Subject: accessing the "bulletin board"

From: [email-masked] (Brett Tyler)
Date: 31 Oct 93 13:20:15 GMT

Regarding Pat Pukkila's question about accessing these E Mail messages, I
would also be interested in how to read these messages without every
message in the forum arriving on my hard disk.  Are the messages kept on a
central server I could access?
Brett Tyler
Associate Professor
[email-masked]

---

From: [email-masked] (David Kristofferson)
Date: 1 Nov 93 23:18:04 GMT

>central server I could access?

Yes, all articles are kept at net.bio.net for gopher retrieval and
anonymous FTP.  The best way to participate in this group is by USENET
news as described below.  Please DO NOT send "unsubscribe" requests to
the newsgroup posting address.  The proper address to use is for our
e-mail server, [email-masked].  First send a "help" message
to that address for directions.  If you need assistance you can
contact a person by mailing to [email-masked].

				Sincerely,

				Dave Kristofferson
				BIOSCI/bionet Manager

				[email-masked]

Our instruction sheet follows.  If you can not use news software and
therefore need to subscribe by e-mail, please follow the instructions
below for using the e-mail server at [email-masked].  If
you have problems using the server, personal help can be reached at
[email-masked].  Thank you for your interest in the BIOSCI
newsgroups.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

      THE BIOSCI ELECTRONIC NEWSGROUP NETWORK INFORMATION SHEET
                       (last revised 29-OCT-93)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the BIOSCI information sheet for the Americas and Pacific Rim
countries.  If you are located in Europe, Africa, or Central Asia,
please request that version of the BIOSCI information sheet by sending
e-mail to the Internet address:

                       [email-masked].

The address above is the main adminstrative address for this regional
BIOSCI node and mail to it is read by people, not computers.

New users of BIOSCI/bionet may want to read the "Frequently Asked
Questions" or "FAQ" sheet for BIOSCI.  The FAQ provides details on how
to participate in these forums and is available for anonymous FTP from
net.bio.net [134.172.2.69] in pub/BIOSCI/biosci.FAQ.  It may also be
requested by sending e-mail to [email-masked] (use plain English
for your request).  The FAQ is also posted on the first of each month
to the newsgroup BIONEWS/bionet.announce immediately following the
posting of the BIOSCI information sheet.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction
------------

The BIOSCI newsgroup network was developed to allow easy worldwide
communications between biological scientists who work on a variety of
computer networks.  BIOSCI is supported by the National Science
Foundation, Department of Energy, and National Institutes of Health in
the U.S.A. and by the Science and Engineering Research Council
Daresbury Laboratory in the United Kingdom.  BIOSCI services are
available to users free of charge.

BIOSCI messages are distributed by two means: USENET news software and
electronic mail.

WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ALL INTERESTED USERS TO EXPLORE GETTING "USENET
NEWS" SOFTWARE AT YOUR SITE.  The software is in the public domain,
and you will find it much more convenient than subscribing to
newsgroups by e-mail.  Please consult your systems manager (the
software may already be available on a machine at your institution) or
contact [email-masked] for a list of software available free of
charge on the Internet.  NOTE, however, that the installation and
maintenance of news software requires the assistance of a trained
systems operator in most cases and is not a task to be undertaken by a
computer novice.

Why is news software preferable to e-mail?  News software recovers
messages automatically after network interruptions, whereas your e-mail
address may have to be removed from the subscription list at times if
your computer/network malfunctions and undelivered mail starts
bouncing back to the BIOSCI administrative sites.  You will have to
manually retrieve lost messages from the archives if your e-mail
subscription is suspended.

News software organizes messages by topic and subtopic for easy
browsing.  In contrast if you subscribe by e-mail to more than one
discussion list, messages from multiple lists arrive into your
personal mail file in chronological order of posting only and are
mixed in with your personal messages.  You have to connect the
discussion threads yourself if you use e-mail.

In summary, e-mail participation should be seen as a LAST RESORT to be
used only if news software can not be installed locally.

