Is SCREEN-L mail getting to be a little too much for your mailbox? Is other LISTSERV (the software that runs SCREEN-L and many other discussion groups) mail overwhelming you? It has only recently come to my attention that LISTSERV's "index" option has been improved and offers users a simple way to order *only* the SCREEN-L messages you want. If you set your SCREEN-L subscription to INDEX, you will receive a daily listing of all the messages that appear on SCREEN-L. Yesterday's INDEX looked like this (in part): Index Date Size Poster and subject ----- ---- ---- ------------------ 08792 10/31 11 From: MISSY PRICE <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Interracial Couples 08793 10/31 1 From: Melissa Davis <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Job position-CHAIR 08794 10/31 6 From: Gary Fuchs <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: McGuffin As you can see, the INDEX tells you who sent the message in (its "poster") and the message's subject and size. It provides an index number (the far left column) that you can then use to order the full text of a specific message. The method you use to order (or, in LISTSERV terms, "print") a message is explained in each INDEX (see below). Basically, you send mail to either of the following addresses: [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] And you indicate the number of the message you want. If your mail system allows you to quote a message when you reply, this is particularly simple. Otherwise, you forward a message to [log in to unmask] your request in a format that LISTSERV understands. For folks that have to pay by the message or whose mailbox is crammed to capacity, INDEX offers a mostly painless way to stay in touch with SCREEN-L without having to wade through each and every message. To change your subscription to INDEX, do *not* merely REPLY to this message and do *not* send mail to [log in to unmask] Instead, address mail to [log in to unmask] and put the following in the first line of the message: set screen-l index Problems? Let me know. ===================================================================== Jeremy Butler [log in to unmask] SCREEN-L Coordinator [log in to unmask] Telecommunication & Film Dept. * University of Alabama * Tuscaloosa ===================================================================== Info on ordering messages--from INDEX: The sizes shown are the number of lines in the messages, not counting mail headers. For your convenience, this message has been specially formatted to make it easier to order the messages you are interested in. Just forward this message back to LISTSERV@UA1VM (or [log in to unmask]) and fill in the line starting with "Print" (if there is not enough space, you can add more lines as long as you type "Print" on each new line). Make sure to use the forward command of your mail program, not the normal reply function. There is a lot more the LISTSERV database functions can do for you - for instance, you can select all the messages with a particular subject in a single command rather than retyping all the index numbers. For more information, send an INFO DATABASE command to LISTSERV (you could add it before the line that says "Database search" the next time you order messages from the LISTSERV archive). Another method which could be more convenient, depending on the mail program you are using, is to reply to this message while including the original text, just like when you are replying to a normal message and want to quote what your correspondent said. Before sending the message, delete the lines corresponding to the items you are not interested in, and make sure your reply is being sent to "[log in to unmask]", NOT to "[log in to unmask]". Note that this may not work with all mail programs; the first method is more reliable. // JOB Database search DD=Orders //Orders DD * Select * in SCREEN-L.8791-8829 Print <type the numbers of the messages you want here> /* // EOJ