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---------------------------------------------------------- E-mail Electronic Mailing Lists Defined: ---------------------------------------------------------- Ae electronic mailing list is a list of people's names and addresses that is used to send certain e-mail messages or announcements to many people at once, who are usually expected to share a common interest in the contents of the message. Mailing lists are highly interactive. When you send a message to a mailing list, you can expect most subscribers to receive their copy within 1 to 20 minutes, depending on location and mail system. ---------------------------------------------------------- List-Owners: ---------------------------------------------------------- A mailing list is managed by a list owner (or sometimes several owners for large lists). The list owner is the person with formal responsibility for the operation of the list -- a kind of referee, if you want. The list owner defines the list's charter and policy, i.e. what the list is about and what are the general rules all subscribers must accept in order to be allowed to join the list. The list owner is also responsible for all administrative matters and for answering questions from the list subscribers. It is not unusual to have several list owners spreading the work and responsibility among themselves; in particular, it is common for a "technical" list owner to assist the non-technical person who is formally in charge of the list with administrative matters. ---------------------------------------------------------- List Archives: ---------------------------------------------------------- The messages sent (or posted) to the mailing list are generally saved in files [known as list archives or logfiles] for future reference. You can search the archives for messages related to a particular topic, or sent by a certain person, and have LISTSERV return to you via e-mail a copy of the messages that matched your search criteria. ---------------------------------------------------------- LISTSERV: ---------------------------------------------------------- LISTSERV is a software program that makes it possible to create, manage and control electronic "mailing lists" on the Internet or on a corporate network. In 1986, Eric Thomas wrote the original LISTSERV program which introduced the concept of a mail-based server that assists mailing list administrators in managing list subscriptions, maintaining archives of posted messages, making associated documents available to subscribers or to the general public, optimizing bulk delivery, and so forth. The product was continuously improved over the years, and quickly defined a de facto standard for the management of electronic mailing lists. ---------------------------------------------------------- Yesterday's (Tue, 6 Jul 1999) Worldwide LISTSERV statistics: ---------------------------------------------------------- Number of public lists 25,119 Number of local lists 106,010 Total number of lists 131,129 Total membership (public+local) 69,127,020 Total messages delivered today 24,352,216 Largest daily volume PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM 2,875,376 Largest number of subscribers DISPATCH.CNET.COM 6,782,130 Largest number of lists CLEMSON.EDU 4,648 ---------------------------------------------------------- Notes: ---------------------------------------------------------- LISTSERV is a registered trademark licensed to L-Soft International Inc., <http://www.lsoft.com> and,as such, is always spelled in upper case. A common misconception is that "listserv" is a generic English word, like "electronic". Some people say "a listserv list" whether the list is a "real" LISTSERV list or a list managed by a totally different and incompatible mailing list manager [such as MajorDomo]. This may sound like nit-picking and an unfair imposition on the memory of non-technical users, but on the other hand, people have no trouble remembering that "a Mac" is not an acceptable way to refer to a PC! ---------------------------------------------------------- adapted and condensed from the General User's Guide for LISTSERV(R), version 1.8c exclusively for use by the PIEnet membership janet paterson 1999/07/07 ---------------------------------------------------------- janet paterson 52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset snail-mail: PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 Canada website: a new voice <http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/> e-mail: <[log in to unmask]>