Fortunately, BIOSCI offers advantages for e-mail users too.  By having
distribution sites or "nodes" on each major network, BIOSCI allows its
e-mail users to contact people around the world without having to
learn a variety of computer addressing tricks.  Any user can simply
post a message to his/her regional BIOSCI node and copies of that
message will be distributed automatically to all other subscribers on
all of the participating networks, including the Internet, USENET,
BITNET, EARN, NETNORTH, HEANET, and JANET.

List of BIOSCI newsgroups
-------------------------
BIOSCI messages are distributed on the newsgroups in the "bionet"
hierarchy of USENET and on the corresponding mailing lists indicated
below.  Contents of the USENET newsgroups and the e-mail distributions
are *identical*, i.e., messages sent in by e-mail are also forwarded
to USENET and messages posted to USENET newsgroups are also
distributed to e-mail subscribers.

An expanded description of the purpose of each newsgroup follows this
list.

MAILING LIST NAME          USENET Newsgroup Name
-----------------          ---------------------
ACEDB-SOFT                 bionet.software.acedb
AGEING                     bionet.molbio.ageing
AGROFORESTRY               bionet.agroforestry
ARABIDOPSIS                bionet.genome.arabidopsis
BIOFORUM                   bionet.general
BIO-INFORMATION-THEORY +   bionet.info-theory
BIONAUTS                   bionet.users.addresses
BIONEWS **                 bionet.announce
BIO-JOURNALS **            bionet.journals.contents
BIO-MATRIX                 bionet.molbio.bio-matrix
BIO-SOFTWARE               bionet.software
BIOTHERMOKINETICS          bionet.metabolic-reg
CELL-BIOLOGY               bionet.cellbiol
CHLAMYDOMONAS              bionet.chlamydomonas
CHROMOSOMES                bionet.genome.chromosomes
COMPUTATIONAL-BIOLOGY **   bionet.biology.computational
DROSOPHILA                 bionet.drosophila
EMBL-DATABANK              bionet.molbio.embldatabank
EMPLOYMENT                 bionet.jobs
GDB                        bionet.molbio.gdb
GENBANK-BB                 bionet.molbio.genbank
GENETIC-LINKAGE            bionet.molbio.gene-linkage
HIV-MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY      bionet.molbio.hiv
HUMAN-GENOME-PROGRAM       bionet.molbio.genome-program
IMMUNOLOGY                 bionet.immunology
INFO-GCG                   bionet.software.gcg
JOURNAL-NOTES              bionet.journals.note
METHODS-AND-REAGENTS       bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts
MOLECULAR-EVOLUTION        bionet.molbio.evolution
MYCOLOGY                   bionet.mycology
NEUROSCIENCE               bionet.neuroscience
N2-FIXATION                bionet.biology.n2-fixation
PHOTOSYNTHESIS             bionet.photosynthesis
PLANT-BIOLOGY              bionet.plants
POPULATION-BIOLOGY         bionet.population-bio
PROTEIN-ANALYSIS           bionet.molbio.proteins
PROTEIN-CRYSTALLOGRAPHY    bionet.xtallography
RAPD                       bionet.molbio.rapd
SCIENCE-RESOURCES **       bionet.sci-resources
TROPICAL-BIOLOGY           bionet.biology.tropical
VIROLOGY                   bionet.virology
WOMEN-IN-BIOLOGY           bionet.women-in-bio
YEAST                      bionet.molbio.yeast

+ full name is BIOLOGICAL-INFORMATION-THEORY-AND-CHOWDER-SOCIETY

** Note that newsgroups flagged with ** are moderated, i.e., postings
are directed to a moderator (editor) who later forwards messages
(possibly edited or condensed) to the newsgroup.

