List Archives

The ProCite Discussion List

To join the ProCite Listserv and skip the rest of this document, do the following:

1.  Read all four steps before clicking on "Join"
2.  Click on Join
3.  Input the following text in the body of the e-mail: SUBSCRIBE PROCITE LastName, FirstName. Leave the subject of the message blank
4.  Click on the "Send Now" icon

Member Messages
PROCITE is a "closed", "unmoderated", and "unrestricted" discussion list. Closed means that only members can post messages; unmoderated means that all messages from all members (i.e. to procite@listserv.indiana.edu) are automatically distributed, and unrestricted means that anyone can subscribe. This arrangement allows for the widest participation while preventing the most common abuses (such as the broadcasting of commercial or private messages to the list via internet usegroups by those who really have no direct interest in ProCite software issues). However, for such a list to continue serving the needs of its members, each member needs to take on the responsibility of communicating his or her own interests, needs, and knowledge in a relevant manner. The fact that neither membership nor messages are monitored does NOT mean that the List Owner doesn't read all the messages posted to the list or that he does't participate in the discussion. It DOES mean that a list such as this one, focused as it is on technical and scholarly questions about the use of a particular software product, does not need an editor to preview and organize postings. So far, this policy has resulted in a continued high level of discussion focused on the true needs of its participants. It is up to you, the members of the PROCITE list, to maintain this high level of discourse.

Joining and Leaving the List

• To join PROCITE

  1. Address an e-mail message to the internet address:
     listserv@listserv.indiana.edu

  2. Leave the "subject" line blank

  3. Input the following online text only into the body of your E-mail (using your own name):
     SUBSCRIBE PROCITE LastName, FirstName

  4. Send your message
     

• To join now from a web browser, click here and follow the instructions above.

• Once subscribed, send messages for posting on the list to the following e-mail address:
  listserv@listserv.indiana.edu

• If you use your local command to "reply" to a message that you are reading from the ProCite list, your reply will NOT go to the originator of the message, but will be posted to the list at large. If you want to reply privately to the person who originated the message, you will need to SEND or FORWARD your response directly to that person's personal EMail address. You can do this, obviously, only if you know their personal EMail address. Likewise, if YOU want people to reply directly to you, rather than broadcast their replies to the list, you MUST state that in your message, and INCLUDE YOUR OWN EMAIL ADDRESS for them to use.

• To stop getting PROCITE mail temporarily (while on vacation etc.) send to the listserv address:
  listserv@listserv.indiana.edu
  the one line command: SET PROCITE NOMail

• To reactive your mail, send the command:
  SET PROCITE MAIL

• If your current address changes or becomes invalid, or you wish to stop subscribing to PROCITE, send the one line message:
  UNSUBSCRIBE PROCITE (or its equivalent SIGNOFF PROCITE)

• If you have questions about the list, or problems with its operation, you should direct them to the list owner, Mark Day, rather than to the PROCITE list itself at his personal Email address:
  DAYM@INDIANA.EDU

Posting and Receiving Messages

• ALL MESSAGES "SENT" TO THE LIST (i.e. PROCITE@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU) are automatically posted to all other members of the list.

• IF YOU "REPLY" to such messages sent out over the list, your reply will go to all members on the list.

• IF YOU WANT TO SEND YOUR ANSWER DIRECTLY TO AN INDIVIDUAL (rather than broadcast it to the whole list), you need to "SEND" your answer addressed directly to that individual's username and address. Different local systems have ways to also include the original message along with your answer when you can't use your "REPLY" function. For example, many systems can be configured so that after reading a message you can forward it to a different address and the system will present you with a copy of the original message for you to include, edit or add to before forwarding it to the new address.

Resolving Mail Problems

In the current period of rapid change in computer networking standards, hardware and software, individuals and their institutions are constantly changing their email procedures and addresses. In addition, automatic systems often remain active even when their users have moved to other systems, left their sponsoring institution, or simply gone on vacation. This results in TWO POSSIBLE PROBLEMS: 1) People may not read their mail on a particular mail system for a long time so that their mailbox fills up and begins to reject the excess; 2) people may not be able to unsubscribe (signoff), post messages, or send commands to a list that they belong to because the address that was originally recorded on our listserv no longer matches the current address from which the member sends mail. Then, because people can't cancel their mail or membership, the listserver automatically continues to send mail to invalid addresses. Local nodes in the internet networks also may have problems with forwarding mail to proper address as changes are made throughout the network. This mail then gets "bounced back" and appears as an error to the listserv. At some point the automatic error correction software on our listserv may solve the problem by deleting your name from the membership list. In other cases, I need to review the problem and figure out what to do.

