When many people think Internet, they think e-mail and discussion forums. These are the arenas that bring people together to communicate about items of common interest. If there is power in technology, perhaps it is that power to bring people together,
independent of place, age, economic status, or academic standing. The Internet guru is comfortable finding and using new and interesting forums. Because of the sheer volume of forums, this task is not as easy as it used to be. What follows here are some
techniques to make the process of discovery more efficient and effective.
If you've hung around the Internet for any length of time, it is likely that you are familiar with mailing lists. Along with their cousins, the Usenet newsgroups, mailing lists are one of the longer-standing members of the community of Internet
resources. Mailing lists and newsgroups now both number in the thousands. The challenge these days is not in finding mailing lists, but in finding the mailing lists that interest you.
If you've hung around the Internet for any length of time, it islikely that you are familiar with mailing lists. Along with their cousins, the Usenet newsgroups, mailing lists are one of the longer-standing members of the community of Internet
resources. Mailing lists and newsgroups now both number in the thousands. The challenge these days is not in finding mailing lists, but in finding the mailing lists that interest you.
To be effective in finding mailing lists, it is helpful to understand a little about how and where mailing lists are maintained. There are currently three major mailing list software packages being used on the Internet. Listserv, written by Eric Thomas,
is a package long associated with the Bitnet research and educational network. Listserv also includes a database-search and file-distribution capability, and it supports a high degree of interoperation between installations. The number of mailing lists
maintained by Listserv installations is now around 5000.
Because so many Listserv mailing lists exist, when you search for one on a particular topic, Listserv installations will be an obvious place to look. Until recently, Listserv had been used primarily on the Bitnet network, so most Listserv installations
are maintained at colleges and universities. While many lists are devoted to the scholarly discussion of various topics, most lists are open to more general discussion and are not restricted to the academic community. (It's important, however, to be
sensitive to the purpose of a particular mailing list and to not violate the list's or Bitnet's usage guidelines.)
Listserv was originally written for VM/CMS IBM Mainframe systems, and it used the NJE networking protocol employed by Bitnet for its intercommunication. Listserv services have been available to Internet sites via e-mail gateways. Newer versions of the
software, available from LSoft International, Incorporated, support the TCP/IP mail protocol and will expand its operation to Digital Equipment's VMS operating system as well as to UNIX systems.
Two new players in the mailing list arena—Listproc, by Anastasios Kotsikonas, and Majordomo, by Brent Chapman—both run only on UNIX operating systems. Listproc is designed to have some similarity to Listserv in its user commands, but it is not
capable of interoperating with Listserv installations. Majordomo is gaining popularity as a mailing list management option because it runs on many kinds of UNIX systems and is easily installed and configured. (For more detailed information about using
these various mailing list packages, see Chapter 12, "Listservs and Mailing Lists.")
Being cognizant of which software package is being used to maintain a list will help in the process of locating and subscribing to a mailing list. Listserv is the software known to most people and has features that are very helpful in locating a
particular list and in providing subscription information (the LIST command, and so on). Finding and subscribing to non-Listserv mailing lists might require a bit more work on your part, but such information is also not hard to find if you know where to
look.
A number of sources have taken on the task of compiling and organizing mailing list information. These sources can be the first place to look when searching for a topical e-mail forum.
As online information resources become more entrenched as a part of scholarly study and human intercommunication, the classification and organization of such information has become an important new endeavor. For example, Diane Kovacs, of the Kent State
University Libraries, has compiled a directory of scholarly electronic mailing lists and newsgroups. The directory is actually a set of files that can be acquired from listserv@kentvm.bitnet and via anonymous FTP from ksuvxa.kent.edu (in the Library
directory).
The files that make up the directory are as follows:
|
ACADLIST README |
(an explanatory note for the Directory with an index) |
|
ACADLIST FILE1 |
(Anthropology - Education) |
|
ACADLIST FILE2 |
(Futurology - Latin American Studies) |
|
ACADLIST FILE3 |
(Library and Information Science - Music) |
|
ACADLIST FILE4 |
(Political Science - Writing) |
|
ACADLIST FILE5 |
(Biological sciences) |
|
ACADLIST FILE6 |
(Physical sciences) |
|
ACADLIST FILE7 |
(Business and general academia) |
|
ACADLIST CHANGES |
(all the major additions, deletions and alterations) |
The organization of lists and newsgroups by subject enables easy access to those on one particular field of study. This is obviously a valuable service to the Internet community of scholars, but it can also point the way for others seeking information
on a particular topic.
Another similar, very useful directory is one of electronic journals, compiled by Michael Strangelove at the University of Ottawa and available from listserv@acadvm1.uottawa.ca. It consists of two files, EJOURNL1 DIRECTRY and EJOURNL2 DIRECTRY, with
entries organized by category of publication (journal, newsletter, digest, and so on). Each entry has the journal title, ISSN number (if any), a description, subscription information, submission information, related electronic mailing lists (if any), back
issue information, and a contact name and address.
To retrieve any of the aforementioned files from a Listserv site, you can send a mail message with the command GET filename, where you substitute the name of the file you want for filename. The file will be sent to you as a mail message.
These two examples are not the only indexed collections of mailing lists and discussion groups, but they are among the most comprehensive in their respective areas. As additional indexed collections are created, they are often announced on the mailing
lists PACS-L@uhupvm1.uh.edu and net-happenings@is.internic.net. These are good lists to monitor for such developments, along with many other new Internet services.
If you wish to keep abreast of all new mailing lists that are created, a good mailing list to join is new-list@vm1.nodak.edu. This Listserv mailing list is the de facto forum where people announce newly created e-mail groups. It seems that one or
two new mailing lists are announced per day, making this a fairly active forum. In addition to announcements of new lists and changes in the status or location of existing ones, it is also possible to post an inquiry if you are looking for a list on a
particular topic.
The type of posting is identified in the e-mail subject field. NEW:, followed by a mailing list name, means that the message body is announcing a newly created list. CHANGE:, followed by a mailing list name, indicates a change in status or location, and
SEARCH:, followed by a topic, indicates a search for a mailing list on a particular topic. List members can directly reply to the person requesting the information. New-list is moderated by Marty Hoag at North Dakota State University. You can subscribe to
new-list in the usual way: send a mail message to listserv@vm1.nodak.edu with the command SUBSCRIBE NEW-LIST yourname. To post an inquiry, however, send a message with the subject SEARCH:... and a message body describing what type of list you are looking
for, to the address new-list@vm1.nodak.edu.
Photo by Matisse Enzer
"I think hosts are the essential link in where and how the Well evolves, and I have a lot of hope.
