Internet Tools

Participating in an Electronic Discussion List

Electronic discussion lists enable groups of people to have ongoing discussions on a common topic via email. Members of a list will receive emails from other members and may also send contributions to the list. Electronic discussion lists can be a valuable tool to hold discussions over distances or beyond class or meeting times.

Subscribing to the List
Sending a Message to the List
Canceling a List Subscription
Using Filters to Manage your Email

Subscribing to the List

Perhaps a professor, a student or a colleague has a listserve you would like to join. In order to subscribe to a group you must know the correct list name for the group.

To join a University listserve:

Open your email program
Create a new message to <listname>-request@listserve.uwec.edu
Type SUBSCRIBE in the body of the email
Send the email message
You will receive an email confirming that you are now a member of the list.
NOTE: Usually, this confirmation email will contain information on how to participate in the list and how to cancel your subscription. You should save this message for future reference.

Sending a Message to the List

To get the most out of a list, you need to be able to communicate with the other members of the listserve. By sending messages to the list, you can ask questions or make responses to comments already posted. This creates an active dialog between the group members.

To send a message to the list:

Open your email program
Create a new email message to <listname>@listserve.uwec.edu
Type your message in the body of the email
Send the email message
Your email will be sent to the list.

Canceling a List Subscription

When your interest in an electronic discussion group has ended, or if the volume of messages is too high for you, you may need to cancel your subscription to the discussion list.

To cancel your subscription to a UWEC listserve:

Create a new email message to <listname>-request@listserve.uwec.edu
Type UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the email
Send the email message
You will receive an email confirming that you are no longer a member of the list.

Using Filters to Manage your Email

If you are using Outlook client (not Webmail), you may want to use filters to sort the messages from the listserve into a specific folder. This puts all of the messages from the listserve into a specialized folder, so that the messages do not appear in your Inbox. To filter the messages:

Windows: Access the Filter dialog box
Macintosh: Access the Filter dialog box
Click SENT TO...
The Select Names or Address Book dialog box appears.
In the Type Name or Select from List text box, type <listname>@listserve.uwec.edu
Click the SENT TO button
The selected name appears in the Sent To listing.
Click OK
This returns you to the Filter dialog box.
Click OK
Windows: Click OK
Windows: Click OK