For some people (like myself) a USENET reader is the best way to "surf" the
net in fora where only a relatively small proportion of the postings may be of
use.  By scanning the headings, I only have to download those messages that I
need.

The digest function is far less discriminating.  Where you normally want to
read a high proportion of the messages in a forum the digest function works
well and can be much more effective in terms of time and costs.  However, I am
told that some providers/servers do not support the digest function.

In article <[log in to unmask]>,
   "Laura H. Firth" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>You're absolutely correct. You mention accessing the list through a USENET
>reader but imply that that, like using e-mail, can run up your charges and
count
>against your on-line time.
>
>May I recommend making use of the DIGEST feature? It combines a day's
messages
>into one file which, even when large, downloads faster than all those
messages!
>There's a list of subject lines at the beginning of the digest which you can
>scan for topics that interest you.
>
>To try it, send the following message to listserve, [log in to unmask]
>
>                                SET MUSEUM-L DIGEST
>Good luck,
>Laura H. Firth
>Interpretive Exhibits Writer
>75407,[log in to unmask]
>
>P.S. Anyone know how to 'unset' this feature?