How we use the Well, and how we 'use' one another as employees, customers, allies, products, neighbors...all those words we use...is very important. Not just to the community, to the survival of the business that provides 'the platform' and the customer
and technical support, but also to the way we treat each other on the planet.
The microcosm is very important.
If I didn't believe that I wouldn't work here."
—from "On Online Community," by Gail Williams
As Conferencing Manager for The WELL, Gail Ann Williams is known by thousands of users as <gail>. Reading and posting in dozens of topic categories daily, her job is to help The WELL's Conference Hosts keep their users' conversations active and
"on thread." The fact that she manages to keep on top of all these chains of thought is amazing in its own right; but Gail also manages to instill a beneficent and caring undercurrent in the sometimes-rowdy WELL environment. In a recent e-mail
interview, she talked to me about her job, about her views on conference hosting, and about the relationship between online forums and theatrical presentations.
TF: The WELL has been around longer than most Internet conferencing sites, and it has had a chance to develop some fairly clear guidelines which others have only begun to glimpse. As The WELL's Conference Manager, you come in contact with
thousands of posts on a daily basis and participate in hundreds of threads—some of which must occassionally get out of hand. When it comes to "managing" these conferences on daily run-throughs, what basic guidelines do you like to keep in
mind?
GW: The most exciting thing about the WELL conferences is that the conference hosts do most of the work that allows juicy conversation to continue. My work turns out to be much more like host support than host management—though
I do select and evaluate the hosts, and accept new public conference proposals. The general autonomy of the hosts is essential to the creative spirit of the WELL.
I like to sample conferences, but since my e-mail and my policy-oriented conference rounds take a big chunk out of each day, I don't get around as much as you might imagine. The WELL has far too much posted on it each day for one person to read, so the
community has to do most of the "managing." I'm often contacted by relative newcomers who've ruffled oldtimers' feathers and are getting the "white corpuscle" treatment—which may, in fact, help the health of the group, but brings
up important questions about peer-pressure and dissent. So there's a balancing act in that arena, too.
TF: Can you give me an example of such a "balancing act?"
GW: Well, at times I've been able to say "Hey, puffball, hydrant just seems to want to end this without losing too much face. You're more mature, can you figure out a way to let him have a truce there?" and then mail hydrant with
"Dear hydrant—your contributions here are refreshing in many ways. One thing that you may find helpful in getting into the dialog and becoming a beloved and fierce member of the local gang is to remember that puffball is not going away. You may
have a shot at persuading him in the long run, but telling him to log off and die seems to be provoking him. I understand that you see his volleys as harassment; I have a hunch he feels the same about yours. Do you have any ideas of how to agree to
disagree, and to settle into an articulate argument again?"
Now and then that works. I can speak directly and with respect to each party and help break a log jam. But even better are the times when conference hosts do this and I don't even hear about it. We're deep with experience around here, though no approach
works for everyone all the time.
TF: One thing I've learned in my attempts at moderating is that it requires a new and unique social skill set. In your .plan you describe it this way: "Hosting is an evolving skill, at best an emerging art form, ranging from `take out the
dirty ascii ashtrays after the party' to much, much more." What traits and attitudes do you consider most important in a good host or moderator?
GW: I've thought about this a lot, and I feel that the most important characteristics have to do with passion and restraint (or detachment—if you'd rather be Buddhist about it). You need to have passion for the subject matter, the medium,
and the people who come to participate. This love can move you to keep people from trampling all over your conference or list; it can have a tough aspect, if it's part of a love for the continuing conversation in all its intrinsic messiness. And you need
to be able to avoid dominating the conversation, and expecting a particular outcome. Whether by logging off and going for a walk, or just not letting it matter in that particular way.
WELL hosts take on a wide array of styles, one of which is like the stage manager for an improvisational troupe. You can say, "Psst, you're on now!" in e-mail now and then, but if you move to a directoral or critic's role, you'll be seen as
the vile antagonist by your ascii stars, and get sucked into the drama of it all. It's important to remember that every player is the protagonist. This is mundane in a way; it's been said forever, and it maps to old wisdom like "do unto others.."
or even "the customer is always right." Each contributor is the hero of the argument, the pleasant chatterer, the savvyest information swapper. Each user is the center of the Net. And yet, in a dispute, the infalllible users may not all be right!
What an adventure!
Basic conversational skills are perhaps the most important, and the regular offline party-host talents, too. How do you make people welcome and draw them in? How do you keep a fist-fight from breaking up the potluck dinner?
Ideal Host Qualities:
- Having been online, and expressing oneself for a while... a year or more is best.
- A long fuse in arguments... but not avoidance of conflict situations.
- A willingness to shift from 'center stage' to a supportive, active listening role, and back.
- A body of knowlege and broad enthusiastic interest in the subject matter.
- Willingness to learn and teach the use of conferencing software, and the local online customs, in an easy manner online as we go along.
-- <gail>
TF: Like the cast and crew at the theater, the people "behind-the-scenes" of the conferences do different things, and yield different rewards for their participation, than the "audience members" who come through their areas.
We've talked about "hostly" qualities for keeping users involved, but what keeps the hosts involved?
GW: Hosts can get a lot out of running a great conference; "networking" in the professional contact sense, or in the sense of making friends who care about a mutual area of interest, perhaps professional recognition, a soap-box of their
own, a chance to learn from other experts, a way to do community service. And for some, perhaps the satisfaction that can be felt by a great stage manager or director or teacher: hosts can watch others take part in a fabulous conversation that has a life
of its own and still muster some pride about the space they've defined.
I believe that great hosting is an evolving art form for some, so it's exciting to bring WELL hosts together to share their definitions and advice with one another. There are aspects of magic in hosting well, and we are beginning to figure out how to
teach each other the best of what we do to keep the magic alive online.
TF: How do you think the conferences would differ if based upon a more traditional corporate structure—in which the "hosts" are paid specialists, perhaps receiving bonuses for high participation?
GW: Man, that's a tough one. I am sure things would feel different if hosts were paid employees, but I am not sure what the overall effects would be. Some people perform better, or can put more in, if paid. Others are more passionate because
they are here for love. Love in all senses of the word, from a public service stance, to the best sense of the artistic drive of the word "amateur," to falling in love with individuals and having this become the center of their social lives.
I wonder about this, and I know the hosts do, too. In many ways it would be fair and wise to pay hosts, but in other ways it could undermine the incredible outpouring of goodhearted exchange that hosts and all users bring to the table here at the WELL.
TF: Although your work at the WELL is a full-time occupation, you originally signed up to do community relations and marketing for the theater company you were involved with. Members of The WELL's Theater Conference have read about your
experiences with various forms of experimental theater, including interactive theater. How does your experience in the world of theater affect your perception of the WELL? How is theatrical production similar to conference management?
