Thu, 29 Sep 1994 08:30:19
 
Your  subscription to  the  MUSEUM-L  list (Museum  discussion  list) has  been
accepted.
 
Please  save this  message  for future  reference, especially  if  you are  not
familiar with LISTSERV. This might look like  a waste of disk space now, but in
6 months you will be glad you  saved this information when you realize that you
cannot  remember what  are the  lists you  are subscribed  to, or  what is  the
command to  leave the list to  avoid filling up  your mailbox while you  are on
vacations.  In fact,  you  should create  a new  mail  folder for  subscription
confirmation messages  like this one, and  for the "welcome messages"  from the
list owners that  you are will occasionally receive after  subscribing to a new
list.
 
To send a message to all the people currently subscribed to the list, just send
mail to  [log in to unmask] This  is called "sending  mail to  the list",
because you send mail to a single address and LISTSERV makes copies for all the
people  who have  subscribed.  This address  ([log in to unmask]) is  also
called the  "list address".  You must  never try  to send  any command  to that
address, as it would be distributed to  all the people who have subscribed. All
commands must  be sent  to the  "LISTSERV address",  [log in to unmask] (or
[log in to unmask]).  It is  very important  to understand  the difference
between the two, but fortunately it is not complicated. The LISTSERV address is
like a  FAX number, and the  list address is like  a normal phone line.  If you
make your  FAX call someone's  regular phone number by  mistake, it will  be an
unpleasant experience for him but you  will probably be excused the first time.
If you  do it regularly,  however, he  will probably get  upset and send  you a
nasty complaint.  It is the same  with mailing lists, with  the difference that
you are calling hundreds or thousands of people at the same time, so a lot more
people get annoyed if you use the wrong number.
 
You may leave the  list at any time by sending a  "SIGNOFF MUSEUM-L" command to
[log in to unmask] (or [log in to unmask]). You can also tell LISTSERV
how you want it to confirm the receipt of messages you send to the list. If you
do not trust the system, send a  "SET MUSEUM-L REPRO" command and LISTSERV will
send you a copy of your own messages,  so that you can see that the message was
distributed and did not get damaged on the way. After a while you may find that
this is  getting annoying, especially  if your mail  program does not  tell you
that the message is from you when it informs you that new mail has arrived from
MUSEUM-L. If you send a "SET  MUSEUM-L ACK NOREPRO" command, LISTSERV will mail
you a short acknowledgement instead, which  will look different in your mailbox
directory. With  most mail programs you  will know immediately that  this is an
acknowledgement you can read later.  Finally, you can turn off acknowledgements
completely with "SET MUSEUM-L NOACK NOREPRO".
 
Contributions sent to this list are  automatically archived. You can get a list
of  the available  archive  files by  sending an  "INDEX  MUSEUM-L" command  to
[log in to unmask] (or  [log in to unmask]). You can then  order these
files  with a  "GET MUSEUM-L  LOGxxxx"  command, or  using LISTSERV's  database
search facilities. Send an "INFO DATABASE"  command for more information on the
latter.
 
Please note that it is presently possible for anybody to determine that you are
signed up to  the list through the  use of the "REVIEW"  command, which returns
the e-mail  address and name of  all the subscribers.  If you do not  want your
name to be visible, just issue a "SET MUSEUM-L CONCEAL" command.
 
More information  on LISTSERV commands can  be found in the  LISTSERV reference
card,  which  you  can  retrieve  by  sending  an  "INFO  REFCARD"  command  to
[log in to unmask] (or [log in to unmask]).