Once you have subscribed, you will receive an e-mail welcome message from PAR-L that includes a fuller statement of the goals and guidelines of the list, and that also answers frequently asked questions. Messages can be posted in either English or French.

To post a message to the PAR-L discussion group, you simply compose a standard e-mail message and send it to: PAR-L@unb.ca.

When you send a message to PAR-L, you will quickly receive an e-mail message similar to the following example:

"Your message dated Fri, 20 Feb 1998 14:05:37 +0000 with subject "Women's websites" has been submitted to the moderator of the PAR-L list: PAR-L Moderators."

This message is standard computer-speak on a list with moderators. It is an automatic message generated by the list server at UNB acknowledging that the system received your posted message to the PAR-L discussion group.

If you want to make changes to how you receive your PAR-L messages, you need to send a listserv command to PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca

There are no actual people reading the e-mails you send to this address. Send your listserv commands to this automatic administrative address to join or leave the discussion group. You can also send a message to this address to change the way in which you receive the PAR-L discussion messages.

**Do not put anything under the subject heading and do not attach signature files to your e-mail.

Example: You want to know how you are subscribed as a member of PAR-L. Send a message to PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca.

Do not put anything under the subject heading.

In the body of the message type:

query PAR-L

In a few minutes, you will receive an email from the PAR-L list serv explaining your current subscription. This will tell you if you have short or full headers, individual or digest posts, and receiving mail or on hold.

By specifying one of the following command words, you can control the amount of mail header information in the header of the list mail.

1. CHANGING FROM FULL TO SHORT HEADERS
To change your options so that you receive less header information, send an e-mail to the PAR-L listserver: PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca.

This message must come from the account that is used for your PAR-L subscription.

Do not put anything under the subject heading.

In the body of your message, write the following command:
set PAR-L SHORTHDR

In a few minutes, you should receive an e-mail from the PAR-L listserv showing the change in your subscription to PAR-L.

2. CHANGING FROM SHORT TO FULL HEADERS
To change your options so that you receive more header information, send an e-mail to the PAR-L listserver: PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca.

This message must come from the account that is used for your PAR-L subscription.

Do not put anything under the subject heading.

In the body of your message, write the following command:

set PAR-L FULLHDR

In a few minutes, you should receive an e-mail from the PAR-L listserv confirming the change in your subscription to PAR-L.

If you have any problems with this change, please contact the moderators at : PAR-L-MODERATORS@unb.ca.

You can use another listserv command to put a hold on your account temporarily from receiving PAR-L messages. You might be going away on holiday and don't want to receive the messages but do not want to unsubscribe from the list.

How to do this:

1. You are currently receiving individual posts from PAR-L.

Before you leave send a message to: PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca.

Do not put anything under the subject heading.

In the body of the message type:

set PAR-L nomail

When you return and want the individual messages from PAR-L to resume, send another message to: PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca.

Do not put anything under the subject heading.

In the body of the message type:

set PAR-L mail

2. You are currently receiving digest posts from PAR-L.

Before you leave send a message to: PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca.

Do not put anything under the subject heading.

In the body of the message type:

set PAR-L nomail

When you return, the message you send to get the PAR-L posts reactivated will be:

set PAR-L digest

Your messages from PAR-L will be individual when you first subscribe to the discussion group. Each message posted by a PAR-L member will be sent to you as a single e-mail from PAR-L. If you are content with this, don't change anything.

If you would like to receive all of the messages in one big e-mail at the end of the day, change your subscription to digest format.

How to do this:

Send a message to PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca.

Do not put anything under the subject heading.

In the body of the message type:


set PAR-L digest

If at any point you wish to switch back to individual messages, send a message to PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca.

Do not put anything under the subject heading.

In the body of the message type:


set PAR-L mail

All posted messages to PAR-L are archived and arranged in weekly log files. It is now possible for subscribers to use the PAR-L Archives to search for messages by week, by keyword, by author, by subject, even by date and time.

To do so, please follow these instructions:

Go to the UNB LISTSERV site : http://listserv.unb.ca

Click on the UNB LISTSERV button for archives, scroll down to PAR-L and click on it.

Select "Search the archives", or choose the actual week you wish to read messages. The most current week is listed first.

Next, you will be taken to the login required screen. As a new subscriber to the listserv web site, you will have to join first in order to get your password. Click on the underlined link for new subscribers entitled "get a new password first". You will be asked for your e-mail account and to choose a password. Enter your password twice in the spaces indicated. Once completed, click on the "register password" button.

After a few minutes, the listserv will send an e-mail verifying your registration. At this point you can begin using the UNB listserv web interface to access the PAR-L archives. Please remember to write down your new password for the listserv in a safe place for future reference!

Once you are registered on the PAR-L web archive, you can come back any time and search our archives for messages that you, or others, have posted to PAR-L. You can search by week, by keyword, by author, by subject, even by date and time!

Should you prefer, you can also retrieve the weekly log files via e-mail. While this option does not allow you to do searches by keyword, by subject or by author, it does allow subscribers to retrieve bundles of posts by week. Accessing these archives via e-mail takes two steps :

Step 1) Send a message to PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca

Do not put anything in the subject line.

In the body of the message put the one line command:

INDEX PAR-L

That will get you a list of the bundles of mail on the list for each week of each month since PAR-L went on-line. The year is the year the post was sent. The month is numerical. The weeks are given the letters A, B, C, D. When you get that list, you figure out which weeks are the ones you want.

Step 2) Now you will send another message, specifying which log you want, to:

PAR-L-SERVER@unb.ca

Do not put anything in the subject line.

In the body of the message put the one line command:

get PAR-L log yearmonthweek

This will be in the following format : (This is an example for week 2 of February 1998)

get PAR-L LOG9802B

A few minutes later the listserv will send you the archived messages from that week. You will have to scan through all the messages posted that week, but this is a simple procedure as they are organized by submission date.

Listserv (mailing list management program) commands allow you to receive messages from PAR-L. You can use these commands to change the transmission mode of the messages you receive from PAR-L.

Function
COMMAND

Subscribe
SUBSCRIBE PAR-L (include your first name and your last name or the name of your organisation)

Unsubscribe
UNSUBSCRIBE PAR-L

Receive messages in digest format
SET PAR-L DIGEST

Stop mail temporarily
SET PAR-L NOMAIL

Resume receiving mail : individual messages
SET PAR-L MAIL

Resume receiving mail : digest format
SET PAR-L DIGEST

Get a list of main commands
HELP

Review your subscription options
QUERY PAR-L

When you send messages to PAR-L-SERVER, please remember the following:

• Commands may be in upper or lower case, but they must be written exactly as listed in your message. Listserv is a machine and not a human being.



• Some words are generic terms which must be replaced (for instance SUBSCRIBE your first name and your last name become SUBSCRIBE Mary Smith).



• Do not write anything in the Subject line.



• Do not use a signature file.