1.0. SCOPE & PURPOSE (including content guidelines)

Appropriate topics and activities include (but are not limited to):

• Serials in relation to libraries (e.g., cataloging, acquisitions, collection management, public services, etc.)
• Problem-solving for resolving questions that evolve with quirky titles, irregular publications or publication patterns, etc..
• Serials budgets and pricing concerns.
• Binding, preservation, microfilm, digital (or electronic) and other non print serials media.
• Union list activities.
• Announcements, news, and job postings that are of interest to the serials community.

Inappropriate topics and activities include (but are not limited to):

• Purely commercial or partisan political purposes such as posting advertising for products or for political candidates.
  Commercial Digest pilot project: Since June 2008, the SERIALST moderators have been experimenting with compiling and distributing a Commercial Digest once a week, on Friday afternoons, with messages containing informational content from publishers and vendors. The moderators review submitted messages for informational content that may interest our subscribers. Messages that are purely for advertising or product/service solicitation, with little or no informational content beyond the solicitation, will not be included in the Commercial Digest.
• Spam or any kind of mass mailing that lacks connection to the focus of SERIALST.
• Using SERIALST as a forum for the trade or exchange of duplicate, unwanted or wanted serials. There are several existing forums for back issues and exchange services on the Internet (or see: http://www.uvm.edu/~bmaclenn/backexch.html for a listing).
• Announcements of new journals, newsletters and/or tables of contents for existing journals. There is an existing forum for such announcements. See the NewJour website for additional information.

1.1. GUIDELINES FOR SENDING OR REPLYING TO SERIALST MESSAGES

Prior to November 25, 1991, SERIALST was an open, unmoderated forum. On November 25, SERIALST was reconfigured to support collaboration between multiple moderators, in different geographic locations. Messages that are sent to SERIALST are reviewed by the moderators, who then forward incoming mail with appropriate topics to subscribers of SERIALST.

When sending messages to SERIALST, please keep it to 350 lines or less and break longer messages into multiple, short, "serial" messages. Address messages to:

N.B.: As of May 2002, SERIALST was established as a "private" discussion forum. That is, only subscribers of SERIALST with current email addresses can transmit messages to the list. For questions about your subscription (current email address, problems transmitting mail to the list address, etc.) or to inquire about posting a message(s) without a subscription, contact the SERIALST moderators by sending an email message to: SERIALST-REQUEST@LIST.UVM.EDU.

• Do not include (1) HTML-styled text; (2) special fonts or formatting (e.g., bold, italics, etc.); or (3) attachments: Your SERIALST message must be in plain text, and included within the body of your mail message. Messages with attachments or with HTML formatting will be rejected by LISTSERV.

• Replies pointing to the list: Please read messages carefully for appropriate addresses before automatically sending your reply. Note that when you "reply" directly to a SERIALST message, you are usually (but not always) replying back to the list, and not necessarily to the individual who sent the message. While we make every attempt to screen messages carefully, we cannot take responsibility for forwarding replies intended for individuals to the appropriate person. Please take care in your responses. Make sure that replies not intended for the list are directed to the appropriate address.

• Cross-posting: SERIALST's policy toward cross-posting of messages from other lists is that it's generally fine -- AS LONG AS THE CROSS-POSTED MESSAGE IS FROM THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR of the message. However, we will forward other people's messages ONLY if we have the permission of the original author of the message -- unless the message is obviously very public and intended for cross-posting (as in general library or networking news messages that are important, timely, and relevant to the subscribership). If you want to post someone else's message to SERIALST, please get their permission before you send it to the list.

1.2. RELATIONSHIP TO THE NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES

1.3. FIVE YEAR HISTORY OF SERIALST

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2.0. DISCLAIMER

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3.0. FILESERVER for Time Sensitive Documents & Other Information About SERIALST

1. The SERIALST Welcome message (a.k.a. the Scope and Purpose Statement) is sent to new subscribers when they sign onto the list. It includes an overview of SERIALST, basic LISTSERV commands and information about retrieving information from the discussion archives.

