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An introduction to email mailing lists

Basic

By Susan Tenby, TechSoup

Email mailing lists offer a very important benefit to nonprofit organisations. They can build community through the Internet. This article in collaboration with TechSoup explains list servers, their potential uses and how they work, as well as some basic tips for participating in an email list.

If it weren't for the virtual communities, that mailing lists provide, TechSoup might not be here today. Compumentor (TechSoup's Mother organisation) started because of an email request by Daniel Ben-Horin to the WELL (Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link). He was having printer problems and posted a question to the WELL. Overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response from this community of "helpful electronic next-door neighbors", Ben-Horin asked other members of the WELL if they wanted to adopt a nonprofit organisation. A dozen people said they were interested in being computer mentors for other nonprofit organisations, and CompuMentor was born.

What are Mailing Lists and List Servers?

One of the most useful features of mailing lists is the fact that you can send the same message to many people at once. Similarly, you can also receive many messages at once in a compiled and organised fashion. List servers distribute written discussions to those who subscribe to a list; each posted unit of a discussion shows up in the subscribers' email boxes. With many list servers, the subscribers can send responses around to the rest of the list just by replying to the email.

List servers have automated tasks that differentiate them from ordinary email
You can set up your own list through the web on sites like Yahoo! Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/), or Topica (http://lists.topica.com/)
A list server is an application in itself and can be hosted on your organisation's server (a server is simply a computer that is running special software that enables it to manage resources on a computer network). ezMLM (http://ezmlm.org/), MailMan (www.list.org/) and Majordomo (www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/) are examples of list server applications you can install on your server (you will need someone with appropriate technical skills to do this)
The list owner can find out who is on their list (and there is an option for members to find out also)
List servers are set up by both organisations and individuals.

There are tens of thousands of special interest groups that manage their online community discussions through list servers. Here is Groundwire'ss description of what email lists are and why people use them:

'An email list is a tool that makes it easy to reach multiple email addresses (people!) by sending a message to a single email address. This single email address "contains" the email addresses of all the people you want to communicate with on the specific mailing list.

When any member of the list sends a message to the address of the mailing list, everyone on the list automatically receives the email message. Anyone with an email address that can be reached via the Internet - including email addresses through commercial online services (America Online, CompuServe) and other Internet Service Providers (local providers, etc.) can be added to an email list.

There is no need for list members to have special software; the mailing list software runs on ONE/Northwest's Internet computer (our "server"). Email lists are often referred to as "Listservs" or "majordomos" (the names of two popular mailing list software packages), or sometimes "conferences".We feel that email lists are most useful for groups of people (typically 10-50) who are organised around a specific subject or interest area, and need to communicate regularly for organisational purposes.

Email lists can be used for mundane purposes like scheduling meetings, forwarding "FYI" information, and simple notifications. Or, they can be used to carry on online "conversations" in which group decisions can be made, documents reviewed, and feedback gathered. In general, email lists are a convenience; reaching everyone you need to reach via a single email address is much easier than remembering all the email names of the individual participants in the list, particularly as people tend to change email addresses rather frequently.

Furthermore, an email list allows every member of the group to easily communicate with every other member of the group; because the list of subscribers is centrally maintained, there is no need for each person to maintain their own "address book" of group members' email addresses. As you use the email list, you will find that it will help you form an "online community" of like-minded people who you can rely on for information and assistance. If used properly, you'll find your email list to be an efficient, effective tool for your conservation work'.

How do lists work?

Lists function in two basic ways:

The Announcement type of list where the owner of the list is the only one who writes, and members receive postings from the owner frequently. These types of lists are also known as receive-only lists
The Discussion type of email list, where anyone can send a message that will hit everyone's inbox on the subscription list.

Within the Discussion List type there are:

Moderated Lists: The messages are screened by a person, and only the messages meeting the list's standards are posted. How carefully messages are filtered by the moderator can run the whole gamut from posting everything that is broadly relevant and not obscene to only posting messages which are unique and tightly focused on the current message thread. There are two kinds of moderated lists:
- The kind where the messages get sent through the moderator, and s/he posts them.
- The kind where the moderator collects the messages, and produces the content based on what people send to the list
Either of these types of lists may have a searchable archive. An example of this type of list (and searchable archive) is Ryan Turner's list at OMB Watch (www.ombwatch.org/)
Unmoderated Lists: These lists are open. Members can post messages without interference. The advantage of unmoderated lists is that the exchange can be really quick - there are no delays while the moderator reviews the messages before postings. On the other hand, an unmoderated list has the potential to degenerate into the feel of a chat room. It also has the potential of being a sounding board for any slob who has plenty of time on his hands, and nothing to say in that time. Or, the discourse can degenerate until flames (nasty messages) are too high a proportion of the list traffic. In these cases, a reader's only recourse can be to unsubscribe .

If you choose to host an unmoderated list, make sure to implement and enforce strict policies about what can and cannot be submitted.

Lists can serve different purposes:

Information Lists - people merely seek and offer specific information
Dialogue lists - subscribers exchange views on issues and ideas. These tend to have more of a political dimension about them.
Project Lists - subscribers use email to collaborate on a specific project on which all list members are working.

Basic tips on participating in mailing lists

Always save the first subscribe message, as it will have important information on how to unsubscribe
Remember that you are addressing a group of people. Think about the best and most succinct way to present your message. Be considerate of other people's time. Be sure to make the subject heading for your message clear and focused
Read the subject headings to decide whether or not you want to read a message
Similarly, use subject headings (for example: JOB, or OFF-TOPIC) in your subject headings when you post a message
When responding to a thread, don't include the entire discussion from below. It takes a long time to load for some users
Set up mailboxes, or filters in your inbox to organise your messages.