GW: It's remarkable how computer-mediated looks to a theater person. I'd spent years doing theater in moderately formal settings, and in quirky freeform situations, like in-character street improv, and on the radio with call-ins. So when I logged
on a few times and noticed what people were doing on the WELL, it was like a blast of electricity to the brain... It's both talking and writing... Script-improv! Improvisation at the author level, interaction before interpretation, the writer as actor and
heckler!
This is exciting territory. I spent a year online asking myself questions lik,e "Who is the audience?" "Who is the protagonist, our hero?" and "Why do we treat each other like scenery?" Most people don't like being mere
props or extras, but we're all part of the painted backdrop in somebody's story. Online, that dynamic can be illuminated in a strange way... We lose the visual clues for who wants to be in the spotlight, and who wants to blend in to the crowd, muttering a
few asides. So we tend to have to reinvent ourselves with some heat and friction as we get used to a new kind of reflection from our online collaborators.
TF: What theatrical works or experiences helped you develop this mindset?
GW: The writings about interface as theater, such as the work of Brenda Laurel, which I discovered after being online for some time, helped me see why this process of examining the WELL with a theater metaphor had so many layers. You could reach
deep down to the ritual origins of theater. Add in my varied models for theater interaction, from my work with the political satire of the Plutonium Players, the sex-role spoofs of Ladies Against Women, and the joy of studying therapeutic psychodrama and
teaching theater games... It came together in a most impressive way.
TF: Obviously there's a lot of extremely ephemeral stuff to learn in this area; The WELL is still blazing a trail into uncharted territory, but what words of advice would you have for people who are considering setting up their own conferencing
systems?
GW: Well, reading, posting, and even volunteering on other systems is a start. If I were to set up a system from scratch, I'd start with artists and consultants who are not yet well-known, but who were talented. There is a strata of people who
crave getting out there with great content, and who don't need to be paid to be wonderful. Finding them would be the first challenge. And I'd honor dissent. Even snarky clueless carping.
Just as a government that commits to free expression has to sort out the seemingly useless venting from the valuable input, the system founder who wants commitment and good feedback needs to figure out a way to avoid being riled by those who seem to be
renting a surrogate authority figure to rail against for a couple of bucks an hour....
Complaints are a time suck, but incredibly valuable. Good, ongoing, online policy-thrash can teach you a lot. It's both a pain and an asset.
While each of us makes a learning journey,
we have to remain aware that the "reality" is evolving.
That to believe you "get it" is not the most helpful stance in a lot of situations.
The fluid nature of virtual reality—even in a text-based version—is amazing.
-- <gail>
If you don't need to monitor new mailing lists on a daily basis, there is still a way for you to take advantage of the new-list mailing list. The Listserv at North Dakota State University maintains a service that allows you to search for a particular
keyword in text bases of Bitnet and Internet mailing list information.
There are three databases upon which you can do a keyword search. Lists is a globally-known database of the Listserv mailing lists; intgroup is a searchable copy of a list of Bitnet and Internet interest groups; new-list is an indexed version of the
new-list mailing list archives. While there is some overlap of the three different databases, it is generally a good idea to search all of them. By searching the new-list database, you get the benefit of all the previous messages, without having to monitor
the list daily or look through all of the archive files.
The following is an example of a database search. Lines like those shown can be sent as a mail message to the address listserv@vm1.nodak.edu. A batch search takes advantage of Listserv Command Job Language (LCJL). However, it is not necessary to be
fully conversant in the language. You can copy this example, use it as the basis for your queries, and easily accomplish your searches.
//DBlook JOB Echo=No Database Search DD=Rules (f=mail //Rules DD * Select music in lists Index Select music in intgroup Index Select music in new-list Index
In the example, all items that contain the string music anywhere in the text of an item would be listed in the output. After the Listserv processes your request, it sends you a mail message containing the results of your search. In the example search
setup, the SELECT command is used to specify that music is to be located in items of each of the three databases. The INDEX command causes the display of a line of information for each match found in the database. The information returned is usually enough
to enable you to subscribe to a particular mailing list; however, more detailed information can be obtained via an additional database job.
The following example shows some sample output from the previous search that used music as the keyword. The output has been edited for the sake of space, but you can still get an idea of how diverse a set of topics you can find with one search.
> Select music in lists --> Database LISTS, 95 hits. > Index Ref# Listname Nodename #Sub List title ---- -------- -------- ---- ---------- 0009 MPB-L BRUFPB 25 Lista para Musica Popular Brasileira 0049 ROCK TRITU 272 Rock&Roll Music Discussion List 0088 ALLMUSIC UFRJ 4 ALLMUSIC PEERED LIST 0117 GUM BRUFMG 79 Grupo de Usuarios MUSIC do Brasil (GUM) 0255 EARLYM-L AEARN 356 Early Music List 0310 KLARINET VCCSCENT 139 Klarinet - Clarinettist's Network ... 2569 MILES HEARN 240 Discussion of Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis & his vast+ 2664 EMUSIC-D AUVM 948 Electronic Music Digest 2665 EMUSIC-L AUVM 430 Electronic Music Discussion List 2666 SYNTH-L AUVM 344 Electronic music "gearhead" list 2672 SERAVES AUVM 185 South East Rave List ... 3284 MUSPRF-L CMSUVMB 153 Music Performance and Pedagogy 3347 PNWMLA-L UWAVM 23 PNWMLA-L 3387 IRTRAD-L IRLEARN 284 Irish Traditional Music List 3633 TRASHCAN UICVM 70 The Music of the Trash Can Sinatras 3645 ORTHODOX IUBVM 375 Orthodox Christianity 3650 FILMUS-L IUBVM 190 Film Music Discussion List ... 