An Electronic News and Discussion Group for Those Interested in Rare Books, Manuscripts, Special Collections, and Librarianship in Special Collections.
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Search the ExLibris mailing archives
Welcome to Exlibris
An electronic news and discussion group for those interested in Rare Books, Manuscripts, Special Collections, and Librarianship in Special Collections.
You MUST read this entire document and agree to its provisions before participating in Exlibris. Your continuing subscription to the list is your agreement that you have read and understand its contents.
Exlibris is an unmoderated news and discussion group using Listserv technology. It was established in 1990 at Rutgers University by the late Peter Graham and in November, 1995, moved to the University of California at Berkeley. In December, 2005, because of changes at Berkeley, the list moved to a private ISP and was underwritten financially by the Moderator. In November, 2006, it moved to Indiana University under the sponsorship of the Lilly Library.
Exlibris provides an environment for discussing matters related to rare book and manuscript librarianship, including special collections and related issues. It is not intended to be a primary medium for the sale and purchase of books (See Section VI below). Membership is open to anyone who wishes to subscribe, although you must be a member to post a message to the group.
It is important to understand that the term "unmoderated," as used above, means that the list owner/Moderator does not review messages before they are posted. All messages posted to Exlibris are the product of the person or persons posting them.
Exlibris has something of a sister list named RBMS. The RBMS list is intended for discussing and conducting business of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries. The subscription overlap between the two lists is nearly 100%. It is expected that any matters pertaining to RBMS will be posted to the RBMS list rather than to Exlibris and that duplicate postings to both lists will be avoided.
Please note that it is possible for any list member to determine
that you are signed up to the list through the use of the
"REVIEW EXLIBRIS" command, which returns the email
address and name of each subscriber.
The address of the computer's server for housekeeping matters, including subscribing and unsubscribing, is:
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU
The address of the group for posting messages is:
EXLIBRIS-L@INDIANA.EDU
The addresses show full domain names. Your local system may require different entry forms; it is your responsibility to determine the proper local entry form, which may or may not need the full domain as shown above and may or may not need special leading characters not shown here.
Those wishing to subscribe should send the following message to the server:
SUBSCRIBE EXLIBRIS-L yourfirstname yourlastname, institution
Be sure the message is contained in a single line in the message area; the subject line should be blank. You need not include the comma and institutional identification, but the latter is helpful to the list Moderator and to others. You yourself must subscribe from the address to which you wish Exlibris messages sent, both to assure proper usage and to assure that the subscription is under your control. The server will not acknowledge or successfully distribute mail to Bitnet addresses, other source routed addresses, or those originating from an open relay. You MUST give your real name to subscribe. The list does not allow pseudonyms or so-called "concealed" subscribers. The Moderator approves all subscription requests since that it about the only way to prevent spammers from subscribing.
You may leave the list at any time by sending a SIGNOFF
EXLIBRIS-L command to the server. You may use the SET
EXLIBRIS-L NOMAIL command to temporarily suspend receiving
mail (e.g., for vacations or other absences) and the SET
EXLIBRIS-L MAIL NOACK [or DIGEST] to resume
receiving messages.
PLEASE NOTE: It is very important that you suspend Exlibris mail before you use any type of vacation or "Away from my Mail" auto-response. If such a message comes to the entire list, your account is immediately unsubbed.
To receive a list of available server commands, send a message
reading HELP to the server.
If you prefer, you may manage your mail and account through the server's web interface at: https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa-iub.exe. Follow the link to "Subscriber's Corner."
The list does not allow attachments of any type to be posted. Also, all messages must consist of plain text only; HTML is not supported nor is any sort of encoding allowed in a message. Even so much as one encoded character in a message will cause the entire posting to be rejected. Also, please do not paste messages into your email by copying them from a word processing program; the results are often disastrous and result in an unreadable mess. Embedded URLs are, however, acceptable.
Please review this section before using Exlibris regularly.
Although Exlibris seeks to promote and encourage vigorous and open discourse about topics of interest to its members, list members expect that such discourse will be conducted at an appropriate level. Such a policy does not contemplate that messages or inquiries need be at some elevated, academic, rarified, or professional level; indeed, elementary questions are encouraged. Some language, however, will not be allowed. Among such exclusions are use of curse words, profane language, threats of any sort, or ad hominem attacks in direct discourse. People engaging in such conduct will not be allowed to post messages to the list in the Moderator's sole discretion.
Please avoid unnecessary replies to the entire list. You may wish
to use FORWARD, MAIL, or SEND
rather than using REPLY. Misdirected messages,
especially those of a personal nature, are a source of amusement to
list members. Try not to join that celebrated crowd who have misused
the REPLY function.
It is considered a courtesy to include your name and institution in your message for identification, as email header addresses are often a bit terse. Ask your computer adviser about "signature files," which automate this function.
Should you change your address, or if it is changed for you, you must unsubscribe from your old address and resubscribe from your new one. The Moderator can assist you in unsubscribing from your old address and can help you sign on if need be. If you have difficulties managing your subscription, please do let the Moderator know.
Commercial activities on Exlibris have had a mixed history. When the list started, commercial activity was not allowed, but as time passed, it was decided to allow antiquarian booksellers to announce catalogue availability. Such announcements are viewed as a mixed blessing. Some people believe they are entirely appropriate and necessary to Exlibris; others believe just as strongly that they have no place on the list. The present policies for such announcements are as follow:
DO NOT USE YOUR EMAIL REPLY FUNCTION TO RESPOND TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. MAKE SURE ANY MESSAGE COMES TO ME AND IS NOT SENT TO THE ENTIRE LIST.
That cautionary statement has been instrumental in reducing unnecessary messages to the entire list.
NB: People failing to follow these policies will have their posting privileges suspended.
Those policies apply only to antiquarian booksellers and other private individuals attempting to sell or acquire goods. They do not apply to not-for-profits, such as libraries and museums, which are basically at liberty to announce what they please when they please, so long as the announcements are pertinent to the list's interests.
Appropriate job announcements are welcome on Exlibris, although it is expected that institutional announcements will be for positions in special collections, manuscript, or archives repositories. Antiquarian booksellers are also welcome to announce position openings that they are trying to fill. It should be noted, however, that any job announcement must include a salary figure, as called for by ALA's Guideline for the Screening and Appointment of Academic Librarians using a Search Committee.
Contributions sent to this list are automatically archived at Stanford University on a web site at URL: http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/Exlibris/
You must have a web client to use the archives. As with any web based resource, the archives are often available on other web sites because of the activities of web robots or search engines. By joining Exlibris, you acknowledge that you understand any message you post or anything said about you is public information, may be spread over the entire world by way of the world wide web, and that anyone with a web browser may access the archives.
Exlibris has been set up and is maintained through the courtesy of Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
The Moderator has entered into an understanding with the ISP in which it is provided that if the list is used for certain purposes and any legal problems develop from misuse the Moderator will defend the ISP, including paying all its legal bills and reimbursing it for any financial losses. If you subscribe to Exlibris, you, too, are also agreeing to that understanding and its provisions. In other words, if you do anything to cause the Moderator or the ISP to be sued or have to expend money for legal assistance, you agree to reimburse the both of us for any expenses your actions cause us, even if you are exonerated.
Please direct questions to the List owner/Moderator listed below.
Thank you and enjoy yourselves
Last modified: 11/14/2006
Exlibris Moderator