Mailing lists can be thought of as a collection of email addresses of people who want to discuss a topic of common interest. The LISTSERV software accepts these messages and distributes them to everyone on the list, as well as storing them in an archive for future reference.
Lists can either be for discussion or announcement. Discussion lists allow everyone to communicate with other people on the list. Announcement lists are for one-way communication from the list owner. They are like electronic newsletters.
A list owner defines the characteristics of the list, controls who can join, and in other ways oversees the list.
In order to be part of the discussion, you need to join the list. There are two ways to do this:
subscribe LISTNAME YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS…where "LISTNAME" is the name of the list and "YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS" is the email address you wish to receive list messages.
In some cases you will receive a confirmation messsage from LISTSERV asking you to verify your identity. Just follow the instructions in the message.
There are two ways to leave a list:
unsubscribe LISTNAME…where "LISTNAME" is the name of the list.
In some cases you will receive a confirmation messsage from LISTSERV asking you to verify your identity. Just follow the instructions in the message.
To post a message to a list, send email to the address: LISTNAME@list.uvm.edu, where LISTNAME is the name of the list. Your message will be sent to all subscribers of the list.
For most public lists, subscribers can also post from the web. Select the list and then click on "Post to the list". You will need to log in with your subscriber email address and a personal password. You can define a password there if you don't already have one.
Previous postings to public lists are available online.
For private lists you need to email commands to LISTSERV. Send a message to listserv@list.uvm.edu containing one or more of the following (replacing "LISTNAME" with the name of the list):
| index LISTNAME | (see what monthly archive files are available) |
| get LISTNAME log0304 | (get the 2003 April monthly file) |
| search meeting in LISTNAME | (get a list (or index) of the message numbers containing the word "meeting") |
| getpost LISTNAME 2 4 6-9 | (get the actual message(s), by number, found in the above search command) |
For more information, download the LISTSERV Advanced Topics Guide and look at section one, "LISTSERV Archive Search Functions".
A number of message delivery options are available for your list subscriptions. These can be changed from LISTSERV's Subscriber's Corner.
Faculty, students, and staff are automatically subscribed to several broadcast mailing lists created to share important UVM announcements on an infrequent basis. These lists are not for regular email discussions. You cannot leave these lists, except where noted below.
The broadcast mailing lists are:
* You can unsubscribe from these lists only. Directions are included in each message you receive from the list.
Last modified March 26 2008 11:43 AM