4226 4AD-L JHUVM 811 4ad recording artists list 4388 FOLKDJ-L PSUVM 125 Folk and Bluegrass DJs 4542 BGRASS-L UKCC 676 Bluegrass music discussion. 4633 ETHMUS-L UMDD 418 EthnoFORUM, a global ethnomusicology forum. ... > Select music in intgroup --> Database INTGROUP, 58 hits. > Index Item # Date Time Recs Subject ------ ---- ---- ---- ------- 000013 94/02/28 00:00 28 78-L@cornellc.cit.cornell.edu 000027 94/02/28 00:00 23 adolph-a-carrot@ANDREW.CMU.EDU 000052 94/02/28 00:00 26 ALICEFAN on LISTSERV@WKUVX1.BITNET 000055 94/02/28 00:00 26 ALLMUSIC%AUVM.BITNET@VM1.NODAK.EDU ... 000210 94/02/28 00:00 19 Cloud-Zero@cs.mcgill.ca 000236 94/02/28 00:00 11 concrete-blonde@ferkel.ucsb.edu ... 000284 94/02/28 00:00 22 DEAD-FLAMES@VIRGINIA.EDU 000285 94/02/28 00:00 20 DEAD-HEADS@VIRGINIA.EDU 000298 94/02/28 00:00 17 dewy-fields@ifi.uio.no 000316 94/02/28 00:00 20 DJ-L%NDSUVM1.BITNET@VM1.NODAK.EDU 000333 94/02/28 00:00 32 EARLYM-L@AEARN.BITNET or 000359 94/02/28 00:00 31 EMUSIC-D%AUVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU 000397 94/02/28 00:00 36 FILMUS-L on LISTSERV@IUBVM.BITNET 000407 94/02/28 00:00 43 Folk_Music@nysernet.org 000408 94/02/28 00:00 29 FOLKTALK on LISTSERV@WMVM1.BITNET ... 000733 94/02/28 00:00 25 MILES on LISTSERV@HEARN.BITNET 000743 94/02/28 00:00 32 MLA-L%IUBVM.BITNET@VM1.NODAK.EDU 000747 94/02/28 00:00 42 Mmos2-L@knex.via.mind.ORG 000764 94/02/28 00:00 45 music-research%prg.oxford.ac.uk@NSS.CS.UCL.AC.UK 000765 94/02/28 00:00 14 mutex@stolaf.edu 000791 94/02/28 00:00 29 NEW-ORLEANS on MAIL-SERVER@mintir.new-orleans.la.us ... > Select music in new-list --> Database NEW-LIST, 99 hits. > Index Item # Date Time Recs Subject ------ ---- ---- ---- ------- 000037 89/03/08 12:00 138 NEW LIST: HP-28@NDSUVM1 HP-28 Calculator Discussio+ 000052 89/04/19 17:37 47 NEW LIST: EMUSIC-L or EMUSIC-D - Electronic Music 000059 89/05/10 12:54 28 NEW LIST: ALLMUSIC Music Discussions ... 000308 90/08/21 13:53 43 NEW LIST: OPERA-L Concerning All Opera and Lyrical+ 000362 90/11/24 15:49 28 NEW LIST: VW5EARN@AWIWUW11.Bitnet Early Music List 000455 91/03/15 12:37 15 List Search: Twin Peaks ... 000603 91/09/20 14:18 19 NEW LIST: Folk_Music list 000612 91/10/09 16:44 105 NEW-LIST List Search Digest - 9 Oct 1991 ... 000708 92/01/31 08:58 57 NEW LIST: Sun Ra 000713 92/02/03 20:13 30 NEW LIST: UPNEWS Update-Electronic-Music-News 000737 92/02/29 15:08 92 NEW LIST: Camelot - Arthurian Legend and Grail Lore ... 000781 92/04/15 13:33 48 Address Change: Sun Ra and his Arkestra (avant-gar+ 000785 92/04/23 19:53 28 NEW LIST: 78-L 78 RPM Records and Music Collectors ... 001030 93/01/15 08:47 28 NEW LIST: PIPORG-L Pipe Organs and Related Topics ... 001170 93/05/16 21:19 30 NEW: NEW-ORLEANS Mailing List 001209 93/06/14 20:10 32 NEW: kosmos - Paul Weller list 001223 93/06/17 17:07 25 SEARCH: Popular Culture 001227 93/06/22 12:31 16 NEW: grind - grindcore/death metal/heavy thrash mu+ 001249 93/07/07 09:32 36 NEW: WNN - ABC's "World News Now" Discussion List 001276 93/07/21 16:15 30 NEW: ENO-L - Brian Eno ... 001669 94/02/14 14:45 34 NEW: ACTMUS-L - Asian Contemporary Music 001670 94/02/14 15:07 26 NEW: PIANOMAN - Billy Joel 001699 94/03/03 10:31 74 NEW: SIXTIES-L 001715 94/03/11 11:49 27 NEW - SIDEDRUM - International list for Scottish D+ 001733 94/03/21 17:33 41 NEW: flu-list - Band info list run by the band. 001740 94/03/29 08:22 21 NEW: Shot-of-Rhythm - the music of John Hiatt 001785 94/04/20 09:00 55 CHANGE: Lists at Ferris have moved 001788 94/04/20 14:29 24 SEARCH: Crash Test Dummies
Note that there are three sections to the previous example, each one corresponding to a search request you made. Because the results are sent via e-mail, the lines are limited to 80 characters, so some of the descriptions are truncated. The truncation
is indicated by a plus sign (+). If you actually perform this search, you will notice that many of the matches again refer to the McGill University MUSIC (Multi-User System for Interactive Computing) operating system (long a source of some confusion; it
has nothing to do with the aural kind of music). You can subscribe to the Listserv mailing lists by sending the usual SUBSCRIBE command to the nearest or the host Listserv installation. Other kinds of mailing lists may have differing instructions on how
you can join.
In the case of the preceding search example, and with a little more work on your part, additional information can be retrieved from listserv@vm1.nodak.edu. The items actually refer to postings from the NEW-LIST mailing list, which is maintained there.
You can send for a log file containing the particular message based upon the information returned by the database search. To do so, send the following command as the first line of a mail message to the Listserv: SEND NEW-LIST LOGyymm, where instead
of the letters yymm you substitute the corresponding month and year found in the Date column of the database search output. Note that because they are generated from the NEW-LIST mailing list, these log files are available only for searches on the
NEW-LIST database and not the other databases.
Rather than having to look through an entire log file, however, it would be more convenient to just select the complete text of interesting items. Fortunately, the PRINT command of a database search enables you to do so. When doing a batch database
search, a PRINT command is usually used in a second job because an INDEX command is needed to find item numbers for particular elements of the database. In a subsequent search following the theme used so far, suppose you were particularly interested in
jazz music. You could receive the entire text of the item by referencing its index number (under the heading Ref# in the lists database and under Item # in the other two databases). Because a PRINT command often returns one or more pages of text, you
should probably limit the number of items you request in order to save e-mail bandwidth as well as your own mailbox. The following example shows the job setup for just such a search.
//DBlook JOB Echo=No Database Search DD=Rules (f=mail //Rules DD * Select music in lists Print 2569 3633 Select music in intgroup Print 791 Select music in new-list Print 708 781
In pursuing this example, the Miles mailing list, the Trashcan mailing list, the New Orleans list (after all, there's no place for jazz like New Orleans), and the Sun Ra mailing list may all have piqued your interest. The resulting output of the
preceding search job setup is shown here.
