>
>As per the suggestions of some, here is the closest thing to an RFD
>(request for discussion) on setting up a gateway to Netnews. With a
>gateway, there is no formal RFD. There are 5 steps to take which are
>described here. The first step has been taken, no objections from me or the
>Listserv administrator. We are now involved in steps 2, 3, and 4. Actually,
>step 3 does not apply since there is no museum related discussion group on
>Netnews (at least none that I am aware of). The proposed name of the group
>is bit.listserv.museum-l.
>
>For all concerned, if you do not have access to Netnews, you will continue
>to receive e-mail postings. Some people associated with Universities prefer
>to read Netnews rather than e-mail postings. With a gateway, postings to
>the newsgroup will go to the e-mail group.
>
>The reason I have started this process is to provide a service for some of
>our subscribers. There will be no loss of service or discussion, and I hope
>we gain some new participants who will contribute to the discussions we
>have on the list.
>
>--john chadwick
>[log in to unmask]
>
>>--------------8<---------------(cut here)---------------8<---------------
>>Archive-name: bit/policy
>>Last-modified: 1 July 1994
>>
>>      ************************************************************
>>      *** General Information on Mailing List/Netnews gateways ***
>>      ************************************************************
>>
>>This document  gives general  information on gateways  between Electronic
>>Mailing Lists and Netnews as implemented  in Netnews version 2.5 by Linda
>>Littleton  at Penn  State University.  It includes  guidelines on  how to
>>establish a new Mailing List/Netnews gateway.
>>
>>*** What are Electronic Mailing Lists?
>>
>>Electronic Mailing  Lists are controlled  by a software package  called a
>>Mailing List Mananger (or MLM). Since  the most widely used MLM is called
>>ListServ  many people  refer  to electronic  mailing  lists as  "Listserv
>>lists". (Listserv,  which stands for List  Server, is a MLM  that runs on
>>VM/CMS, AIX,  VMS, and other  platforms. It is  a product of  LSoft, Inc.
>>Write to [log in to unmask] for more information on Listserv.)
>>
>>MLMs provide "mail-exploding"  capabilities so that people  with a common
>>interest can communicate with each other  by sending mail to a particular
>>address (one address per mailing list), which then redistributes the mail
>>to each  person "subscribed"  to the  list. Each  person subscribed  to a
>>particular list gets a copy of each piece of mail in their mailbox.
>>
>>*** What is Netnews?
>>
>>Netnews is  a bulletin  board system  in which articles  on a  variety of
>>topics are arranged in "newsgroups" and  stored in a shared location from
>>which  individual users  can read  them.  These newsgroups  can be  local
>>newsgroups, available only at a user's  site, or may be shared with other
>>sites to form a world-wide bulletin board system called Usenet.
>>
>>*** What does the gateway do?
>>
>>The gateway  software (which  is a  built-in part  of the  VM/CMS Netnews
>>server from  Penn State) puts  each piece of  mail for a  particular list
>>into  a corresponding  Netnews  newsgroup and  also  sends each  Netnews-
>>originating posting to the newsgroup  back to the mailing list. Generally
>>gatewayed groups  on Netnews are given  the name bit.listserv.<listname>.
>>When appropriate, the items in a  mailing list might also be cross-posted
>>to a "mainstream" Usenet group.
>>
>>*** Moderated or Unmoderated Newsgroup
>>
>>The newsgroup gatewayed to a list can be either moderated or unmoderated.
>>If it is unmoderated, all posts are immediately accepted in the newsgroup
>>and make  their way eventually to  the mailing list. If  the newsgroup is
>>moderated the posts  are not accepted in the newsgroup,  but instead sent
>>through e-mail  to a  moderator address.  This moderator  can be  a human
>>being who decides if the post is  appropriate, or can even be the mailing
>>list address  (where, for example, the  list owner may from  time to time
>>set the list to  "Send= Private" to limit the mail  coming from Usenet to
>>the mailing list).
>>
>>Whether the  mailing list is edited  is a separate decision  from whether
>>the newsgroup is moderated. Many  unedited mailing lists are gatewayed to
>>moderated newsgroups  so the list owner  can impose controls when  and if
>>inappropriate posts come from the newgroup to the mailing list.
>>
>>*** Why have a gateway?
>>
>>The major  reason sites  decide to  carry gatewayed  mailing lists  is so
>>their users can read these lists  via shared disks, rather than requiring
>>each user to receive each item to their mailbox. In addition, the gateway
>>gives greater  exposure and wider readership  to the list since  the list
>>can be now be read by users at thousands of Usenet sites.
>>
>>*** The gateway can be LOCAL or GLOBAL
>>
>>On a per-group basis, the gateway can  be either LOCAL (only users on the
>>machine where Netnews  is running will see the Listserv  items) or GLOBAL
>>(the  Listserv items  will propagate  to  other Usenet  sites). To  avoid
>>problems that can be caused by  multiple sites gatewaying the same group,
>>we request that only  a handful of sites set up  global gateways and that
>>other sites receive these groups through their normal news feeds.
