Greetings, My name is Roger Sweets, currently at Indiana University and the University of Louisville. I am the 'owner' of the DIATOM-L list. Please save this document or visit the DIATOM WWW page at this URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~diatom/diatom.html You have either joined or are being invited to join the DIATOM-L LISTSERV. If you subscribed you received a brief message from the LISTSERV software that (rather smugly) points out some of the basics. The following information describes our particular list (DIATOM-L) and some of the germane commands. To subscribe, simply use the command below or write back to me at the email address at the bottom and I will sign you up. To sign yourself up, send a mail message to: LISTSERV@listserv.indiana.edu where the message reads: SUBSCRIBE DIATOM-L your_first_name your_last_name EXample: SUBSCRIBE DIATOM-L Roger Sweets to sign off, send the following message: UNSUBSCRIBE DIATOM-L =========================================== AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LISTSERV and DIATOM-L DIATOM-L is an electronic distribution list of researchers involved with diatom ecology, taxonomy, paleoecology, and other Bacillariophycean pursuits. Over 500 diatom researchers worldwide have subscribed to DIATOM-L. DIATOM-L uses a software package called LISTSERV found on many IBM mainframes. While not as intimate as USENET groups or as powerful as the WWW, LISTSERV is the 'least common denominator' of networking pacakges. To use it, all one requires is a mail address. Once a member, all one has to do is read your mail. Its major functions is as a mail or file 'EXPLODER'. ============================================ THE MAIL EXPLODER The mail EXPLODER capability is very simple. All subscribers receive any message sent to the listname DIATOM-L address. All you really have to do is read! But to make it truly worthwhile, hopefully many of you will find things to send to the diatom research community. If you have a message or text that you would like to have widely disseminated among diatomists, simply e-mail it to the list address : DIATOM-L@listserv.indiana.edu The LISTSERV will then automatically distribute that message to everyone on the list. Some suggested uses include - meeting announcements - job openings - grant announcements - listings of recent publications - situations where you wish to contact individuals for further private discussions: a general question about a taxa or location or a call for samples of a taxon, etc. - as a 'forum' for topic discussion It is important to remember that ONLY MESSAGES YOU WANT TO GO TO THE ENTIRE LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS BE SENT TO THE DIATOM-L ADDRESS. Not communications with me, or to find information about LISTSERV, or to retrieve files. This is the only tricky part, as you may embarass yourself by sending other messages, and commands to the LISTSERV to 500 scientists. In some cases, this mistake can be made just by getting excited and 'replying' to a LISTSERV message. =========================================== FILE SERVER I do not use DIATOM-L as a file server. Instead, please visit the DIATOM WWW page at this URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~diatom/diatom.html Here you will find many useful files and information, as well as the stored discussions from DIATOM-L and other listservers. Also, visit the paleolimnology Web page by substituting branch.html ARCHIVE FILES and MEMBER LISTS You can retireve a list of members on the Web page and access the archives for the list. The archive URL is http://listserv.indiana.edu/archives/diatom-l.html =========================================== LISTSERV INFO You can also retrieve general information about the LISTSERV program from the LISTSERV address. You may find that the network will route you for general information to the nearest LISTSERV node instead of to the Indiana University computer. Simply send the one line message INFO to the LISTSERV address to get a list of topics and to receive a topic send the message: INFO topicname You might start with INFO GENINFO =========================================== Please contact me if you have further questions: SWEETS@indiana.edu P. Roger Sweets, Dept. of Biology, Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN 47405