List of BIOSCI Newsgroup Topics
-------------------------------

MAILING LIST NAME            TOPIC
-----------------            -----
ACEDB-SOFT                   Discussions by users and developers of genome
                                databases using the ACEDB software.
AGEING                       Discussions about ageing research
AGROFORESTRY                 Discussions about agroforestry research
ARABIDOPSIS                  Newsgroup for the Arabidopsis Genome Project
BIOFORUM                     Discussions about biological topics for
                                which there is not yet a dedicated newsgroup
BIOLOGICAL-INFORMATION-
  THEORY-AND-CHOWDER-SOCIETY Applications of information theory to biology
BIONAUTS                     Question/answer forum for help using
                                electronic networks, locating e-mail
                                addresses, etc.
BIONEWS **                   General announcements of widespread
                                interest to biologists
BIO-JOURNALS **              Tables of Contents of biological journals
BIO-MATRIX                   Applications of computers to biological databases
BIO-SOFTWARE                 Information on software for the biological
                                sciences
BIOTHERMOKINETICS            Discussions about the kinetics, thermodynamics
                                and control of biological processes at
                                the cellular level
CELL-BIOLOGY                 Discussions about cell biology including
                                cancer research at the cellular level
CHLAMYDOMONAS                Discussions about the biology of the green alga
                                Chlamydomonas and related genera
CHROMOSOMES                  Discussions about mapping and sequencing
                                of eucaryote chromosomes
COMPUTATIONAL-BIOLOGY **     Mathematical and computer applications in biology
DROSOPHILA                   Discussions about biological research on
                                Drosophila
EMBL-DATABANK                Messages to and from the EMBL database staff
EMPLOYMENT                   Job opportunities in biology (see BIOSCI
                               FAQ *before* posting commercial job openings)
GDB                          Messages to and from the Genome Data Bank staff
GENBANK-BB                   Messages to and from the GenBank database staff
GENETIC-LINKAGE              Newsgroup for genetic linkage analysis
HIV-MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY        Discussions about the molecular biology of HIV
HUMAN-GENOME-PROGRAM         NIH-sponsored newsgroup on human genome issues
IMMUNOLOGY                   Discussions about research in immunology
INFO-GCG                     Discussions about the GCG sequence
                               analysis software
JOURNAL-NOTES                Practical advice on dealing with professional
                               journals
METHODS-AND-REAGENTS         Requests for information and lab reagents
MOLECULAR-EVOLUTION          Discussions about research in molecular evolution
MYCOLOGY                     Discussions about research on filamentous fungi
NEUROSCIENCE                 Discussions about research in the neurosciences
N2-FIXATION                  Discussion about biological nitrogen fixation
PHOTOSYNTHESIS               Discussions about photosynthesis research
PLANT-BIOLOGY                Discussions about research in plant biology
POPULATION-BIOLOGY           Discussions about research in population biology
PROTEIN-ANALYSIS             Discussions about research on proteins and
                                messages for the PIR and SWISS-PROT databank
                                staffs.
PROTEIN-CRYSTALLOGRAPHY      Discussion about crystallography of macromolecules
                                and messages for the PDB staff
RAPD                         Discussions about Randomly Amplified Polymorphic
                                DNA
SCIENCE-RESOURCES **         Information from/about scientific funding
                                agencies
TROPICAL-BIOLOGY             Discussions about research in tropical biology
VIROLOGY                     Discussions about research in virology
WOMEN-IN-BIOLOGY             Discussions about issues concerning women
                                biologists
YEAST                        Discussions about the molecular biology
                                and genetics of yeast

** Note that newsgroups flagged with ** are moderated, i.e., postings
are directed to a moderator (editor) who later forwards messages
(possibly edited or condensed) to the newsgroup.

BIOSCI Newsgroup Discussion Leaders
-----------------------------------

Most scientific specialty newsgroups (except for a few created several
years ago) have individuals who are responsible for stimulating
discussion on the newsgroup.  General purpose forums such as
METHODS-AND-REAGENTS do not have discussion leaders.  If a group that
you are interested in does not seem to have much activity recently,
please contact the discussion leader and ask why.

