How to find and join an email discussion list

Introduction

Information age technology has given us access to an array of electronic communication tools. Among the most useful of these tools are email discussion lists, which allow groups to communicate with each other by email or online. These lists—also known as listserv(er)s, e-lists, email conferences, online discussions, and e-forums—allow you to communicate with a group of your peers or colleagues who share a common interest or field of expertise, regardless of geography or time zone. Through email discussion lists, you can communicate about experiences, share resources, and receive specialized news reports. Among the thousands of email discussion lists that are currently operating, you will probably find at least one that focuses on your interests. If not, it is fairly easy to start a new list.

Finding an email discussion list

Email discussion lists can be incredibly powerful knowledge-sharing tools. However, because it is often hard to find the most appropriate list and because people fear receiving too many e-mails, these e-tools are often underused. No single web site is able to capture information about all the discussion lists on a specific topic. To help you narrow your search for the most useful lists, we have compiled a list of some major email discussion lists focused on reproductive health on Reproductive Health Gateway. The fuzzy line between private and public discussion lists has made it difficult to come up with a complete listing. If you think important lists are missing, please let us know. We update our listings periodically so that we can provide you with a directory that is as comprehensive and current as possible. You can reach us by email at links@rhgateway.org

How email discussion lists work

When you subscribe to an email discussion list, you will receive all of the emails that are sent to that list by other subscribers. You can also send emails to all the current subscribers on the list. You can unsubscribe at any time when you want to stop exchanging emails with the group.

Protecting your E-mail address

If you are hesitant to join an email discussion list because you don’t want your email address to be available to strangers, you can select a list that gives you the option of keeping your email address confidential. Many (but not all) email discussion lists will give you this option if you receive—but do not—send any messages. However, if you send a message to a list, your email address will usually be transmitted to all the list members. A good way to avoid wide distribution of your primary email address is to get a second email address that you use only for email discussion list communications. Hotmail, Yahoo and Google Gmail offer this service.

Discussion vs. read-only lists

Many lists are "discussion" lists. This means that any subscriber can send a message to the entire group. However, some lists are "read only," or “distribution” lists, which mean that subscribers can only receive messages, such as news bulletins sent by the list administrator(s). We have also compiled a list of many of the distribution email lists related to reproductive health on Reproductive Health Gateway.

Moderated vs. un-moderated lists

Most email discussion lists are “moderated.'” This means that if a subscriber sends a message to the group, it will be delivered first to one or more moderators who must approve each message individually before it is sent out to the whole group. Moderated email discussion lists prevent nonmembers or subscribers from sending spam or inappropriate emails to the entire group. Most email list software allows the moderator or administrator to block a particular email address, if a subscriber persists in sending inappropriate email.

Un-moderated email discussion lists send emails immediately to all subscribers. These lists have no screening mechanism. Because most un-moderated email lists only allow people who are already subscribers to send messages, there is some protection from spam. However, un-moderated email discussion lists are vulnerable to some types of spam and to unproductive arguments among a few group members that are sent out to the entire list membership. Un-moderated email discussion lists may also get bogged down with off-topic messages that do not interest other subscribers. If not controlled, these unwanted messages can kill an email discussion list by driving away other subscribers.

Digest vs. regular formats

Because an email discussion list can send out many messages every day, many lists allow subscribers to avoid email-box clutter by requesting that their email discussion list messages be sent in a "digest" form. This means that all the messages from a particular list are combined into one longer message, and sent once a day, once a week, or at some other interval. Messages in the digest format are not shortened or edited; you are sent the same informationyou would receive in regular format.

Sorting your incoming email

Because it is easier to print an individual message, or reply to it, when it is not part of a digest, most email software allows you to set up "filters" or rules that automatically sort incoming email into different mailboxes. Some email discussion lists also automatically include the name of the list, in brackets, at the beginning of the title of every message—making it easy to create a filter that can distinguish this list's mail from any other email. By using an email filter or a rule in your own email software, you can choose to receive all the messages from an email discussion list immediately in an undigested form, but have them delivered to a special mailbox or folder. You can read them when you have time and they don’t clutter up your inbox.

Email discussion list archives

Some email discussion lists have web-based archives that store messages so that members can browse through them, or even search them, at a later date. The better archives display a list of email titles; readers can click on any title to see the full message. Most archives group the messages by month, and they can be further sorted by author, subject, date or discussion thread. Email-only archives are much less convenient because you have to send a special email to retrieve old messages. Some lists do not have archives at all. Many archives are only accessible to members, but some are open to anyone. To see an example of email discussion list archives, visit the archives of AFRO-NETs.

