Do I want to join a listserv?

By Ria Mastromatteo, Educational Technology Consultant

To answer the question, "Do I want to join a listserv?" one must first know what a listserv is.

In simplest terms, it is a mailing list program for group communication. Information posted to a listserv is e-mailed to everyone who has subscribed to that service. The information you post goes to everyone who has subscribed, so be careful what you write. It goes to everyone on the list!

So why would you want to join? Perhaps you have a burning passion about bicycling, online classroom projects or computer games. The list of possible topics is endless. You can join a listserv of people with common interests and keep abreast of the latest information on the topic.

How do you find a listserv on the topic in which you are interested? I have found two general sites useful in finding information: http://www.topica.com (formerly http://liszt.com) and http://tile.net. These both have information on every topic you can imagine. On the Topica site, you can start your own listserv.

For educational issues there are also two excellent sites. At http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/listservs/listserv.html, you'll find all levels of educational information. Teachers of grades K-12 can go to http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/listservs/subjectsearch.html . All you do is select the listserv you want to join and subscribe online.

A word of warning: Be sure you keep the information on how to unsubscribe to the listserv. This is generally sent with the first e-mail that is sent to you. You may join and find that you are deluged with e-mail. If this happens, you can simply unsubscribe. The procedure for unsubscribing may be different for each site, so be sure to save the information.