff does not work, try unsubscribe.

Now let's get back to those lists!

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