YANCEY-L MAILING LIST

Questions and Answers about YANCEY-L

For detailed info on how to subscribe to Yancey-L see the following Web Page
http://lest-we-forget.com/Yancey/misc/yancey_l.htm
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Question: What is YANCEY-L?
Answer: YANCEY-L is a "Public Mailing List" focusing on Yancey / Yancy Family Genealogy and History. For a list of other Mailing Lists see the following WEB Sites:
ROOTSWEB: http://www.rootsweb.com/~maillist/
OTHERS: http://paml.net/ 

Question: What is the concept behind a "Mailing List"?
Answer: A "Mailing List" is a wonderful tool made avialable through the "miracle" of E-MAIL and the INTERNET. It is especially useful for people who have a particular interest, hobby, or serious research focus and want to contact and communicate with others who have these same interests. The concept of Mailing Lists stems back to the concept of "Distribution Lists". Many of you who use an EMAIL program may have discovered the value of creating a "Distribution List" - a group (or list) of email addresses of people who are grouped together under a common category. The Distribution List is given some sort of name. For example, I could group all my email contacts who had interest in Yancey Family Genealogy all in one distribution list with the name "Yancey Family Researchers". When I want to send a message out to all those people who I know are interested in Yancey Family Genealogy - I just send one message to "Yancey Family Researchers" and my EMAIL program takes care of seeing that the message I sent gets distributed to all those that are part of the "Distibution List". The idea of a Public Mailing List is very similar - but instead of the List of email addresses (and the people who those addresses represent) being maintained by you (the end-user) it is maintained by a central "List Server" - which is maintained by the List Owner - a person who is responsible for setting up, maintaining, moderating, and sometimes troubleshooting the Mailing List (and the software & system that make it work). When you send mail to the YANCEY-L mailing List - the ListServ system automatically sends out copies of the one message you sent to the List Serv to all the (possibly hundreds or thousands) of people who are "Subscribed" to the Mailing List. In this way you can easily send one message that is distributed to many people (potentially all over the world) who share some a common interest. They, in turn, can contact you directly, or they themselves can send a response back to the Mailing List so that all on the list will be aware of their response. In short, a Mailing List is a way of tying many people who have a common interest together through EMAIL and a centrally maintained distribution list.

Question: What does it mean to SUBSCRIBE? How much does it cost? What is the procedure?
Answer: The process of subscribing to a Mailing List is the way that one puts his/her name (actually email address) on the list of people (email addresses) who are to receive copies of messages sent to the Mailing List ListServer. As with much of what is done through the Internet, subscriptions to Public Mailing Lists are Free (But, of course your Email, or WEB access) has a cost associated to it (which you are already paying) - paid by either you to your provider - or paid by the organization you belong to. For detailed instructions on how to subscribe to YANCEY-L see the following Web Page:

http://lest-we-forget.com/Yancey/misc/yancey_l.htm

But in short, it is done by sending a message to the following address: YANCEY-L-REQUEST@ROOTSWEB.COM
with the message "SUBSCRIBE" in the body (text area) of the message. You will receive some email in response, confirming your subscription and outlining the rules and procedures. After you have subscribed, whenever someone submits a message to Yancey-L YOU will be one of the people to get a copy of the message. The number of email messages on YANCEY-L per day varies widely. It could be 3 to 10 a day, or you could go a few days without receiving any. Every Mailing List is different.

Question: When I want to send a message to YANCEY-L what do I do?
Answer: It's easy, just keep in mind that it is going to go to EVERYONE on the list. Use your email program just like you would if you were sending a message to a person with a regular email address - but send it to the following email address:
YANCEY-L@ROOTSWEB.COM - Keep in mind that you do not actually have to be a YANCEY-L subscriber to post a message to the List. Also be sure to put something in the Subject Heading and be sure to put your name and email address on the bottom of the email.

Question: Do I have to post a message to YANCEY-L if I subscribe?
Answer: No - you can just sit back and receive messages from others who are submitting to Yancey-L. But we strongly recommend, that after a period of time and once you have gotten the gist of it and feel more comfortable and have seen the format and procedure that others are using, that you participate in our common interest in sharing with us your ideas, queries, comments etc. thru Yancey-L.

Question: Any cautions or things to watch out for?
Answer: Realize that once you are subscribed to the list you don't have much control over how many and when and to some degree the content and size of the messages you are receiving. This may become a problem if the amount of space you have been allocated for email messages is quite low (though this shouldn't be a major problem in Yancey-L where a few messages per day is common - compared to some lists where hundred of emails a day are common). Even if you don't have access (temporarily) to your email because you go on vacation or go out of town etc - you're getting the messages, and you may return to see a whole slew of messages - and maybe your mail box full. The point is that you have to keep up with your reading of email - though again, this is less of a problem with Yancey-L than other lists. Also be sure to be polite, and use proper "netiquette". Things like: Writing in all Caps is considered "shouting", don't forget to put your name & email (postal address optional) on the bottom of your email (this is your "signature" area). Avoid "flaming" - don't say anything you wouldn't say if the person was there in front of you. Also remember that the email address where you send messages to be distributed to Yancey-L subscribers: YANCEY-L@ROOTSWEB.COM is not the same address that you send to when you are subscribing or unsubscribing: YANCEY-L-REQUEST@ROOTSWEB.COM .

Question: Can I some how search or browse through previous postings to Yancey-L ??
Answer: Sure - go to the Mailing List Archives and you can do a search for a specific topic. If you want to browse though all of them - just seach on "Yancey" - and you should get most, if not all, of the messages.

Question: Then, if I'm going out of town, or do not want to receive email for a while what should I do?
Answer: Just as easily as you "Subscribed" To the List - you can "Unsubscribe" to the List.
Send a message to YANCEY-L-REQUEST@ROOTSWEB.COM with the message "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the body and you will be taken off the list. When you want to be put on the list - then follow the directions for SUBSCRIBING.

Question: Who is in charge of YANCEY-L?
Answer: Barbara Y. Dore is the "List Owner" and feel free to contact her at: RootsLady@msn.com

I will also be happy to try to answer any of your questions (Dennis Yancey - dyancey@miami.edu )