Fri, 27 Feb 2004 12:31:56

Your message to [log in to unmask] has been forwarded
to the  "list owners" (the people  who manage the GAMBIA-L  list). If you
wanted to reach a human being, you used the correct procedure and you can
ignore  the remainder  of this  message.  If you  were trying  to send  a
command for the computer to execute, please read on.

The  GAMBIA-L list  is managed  by a  LISTSERV server.  LISTSERV commands
should    always    be   sent    to    the    "LISTSERV"   address,    ie
[log in to unmask] LISTSERV never  tries to process messages
sent to the GAMBIA-L-request address; it  simply forwards them to a human
being, and acknowledges receipt with the present message.

The "listname-request" convention originated on  the Internet a long time
ago. At  the time, lists were  always managed manually, and  this address
was defined as an alias for the  person(s) in charge of the mailing list.
You would write to the  "listname-request" address to ask for information
about the list, ask  to be added to the list,  make suggestions about the
contents and policy, etc. Because this  address was always a human being,
people  knew and  expected to  be  talking to  a  human being,  not to  a
computer.  Unfortunately, some  recent  list  management packages  screen
incoming  messages  to  the  "listname-request" address  and  attempt  to
determine whether they are requests to  join or leave the list. They look
for words such as "subscribe," "add,"  "leave," "off," and so on. If they
decide your message is  a request to join or leave  the list, they update
the list automatically;  otherwise, they forward the message  to the list
owners. Naturally, this means that if  you write to the list owners about
someone else's  unsuccessful attempts to  leave the list, you  stand good
chances of  being automatically removed  from the list, whereas  the list
owners will never receive your message. No one really benefits from this.
There is no  reliable mechanism to contact a human  being for assistance,
and you can never  be sure whether your request will  be interpreted as a
command or as a message to the list owners. This is why LISTSERV uses two
separate addresses, one for the people in  charge of the list and one for
the computer  that runs it.  This way you  always know what  will happen,
especially if you are writing in a language other than English.

In  any case,  if your  message was  a LISTSERV  command, you  should now
resend it  to [log in to unmask]  The list owners  know that
you have  received this message and  may assume that you  will resend the
command  on your  own. You  will find  instructions for  the most  common
administrative requests below.

*********************
* TO LEAVE THE LIST *
*********************

Write to [log in to unmask] and, in  the text of your message
(not the subject line), write: SIGNOFF GAMBIA-L

********************
* TO JOIN THE LIST *
********************

Write to [log in to unmask] and, in  the text of your message
(not the subject line), write: SUBSCRIBE GAMBIA-L

************************
* FOR MORE INFORMATION *
************************

Write to [log in to unmask] and, in  the text of your message
(not the  subject line),  write: "HELP" or  "INFO" (without  the quotes).
HELP will give you a short help  message and INFO a list of the documents
you can order.

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To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

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