1. LISTSERV Clients Services Workshop 2013

2. What is a mailing list ? A list of people and email addresses – Messages are sent to all addresses on the list – People on the list are called “subscribers” A list has one or more “owners” who manage the list A list generally has a set topic – However general talk lists do exist

3. What is a mailing list ? A mailing list may be moderated – The owners only allow relevant “on-topic” posts – The owners only allow some subscribers to post A list can have various levels of access – Public (anyone can join) – Private (permission required to join) List posts may be archived – Access to archives may be restricted

4. In the beginning – manual lists First mailing lists were maintained on the list owner’s workstation – The list owner would redistribute posts – The list owner would need to deal with issues (such as subscribers leaving a list) The owner had to manually moderate the list In the case of private lists, the owner had to check each post’s source The owner had to maintain/publish archives

5. Manual list limitations Manual lists do not scale – Only one owner, who may go on holidays Few options for list subscribers – No way to pause delivery or get a daily digest No consistent backup – Workstations are often not backed up Heavy workload on list owner We need a better solution!

6. Mailing list manager (Listserv) The need for a mailing list manager was recognised – Listserv was the first mailing list software available First Listserv service setup – Initially hosted by UCD, now hosted in HEAnet Listserv becomes popular – Clients see the benefits – Listserv remains well supported and maintained

7. Listserv Features Web based interface for management – Manages lists and subscriptions Central archive of lists RSS Feeds for public lists API for managing lists – Available over email and web Rich feature set Detailed usage and activity reports Anti-Spam / Anti-virus

8. Listserv and you Listserv is a useful service – Example uses include managing projects and tenders/frameworks Requesting a mailing list is easy – See https://listserv.heanet.ie/registration You need to read the listowner’s manual! A few rules – At least 2 list owners – Topic must be relevant to the Irish Education and Research community, and must comply with the AUP

9. The future Listserv will continue as an important service We are the 3 rd listserv installation in the world – And we have a certificate in reception to prove it \o/ For more information – http://www.heanet.ie/services/applicationservic es/listserv

10. A few interesting stats Total number of mailing lists – 171 public – 1392 private Oldest Archives – GAELIC-L (going back to May 1989) Newest List – 15 th Jan 2013

11. Messages volume Year / MonthPostingsRecipients 2012/0125524540240 2012/0224363581110 2012/0330347541662 2012/0426383563206 2012/0531708554081 2012/0626109360662 2012/0736897379559 2012/0822763409533 2012/0925538455237 2012/1026698496195 2012/1128120495142 2012/1224578411677

12. Questions ?