NEWSGROUP NAME               Discussion Leader and their e-mail address
--------------               ------------------------------------------
ACEDB-SOFT                   Mike Cherry ([email-masked])
AGEING                       Sydney Shall ([email-masked])
AGROFORESTRY                 Gerry Lawson ([email-masked])
ARABIDOPSIS                  Chris Somerville ([email-masked])
BIOFORUM                     None
BIOLOGICAL-INFORMATION-
  THEORY-AND-CHOWDER-SOCIETY Tom Schneider ([email-masked])
BIONAUTS                     Rob Harper ([email-masked])
BIONEWS **                   David Kristofferson ([email-masked])
BIO-JOURNALS **              David Kristofferson ([email-masked])
BIO-MATRIX                   Dan Davison ([email-masked])
BIO-SOFTWARE                 None
BIOTHERMOKINETICS            John Woods ([email-masked])
CELL-BIOLOGY                 Ola Myklebost ([email-masked])
CHLAMYDOMONAS                Elizabeth H. Harris ([email-masked]) and
                             Antonio R. Franco ([email-masked])
CHROMOSOMES                  Bruce Roe ([email-masked]) and
                             Greg Lennon ([email-masked])
COMPUTATIONAL-BIOLOGY **     Phil J. Curtiss ([email-masked])
DROSOPHILA                   Michael Ashburner ([email-masked])
EMBL-DATABANK                None ([email-masked])
EMPLOYMENT                   None
GDB                          Kerryn Brandt ([email-masked])
GENBANK-BB                   Dennis Benson ([email-masked])
GENETIC-LINKAGE              Steve Bryant ([email-masked])
HIV-MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY        Mika Salminen ([email-masked])
HUMAN-GENOME-PROGRAM         Jane Peterson ([email-masked])
IMMUNOLOGY                   Donald Forsdyke ([email-masked])
INFO-GCG                     John Cargill ([email-masked])
JOURNAL-NOTES                Donald Forsdyke ([email-masked])
METHODS-AND-REAGENTS         None
MOLECULAR-EVOLUTION          Dan Davison ([email-masked])
MYCOLOGY                     Tom Adams ([email-masked])
                             Leland Ellis ([email-masked])
                             Greg May ([email-masked])
NEUROSCIENCE                 Vincent A Mazzarella ([email-masked])
N2-FIXATION                  Eng-Leong Foo
                             ([email-masked]) 
PHOTOSYNTHESIS               Johnathan Marder ([email-masked])
PLANT-BIOLOGY                Tony Travis ([email-masked])
POPULATION-BIOLOGY           None
PROTEIN-ANALYSIS             Amos Bairoch ([email-masked]) and
                             John Garavelli ([email-masked])
PROTEIN-CRYSTALLOGRAPHY      Morten Kjeldgaard ([email-masked])
RAPD                         James Farmer ([email-masked])
SCIENCE-RESOURCES **         David Kristofferson ([email-masked])
TROPICAL-BIOLOGY             Matti Nummelin ([email-masked])
VIROLOGY                     Robert Coelen ([email-masked])
WOMEN-IN-BIOLOGY             Cassandra Smith ([email-masked])
YEAST                        Francis Ouellette ([email-masked])

** Note that newsgroups flagged with ** are moderated.

Participating in BIOSCI Using USENET News Software
-------------------------------------------------- 
Users who have access to USENET news software and the bionet USENET
groups can participate immediately, i.e., they do not need to
"subscribe" to anything.  They can read and reply to messages using
their local news software (e.g., "nn" or "rn") and post new messages
of their own.

Users will have to consult their local systems managers for help in
using news software.  There are many different programs available and
the BIOSCI staff can not provide training in news software use.
Fortunately, most news software is fairly simple to use and can be
learned quickly.

When posting new messages, USENET users should be sure to set the
message "distribution" to "world" or "bionet" or else your message may
not be distributed beyond your local computer.  In most cases,
messages are posted directly to the newsgroups without editorial
intervention.  Some groups (indicated in the lists above) are
"moderated," however.  This means that postings to these newsgroups
will be sent to the newsgroup moderator who will decide whether or not
the message is suitable for posting to the newsgroup in question.

Participating in BIOSCI by E-mail
---------------------------------
PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU HAVE ACCESS TO USENET NEWS YOU DO NOT NEED AN
E-MAIL SUBSCRIPTION!!  Simply read and post to the newsgroups in the
"bionet" newsgroup hierarchy using your USENET news software.

E-mail Subscription Requests and other Information
--------------------------------------------------
For users in the Americas and Pacific Rim countries, e-mail
subscription and cancellation requests are handled automatically by an
e-mail server, although personal assistance is also available via the
[email-masked] address.  Once your e-mail address is added to a
subscription list, mail will be sent to your address automatically
each time someone posts a message.  This will continue until you
remove your address from the subscription list.

