LISTSERV

an email system where users "subscribe" to join in on group messages. A message sent to the listserv is sent to every subscriber's mail box. A listserv is similar to an email "bulletin board." However, users of bulletin boards do not receive the messages in their mail boxes without first going to the bulletin board to view a listing of messages. There are thousands upon thousands of listservs on topics of mutual interest from sewing to microbiology. It is common for college courses to have a listserv so that instructors and students can all communicate easily with group messages. Over 70,000 interest groups (at this writing) are linked at http://www.liszt.com/ . Comparisons with bulletin boards, email groups, chat rooms, etc. are made in the e-mail definition of this glossary. See e-mail , Chat Lines , IRC , USENet , teleconferencing , videoconferencing , webcasting , and telephony . More...