   To receive a plain text copy of this file, issue a one line e-mail message to: listserv@list.uvm.edu that reads:
   

   
                   GET SERIALST WELCOME

   An HTML version of this document is available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.uvm.edu/~bmaclenn/serialst.html

2. In September 1995, a Survey of SERIALST's Subscribers was conducted to gather information pertaining to how people use SERIALST. To receive a copy of the original survey form, issue a one line e-mail message to: listserv@list.uvm.edu that reads:
   

                     GET SERIALST SURVEY

   To retrieve a copy of the survey summary/compilation, issue a one line e-mail message to: listserv@list.uvm.edu that reads:
   

                    GET SURVEY SUMMARY

3. You may retrieve a copy of the SERIALST filelist to review the index, or list of files available on the server by issuing an e-mail request to: listserv@list.uvm.edu
   that reads:

   
                       INDEX SERIALST  [or]
                       GET SERIALST FILELIST

   
   (these commands are synonymous and either of them will get the same results)

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4.0. SELECTED COMMAND OPTIONS

Optionally, users may manage their subscriptions by sending commands via email to the server that hosts SERIALST. Commands will be processed automatically. You will receive email confirmation from the server once your request has been processed. A selected list of the most popular command options follows below.

NOTE: Send all commands to: LISTSERV@LIST.UVM.EDU

* SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE from SERIALST:
SUBSCRIBE SERIALST YourFirstName YourLastName / example: subscribe serialst Jane Doe	- to join the discussion forum.
UNSUBSCRIBE SERIALST	- to unsubscribe from (or signoff of) the discussion forum.
SIGNOFF SERIALST	- does the same thing as the UNSUBSCRIBE command
(N.B.: Be sure to add your name after the subscribe command (when you are subscribing to the list). However, do not add your name or e-mail address to the UNSUBSCRIBE or SIGNOFF command -- if you do, your request will be rejected by the LISTSERV software).

* SET <mail distribution option> Commands:
SET SERIALST MAIL	- to receive individual mail messages as they are posted to the list (default setting).
SET SERIALST NOMAIL	- to stop list mail from being delivered to your address; to resume mail, issue the SET SERIALST MAIL command.
SET SERIALST DIGEST	- to receive daily digests of all messages posted to the list (1750 line limit).
SET SERIALST INDEX	- to receive daily index summaries of mail posted to the list.
* NOTE about SET Options: You can only SET one mail distribution option at a time. You have to choose one option that best suits your needs at a given time.

QUERY SERIALST - Displays your mail distribution option settings (i.e., whether or not you are set to "digest", or "nomail", et al.); will also tell you whether or not you are signed onto the list.

REVIEW SERIALST - To retrieve a list of subscribers to SERIALST (name and e-mail address), arranged alpha by @ (i.e., e-mail address).

REVIEW SERIALST BY NAME - To retrieve a list of subscribers to SERIALST, arranged by last name.

REVIEW SERIALST BY COUNTRY - To retrieve a list of subscribers to SERIALST, arranged by the country of the subscriber's e-mail address.

INFO REFCARD - To retrieve a more complete listing of General User Commands (i.e., the LISTSERV Reference Card) for LISTSERV 1.8e.

** The above commands can be sent by: sending the command as a one line message to: LISTSERV@LIST.UVM.EDU Please don't send LISTSERV commands to the SERIALST address. The LISTSERV address is for issuing COMMANDS, while the SERIALST address is for messages intended for the distribution to the subscribership.

4.1. CANCELLED FROM SERIALST (or other problems with your subscription) ?

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5.0. RETRIEVING INFORMATION FROM SERIALST's ARCHIVES

5.1. SEARCHING THE ARCHIVES via E-MAIL

You may cut and paste the following search line into an e-mail message (overlay the "<add keyword search terms here>" text with keywords that are appropriate to your search). Send the template/e-mail message to: LISTSERV@LIST.UVM.EDU. Leave the subject line blank.

The search syntax is:

Search <add keyword search terms here*> in SERIALST since <date=yy/mm/dd**>

* where keywords = your search term(s). You may use Boolean logic.
** you may, optionally, specify a date limitation, rather than searching the entire database.

for example:

--------------------clip here---------------------

        search worst and 'title change' in serialst since 97/03/10

--------------------clip here----------------------

You may also search by BOOLEAN queries and/or search limitations by date. To obtain more information about search commands, send a HELP message to: LISTSERV@LIST.UVM.EDU

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5.2. SERIALST WEB ARCHIVES

You can search the SERIALST archives and/or explore Searching list archives help pages to obtain search tips for using the archive database.

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6.0. CONTACT INFORMATION: LISTOWNER AND MODERATORS

For additional information about SERIALST, send a message to the address: SERIALST-REQUEST@LIST.UVM.EDU or contact:

This page is developed & maintained by Birdie MacLennan; it is hosted by the University of Vermont.
Last updated: September 5, 2008.

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