> Select music in lists --> Database LISTS, 95 hits. > Print 2569 3633 >>> Item number 2569, dated 94/04/18 -- ALL * * Discussion of Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis & his vast musical career * * Review= Public * Subscription= Open,Confirm * Send= Public * Notify= No * Files= No * Reply-to= list,ignore * Validate= No * X-tags= Comment * Notebook= Yes,L/301,Monthly,Public * Stats= Normal * Errors-To= Owner * Mail-Via= Dist2 * * Owner= TBUCK@KNOX (Tom Buck) * >>> Item number 3633, dated 94/03/08 -- ALL * The Music of the Trash Can Sinatras * SEND= Public * REVIEW= Public * SUBSCRIPTION= Open * NOTIFY= Yes * REPLY-TO= List,Respect * FILES= No * VALIDATE= STORE ONLY * ACK= NO * CONFIDENTIAL= No * NOTEBOOK= YES,L,monthly,public * OWNER= U52549@UICVM * EDITOR= U52549@UICVM * ERRORS-TO= U52549@UICVM * Renewal= 1-Yearly * Mail-via= DIST2 > Select music in intgroup --> Database INTGROUP, 58 hits. > Print 791 >>> Item number 791, dated 94/02/28 00:00:00 -- ALL Date: 28 Feb 1994 00:00 GMT From: <interest-groups-request@nisc.sri.com> To: INTGROUP@VM1.NoDak.EDU Subject: NEW-ORLEANS on MAIL-SERVER@mintir.new-orleans.la.us NEW-ORLEANS on MAIL-SERVER@mintir.new-orleans.la.us [Last Update 5/93] NEW-ORLEANS is a mailing list for discussing the city of New Orleans, it's history, culture, people, food, etc. Restaurant reviews, music notes, political comments, and general potpourri dealing with the city are welcome. A companion list, NEWORL-DIG, is also now available. This will be a monthly (or so) digest of the NEW-ORLEANS mailing list. It will always include at least one or two restaurant reviews, local entertainment news, and other tidbits. To subscribe to NEW-ORLEANS, send the following command to MAIL-SERVER@mintir.new-orleans.la.us: SUBSCRIBE NEW-ORLEANS To subscribe to NEW-ORLEANS, send the following command to MAIL-SERVER@mintir.new-orleans.la.us: SUBSCRIBE NEWORL-DIG Owner: Edward J. Branley <elendil@mintir.new-orleans.la.us> > Select music in new-list --> Database NEW-LIST, 99 hits. > Print 708 781 >>> Item number 708, dated 92/01/31 08:58:48 -- ALL Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1992 08:58:48 CST Reply-To: SATURN@KNOX Sender: NEW-LIST - New List Announcements <NEW-LIST@NDSUVM1.BITNET> From: SATURN@KNOX.BITNET Subject: NEW LIST: Sun Ra Sun Ra via Saturn@KNOX.BITNET Well, as you can tell by the address from which this message originates, I am finally starting a Sun Ra mailing list! Topics for discussion will include: * Sun Ra's music, albums, videos, poetry, and philosophy. All things Ra! * Magazine and newspaper articles or books that talk about Sun Ra and/or contain interviews are also game. * Members of the Arkestra and album projects with which they have been involved. * Other artists who are similar to Sun Ra, or who claim Sun Ra as an influence. * Free Jazz in general, and other types of Jazz as they relate to Sun Ra's music. For those of you who may not know: Sun Ra is a jazz musician who leads abig band and claims to be from the planet Saturn. He has been doing such for the past 35-40 years and is nearing 80 years of age. He is also a poet and even, in a sense, a spiritual leader. He has well over 100 albums to his credit (with a little over a dozen on CD) and I hope to maintain a discography of Sun Ra recordings. Perhaps a list of magazine and newspaper articles and books dealing with Ra can also be developed. This is not a Listserv-type list, so I will be running it by hand. All administrative-type e-mail should be sent to Saturn@Knox.Bitnet as well as submissions for the list. I hope to get a Sun Ra digest out every other day or every third day as needed. If you know of any other Sun Ra fans who have electronic mail capabilities, please feel free to forward this message on to them. To subscribe to the Sun Ra mailing list, just send a note to me at this account: Saturn@Knox.Bitnet. For those of you who are trying to send from networks other than Bitnet: If you have trouble getting to that address, try sending to Saturn%Knox.Bitnet@uicvm.uic.edu. I won't be able to send out the first digest for another week or so, but go ahead and send notes asking to be added to the mailing list, or submissions for the first digest. Owner: Tom Buck <Saturn@Knox.Bitnet> editor of the Sun Ra mailing list. "Sound Can Wash Clothes" - Sun Ra -
By comparison, here is the same item from the lists database.
>>> Item number 781, dated 92/04/15 13:33:55 -- ALL
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 13:33:55 CDT
Reply-To: TBUCK@KNOX
Sender: NEW-LIST - New List Announcements <NEW-LIST@NDSUVM1.BITNET>
From: TBUCK@KNOX.BITNET
Subject: Address Change: Sun Ra and his Arkestra
(avant-garde jazz)
The Sun Ra mailing list, formerly at <Saturn@Knox.Bitnet>, has moved to
<Saturn@Hearn.Bitnet> and is now a real-time list utilizing the ListServ
software at Hearn. To subscribe, send a message to <Listserv@Hearn.Bitnet>
with the following as the body of the message....
Subscribe Saturn Your Name
(for example)
Subscribe Saturn Tom Buck
Topics for discussion include:
* Sun Ra's music, albums, videos, poetry, and philosophy. All things Ra!
* Magazine and newspaper articles or books which talk about Sun Ra and/or
contain interviews are also game.
* Members of the Arkestra and album projects with which they have been
envolved.
* Other artists who are similar to Sun Ra, or who claim Sun Ra as an
influence.
* Free Jazz in general, and other types of Jazz as they relate to Sun
Ra's music.
For those of you who may not know: Sun Ra is a jazz musician who leads
a big band and claims to be from the planet Saturn. He has been doing
such for the past 35-40 years and is nearing 80 years of age. He is also
a poet, and even a spiritual leader in some sense. He has well over 100
albums to his credit (with almost a dozen on CD) and I hope to maintain
a discography of Sun Ra recordings. Perhaps a list of magazine and
newspaper articles and books dealing with Ra can also be developed.
Happy Trails and Later Days....
Tom Buck (TBuck@Knox.Bitnet), owner of the Sun Ra mailing list.
"Sound Can Wash Clothes"
- Sun Ra -
You'll immediately notice that the lists database offers far less descriptive information than the other two. At this point you might give up on finding more about the Trash Can Sinatras (I wonder if Frank knows about them?), but more information on the
Miles list can be found in the intgroup database. With the additional information from a search-and-print job, you are ready to subscribe to the lists that interest you (see the following note).
