Mailing Lists

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.

Joining a list

In order to be part of the discussion, you need to join the list. There are two ways to do this:

• Go to the public list archives, find a list that interests you, and click on "Join or Leave".
• If you know the name of the list, you can send email to LISTSERV at listserv@list.uvm.edu, containing a subscription command of the form:

  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.

Leaving a list

There are two ways to leave a list:

• Go to the public list archives,, find the list, and click on "Join or Leave" (for public lists only).
• Send email to LISTSERV at: listserv@list.uvm.edu and place an unsubscribe command in the body of the message, of the form:

  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.

Sending messages to a list

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.

Reading archived list messages

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 Manual.

Subscription delivery options

A number of message delivery options are available for your list subscriptions. These can be changed from LISTSERV's Subscriber's Corner.

Automatic subscriptions

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:

UVMFACULTYSTAFF

all UVM employees

UVMSTUDENTS

all UVM students

UVMFACULTY

all faculty members

UVMSTAFF

all staff

FACSEN

all faculty members, the Faculty Senate

FY06

all first year students

SOPHOMORES

all sophomores

JUNIORS

all juniors

SENIORS

all seniors

CAT-CONNECTION

all students, the UVM student newsletter *

THEVIEW

all employees, the UVM Record Online *

* You can unsubscribe from these lists only. Directions are included in each message you receive from the list.

Last modified November 29 2011 12:43 PM