>>
>>                    *******************************
>>                    *** AN IMPORTANT PRECAUTION ***
>>                    *******************************
>>
>>It is  important that  no more  than one site  per list  set up  a GLOBAL
>>gateway. If  more than one  site does a  GLOBAL gateway for  a particular
>>list,  the list  may get  duplicates  of some  articles. It  is the  list
>>owner's  responsibility  to  make  sure there  are  not  multiple  global
>>gateways for  the list and to  "signoff" any suspect gateway  site should
>>problems start  to occur.  No GLOBAL gateway  should ever  be established
>>without the express permission of the list owner.
>>
>>In the  event that two  sites did  set up a  global gateway for  the same
>>list, here is what might happen. If  a user anywhere on the net posted an
>>article to the group via Netnews and the article found its way to both of
>>the global gateway  sites, both of these sites would  forward the article
>>back to  the mailing list. The  mailing list would therefore  receive two
>>copies and although  Listserv will usually detect  the duplicate posting,
>>it will return one of the copies to the author with a message saying that
>>the post  was a duplicate. Since  the author only posted  once, this will
>>cause them some confusion. Also, it  is possible that both posts would be
>>distributed to the  list if a MLM other than  Listserv is controlling the
>>mailing list.  Netnews would not have  a problem handling this  (since it
>>checks message-id's  for duplicates), but  it is  the people who  get the
>>items in their mailboxes who would see two copies of the article.
>>
>>*** Gateway registration
>>
>>In  order to  avoid  problems  caused by  multiple  gateways,  a list  of
>>gatewayed newsgroups is maintained by David Lawrence ([log in to unmask]).
>>This list is  posted monthly to bit.admin, and copies  are available from
>>[log in to unmask] by sending the  command GET NETGATE.GATELIST as the
>>first and only line  in the body of a piece of e-mail.  This file is also
>>available via anonymous ftp from ftp.american.edu.
>>
>>Please consult this list before  establishing a gateway between a mailing
>>list and a newsgroup to verify no gateway already exists. If you set up a
>>gateway you should have it added to the list by writing to David Lawrence
>>at [log in to unmask], or by writing to [log in to unmask]
>>
>>*** Setting up the gateway.
>>
>>The gateway is set up by  having the Netnews service machine subscribe to
>>the mailing list  in the same way  that a subscriber would. The MLM must
>>ensure that each post has a unique  Message-ID. If none is present in the
>>incoming post, the MLM must add one.  Also, the posts must come from some
>>consistent  address in  the  "Return-Path" (generally  OWNER-<listname>).
>>With  LSoft's Listserv  these  requirements  can be  met  by setting  the
>>FULLHDR option  on (additionally  the NOFILES option  should be  set, and
>>NORENEW should be set if the list expires subscriptions).
>>
>>*** Guidelines for establishing a Mailing List/Netnews gateway.
>>
>>It is the  responsibility of the person requesting the  gateway to do the
>>following:
>>
>>1.  Get  the approval  of  the  mailing  list  owner(s) and  the  MLM
>>    administrator at  the host  node. (For  Listserv, send  a "REVIEW
>>    listname" command to the Listserv at  the host node for the names
>>    and addresses  of the list  owner(s), and a "RELEASE"  command to
>>    the same address for the Listserv administor's name and address.)
>>    Send them  each a  copy of  this document. If  the list  owner or
>>    MLM administrator objects, the gateway is not done.
>>
>>2.  Get the approval of the mailing  list readers. This could be done
>>    somewhat informally  by posting to  the list and asking  if there
>>    are objections.  If the  issue was  controversial, a  formal vote
>>    should be held according to the same guidelines as for creating a
>>    new Usenet group. If there was no major dissenting opinion a vote
>>    will not be needed.
>>
>>3.  If there is  a Usenet group where crossposting  would be logical,
>>    get the approval  of the people who read that  group (in the same
>>    way as approval of the mailing list readers was gotten).
>>
>>4.  Post to bit.admin to see if there are any objections. The subject
>>    of  the   posting  should   be  "Gateway  for   <listname>  under
>>    discussion". Explain  briefly what  the list is  for. If  you are
>>    proposing   that  the   list  be   gated  to   something  besides
>>    "bit.listserv.<listname>", this should be stated. Again, if there
>>    was no major  dissenting opinion within seven days,  a vote would
>>    not be needed; otherwise a vote would be held.
>>
>>    Steps 2, 3, and 4 can all be done at the same time.
>>
>>5.  Write to [log in to unmask] to say  that all of the criteria
>>    have been met.  Indicate the gateway site (if you  wish some site
>>    besides auvm.american.edu to be  the gateway), mailing list name,
>>    mailing list host node, list  owner(s), and a short (45 character
>>    maximum)  description  of  the list.  News-admin  will  establish
>>    and/or register  the gateway, and  then post to bit.admin  to say
>>    that the gateway is operational.  The subject of the posting will
>>    be "Gateway for <listname> operational".
>>
>>If  for some  reason  you  cannot follow  the  steps  outlined here  (for
>>example, if you do not get the  bit groups, so cannot post to bit.admin),
>>write to [log in to unmask] to explain the situation.
>>
>>*** Where to address questions
>>
>>Questions about Listserv/Netnews  gateways can be posted  to bit.admin or
>>sent to [log in to unmask]
>>
>
>
Netnews sounds like a good idea.  I would rather be able to access a BBS
than have a mailbox filled to overflowing with mail of marginal interest.
I am in cultural resource management - a curator with Parks Canada.  I am
an "interpretive" curator as opposed to the classical museum curator.
This service seems better suited to my needs.