SERIALST SCOPE & PURPOSE
(INCLUDING SELECTED COMMAND OPTIONS)
(Revised Jan. 1992)
SERIALST (Serials in Libraries -- a user discussion group) was established
in October 1990, with technical support from the Office of Academic
Computing at the University of Vermont, in order to serve as an informal
electronic forum for most aspects of serials processing in libraries.
Topics may include such things as: cataloging, acquisitions, collection
management, serials budgets and pricing issues, binding, preservation,
microfilm, union list activities, announcements, news, & job postings that
may be of interest to the serials community. Messages sent out on
SERIALST currently reach some 760 subscribers in 12 countries.
Prior to November 25, 1991, SERIALST was an unmoderated forum. On
November 25, parameters of the Listserv software (which supports
SERIALST) were changed to support a collaboration between two
moderators, in two different locations. Messages that are sent to
SERIALST are reviewed by the moderators, who then forward messages
on appropriate topics to subscribers of SERIALST. When sending mail
to SERIALST, please keep it to 200 lines or less and break longer
messages into multiple, short, "serial" messages. Address messages
to: SERIALST@UVMVM.BITNET or SERIALST@UVMVM.UVM.EDU
Selected postings from SERIALST, related to serials pricing, may also
appear in the electronic journal: _NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES_
Subscribers to SERIALST will benefit from a more in depth look at serial
pricing concerns if they also subscribe to the _NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS
PRICING ISSUES_ (request subscriptions from Marcia Tuttle by messaging
her at: TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET).
Disclaimer: The University of Vermont offers SERIALST as a public service.
It does not verify the accuracy of submitted messages, nor does it endorse
opinions expressed by contributors to the SERIALST forum. Authors of the
messages to SERIALST are solely responsible for their content.
Selected Command Options (send to: LISTSERV@UVMVM):
SUBSCRIBE SERIALST - To join the discussion forum.
SIGNOFF SERIALST - To signoff of (or unsubscribe from) the discussion
forum.
SET SERIALST NOMAIL - Useful if you're going on vacation and don't want
to signoff the list altogether; the NOMAIL option tells the
listserver not to send mail to your address.
SET SERIALST MAIL - To begin receiving mail again (undoes the NOMAIL
option).
SET SERIALST REPRO - Ensures that the originator of a message to SERIALST
receives a copy of her/his own message. If you don't receive copies
of messages that you send to SERIALST, but would like to, you need to
specify the "repro" option to the listserver.
REVIEW SERIALST - Sends you a list of all subscribers to SERIALST (name
and e-mail address). Arranged alpha by @<node> (i.e., e-mail address).
QUERY SERIALST - Displays your mail distribution option settings (i.e.,
whether or not you are set to "repro", or "nomail", et al.); will also
tell you whether or not you are signed onto the list.
All messages to SERIALST are automatically archived by month. You may
retrieve the monthly archives by issuing the command:
GET SERIALST LOGyymm (ex., get serialst log9201). The UVM
listserver will automatically send you the month's conversations.
The above commands can be sent either by (1) sending an interactive
message to: LISTSERV@UVMVM, or (2) by sending the command as a one line
message to: LISTSERV@UVMVM (don't send it to SERIALST@UVMVM).
NOTE: All mailing systems can "mail" commands to the listserv ...
Listserv will ignore the "subject" of your mailing. Many mailing systems
can also send interactive messages (eg., TELL on VM/CMS, XMIT on MVS, SEND
on VAX). These messages are equally valid ways of sending the commands.
NOTE: The University of Vermont also has an Internet address:
LISTSERV@UVMVM.UVM.EDU (an equally valid address for sending commands).
Likewise, when sending messages to SERIALST, you may mail them to:
SERIALST@UVMVM.BITNET or SERIALST@UVMVM.UVM.EDU
You may be cancelled from SERIALST without notification if certain
network complications arise. If you fail to receive SERIALST messages
for an inordinate amount of time, use the QUERY or REVIEW command to find
out if your name is present on the distribution list.
FINALLY: It is possible to search the entire SERIALST message database
interactively, or by submitting batch search jobs to LISTSERV@UVMVM
via e-mail message.
You may search by BOOLEAN queries and/or search limitations by date.
Because of the involved set of search commands and space limitations of
this document, interested users are referred to two other documents for
the specifics of Listserv search commands:
Listserv Database Functions (available from LISTSERV@UVMVM by
issuing the command: GET LISTDB MEMO, or
GET LISTDB MEMO F=MAIL)*
This is a rather lengthy (2148 lines), but comprehensive document.
Bailey, Jr., Charles W., "How to Search the PACS-L Message
Database." This document gives a concise (156 lines)
overview of Listserv database functions as they
relate to the PACS-L@UHUPVM1.BITNET forum, and is
useful as a guide for searching any Listserv discussion
forum (including SERIALST) that runs the database access
program, LDBASE. Retrieve this document by sending a one
line message to: LISTSERV@UHUPVM1 (do not send to
LISTSERV@UVMVM). The message should say: GET SEARCH DOC
(or: GET SEARCH DOC F=MAIL).*
* "F=MAIL" will cause these documents to be sent to you
as mail messages; leave it off, and they will be sent to
you as files.
For additional information about SERIALST, contact:
Birdie MacLennan
Serials Cataloger, SERIALST Listowner & Moderator
Bailey/Howe Library, University of Vermont
BMACLENN@UVMVM.BITNET
BMACLENN@UVMVM.UVM.EDU (Internet)
Marcia Tuttle
Associate SERIALST Moderator
Head, Serials Department
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
TUTTLE@UNC.BITNET