You can help yourself, and other list members a great deal by ALWAYS LETTING THE LIST OWNER KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. Send your message directly to daym@indiana.edu, not to the listserver or ProCite addresses. Include a forwarded or captured copy of any error messages you got when the problem occurred. In most cases, only such information from you can solve the problem. So please let the List Owner know whenever you have a problem, so he can address it as quickly as possible.

IF MAIL IS CONSISTENTLY BOUNCED BACK FROM A PARTICULAR ADDRESS, IT WILL BE ASSUMED THAT THE ADDRESS HAS BECOME INACTIVE, OR INCORRECT, AND THAT USER NAME/ADDRESS WILL BE REMOVED FROM OUR MEMBERSHIP LIST TO AVOID UNNECESSARY GENERATION OF ERROR MESSAGES. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP IN THIS MOST TEDIOUS PART OF LIST OWNERSHIP!!

ProCite List Archive Files

• PROCITE LIST ARCHIVE

  Postings to this list are automatically archived on this Web site and the Indiana University server, on a monthly basis as notebook files. The index page for all List archives is here and you can view the the messages indexed by date or by topic. You can get a list of the available archive files by sending listserv@listserv.indiana.edu the command "INDEX PROCITE" and can then retrieve these files by sending the command "GET PROCITE LOGYYMM" (where "YY" stands for the year and "MM" stands for the month). Once retrieved, you can download the archive files you've selected to a personal computer and use whatever text analysis, indexing, and processing software you wish with them.You also can use the listserver's own database search facilities - send the "INFO DATABASE" command for more information on this method.

Listserv Information Automatically Sent to Each New Member

To: "Your Name" <User-id@your.computer.address>
Subj: You have been added to the PROCITE list

You have been added to the PROCITE mailing list (PROCITE The Personal Bibliographic Software Discussion List)

Please save this message for future reference, especially if you are not familiar with LISTSERV. This might look like a waste of disk space now, but in 6 months you will be glad you saved this information when you realize that you cannot remember what are the lists you are subscribed to, or what is the command to leave the list to avoid filling up your mailbox while you are on vacations. In fact, you should create a new mail folder for subscription confirmation messages like this one, and for the "welcome messages" from the list owners that you will occasionally receive after subscribing to a new list.

To send a message to all the people currently subscribed to the list, just send email to the address PROCITE@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU. This is called "sending mail to the list", because you send mail to a single address and LISTSERV makes copies for all the people who have subscribed. This address (PROCITE@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU) is also called the "list address". You must never try to send any command to that address, as it would be distributed to all the people who have subscribed. All commands must be sent to the "LISTSERV address", LISTSERV@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU. It is very important to understand the difference between the two, but fortunately it is not complicated. The LISTSERV address is like a FAX number, and the list address is like a normal phone line. If you make your FAX call someone's regular phone number by mistake, it will be an unpleasant experience for him but you will probably be excused the first time. If you do it regularly, however, he will probably get upset and send you a nasty complaint. It is the same with mailing lists, with the difference that you are calling hundreds or thousands of people at the same time, so a lot more people get annoyed if you use the wrong number.

You may leave the list at any time by sending a "SIGNOFF PROCITE" command to the the listserv address LISTSERV@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU. You can also tell LISTSERV how you want it to confirm the receipt of messages you send to the list. If you do not trust the system, send a "SET PROCITE REPRO" command and LISTSERV will send you a copy of your own messages, so that you can see that the message was distributed and did not get damaged on the way. After a while you may find that this is getting annoying, especially if your mail program does not tell you that the message is from you when it informs you that new mail has arrived from PROCITE. If you send a "SET PROCITE ACK NOREPRO" command, LISTSERV will mail you a short acknowledgment instead, which will look different in your mailbox directory. With most mail programs you will know immediately that this is an acknowledgment you can read later. Finally, you can turn off acknowledgments completely with "SET PROCITE NOACK NOREPRO".

Following instructions from the list owner, your subscription options have been set to "REPRO" rather than the usual LISTSERV defaults. For more information about subscription options, send a "QUERY PROCITE" command to the listserv address LISTSERV@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU.

Please note that it is presently possible for other people to determine that you are signed up to the list through the use of the "REVIEW" command, which returns the e-mail address and name of all the subscribers. If you do not want your name to be visible, just issue a "SET PROCITE CONCEAL" command.

More information on LISTSERV commands can be found in the LISTSERV reference card, which you can retrieve by sending an "INFO REFCARD" command to the listserv address LISTSERV@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU.

PROCITE List Owner:
Mark T. Day, Assoc. Librarian, Reference
Indiana University Library, Room E159
Bloomington, IN 47405
Bitnet: daym@iubacs.bitnet
Internet: daym@ucs.indiana.edu
Phone: +1 (812) 855-8028 or 855-0100