To obtain instructions automatically on BIOSCI e-mail server use,
please send a message to the address

                       [email-masked]

leaving the Subject: line of your message blank and putting the text

help

in the body of the message.

Brief server instructions follow: first send the "lists" command to
the [email-masked] address to obtain a listing of all
BIOSCI mailing lists.  Use the "subscribe listname" or
                                          ^^^^^^^^
"unsubscribe listname" commands to add or delete your address from any
             ^^^^^^^^
of the BIOSCI subscription lists.  Your e-mail address is obtained
automatically from the header of your mail message; BE SURE to
substitute for "listname" in the commands above the appropriate
mailing list name FROM THE "lists" COMMAND OUTPUT!  Multiple commands
may be placed on separate lines in the same mail message.  Other
command details are described in the e-mail server help file.

                                NOTE!!

WE WILL ASSUME THAT YOU HAVE FOLLOWED THESE INSTRUCTIONS and will
DELETE any message to the administrative address [email-masked]
that simply requests us to carry out manually "subscribe" or
"unsubscribe" commands without further explanation. IF YOU NEED HUMAN
ASSISTANCE, PLEASE SAY SO PROMINENTLY AND EXPLICITLY AT THE BEGINNING
OF YOUR MAIL.  For example, please put the line

ASSISTANCE NEEDED

at the beginning of the body of your message or in the Subject: line
of your message to [email-masked].

E-mail Address Changes
----------------------
If you have subscribed to a newsgroup and are now leaving an
institution or changing your e-mail address, it is IMPERATIVE that you
send a note to [email-masked] and cancel your subscription!
Non-existent addresses or overflowing mailboxes cause computer mail
programs to send back "daemon" messages which might bother everybody
on the newsgroup.  We will immediately remove any address causing such
a problem, but would prefer it if you would notify us in advance as a
courtesy to the rest of the user community.

Interruption of E-mail Service
------------------------------
It is our policy to remove any address from our mailing lists which
becomes inaccessible and causes mail to bounce back to the sender.
This might happen to you if your local computer or network fails for a
significant period of time.  If you notice that you are no longer
receiving BIOSCI postings, it may be because your address was removed
for the above reason.  It will be necessary for you to contact
[email-masked] and resubscribe.  Please see the BIOSCI FAQ,
mentioned at the beginning of this document, for more details on how
BIOSCI handles addresses which reject mail.

Posting Messages to Newsgroups by E-mail
----------------------------------------
Those who use e-mail to post messages should send their mail to the
following Internet addresses in the USA:

**********************************************************************
DO NOT, REPEAT, DO NOT POST SUBSCRIPTION OR CANCELLATION REQUESTS
DIRECTLY TO ANY OF THE NEWSGROUP E-MAIL POSTING ADDRESSES.  PLEASE USE
ONLY THE ADDRESS

                      [email-masked]

for subscription or cancellation requests as explained above.  Your
posting could go to several thousand people.  Supposing that each
person spends a couple of seconds to figure out that you did this,
before they go on to the next message.  You will have wasted the
equivalent of several hours of one person's time, not to mention
wasted computer time and disk storage.
**********************************************************************

