Listserv Information

Southern Miss “listservs” are among the most useful email power tools. Anyone can utilize a listserv in conjunction with a website to “push” a message to a target audience. Listservs have many different uses:

• Inter-departmental communications
• Intra-departmental communications
• Mailing addresses for departments
• Student organization discussions
• Conference discussions and planning
• Research projects
• Community service announcements
• Special projects
• Class discussions
• Special interest discussions

The Mailman listservs are best suited for small to mid-sized audiences with a specific interest or as contact information for a department or organization.

Who can request a listserv? 
Any full-time faculty or staff member at Southern Miss may request a listserv. If anyone requests a listserv for a student organization, please contact the faculty/staff advisor.

How do I request a listserv? 
To request a listserv, enter an iTech work order. It normally takes 2-3 days for a request to be filled. Please be sure to read the Listserv Policy for appropriate usage. The owner will be contacted by email indicating the listserv's creation or by phone or email to clarify any questions about the request. Once the listserv is created, the owner must call the Help Desk at 266-4357 to receive the password for the completed listserv.

How would I manage a listserv as an administrator? 
Please review the Manager's Quick Reference Guide and Administrator's guide.

Can I archive my listserv list? 
Listserv archives are not allowed on the Mailman software. Listservs that are found to be using archives will have the archives disabled.

Subscribing/Unsubscribing to/from a listserv 
Potential subscribers must either know the listserv name and point their browser to the listserv subscription page by adding the list name to the URL: https://mailman.usm.edu/mailman/listinfo/name of the list (ex: https://mailman.usm.edu/mailman/listinfo/usmtalk) OR the listserv owner will need to add you to the list. 

From that point, merely follow the directions on the page. Some listservs may require administrative approval before subscribing. Nearly all listservs will require confirmation of the email address furnished when requesting a subscription; merely reply to the confirmation email sent.

Sending mail to a listserv 
Each listserv has a name, for example, the USM community listserv is called USMtalk. To send mail to this listserv, just address that email to usmtalk@usm.edu. Once the message is sent, all the members of the listserv will receive the message.

Owning a listserv
Each listserv was configured with an owner when it was created. However, it may require some maintenance, such as approving subscriptions and unsubscriptions. Depending on the configuration of the listserv, the owner may have to approve messages sent to the listserv for any number of reasons. A message that requires approval will be held by the server, and the owner will be sent a message indicating a visit to the supplied URL is needed to check on whatever is being held. Simple checkboxes make approving email and subscriptions simple.