Threaded display

You may want to have your email program display email discussion list messages by “thread” (i.e., have all the messages on the same topic appear together). Displaying messages by thread makes it much easier to follow a particular discussion. Threaded display is not possible if the messages are combined into digests.

Lurking vs. contributing

Email discussion list administrators frequently encounter two problems. The first of these problems is trying to get subscribers to contribute valuable information. In practice, most subscribers never write any messages. They join primarily to get information sent by others. This is often called “lurking.” Usually a few people send most of the messages.

The second major problem that email discussion list administrators confront is trying to avoid personal attacks or disputes, off-topic messages, or other email that is not helpful or welcome to most subscribers. It’s great to be an active email discussion list participant, but before sending your own message to a list, please consider the following email discussion list writing etiquette.

Email etiquette

Read about the email discussion list, look at its archives, or read some of the messages to get a feel for the type of messages that are generally posted before you send a message yourself.
Only send messages that relate to the purpose and subject matter of the list.
Avoid sending messages that are blatantly critical of another sender.
Humor and sarcasm are difficult to convey and are often misunderstood in emails. Leave them out.
Do not write message in ALL CAPS. Besides the fact that they are hard to read, many people think you are mad.
When responding to an email discussion list message, think first about whether you should respond to the whole list or only to the person who sent the message. People often ask for responses to be sent directly to them, rather than to the entire list membership.
When you post a question to an email discussion list, be sure to include your complete email address in the message, and ask people to reply to you directly at that address. When you receive replies from individual subscribers that you think would be of general interest, post a summary of these responses to the whole list.
Use a descriptive “subject” to help people sort and file messages.
When using acronyms that are not commonly known, type out the full phrase the first time.
Limit your signature to 4-6 lines.
Don’t use automatic-reply emails if you participate in email discussion lists. Or if you plan to go away, change your membership settings so that you do not receive emails or so that you receive a weekly or monthly digest.

Format of email addresses

Email addresses for email discussion groups can usually be either upper or lower case (it does not matter which you use). For example: hipnet@rhgateway.org is the same as HIPNET@rhgateway.org or HIPNET@RHGATEWAY.ORG.

Subscribing and unsubscribing

Basics. Many email discussion lists have at least two email addresses—one for administration and another for sending messages to members. The administrative address is for subscribing or unsubscribing, retrieving passwords, changing your settings, etc. Try not to make the mistake of sending an “unsubscribe” message to everyone on the list. This usually irritates other list members. Many lists do not ask for your name. For those that do, a name must be provided or the “subscribe” command will not work—but you do not have to use your real name.

You can also subscribe to and unsubscribe from many email discussion lists by visiting a specific web site and typing in your email address. If you join a list that offers this feature, be sure to bookmark the web page so you can go back to “unsubscribe” or change your settings.

Confirmation. Once you subscribe, you may receive a message telling you how to confirm your subscription (usually by replying to the confirmation message in some way—or in some cases, by *not* replying at all). These procedures prevent someone else from subscribing you to a list that you do not want to join. So, be sure to follow the instructions exactly.

Membership Restrictions. Some lists, though publicly announced, require specific criteria for membership. When you subscribe, the list administrator may ask for information to determine whether you qualify to become a member or not.

Welcome Message. Whether or not there is a qualification or confirmation step, new subscribers usually receive a message with information about the list—including how to unsubscribe. Although some lists include information on how to unsubscribe in every message, it’s a good idea to save this initial confirmation message because it may provide information that could help you to avoid problems with unsubscribing later on. And, the welcome message will most likely provide basic contact information in case you need to contact the email discussion list administrator at some time in the future.

Reminder email. Some lists also send members an automatic monthly reminder email. This email often contains all the information you need to unsubscribe or change your settings.

If you are having problems unsubscribing...

If you have the administrative address you used to send your email to subscribe, just repeat the process. Send an email to the same address, but change “subscribe” to “unsubscribe.” It could be part of the address, in the subject line of the email, or as the first line of the text of the email. For example, to unsubscribe from ENDVAW News you would send an email to endvaw-leave@jhuccp.org.
Send an email to the address for subscribe/unsubscribe requests and in the first line of the body text of the email type help. You should receive an email that contains a list of the commands, including how to unsubscribe.
Are you trying to unsubscribe but using a different email address? If you are using a different email address from the one you subscribed with, you will not be recognized as being a subscriber. If you change your email address, it is a good idea to unsubscribe before closing the old one.
If none of this works, contact the list administrator and ask to be unsubscribed. There is usually a special address for contacting a person who is managing the list.

Page Updated: 2007/9/21

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: The INFO Project