Know Your Mailing List References: After you have a mailing list description, the next step is to subscribe. When examining a mailing list reference, make note of the following information:
In the preceding example, we searched the new-list archives for mailing lists of interest. At many Listserv sites, archives of other mailing lists are maintained, and searchable databases of those archives are also available. These archives, combined
with the Listserv database capability, can be quite informative when you are looking for the answer to a particular question. Instead of posting your question to a topical mailing list, you can search that list's archives to see if that question or a
similar one has been posted before.
There is currently no global listing of all Listserv databases, but mailing-list archives and databases are generally maintained on the Listserv installation that supports that list. You can find out what databases are available at a particular Listserv
site by sending the command DATABASE LIST in a mail message. With that information, you can design a search job to look for your question. The following is a typical list of Listserv databases.
Database |
Description |
|
ACA-L |
Archives of "ACA-L" |
|
ADA-LAW |
Archives of "ADA Law" |
|
ADVISE-L |
Archives of "User Services List" |
|
AG-EXP-L |
Archives of "AG-EXP-L Ag Expert Systems" |
|
AXIOM |
Archives of "AXIOM Computer Algebra System" |
|
BIOMED-L |
Archives of "BIOMED-L Biomedical Ethics" |
|
BLINDNWS |
Archives of "Blind News Digest" |
|
DOWN-SYN |
Archives of "Down Syndrome" |
|
FUSION |
Archives of "Fusion - Redistribution of sci.physics.fusion" |
|
GEDCOM-L |
Archives of "Genealogical Data Communications Specs" |
|
GRAPHNET |
Archives of "GRAPHNET - Graph Theory" |
|
GUISPEAK |
Archives of "Access to GUI via Speech" |
|
HOMESAT |
Archives of "HOMESAT - Home Satellite Technology" |
|
JES2-L |
Archives of "JES2 discussion group" |
|
LINES-L |
Archives of "LifeLines Genealogical System" |
|
LISTS |
Information on all the network-wide Listserv lists |
|
LORE |
Archives of "LORE - Folklore List" |
|
PEERS |
Information on all the Listserv servers in the network |
|
POWER-L |
Archives of "POWER-L IBM RS/6000 POWER Family" |
Statements for searching an archive might look like the following (remember that a batch search needs additional LCJL statements preceding these lines):
Select home remedies in lore Index
In the preceding example, index lines for items matched on both words (independent of position within the item) would be returned. The full text could then be retrieved using the PRINT command as previously discussed.
Most Listserv sites maintain a peers database, which contains information on all known Listserv installations. To find all the installations in a particular U.S. state, you could use the following statements:
Select Texas in peers Index
To list all known installations, use the statements:
Select * in peers Index
In this case, the asterisk (*) acts as a wildcard and will return a line for each entry in the database. Wildcard searches should be done judiciously; they can take quite a bit of processor time on the Listserv machine and generate quite a bit of output
to your electronic mailbox.
The database capabilities of Listserv are too extensive to allow complete documentation in this discussion. For more information on Listserv database searches, see the file LISTDB MEMO, by Eric Thomas, available from the closest Listserv installation by
sending the command GET LISTDB MEMO.
Finding Usenet newsgroups is not usually a problem if you have access to a news reading program and a corresponding news feed. Groups will be there available to you to read—several thousand, in fact. Finding a group or the messages that interest
you can be a daunting challenge when you are faced with the volumes of messages typically available via a news reader. Fortunately, many news readers support a search function that allows you to find specified strings in the subject or From: field of a
posted message. With such a capability, you can look for specific topics or for postings from specific people, without reading the entirety of one or more newsgroups.
Figure 12.6 shows a Usenet search using the nn news reading software as an example. The command that generated this multiscreen output was nn -mxX -sjazz, which tells nn to search for all occurrences of the word jazz in the subject field of
messages and merge the found messages into a metagroup (that is, collect them for reading all at once without having to enter each newsgroup). The x and X options work with the -m (meta) option to instruct nn to perform its search for both read articles
(x) as well as in unsubscribed groups (X). In this case, the intended target is information about jazz music—however, the basketball team by that name shows up in the search as well.
a GibsonL5 17 SOLO JAZZ GUITAR b FITZGERALD 5 Jazz Discography c linda brown 36 - d Jeff Vineburg 10 Jazz style pick-ups e Jack A. Zucker 32 > f Ammar Aganovic 117 >Suggestions needed for Mexican Jazz mods g Zoltan Janosy 15 >Wanted: Midi files of jazz standards h Tim Llewellyn 52 >>African Videos (was Re: T<>ouring late summer/early aut i Roger Brown 10 >>> j Tim Llewellyn 27 >>>> k Gary Allen P000 36 >North Carolina Jazz l Steve A. Chall 21 > m JOHN BARR 5 >> n Vincent Pelote 13 IJS Jazz Register and Indexes update o K Laufer 35 >>Latin Jazz recs p paul drobny 47 >> q Alan Cibils 26 > r sheldon White 12 > s Anthony Corman 15 >>> -- 12:34 -- SELECT -- help:? -----Top 15%----Read 247644 articles in 618 seconds (32 kbyte/s) MERGED NEWS GROUPS: 119 ARTICLES a,R. Lynn Rardin 11 >>Latin Jazz recs b dld1980@pan.com 6 > c Steve Larsen 22 >>Dirty Play; Thankfully the Jazz Won d Marc Sabatella 49 >>>>chordless jazz e Stephen Guattery 33 >>>> f Ed Price 59 >>>>Suggestion for New York jazz club? g m j rosenstein 15 >>> h Lynn Goods 9 >>>> i Doug Tygar 9 >>>> j Ken McCarthy 13 >>>>> k Ed Price 54 >>>> l m j rosenstein 36 >>> m dld1980@pan.com 6 > n Gary Allen P000 23 >jazz o Chris Sipe 25 >> p sl8gn@cc.usu.edu 19 > q BROWN M SAXON 21 > r Coz 7 >> s crutcherm@woods 40 - -- 12:40 -- SELECT -- help:? -----31%----- MERGED NEWS GROUPS: 119 ARTICLES a John M. Black 31 Minn. jazz scene.. b Sten W Johnson 14 > c Leo Chan 7 Utah Jazz Superteam for SALE - $15 OBO d Travis X. Emmitt 18 CHAMELEONS / JAZZ BUTCHER e Ed Price 12 >>>>What is Jazz ? (was: What is fusion?) f AFC PeterS 12 > g Richard Metcalf 18 IMPROVIJAZZATION NATION h Richard Metcalf 18 - i Kevin Jundt 23 [*] Acid Jazz 1.2v2; a phone dialer j Matt Smith 15 >>Jazz newsgroup k C Koerner 111 >JAZZ in the German Culture l Ashot W Bakunts 28 >Mannhatten Jazz Quintet m william.j.heryy 22 >> n Andrew Anda 29 >>Starting Jazz violin o sldqv@cc.usu.edu 6 JAZZ wins !!! p Jowett Garth S. 14 ManHattan Jazz Quintet/Septette q Jowett Garth S. 23 ManHattan Jazz Septette r MODESTOG@DELPHI 125 SPURS REPORT: <SPURS CHOKE(ED) BY JAZZ> s Rod Davies 7 Jazz Gifs/Image files -- 12:40 -- SELECT -- help:? -----47%----- Andrew Anda: >>Starting Jazz violin 5 May 1994 17:13 In article <KEITH.94May2161712> (George Keith) writes: |> |> I was wondering if anybody out there has any suggestions that might |> help a classical violinist/Irish fiddler get familiar with the |> concepts of Jazz playing? Books? Good people to listen to (I know of |> Grapelli)? Attitudes? Personal experience? |> A couple of books to check out are: Jazz Violin Studies, by Usher Abell, pub. by Mel Bay; Jazz Violin, by Glaser & Grappelli, pub. by Oak; related style books: Blues Fiddle, by Lieberman, pub. by Oak; Vassar Clements Fiddle, pub. by Oak; Contest Fiddling, by Phillips, pub. by Mel Bay. All of the above have LOTS of notes with varying degrees of theory, history, discography, and biography thrown in. -- 12:41 --rec.music.makers-- 1 MORE --help:?--Top 71%-- All of the above have LOTS of notes with varying degrees of theory, history, discography, and biography thrown in. You may want to focus on a particular jazz style and non-violin instrument (including possibly voice) to endeavor to emulate, e.g., Ponty, who was heavily influenced by the horn style of Miles Davis, has quite a different sound from Smith, Venuti, and Grappelli, the "old-guard" swing masters. G'DAE, -- 12:41 --rec.music.makers-- 1 MORE --help:?--Bot--
After looking through three screens of the 119 messages matched on this topic, you might be inclined to read the message about Starting Jazz Violin (especially if you happen to be a violinist). The same technique already described can be used to search
