MAILBASE DISCUSSION LISTS

Mailbase is a computer program which manages electronic discussion lists. Each list is intended to enable collaboration and discussion between a group of people who share a common interest. Each list has three major elements:

An electronic mail address for the list

This uniquely identifies the list and is the address to which you and other members of the list send your contributions. Contributions are made in the form of electronic mail messages.

For example, discussion about the use of computing technology and networking in library and information services takes place by sending electronic mail messages to 'lis-it@uk.ac.newcastle' Each message sent to that address is then distributed to every member of the lis-it discussion list.

Members of the discussion list

A list has associated with it a file of electronic mail addresses, each of which identifies a member of the list. For example, the lis-it discussion list mentioned above has 180 members. Every item of mail sent to 'lis-it@uk.ac.newcastle' is distributed to each of the 180 addresses.

A list administrator, or owner

Each list has one or more owners who carry out administrative functions and who provide a first point of contact for problems orqueries related to the list. The list owner is identified by an electronic mail address which always follows the pattern:

listname-request@uk.ac.newcastle

For example, to contact the owner of the lis-it list you would send an electronic mail message to 'lis-it-request@uk.ac.newcastle'