Newsgroups/ Discussion Groups/Email Lists

Newsgroups located on the Internet provide access to a wealth of information ranging from the latest news of scientific research and discovery to personal opinions. Participating in these groups and forums provide some of the most up-to-date information available and/or a forum for discussion with others having the same interests and concerns. Usenet is the part of the Internet that allows network users to obtain current information and feedback from other users. The Usenet News is a global "community bulletin board" system for the Internet. When someone "posts" an "article" to Usenet, the article is transmitted to other computers worldwide for people to read and potentially respond. Usenet is organized into thousands of Newsgroups that discuss nearly every topic. Over 250,000 articles are posted to Usenet News each day and are seen by millions of people around the world.

Usenet categorizes articles into Newsgroups to help organize them according to their specific subject areas. There are nearly 30,000 Newsgroups. To facilitate navigation and searching, the Newsgroups are organized in a tree structure which has the following major categories:


Additional prefixes identify specific organizations, individuals, or topics which control the specific group; "Gov" groups, for example, are controlled by a governmental unit.

Each group will have a "mission statement" or specific area of interest that discussions and posted articles should follow. Correspondence with one or a few individuals in a group is appropriate or you may communicate with the entire group. Some groups have an FAQ or "frequently asked question" file that should be consulted concerning general questions before posting them to the entire group. There are rules of conduct referred to as "netiquette", which should govern your participation. These are frequently listed in the FAQ for the individual group. They include being respectful of others and their positions/opinions, not wasting space and sticking to the subject matter.

Articles are posted to Usenet News which sends them out to fellow Newsgroup subscribers to read and respond. Articles are not previewed prior to posting. Most are simple emails but can also include encoded pictures, sounds or binary programs.

Usenet Newsgroups can be accessed through a standard Internet browser, but it requires that the browser be configured for Newsgroups. An alternative to accessing Newsgroups through Usenet is provided through Deja, which allows user to read and post articles at various Newsgroups without special browser configuration. To access Deja just click on the Deja link at the bottom of the EnviroSource.com Home Page. User can choose from Newsgroups in the following categories: Business/Money, Cars, Computers, Health/Medicine, Hobbies, Jobs, Politics, Sports and Travel.

Discussion Groups/Email Lists are also similar to Newsgroups but differ in that the information and messages are sent directly to email addresses. Discussion Groups/Email Lists post and receive articles via email, and consist of groups of people interested in a particular topic. Discussion Groups/Email lists are often more specific in topic than Newsgroups. In some cases, large mailing lists are connected to Newsgroups, so postings on a mailing list may also appear on a corresponding Newsgroup and vice versa.

To be included in a Discussion Group/Email List send an email message containing a subscription command to their automated list server. The commands vary from list to list. Discussion Groups/Email Lists are identified by the "@" symbol. Information concerning the group, its focus and how to subscribe is usually available by mailing an "information command" (listed in the Discussion Group abstracts) to the group's server. Contact them by email as you would send any other message. Replies will be emailed back to you.

Web Forums are a fairly new way to interact and share information on the Internet. They are highly centralized bulletin board systems which are navigated with a Web browser. Users must visit a particular Web site for each Web Forum to read messages from others and post their own. Trade and professional organizations as well as corporations often host Web Forums to communicate with their membership and clients on specific issues and services/products.

To participate in a Web Forum, visit the Web site hosting it. Posting protocols vary from one Web Forum to another. You will need to consult the specific posting instructions at each site.

When you are interested in finding/joining a group or list, visit the Oxford University Libraries Automation Service at http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news. This service contains comprehensive listings which allow you to find those groups or forums that interest you. Their directory of Newsgroups, Email Lists and Web Forums provide the names, descriptions and subscription information. The service also has subscribed to many mailing lists so you can search the contents of the mailing lists without going to the mailing list Web site. These lists are scanned automatically when you do a search.