You may have found your name on a company's mailing list at one time or other. Once you are on the list, you get a copy of every piece of literature and all sales brochures a company sends out.
The Internet also has its mailing lists. These lists are categorized so you know the subject of the mail you'll get. The nice thing about Internet mail lists is that you control whether or not your name gets on the list.
Once you place your name on a mailing list, you are sent e-mail messages from the group. Some mail lists are very active and you could receive hundreds of messages a day. Other mail lists are almost inactive and you may only receive one or two messages a month. You can send an e-mail message addressed to the list and your message is delivered to everyone on the mail list.
How are Mail Lists Different from Usenet News Groups?
With Usenet news groups, all messages to the group are stored in a central place. There are only a few copies of the messages around the world. To access those messages, you use a news group reader to read the mail. Since all messages are stored on a central server, individual users do not need extensive storage space. But you only need to participate (read) Usenet messages when you want to.
You can read them regularly for days then skip several weeks. Another advantage of Usenet groups is that you don't have to join them -- you can read all current messages in any groups that interest you.
With Mail lists, copies of all messages are sent to all members of the list. Thus there are as many copies of the message as there are members of the group. To access those messages, you simply read them as you would any e-mail message. Since copies of all messages are sent to all users on the list, users may need extensive storage space -- especially if the list is active. You do need to read your mail almost daily. One of the advantages to mail lists, however, is that most Usenet messages are deleted about every two weeks whether or not you've had a chance to read them; you control your mail list messages.
Finding a Mail List
You can obtain a list of mailing lists one of two ways. You can use Anonymous ftp or send an e-mail message.
Anonymous ftp:
Address: rtfm.mit.edu
Path: /pub/usenet-by-group/
news.answers/mail/
mailing-lists/part
E-mail request:
Address: listserv@bitnic.educom.edu
Subject: <Leave the subject blank>
Body of message: LIST GLOBAL
Caution: This global list is large and 
may
be easier to read and reference in a file such as
you would obtain by using anonymous ftp.
BITNET
BITNET (Because It's Time NETwork) is a completely different network from the Internet. But BITNET and Internet are connected so you can send messages from one to the other. Some of the mail lists are from Internet and some are on Bitnet. Subscribing to each type of list is slightly different so you should know which type you are using.
The mailing lists on BITNET are generally referred to as LISTSERV while the mailing lists on Internet are referred to as listserv.
Listserv
The software which keeps the names (mailing lists) and distributes the mail is called a listserv or daemon or maiser. The listserv software will do much more than organize lists and distribute mail, but that's all we'll discuss in this reference sheet.
Once you find a list you want to join, send an e-mail message to a listserv requesting a subscription. If you aren't sure the name of the listserv, the following listserv server will forward most mail message to the proper listserv:
cunyvm.cuny.edu
To subscribe to a mailing list, send an e-mail message to the Listserv. Leave the subject of the message blank. In the body of the message type:
subscribe listname your-name
where listname is the name of the mailing list and your-name is your full name (not your Internet e-mail address).
To unsubscribe from a mailing list, send an e-mail message to the Listserv. Leave the subject of the message blank. In the body of the message type:
unsubscribe listname
where listname is the name of the mailing list.
Here is an example of a message to subscribe to the EDNET list (a list dedicated to the discussion of the Internet as an educational tool from K-12 to adult).
Sending a Message to the Group
A common mistake is sending e-mail to the wrong place. If you want to send e-mail to all people in the group, be sure to send the message to the mail list's name, not to the listserv. Likewise, if you want to subscribe (unsubscribe), be sure to send the message to the listserv, not to the mail list's name.
