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Mailing Lists

Mailing lists come in two main types: distribution lists, which are used to distribute information, such as news or press releases, and discussion lists, which are used to exchange information and ideas among participants. Mailing lists deliver information to you via e-mail. In order for you to receive information from a mailing list, you will need to subscribe (or join) the list. Subscribing to a list is almost always free and consists of sending an e-mail message to a specific address. It is important to realize that whichever type of list you subscribe to probably will send more information than you care for. Other subscribers may be interested in other types of information than you are. You usually cannot ask the person who administers the list to send only the kind of information that you want. For discussion lists, you must also understand what kind of messages are proper to post, and which are not. The original message that you received at the beginning of your subscription to the list will probably tell you about the purpose of the list and the kinds of discussions you can anticipate. If it doesn't, try to get an idea of the rhythm of the list by reading the messages sent to it for several days before posting. Do not send messages that are off topic or add little to the discussion (e.g. me too). Also, make sure you keep the original message(s) you received when you subscribed to the list, so that you know how to unsubscribe when the moment comes. Improperly sending unsubscribe requests is annoying for all the members of the list.

Mailing lists can be a particularly useful means to get answers to simple (or even complicated) questions. Most people on mailing lists are very nice, and want to help you. However, please understand that often times your questions or comments will be met with silence.

Listing all the mailing lists available online would take a long time, and is beyond the scope of this guide. However, you can find lists of human right mailing lists in:

-Derechos Human Rights Mailing Lists

http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/lists/

Information and discussion mailing lists run by Derechos

-Human Rights Lists

http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/lists/others.html

Other human rights lists we've come across

-Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists

http://www.neosoft.com/Internet/paml/

A searchable list of hundreds of mailing lists on all topics

-Liszt, the mailing list directory

http://www.liszt.com/

-Reference.com

http://www.reference.com/

Searchable archive of a number of mailing lists, including some human rights ones.