Dear All,
A few reminders and other administrative points about the "german-
studies" list as the academic year draws to a close (in the UK and
Ireland, at least!).
SUMMER ARRANGEMENTS
The "german-studies" list will continue to function through the summer,
so feel free to carry on posting messages. If you will be away from
your mail for a significant period (and particularly if you have a
relatively small e-mail account, such as a default-sized Hotmail), the
easiest way to suspend incoming mail from the "german-studies" list is
to send a message to <[log in to unmask]> saying "set german-
studies nomail" (without inverted commas, and suppressing any internet
signature). When you can deal with your mail again, simply send a
message to the same address, saying "set german-studies mail". This
works at other times too, of course, and is preferable to unsubscribing
from the list completely, since you don't then have to go through the
rigmarole of resubscribing when you come back. While you are not
receiving mail from the list, you can still check the latest messages
via the list archive on the web, at:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/german-studies.html
"OUT OF OFFICE" MESSAGES
Most modern e-mail clients (such as Outlook) allow you to set up an
"Out of Office" (OOO) message which will be sent as an automatic reply
to anyone who sends you a mail while you're away. The "german-studies"
list is set up so that these messages don't reach the list itself, as
you've probably realised, but instead they go to the originator of any
message sent to the list, who can find themselves receiving a
disconcerting mini-blizzard of the things straight after they post a
message. If you are setting up one of these OOO messages, then, please
try to prevent your software from responding to messages received from
mailing lists.
WHERE TO SEND YOUR MESSAGE
When you have a message to send, please bear in mind the distinctions
between the following four e-mail addresses.
<[log in to unmask]>
This is the "list address": anything sent to this address will go
straight out to all subscribers (currently 682, incidentally!). All
subscribers are entitled to send messages direct to the list: you don't
have to send messages via me, although in most cases I'm happy just to
forward things. NB: the JISCmail software will refuse ("bounce") your
message if it has an attachment; it will also bounce your message if
your originating e-mail address no longer corresponds exactly to the
address you had when you first joined the list (see "Changes of
Address", below).
<[log in to unmask]>
This is the address to which you should send all requests relating to
your subscription status. For full details, see:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/sendcommand.htm
<[log in to unmask]>
This is another way of reaching me, DL, the "list owner": anything sent
to this address will come just to me, and won't go out to the list
directly.
<[log in to unmask]>
The JISCmail Helpline, for any general queries/problems to do with the
JISCmail service.
CHANGES OF ADDRESS
These often cause problems: even a slight change in your outgoing e-
mail header from e.g. <[log in to unmask]> to <[log in to unmask]> means
JISCmail will no longer recognise you as a subscriber. Often these
changes can be made without your realising, and you only discover that
something's afoot when you try to send a message to the list or change
your list subscription status, and JISCmail tells you you're not a
subscriber (you will usually continue to *receive* messages from the
list even if your outgoing address has changed slightly in this way,
since messages are re-routed internally by the mailserver in your
institution). Address changes are the commonest cause of rejected
messages: if this happens to you, then simply e-mail me and I'll change
your registered address at JISCmail. Of course, if you know that your
address is going to change (e.g. you're moving jobs), then you can make
arrangements in advance. To switch addresses without unsubscribing and
resubscribing, send a message to <[log in to unmask]> from your
soon-to-be-*old* address, saying "change german-studies <newaddress>",
substituting your actual new address for <newaddress>.
A useful overview of commands like this for the Listserv software which
handles the "german-studies" list is available on the JISCmail website
at:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/commandref.htm
Best wishes,
Duncan Large
------------------------------------------
Dr Duncan Large
<[log in to unmask]>
Department of German, University of Wales Swansea
Singleton Park, GB-Swansea SA2 8PP
Tel: +44 (0)1792 295170; Fax: +44 (0)1792 204167
http://www.swan.ac.uk/german/large.htm
|