To Subscribe to the premier listserv for librarians in Maine:

Send the message:
subscribe MELIBS-L firstname lastname
to the address:
listserv@lists.maine.edu

Omit the subject line, signature lines or anything else in the message area.

The user will receive a message asking for confirmation that the correct address has been received. The user confirms by hitting the reply button to send the confirming message back to the list server as per instructions in that message.

There is an enhanced web interface available for managing your subscription, if you wish to change subscription options, temporarily suspend delivery, or leave the list.
You may need to go to access this page to initially join a list. Archives are available

Other improtant Maine Lists, such as MEINFO, Reader's Advisory, Youth Services

LM_NET

DETAILED LISTSERV COMMANDS

Subscribe:
To subscribe to the Maine Libraries Discussion List, omit the subject line and send the email message SUBSCRIBE MELIBS-L to the address listserv@maine.edu. Substitute your own firstname and lastname. You will receive a return message asking you to confirm by reply mail that the correct email address was indeed submitted. Once your request has been processed, you will start receiving all messages sent to the discussion list.

Post a message:
Create the message normally and send it to melibs-l@lists.maine.edu

Other Requests

Leave the list:
Send the message SIGNOFF MELIBS-L to listserv@lists.maine.edu

Suspend / restart receiving messages:
Send the message SET MELIBS-L NOMAIL / MAIL to listserv@lists.maine.edu

Force MELIBS-L to "echo" a copy of all your postings:
Send the message SET MELIBS-L REPRO to listserv@lists.maine.edu

Force MELIBS-L to confirm distribution your postings:
Send the message SET MELIBS-L ACK to listserv@lists.maine.edu

Turn off the above echoing and/or acknowledgement:
Send the message SET MELIBS-L NOREPRO / NOACK to listserv@lists.maine.edu

Get a list of available monthly Archive Files:
Send the message INDEX MELIBS-L to listserv@lists.maine.edu

Get a copy of a particular archive file (names are of the form LOG9904 for April 1999)
Send the message GET MELIBS-L LOGxxxx to listserv@lists.maine.edu

Receive all MELIBS-L messages as a single daily "digest" rather than individual messages:
Send the message SET MELIBS-L DIGEST to listserv@lists.maine.edu

View a list of MELIBS-L subscribers:
Send the message REVIEW MELIBS-L to listserv@lists.maine.edu

Prevent your name from appearing on a review list:
Send the message SET MELIBS-L HIDE to listserv@lists.maine.edu

Get additional information about Listserv commands:
Send the message INFO REFCARD to listserv@lists.maine.edu

GENERAL TIPS

1. Be careful with the "Reply" function. Make sure the comments you are sending are intended for the entire list and not just the person who posted the original message.

2. In general, give consideration to whether a given posting or reply to a posting has interest for MELIBS-L subscribers generally or could be better treated as a message sent directly to one or several individuals.

3. If you quote text from a MELIBS-L message in a reply sent to MELIBS-L, strip MELIBS-L@MAINE.EDU wherever it appears in the quoted text. Failure to do so will cause the message to be rejected by the listserv software and languish until the list owner has time to manually forward it.

4. Courtesy and reasonableness are appreciated. Think first, then type. Remember that email is a medium in which it is very easy to appear to SHOUT and engender responses proportional to the perceived volume of the shouting.

5. MELIBS-L is intended as a relatively relaxed and tolerant environment. Postings should have something to do with Maine libraries and the concerns of the Maine library community, but it is inevitable that some postings will be totally irrelevant to the interests of some subscribers.

Subscribers come from widely varied backgrounds and have a broad range of experience with technology and communicating in the electronic medium. What is transparently obvious to some may represent a new and exciting and/or disquieting discovery to others. Once again, the result is a mix of on-point and off-track messages depending on a particular subscriber's expectations and experience.
The administrative response to this is to avoid strict rules on what is posted and how, offer tips on good practice from time to time, and only respond to egregious misuse of the list -- of which there has been essentially none so far.