newsgroups for a variety of topics. One advantage of newsgroups versus mailing lists is that they provide large amounts of information all at once. There is so much information, however, that finding what you want can sometimes be a problem, even if you
know in which groups you should look. Using a news reader with a search capability can greatly enhance the process of finding messages appropriate to your interest.
If you don't have access to Usenet News or you don't have access to a complete news feed, you might want to use Archie to find newsgroups. Many sites maintain newsgroup archives, so you may not even need a news reader to access some information,
however, you will need telnet or an Archie client (to use Archie) and FTP access (to retrieve the information). Because it is logical to expect that there might be newsgroups about music with a name like something.music.something, you might want to
construct an Archie search using a regular expression like the following:
archie -m 500 -r '.*\.[Mm]usic.*'
An edited version of the resulting output is shown here.
Host ftp.diku.dk
Location: /pub/doc
FILE -rw-r--r-- 70849 May 21 1992 FAQ-comp.music
Location: /pub/music/guitar/r
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 1024 Jan 9 03:15 Romantic.Music
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 1024 Oct 11 20:49 Roxy.Music
Host wilma.cs.brown.edu
Location: /u/mlm/atarraya/SIC/abril
FILE -rw-r--r-- 7221 May 16 1993 festival.musica
Host ftp.cco.caltech.edu
Location: /pub/humor/canonical.lists
FILE -rw-r--r-- 66167 Feb 9 19:35 canonical.music Host ftp.cis.ksu.edu
Location: /pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/src/usr.bin/calendar/calendars FILE -r--r--r-- 5450 Dec 17 07:05 calendar.music.Z
Host ftp.uu.net
Location: /doc/music/guitar/r
DIRECTORY drwxrwxr-x 512 Jun 14 1993 Roxy.Music
DIRECTORY drwxrwxr-x 512 Apr 9 1993 romantic.music
Location: /systems/apple2/gs/gsos/nda/old
FILE -rw-r--r-- 16665 Jul 10 1992 background.music.bsq.Z Location: /systems/unix/bsd-sources/usr.bin/calendar/calendars
FILE -r--r--r-- 5450 Oct 27 1989 calendar.music.Z
Location: /usenet
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 1024 Jan 25 1993 alt.music.alternative
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 Jan 25 1993 alt.music.progressive
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 Jan 25 1993 alt.music.rush
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 Jan 25 1993 alt.music.tmbg
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 Jan 25 1993 aus.music
DIRECTORY drwxr-xr-x 512 Jan 25 1993 comp.music
Location: /usenet/control/alt
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1776 Jun 19 1993 alt.binaries.sounds.music.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 453 Apr 6 1993 alt.journalism.music.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1333 Apr 3 1993 alt.music.a-cappella.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 2405 Nov 27 1992 alt.music.alternative.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 770 Aug 16 1993 alt.music.bela-fleck.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1143 Apr 6 1993 alt.music.canada.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 6016 Sep 14 1992 alt.music.progressive.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 731 Jul 7 1992 alt.music.queen.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1601 Nov 27 1992 alt.music.rush.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 568 Dec 12 1992 alt.music.ska.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 3740 Apr 27 1992 alt.music.the.police.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 2129 Apr 26 1992 alt.music.the.police.ctl.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1041 Nov 11 1992 alt.music.tmbg.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1002 Jun 4 1993 alt.music.world.Z
Location: /usenet/control/ba
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 379 Apr 1 1992 ba.music.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1480 May 19 1993 ba.music.drumming.Z
Location: /usenet/control/cle
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 494 Mar 1 1993 cle.music.Z
Location: /usenet/control/comp
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 829 Apr 26 1992 comp.music.Z
Location: /usenet/control/k12
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 363 Aug 11 1991 k12.ed.music.Z
Location: /usenet/control/phl
FILE -rw-rw-rw- 391 Jan 20 1993 phl.music.Z
Location: /usenet/control/rec
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1183 Jul 27 1993 rec.music.a-cappella.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1868 Oct 21 1992 rec.music.afro-latin.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 669 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.beatles.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 678 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.bluenote.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 653 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.cd.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 2095 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.christian.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 659 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.classical.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1604 Oct 27 1992 rec.music.classical.guitar.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1113 Jul 26 1993 rec.music.classical.performing.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 353 Oct 27 1992 rec.music.compose.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 688 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.country.western.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 659 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.dementia.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 658 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.dylan.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 2251 Oct 21 1992 rec.music.early.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 660 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.folk.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1905 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.funky.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 2258 Apr 27 1992 rec.music.gaffa.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 653 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.gdead.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 655 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.makers.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 625 Nov 9 1992 rec.music.makers.bass.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 630 Nov 9 1992 rec.music.makers.guitar.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 648 Nov 9 1992 rec.music.makers.guitar.tablature.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 955 Jun 18 1993 rec.music.makers.marketplace.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 654 Nov 9 1992 rec.music.makers.percussion.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1072 Feb 16 1993 rec.music.makers.synth.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1578 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.marketplace.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 640 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.misc.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 650 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.newage.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1664 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.phish.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 731 Dec 21 1992 rec.music.reggae.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 4774 Apr 27 1992 rec.music.reviews.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1047 Feb 16 1993 rec.music.synth.Z
FILE -rw-rw-r-- 1919 Apr 26 1992 rec.music.video.Z
As you can see from the example, many alt.music groups were found, as were many rec.music newsgroups. The example output has been edited to save space; in reality, many more items were matched in this search. The files ending with the .Z suffix are
probably compressed archive collections. With creative use of Archie and FTP, you may be able to find many Usenet postings without ever cracking a news reader.
