Discussion group is an open forum for exchange of information and ideas on a particular topic via electronic email. One needs to subscribe the list in order to participate in the discussion.

Newsgroups also provide an opportunity to exchange information and ideas on a particular topic, electronically. Instead of subscribing to newsgroups and sending and receiving all the correspondences via email, a news reader program is used to follow and contribute to the discussions.

Electronic mailing lists also provide forums for users to participate in discussion or receive information on variety of topics. Listservers are responsible for the management and distribution of their mailing lists. A Listserver automatically distributes an email message from one member to all other members of the list. LISTSERV, MAJORDOMO & LISTPROC are commonly used mailing list software.

People have been using mailing list since 1970s. Lists are often moderated by the list owners and some lists are free for all discussions without being moderated. In addition to the regular email messages, lists are also available in a digest form. Either one or both can be subscribed according to individuals needs. Listservers are also used to distribute electronic newsletters, journals and publicity materials.

Subscribe to the NEW-LIST electronic discussion forum to keep current with new lists as they are announced. To subscribe, send an email to listserv@vm1.nodak.edu with subscribe new-list FirstName LastName. Send an email to new-list@vm1.nodak.edu for a new list announcement.

Liszt: Directory of Discussion Groups
http://www.liszt.com

Email Discussion Groups
http://alabanza.com/kabacoff/Inter-Links/listserv.html

Discussion Groups and Lists: Resources
http://www.webcom.com/impulse/list.html

Find-It
http://www.webcom.com/teddy/listserv.html

Scholarly Electronic Conferences, Directory
http://n2h2.com/KOVACS/

Catalist: Catalogue of Listserv Lists
http://www.lsoft.com/catalist.html

LWGate: Mailing List Gateway
http://www.netspace.org/cgi-bin/lwgate

ListTool
http://www.listtool.com/

Search the lists of Lists
http://catalog.com/vivian/interest-group-search.html

Tile.Net/Lists
http://www.tile.net/tile/listserv/index.html

Tile.Net/News
http://www.tile.net/news/

Listzt: News Groups
http://www.liszt.com/news/

Usenet News
http://alabanza.com/kabacoff/Inter-Links/usenet.html

Search List of Discussion Forums
http://alabanza.com/kabacoff/Inter-Links/listserv.html

Publically Accessible Mailing Lists
http://www.neosoft.com/internet/paml/
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/mail/mailing-lists/top.html

Mailing Lists Guides and Resources
http://www.ifla.org/I/training/listserv/lists.htm

Listserv: General Information
http://www.terena.nl/libr/gnrt/group/listserv.html

FAQ: Mailing List Admin
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/mail/list-admin/

FAQ: Mailing List Management Software
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/mail/list-admin/software-faq/

FAQ: MAJORDOMO
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~barr/majordomo-faq.html

Finding Electronic Discussion Forums and Newsgroups
http://ccis09.baylor.edu/Library/BeyondLib/lists.html

Mailing List Manager Commands
http://lawwww.cwru.edu/cwrulaw/faculty/milles/mailser.html