RESOURCE CENTRE MANUAL
HEALTHLINK WORLDWIDE
services in Asia or public health in India; or it might be aimed at those with a
similar job, such as health managers. A number of conference lists are available
for library and information staff, such as the regional lists, Aflib, Asialib, Paclib
and lists specifically for health information staff, such as AhilaNet and Medlib.
Conferences are often open to anyone interested in the topic. They can be
subscribed to automatically by sending an e-mail message to the conference host.
Details on how to subscribe to these electronic conferences are given in Section
6.9.4.
TIP: Handling messages
Some electronic conferences and discussion groups are very active and
you may receive a number of messages each day, some of which may
not be of interest. You could check with your service provider or other
NGOs before subscribing. If you are going to be away from your e-mail
for some time, you can unsubscribe for that period to avoid a large
build-up of messages. Some very active discussion lists, eg AFRO-NETS,
offer subscribers a weekly summary of messages.
Remember to keep the instructions on how to ‘unsubscribe’. These are
usually included in the welcome message when you first join.
Electronic mailing lists
The main aim of electronic mailing lists is to improve e-mail communication
between a group of people working together. Electronic mailing lists may be used
for short-term action planning or discussion before a meeting, or for ongoing
general information sharing and discussion on a particular topic.
For example, Healthlink Worldwide has set up a mailing list for members of its
Middle East Programme’s regional management group. Members are located in
different countries. They use the mailing list conference to plan meetings and
newsletter editions. This ‘closed’ mailing list (open only to regional management
group members) has an agreed purpose and a ‘moderator’, who is responsible for
ensuring that it is used for its intended purpose, and for keeping a record of
messages sent.
TIP: Setting up an electronic mailing list
You can set up your own electronic mailing list as long as you have an
Internet service provider that offers this service (most do). A useful
and easy-to-follow guide on how to plan, set up and use a mailing list,
From workplace to workspace: using email lists to work together, is
available on the Internet at http://www.idrc.ca/books/848.html or in
print (see Further Reading section).
14 SECTION 6: COMPUTERS, ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AND DATABASES