The Online World resources handbook

Practical tips http://home.eunet.no/~presno/bok/12.html
other characteristics. This potentially makes it easier to follow discussions on mailing lists.
Many programs let you create a list of all incoming mail organized by subject header. You may
find this to be a big help as headers usually reflect what is being discussed.
Do not feel that you must read every message. If the header does not show anything interesting,
just skip it. If curious, you can always look at one of the messages to see what the general area of
discussion is about before deciding.
Learn about the capabilities of the LISTSERV, Majordomo, or LISTPROC that distribute the
conference messages. Using features like DIGEST or INDEX can reduce your load (see Chapter 13).
A LISTSERV will also allow a subscriber to TURN OFF the mail during an absence. Some
LISTSERVs will even permit a command to save the mail and send it later. There are many commands
to explore.
If the mailing list is on a newer version of LISTSERV, then you may be able to join,
leave, and set your defaults from the web.
Example: To join KidOLQN's newsletter distribution list, KIDNEWS, go to the web
page http://listserv.nodak.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=kidnews&A=1.
To join any other list at listserv.nodak.edu, replace "kidnews" at
?SUBED1=kidnews above with the desired list name to get to its settings page.
Getting off that mailing list
A while ago, you subscribed to that mailing list. Now you cannot get off it. You have tried SIGNOFF,
UNSUBSCRIBE, and other likely commands, only to receive "Bad command" messages in return.
If it is a LISTSERV mailing list, and the list you want to get off is called TOW (at
listserv@listserv.nodak.edu), use the command SIGNOFF as in "SIGNOFF TOW". Put the
command in the body of your mail, and send it to the LISTSERV.
Never send signoff commands to the mailing list itself, unless you want all
members to learn about your ignorance.
The SIGNOFF command is not a global command that works with all types of mailing list. If it doesn't
work, try UNSUBSCRIBE . If that also fails, try the HELP or INFO. You may try putting the
words both on the subject line and in the body of the mail.
Sometimes signing off from a list fails because your email address has changed since you
subscribed.
Example: A while ago, I was trying to get off a list. When I subscribed, it was made
either from a mailbox with the address opresno@ulrik.uio.no, or from
opresno@extern.uio.no. These addresses are now presno@eunet.no. When I tried to
signoff, I was told that neither address could be removed from the mailing list.
One solution is to write to the administrator of the list, or to the postmaster of the
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Hint for Netscape users: To get off a list that you subscribed to from another email
address, set Netscape up with your old e mail "from" address under menu
Options/Preferences/Images, Network, and Mail. It's easy. Just put your old e mail
address into the box labeled "Your Email" and send a "SIGNOFF " to the
LISTSERV.
Some LISTSERV mailing lists let you send the command "REVIEW " for a list of
subscribers (example: REVIEW TOW sent to the LISTSERV address above). This list usually contains
the address of the administrator.
In some cases, usage of the REVIEW command is blocked. Then inspect the mailer header of
messages from the mailing list. For example, if it says
From: listserv@w3.org
then there you have the address of the host computer. Try "postmaster" instead of "listserv" to reach a
live person for help.
Copyright notices and legal stuff
Most commercial online services protect their offerings with copyright notices. This is especially so for
database information and news.
Some vendors make you accept in writing not to store captured data on a local media (like
diskettes or hard disks). Others force clients to use communication software that makes it impossible
to store incoming data to disk.
The reason is simple. Information providers want to protect their income.
In most countries, you can quote from what others have written. You can cut out parts of a whole
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