Newsgroups, Listservs, and Conference Boards

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Newsgroups, listservs, and conference boards

In the first module of level one, you became familiar with the use of electronic mail or "e-mail." There are various other types of communication that takes place over the Internet. One type, which you should be familiar with by now, is the listserv, which is an electronic mailing list. Two other types of electronic communication include newsgroups and conference boards. Each of these are described below.

Newsgroups

Newsgroups can be compared to a bulletin board, where messages are posted and displayed. There are thousands of newsgroups available on topics ranging from dog training to job hunting. The material posted on some newsgroups, however, can leave a little to be desired. You may have to search a little deeper to find one you enjoy. A "newsreader" is needed to view messages in a given newsgroup. Programs like Netscape Communicator have a built-in newsreader, as does Outlook, and independent newsreader programs can be downloaded from http://www.tucows.com and other similar software download websites. The University of Victoria Computing Help Desk offers some support on learning how to access and use newsgroups at the following website:

UseNet News by the UVIC Computer Help Desk
http://helpdesk.uvic.ca/how-to/support/news.html

At the above website, read the first three hyperlinks on newsgroups (one of which lists newsgroups at UVIC), then click on the newsreader program and version you are using (i.e., Windows 2000 Outlook Express) to learn how to set up your program for viewing newsgroup messages.

You can find more newsgroups, which can be viewed with simply your web browser, on the Google Groups website at http://groups.google.com/ - just enter a keyword reflecting a topic of interest and click the search button. Another resource on newsgroups is found at the following website:

Learn the Net: All about newsgroups
http://www.learnthenet.com/english/html/26nwsgrp.htm

Listservs

A listserv is an automated email mailing list. It differs from a newsgroup in that you need to use a newsreader to go to a newsgroup and access their messages, whereas listservs are subscribed to so they can bring messages to you by sending them to your email address. A software program, such as "L-Soft" or "Majordomo," automates the operation of multiple mailing lists (or "listservs"). It automatically manages:

incoming administrative requests from subscribers (such as subscription commands, requests to review the subscriber list, etc.)
administrative requests from the list owner (such as subscription commands, changing listserv settings, etc.)
postings to the listserv and the distribution of a posted message to all subscribed email addresses.

The "compined listserv" was created to distribute news announcements relating to the Comp-in-Ed program. It is also intended to facilitate communication between the students who are enrolled. Once subscribed, you will receive these email postings and be able to post your email messages to the list. Information on how to subscribe to this listserv is available by clicking on the "Listserv" link in the left navigation bar.

Conference Boards

Conference boards are similar to newsgroups, but more private in nature. A login and password is sometimes required to access a conference board. A "guest" login is sometimes permitted. The level of security can be determined by the person running a conference board. A conference board is accessed through a website and what looks like a table of contents appears with various "threads" for each discussion topic. Users can post a message in a given thread. Messages remain displayed, so users to log on can see the history of a discussion. This differs from listservs, where recent subscribers simply miss out on the past discussion unless an archive is made available. You can access a trial board off the WebBoard website by going to http://forums.chatspace.com/~wb5trial. These conference boards are used in some courses, where dialogue can occur among the instructor and students. These boards tend to be less intimidating to students, so participation is higher when conference boards are used instead of listservs. Other conference boards are available through FirstClass and WebCT.

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