November 9th is the birthday anniversary of the Parkinsn List. On November
9th, 1993, the first messages distributed by the listserv at the University
of Toronto arrived in mail boxes. The world wide web didn't exist yet as we
know it today. Our first members were mainly folks that were involved with
universities or professionals who used computers in connection with their
work but they all shared the dream of Barbara Patterson, sharing information
about Parkinson's around the world.
A little over a year ago Barbara and I took the next step in the progression
of the Parkinsn List by making some of the most recent Parkinsn messages
available over the web as they were distributed by the listserv to mailboxes
around the world.
Since November 9th, 1993 and now, list message volume has increased from a
few messages a day to many. This increase in volume distressed many in
coping with so many messages. Mail management was difficult since it
required interacting with a listserv computer program using cryptic commands.
The evolution of Parkinsn from purely email to a web-based medium required
some creative planning and execution to simplify message reading and
interacting with the listserv for mail management. Barbara Patterson, the
list owner suggested that we name the website Parkinsons Information
Exchange Network which is what was the official name of the Parkinsn List.
Online was added to the name to indicate that it was online.
The listserv program in 1993 required that mailing lists have a name that
was limited to 8 letters. The o was left out of parkinson which became
Parkinsn.
To cope with a large number of messages some list members migrated from
single message deliveries from the listserv to the digest form of delivery
that bundled a days or part of a days messages into one mailing. What
happens today on the mailing list is not available to digest subscribers
until tomorrow. Time sensitive messages are many times stale before digest
readers get to see them.
SEARCHING P-I-E-N-O OR THE WORLD
P-I-E-N-O (Parkinsons-Information-Exchange-Network-Online) has changed the
way many people use their Parkinsn List subscription. Every page of the
P-I-E-N-O site has a search box which matches words or phrases you type with
all or part of P-I-E-N-O. The entire site is reindexed every few days so the
searches are current. Words that are underlined below the search boxes are
shown below and explained.
Home - The Web - Message Board - Parkinson's News
Clicking on Home takes you to the entry page of P-I-E-N-O, The Parkinsn
Archive Treasures page.
Clicking on The Web takes you to the Open Directory Project home page which
is the basis of the web directories on many search engines. Our own Janet
Paterson does an admirable job keeping the Parkinson's part of the directory
up to date.
Clicking on Message Board takes you to the Message boards where folks can
ask questions or respond to questions asked. If you wish to post a message,
registering is painless.
Clicking on Parkinson's News shows you the up to the minute news stories
that are about Parkinson's from around the world.
The search boxes are configured in such a way that words entered search ALL
of P-I-E-N-O. The box to the right of the search button allows you to limit
your search and works similar to the underlined links I have explained
above. Searches are not limited to Parkinson's words but can find anything.
Since the last 500 messages to Parkinsn are searchable and the P-I-E-N-O
site is reindexed every few days perhaps some messages that are returned as
a result of your search are not there anymore. You will be taken to the
notfound page if you try to view them. On that page you will be notified
that the message which had the words you searched for are in the archive and
you will have the opportunity to enter the same search words in the Simon
Coles search box on that page.
P-I-E-N-O has a calendar where you can enter your group's seminars,
conferences or fundraising events. The calendar is available on the Parkinsn
List Online mail page and the Archive Treasures page.
http://parkinsons-information-exchange-network-online.com
The calendar is on the left side of the page. Put the mouse on a highlighted
date and click and you will see the event or events for that day.
READING YOUR PARKINSN MAIL ONLINE MINI-PRIMER
Parkinsn List Online messages can be accessed two ways:
You can go directly to the page if ALL of the address is transferred to your
browser by clicking on it. Some email programs will break a URL into two
lines if the display font setting in the email program is set to a too large
setting.
http://parkinsons-information-exchange-network-online.com/parkmail/maillist.
html
If you can't get that one to work use this address and when you arrive there
click on the Parkinsn List Online messages link.
http://parkinsons-information-exchange-network-online.com
The 500 newest messages are always online sorted two ways. The link that
gets you to the Parkinsn List Online messages takes you to the messages that
are sorted by date with the newest at the top. You will see a section above
the messages like this:
Last updated: Thu Nov 02 02:27:35 2000
500 messages listed newest first
Parkinsn's List Thread Index (Grouped by Subject)
Listing format is the following:
Subject (# of follow-ups) From
On the page you will see Parkinsn's List Thread Index (Grouped by Subject)
is underlined. If you click that you will be taken to the Threads list with
the original message Subject
and indented below the replies or Threads to that message listed below it.
On either form of display you choose, you click on an underlined Subject and
that message will be displayed on your monitor.
I haven't explained the navigation bar at the top of the individual message
page so I will briefly do so.
Across the top of each message you will see the below:
[Message Prev][Message Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Message Index][Thread
Index]
The keywords to the above links are Message and Thread.
Message applies to the type of list you are presented on arriving at the
Parkinsn List Online page where the messages are sorted by date. Message
Prev means the next message below the message you were reading and like
wise, Message Next is the next newer message. Clicking on Message Index
takes you back to the Messages sorted by date.
Threads applies the same way but they refer to messages sorted by subject
and the replies or Threads. Clicking on Thread Index takes you back to the
Messages sorted by subject.
MANAGING YOUR LIST MAIL ONLINE
Regardless whether you receive your Parkinsn List mail through email or read
the messages online, you can interact with the listserv to manage your
Parkinsn List mail online at P-I-E-N-O.
http://parkinsons-information-exchange-network-online.com
On the bottom left column, there are the words Parkinsn List Mail Management
Options. Click on that.
The famous P-I-E-N-O Mail Management Buttons appear on your screen. Run your
mouse over them and a description will appear identifying their function.
When you click on one of the buttons, your email program will open and a
message will be preaddressed to the listserv with the proper commands
already entered in the body of the message. All you have to do is click on
Send in your email program and it will be sent. What could be more easier
than that?
[log in to unmask]
Search the parkinsn archive online at:
http://james.parkinsons.org.uk
Catch the Parkinsn's List Online messages at:
http://parkinsons-information-exchange-network-online.com
Click the link for Parkinsn's List Online
John Cottingham