The volume of Gopher servers (called Gopherspace) currently occupying the Internet is becoming a good place to look for information generated originally in mailing lists and newsgroups. Some Gopher menu items actually echo UseNet groups, providing each
posted message as a separate file. For example, you might find a jobs (like misc.jobs) group included in a Gopher's Employment submenu. This is particularly appropriate for moderated groups and digests, because most Gopher servers do not enable you to post
information. So far, Gopher is mostly used as a one-way information channel, with the user/client on the receiving end.
You can browse a Gopher server's menu structure to find list and group echoes, but on most Gophers you can do a Jughead search to find local menu items containing a particular word or several words. Sometimes you can't avoid tripping over an appropriate
menu, like the Discussion Groups menu item on the University of Minnesota Gopher (literally, the "mother of all Gophers"). Such a menu might have information only about mailing lists and newsgroups, but often actual news items will be included as
well.
A Veronica search often yields positive results as well. The following screen dump shows the results of such an effort (edited to conserve space). The example search phrase is Discussion Groups, and the output shows that this
is a popular item in Gopherspace. As the example indicates, after a display of 200 items, there are still 297 more matches to be found.
Search gopherspace: discussion groups
1. "Slow-Reading" discussion groups
2. Rec.games.frp.*: Welcome to the roleplaying discussion groups!
3. TV Discussion Groups, Etc. (monthly posting)
4. Compendium of Internet Discussion Groups
5. C-International Womens Discussion Groups
6. Discussion Groups/
7. Other Discussion Groups/
8. Mycology Discussion Groups via Internet
9. About LISTSERV Discussion Groups
10. About Electronic Discussion Groups
11. Electronic Discussion Groups/
12. Ch 3. Electronic Discussion Groups/Forums
13. News/Discussion Groups
14. Discussion and News Groups/
15. Gaggle of Discussion Groups for Diverse People
16. Gaggle of Discussion Groups for Diverse People
17. Law-Related Discussion Groups, Publications/
18. Law-Related Discussion Groups, Publications/
19. News and Discussion Groups/
20. News and Discussion Groups/
21. Electronic Discussion Groups
22. Electronic News and Discussion Groups/
23. Discussion groups/
24. LISTSERV Discussion Groups ... (Harris)
...
195. Electronic discussion groups in Women's Studies/
196. Electronic discussion groups in Women's Studies/
197. Academic Discussion Lists and Interest Groups/
198. Academic Discussion Lists and Interest Groups/
199. Discussion Groups (Listservs)/
200. Discussion Groups (Listservs)/
201. ** There are 297 more items matching the query "discussion groups" ..
Another interesting exercise is to perform a Veronica search on a particular interest topic, such as we did for mailing list databases above. To return to the topic of music, the following example shows what's available in Gopherspace in that regard.
Once again, to save on space the output has been pared down from the original.
Search gopherspace: music
1. music
2. music
3. Music Cataloguing for Nonspecialist
4. Music Materials in Libraries
5. Computer-Assisted Instruction for Music Uniform Titles.
6. Medieval & Renaissance Music
7. Multimedia Music Project
...
19. music_bluenote_faq
20. music_bluenote_sources
21. music_bluenote_welcome
22. music_classical-faq
23. music_composition-FAQ
...
69. Alt.music.alternative FAQ ----------------\\----------------- FAQ:
70. Alt.music.alternative FAQ part one of two --------\\--------- FAQ:
71. Alt.music.alternative FAQ part two of two --------\\--------- FAQ:
72. [alt.music.enya] FAQ (Monthly Posting) ----------\\----------- FAQ
73. Alt.music.james-taylor ------------------\\------------------ FAQ: ...
104. Rec.music.info: List of Music-Oriented Fan Clubs
105. Rec.music.info: List of Music-Oriented Fan Clubs
106. Rec.music.info: List of Internet Musical FTP Sites ...
116. Music Notation Programs - a list to answer a FAQ
117. Rec.music.classical.performing - FAQ
118. Rec.music.classical.performing! ----------\\----------- Welcome to
119. Rec.music.info: Submission Guidelines for rec.music.info
...
186. Music - All Music Guide (Ferris State Univ)/
187. University of Utah Music Gopher/
188. Master Gopher Server @ Univ. of Minnesota (Music)/
189. Music - The American Music Resource - Via Sunsite Gopher Server/
190. Music - Bagpipe Archives - Dartmouth College Dept. of Computer Sci../ ...
200. Preacher praises music that glorifies God
201. ** There are 9644 more items matching the query "music" available *..
After the first 200 items in this search, there are still 9644 more to find! Music seems to be a popular item in Gopherspace. Most of what you find in the search results are documents and FAQ files, but some of these files can lead you to a list or
group on a particular topic. Other menu items lead to submenus, which may contain echoes of news posts. In any event, when looking for a forum on a particular topic, don't overlook the tremendous volume of information in Gopherspace.
One of the most comprehensive collections of electronic journals is maintained and accessible via Gopher. CICNet has an ongoing project to collect, maintain, and catalog electronic serial publications. At last count, they have over 700 titles, most
accessible via a Gopher connection. To find this collection, point your Gopher client at gopher.cic.net and look in the e-serials menu selection. The following screen dump shows the menu as it appears in Gopher:
Electronic Serials
--> 1. Read Me First!
2. A List of What's Here
3. Alphabetic List/
4. General Subject Headings/
5. About Electronic Publishing and E-Journals/
6. About the CICNet Electronic Journal Project/
7. Hypertext E-Journal Sampler/
8. Other Journal Archives/
9. Thank You! CICNet's Archive Volunteers
You will find helpful information in the Read Me First! item and in the Thank You! item. The General Subject Headings menu item may be the place you want to start looking, in order to find a serial on a particular topic.