What is a Mailing List?
A mailing list is a topic-specific discussion group that uses email as the means of communicating. Mailing lists are plentiful, and one can be found about almost any topic you desire! Subscribing to a mailing list can bring you in contact with people who have the same interests. You can also use mailing lists to contact other teachers who want to communicate.
ASPIRE Reflector
The ASPIRE mailing list is our reflector. Most subscribers to the reflector are teachers in the ASPIRE program. It is an ideal place to get answers to technical questions, share teaching techniques, successful projects, and many other ideas.
To subscribe to the ASPIRE reflector, send a mail message to majordomo@aspire.cs.uah.edu and type subscribe YOUR NAME in the message box (leave the subject line blank). Don't forget to delete your signature file if you have one. The message goes to a computer so additional text is confusing.
How can I use A Mailing List?
Mailing lists allow you to correspond with others who have the same interests as you. You can use listservs to:
For a current list of education-related listservs point your browser to
Some Popular Education-Related Listserves
kidsphere@vms.cis.pitt.edu
In the body of the message type
subscribe KIDSPHERE Your Name
listserv@msu.edu
In the body of the message type
subscribe EDTECH Your Name
listproc@educom.unc.edu
In the body of the message, type
subscribe WWWEDU Your Name
Searching for a Mailing List
If you want to search for a listserv, or mailing list, send email to listserv@listserv.net In the message box (leave the subject line blank) type list global / [keyword] (keyword will be the topic about which you are searching). Don't forget to delete your signature file if you have one. You may also find a list of available Listservers by searching for Listserver
You will receive a mail message with the results of your search. If you receive a message saying no listservs were found, you should broaden your search.
You should also try doing a search using your browser for the listserv you desire.
Subscribing to a Mailing List
Information needed to subscribe to each listserve will be shown in the message. To subscribe you will usually send an email message to the listserv site address. In the message box you will type
subscribe [listname]
where you substitute the name of the mailing list where the word listname appears.
Your email message will probably be read by a computer, so spelling and syntax must be correct. Also, remember to delete your signature file, if you have one, so the computer will not be confused.
Be warned! Remember, a mailing list may have hundreds or thousands of subscribers. Every message sent to the list goes to every person on the list and you get every message that is posted by everyone else. This could lead to hundreds of mail messages per day if you subscribe to several mailing lists.
When you subscribe to a mailing list you will receive a letter explaining how to post to the list and how to unsubscribe from the list. You should keep this mail message. Perhaps you could save it to a pine folder named listserves.
When you first join a mailing list, you may want to read the postings for a while before you send a message. Just as you wouldn't jump into a conversation without first finding out what has been said, you don't want to "jump in" without knowing a little more about the types of postings the listing has and what has been said before.
Digest Option in Listserves
If the listserve has a lot of daily traffic, you may choose to have all the mail messages compiled and sent as one letter. To do this, you may use the digest option of listserves. Send mail to the listserve management address (you should still have that address, it is not the same as the site address), and in the message box type:
set [listname] digest
where you substitute the name of the mailing list where the word listname appears.
Nomail Option
If for some reason you want to stop receiving mail for a while you may unsubscribe to the mailing list or use the nomail option. The nomail option will suspend your subscription but keep all your information. To use the nomail option, send email to the listserve address (not the list itself). In the message box type:
set [listname] nomail
where you substitute the name of the mailing list where the word listname appears.Don't forget, remove your signature file so it will not confuse the computer receiving your message. You will receive an automated confirmation of your request. To start receiving mail again send email to the listserve (not the list itself) and in the message box type:
set [listname] mail
Help
To get more information about your subscription send email to the listserve (not to the list) and in the message box type HELP and/or INFO/REFCARD and you will receive more information about customizing your subscription.
Unsubscribing
If you find the mailing list does not meet your needs or you cannot keep up with the volume of mail you receive, you may decide to unsubscribe the list. To do so, send email to the listserve address (not to t he list itself) and in the message box type:
unsubscribe [listname]
where you substitute the name of the mailing list where the word listname appears.