Mailing-lists, setup and management

Introduction

The recommended mailing-list technology for lists that are owned and managed by LSST:UK is JISCmail. It provides a highly configurable and functional mailing list environment, which includes common features such as optional moderation, message archiving, and digest delivery.

JISCmail is operated by JISC, providing a supported mailing-list service to the UK research community. Anyone working in UK academia may request a mailing list to be created, which is usually expected to be predominantly populated with UK-based academic researchers.

Important: If requesting a mailing list within the remit of LSST:UK, you are encouraged to consider the following guidelines:

1. The standard naming convention for LSST:UK mailing lists is lusc-<short_group_reference>@jiscmail.ac.uk. For example, lusc-exec@jiscmail.ac.uk for the Executive, lusc-swg@jiscmail.ac.uk for the Science Working Group, and lusc-ss@jiscmail.ac.uk for those interested in solar-system-related research.

2. You are encouraged to make the Project Manager and/ or the Project Scientist co-owners of the list, to allow them to assist in list-configuration tasks plus to provide a standby administrator for times when you are not readily available. By putting the co-owner(s) in the Quiet list (under List Configuration Tasks on the web interface), one can avoid them receiving routine maintenance emails from JISCmail--for example, when a new subscriber is added.

3. Subscribers should register their commonly used form of email address (that is, the address as it appears in the ‘From’ field of messages) to ensure messages that they post are not moderated or rejected.

4. The Welcome email that one receives when a new mailing list is created is worth filing away. It contains lots of useful information on how to use and manage a list (both using the web interface and email-based commands).

Requesting a new mailing list

A new list may be requested, using the following steps:

1. Visit the JISCmail homepage [https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/] and log in (or register for an account, if not already a member of JISCmail).

2. Select 'Create a Group' from the 'Quick Links' at the bottom, lefthand corner of the  home page.

3. Fill in the application form on the subsequent page. Usually, 'private' is the best list configuration from which to start. This results in a closed list, to which only the owner(s) can add/ remove subscribers, and to which only members can post.

4. Once the Group is approved -- usually within one working day -- navigate to the new list's homepage (e.g. by selecting the list from the 'My Groups' pane on the JISCmail homepage, once logged in) and select [List Management] [Subscriber Management] to populate the members list.

Support

The status of the JISCmail service can usually be checked by visiting the JISCmail homepage. Further, planned changes and outages are usually communicated to list owners well in advance of such changes and outages.

However, if you still have any queries or issues relating to the service or to one of your mailing lists, you should contact JISCmail support in the first instance.Alternatively, if your query relates specifically to LSST:UK or if you do not get the assistance you require from JISCmail, you should contact the LSST:UK Project Manager.