| Newsletter 10, October 1995 |
MAILBASE gives you access to such a facility. Using electronic mail, it enables you to:
… and much more.
All you need to use Mailbase is a networked computer which provides electronic mail - or "email". Email combines the speed of the FAX, the friendliness of the phone, the permanence of the post and the flexibility of the computer.
All universities in the UK are connected to the Joint Academic Network (JANET) so, potentially, anyone with access to a computer connected to their campus network is reachable via email. JANET is at present centrally funded and so is effectively free at the point of use.
Mailbase uses mailing lists to provide a means of spontaneous and informal communication. Groups of academic and research staff with a common interest contribute information to lists in the form of email messages. In addition, messages are collected together and stored in monthly archive files for later retrieval. Larger files, for example reports and papers, may be placed individually on the Mailbase server. This information is then readily available to all list members, and an "electronic community" is quickly established.
A group may have just one list, or a set of lists with very specific discussion topics. By sending a message you can talk to all list members interested in a particular subject. You can easily make reports, minutes of meetings and important documents available for group members to retrieve by electronic mail.
A "List Owner" oversees the running of the list and controls the level of access to it. All the routine tasks such as dealing with members joining and leaving a list are performed by the Mailbase server program.
One of the main aims of Mailbase is to encourage the non-computer specialist to use the service. This is reflected in the variety of subjects covered: chemists, historians, artists, administrators and librarians already use Mailbase to keep in touch, regardless of whether they are in Coleraine, Cambridge, Canterbury or California - there is even a group researching medieval music.
A good starting point is the User Reference Card, which gives concise details of how to use Mailbase. To obtain this, just send an email message containing the words:
send mailbase user-card
to:
mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk
(Note: In MSMail for Windows, enter [smtp:mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk] - including the brackets - in the To: box. For more information, refer to Computing Services Guide Sheet Sending Mail to External Addresses from Microsoft Mail for Windows, MAIL-GS-5; if using DOS Mail, refer to Sending Mail to External Addresses from Microsoft Mail, MAIL-GS-1.)
The Reference Card will be sent back to you as an email message.
For a list of other documentation about Mailbase, send an email message contining the following command:
index mailbase
You may then use the send command to retrieve those documents which interest you; for example:
send mailbase user-guide
will return the Mailbase User’s Guide.
In order to find any Mailbase lists which might interest you, send the message:
find lists text
Replace the word text with your subject area or a suitable keyword. For example, a historian might send the message:
find lists history
This will return details of the history-based lists supported by Mailbase. In some subject areas you will need to select your keyword carefully.
New lists are being added to Mailbase all the time. If a particular subject area is not covered, it is very easy to propose a new list. The Mailbase Team will consider any list which is of benefit to the UK academic community and is of a serious academic or research nature. Just get in touch with Mailbase at the address below about becoming a “list owner”.
Mailbase lists can be fun as well as useful. Many academics find that the informality of their discussions leads to greater productivity, and because the service is centrally funded there is no direct charge to the UK higher education community. If Mailbase hasn't got a list to meet your requirements why not start your own?
For more information on the Mailbase service and the Mailbase group support activities, contact the Mailbase Team via email at:
mailbase-helpline@mailbase.ac.uk
Their postal (or "snail" mail) address is:
Mailbase, University Computing Service, University of Newcastle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU.
Or telephone: (0191) 222 8080
Mailbase is funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Councils for England, Scotland and Wales.
The above is adapted from various Mailbase informational articles, all of which are
- © Mailbase