MAILING LIST NAME           Mailing Address 
-----------------           ----------------      
ACEDB-SOFT                  [email-masked]
AGEING                      [email-masked]
AGROFORESTRY                [email-masked]
ARABIDOPSIS                 [email-masked]
BIOFORUM                    [email-masked]
BIO-INFORMATION-THEORY +    [email-masked]
BIONAUTS                    [email-masked]
BIONEWS **                  [email-masked] 
BIO-JOURNALS **             [email-masked]
BIO-MATRIX                  [email-masked]
BIO-SOFTWARE                [email-masked]
BIOTHERMOKINETICS           [email-masked]
CELL-BIOLOGY                [email-masked]
CHLAMYDOMONAS               [email-masked]
CHROMOSOMES                 [email-masked]
COMPUTATIONAL-BIOLOGY **    [email-masked]
DROSOPHILA                  [email-masked]
EMBL-DATABANK               [email-masked] 
EMPLOYMENT                  [email-masked] 
GDB                         [email-masked]
GENBANK-BB                  [email-masked]
GENETIC-LINKAGE             [email-masked]
HIV-MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY       [email-masked]
HUMAN-GENOME-PROGRAM        [email-masked]
IMMUNOLOGY                  [email-masked]
INFO-GCG                    [email-masked]
JOURNAL-NOTES               [email-masked]
METHODS-AND-REAGENTS        [email-masked] 
MOLECULAR-EVOLUTION         [email-masked]
MYCOLOGY                    [email-masked]
NEUROSCIENCE                [email-masked]
N2-FIXATION                 [email-masked]
PHOTOSYNTHESIS              [email-masked]
PLANT-BIOLOGY               [email-masked]
POPULATION-BIOLOGY          [email-masked] 
PROTEIN-ANALYSIS            [email-masked]
PROTEIN-CRYSTALLOGRAPHY     [email-masked]
RAPD                        [email-masked]
SCIENCE-RESOURCES **        [email-masked]
TROPICAL-BIOLOGY            [email-masked]
VIROLOGY                    [email-masked]
WOMEN-IN-BIOLOGY            [email-masked]
YEAST                       [email-masked]

+ full name is BIOLOGICAL-INFORMATION-THEORY-AND-CHOWDER-SOCIETY

** Note that newsgroups flagged with ** are moderated, i.e., postings
are directed to a moderator (editor) who later forwards messages
(possibly edited or condensed) to the newsgroup.

Retrieval of old postings from the BIOSCI archives
--------------------------------------------------
Users with Internet access can use either the WAIS or gopher software
to search the BIOSCI archives located at net.bio.net as described in
the BIOSCI FAQ.  E-mail users can retrieve messages from our waismail
e-mail server.  For waismail instructions, send the word

help

in a message to [email-masked].  Please leave the Subject: line
of your message blank.

BIOSCI "prototype" newsgroups
-----------------------------
To assist areas of research in developing their own electronic
communication forums, BIOSCI at net.bio.net will set up on request a
mailing list *without* an associated USENET newsgroup.  The mailing
list is created only at net.bio.net, the U.S. BIOSCI node, and all
subscription requests must be sent to [email-masked] regardless of
one's geographical location.  There is no charge for this or any other
BIOSCI service, as usual.  

This procedure waives the rule that requires each new newsgroup
proposal to be put to a vote of the readership first (see the BIOSCI
FAQ, mentioned at the beginning of this document, for details on
creating new full-fledged newsgroups and prototype newsgroups).  Each
mailing list ("prototype newsgroup") must have a scientist volunteer
to serve as its discussion leader and an initial list of e-mail
subscribers.  The prototype newsgroup has six months to build up its
readership after which time it is put out for a vote for full
newsgroup status (i.e., to have both a mailing list *and* parallel
USENET newsgroup created at both BIOSCI nodes in the U.S. and U.K.).
If you are interested in establishing such a forum for your research
specialty, please contact [email-masked].

The current prototype newsgroups are listed below.  Please send
subscription requests to [email-masked] and NOT to the
newsgroup posting addresses.  Prototype newsgroups may *not* be fully
archived, so please be sure to save any messages that you may want to
refer to again.

Posting Address         Purpose
---------------         -------
[email-masked]    Discussion on generation and use of peptide
                          molecular repertoires displayed on phage or
                          prepared as synthetic peptide combinatorial
                          libraries.  
[email-masked]         Discussions about RNA editing, RNA splicing,
                          and ribozyme activities of RNA.
[email-masked]         Dicussions about yeast artificial chromosomes

FURTHER QUESTIONS???  Please address them to [email-masked].

PLEASE DO NOT DIRECT BIOSCI QUESTIONS TO THE PERSONAL E-MAIL ADDRESSES
OF PEOPLE ON THE BIOSCI STAFF!!  DUE TO OUR VOLUME OF MAIL, ANSWERS MAY
BE DELAYED OR NOT SENT AT ALL!!