1) HOW DO I SUBSCRIBE TO EXOTIC-L?
Discussion lists are generally run using software called LISTSERV. To subscribe to EXOTIC-L, one must tell the LISTSERV to add one's userid to the list of subscribers. This is accomplished by sending commands, usually as E-mail, to the LISTSERV, ***NOT*** to the actual list.
Typically, to subscribe to EXOTIC-L one must proceed as follows:
Send E-mail to:
<LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL> for Internet users,
with a blank subject line and the following command as the first (and only) line of the message body:
SUBSCRIBE EXOTIC-L Your_Full_Name
replacing "Your_Full_Name" with your real, full, true name. You may post using an "Alias" if you wish, but you must subscribe with your full, true identity. You must supply a full, i.e., two part, name. The LISTSERV will not accept subscriptions with a first name only. Use of initials only is discouraged. Use of pseudonyms, e.g., "Phantom Phreaker" and the like will get you removed from the list unless you have previously communicated with the List Owner justifying your need for anonymity.
EXOTIC-L is a discussion list for and about all kinds, types and varieties of exotic pet birds. This list was created on 12/05/94 for the express purpose of discussing anything from the care and feeding of your beloved pet bird to the scientific research concerning any aspect of wild or domestic exotic bird populations. If you wish to discuss training, human-avian experiences, seek a bit of comfort over the loss of a cherished bird, or find the best way to handle any aspect of bird ownership, you can be expected to be welcomed to EXOTIC-L.
EXOTIC-L has grown to be a very high-volume mail list. I hope that the subscribers to EXOTIC-L will develop a sense of "community" and "belonging" among themselves. If you are seeking a "just-the-facts" list, this may not be exactly the place for you. If, however, you are seeking an environment where participants regularly share each others avian joys and sorrows, you have come to the right place.
Reasonable discussion of conservation and environmental issues, as they specifically relate to avian populations, are welcome here also and the same holds true for almost any aspect of avian veterinary care and management.
In short, pretty much anything that may reasonably be seen to have a relationship to exotic birds and/or human-exotic bird interactions may be posted here.
To avoid future misunderstandings I feel it is necessary to state the below restrictions at the outset of each subscription, rather than attempt to impose them at some later date.
EXOTIC-L is *not* the place for flames in any form. If you disagree with another's practices or opinions, you can respond to them in a civilized and constructive manner. Any obvious "flame bait" should simply be ignored. Also, I will not look kindly upon deliberate attempts to disrupt the list, change it to some other topic unrelated to exotic birds, use it as a format to politicize personal "position statements," or ax-grind over some emotion-charged subject. As list owner I do not expect to read every post on this list, nor do I want this list to become a moderated list. I would rather close the list than have it turn into a verbal slug-fest among the subscribers.
This is not the place for campaigning for animal rights, debating the ethics of maintaining exotic birds, or pleading generalized environmental cases not having a direct bearing on an exotic bird populations. This is, first and foremost, a place for people who love exotic pet birds.
All these rules are intended to ensure that problems which have sometimes plagued other discussion lists do not start here. You will pretty much be on the honor system concerning what is being posted here. Any deliberate and repeat violators will be removed from the list, unless adequate explanation can be given for the continued violations.
It is my hope that EXOTIC-L will be the kind of place you want to return to again and again. Where you will learn lots of exciting and new information about the care and feeding of your pet birds and where you may offer some of your expertise to those needing advice and support.
To send, or "post", a message to EXOTIC-L so that it will be seen by all subscribers, proceed thusly:
Once subscribed, send EXOTIC-L postings as E-mail to:
just as you would if you were sending E-mail to another person. You
will receive a confirmation letter from the list that says that
your posting has been received. You will NOT receive a copy of
your own post sent back to you by the LISTSERV. Both of these
subscription options can be changed, however. See section 7.
5) NUMBER AND TYPE OF MESSAGES TO EXPECT FROM THIS LIST
This list generates from 100 to over 150 messages per day. These
messages range from basic questions from first time bird owners to
more advanced topics from bird breeders. Anything regarding exotic
pet birds may be discussed, with a *few* exceptions. Feel free to jump
in wherever you like, but please wait to get a feel for the list
before you start.
If the number of messages proves to be too much for you, you can
subscribe to the list in digest mode, which means you'll receive only
1-5 messages a day that are compilations of the day's posts. See
section 14.
6) ABOUT YOUR INITIAL SUBSCRIPTION
The subscription default options are set as follows:
7) LIST COMMANDS [Includes HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE]
Messages concerning your EXOTIC-L subscription should *only* be sent
to LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL (or, on Bitnet, LISTSERV@PLEARN.BITNET).
Here are examples of messages to send to LISTSERV (NOT to EXOTIC-L):
Subscribe to EXOTIC-L SUB EXOTIC-L Your Name
NEVER SEND A MESSAGE TO EXOTIC-L ABOUT YOUR SUBSCRIPTION!!!
For more extensive information about LISTSERV commands, send LISTSERV
the following message: HELP.
If you have a question about your subscription that you want a
human being to read, do NOT send it to either EXOTIC-L or LISTSERV!!
Instead, send it to the list owner, Kathryn A. Smith
[katsmith@vt.edu].
8) HOW CAN I GET FURTHER HELP?
If you send the command HELP to LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL (for Internet)
or LISTSERV@PLEARN.BITNET (for BITNET), either as E-mail or an
interactive message, you will receive a brief summary of other
listserv commands which may be useful.
9) SOME USEFUL SUGGESTIONS ON NETIQUETTE Please read carefully.
A. Type in upper and lower case, all UPPER CASE MAKES IT LOOK LIKE YOU
ARE YELLING!
B. Make your Subject: heading as clear and concise as possible, so that
people will know whether your message deals with a topic of
interest to them. (MANY people automatically delete messages with
no subject heading or with one that doesn't interest them.)
C. Include your e-mail address or a signature with your e-mail address
at the end of your posts.(It is important that people be able to
contact you privately if they wish, and some mail systems do not
identify the writer anywhere in the header.)
D. Try to include public multi-replies in one message. Nobody wants
their mailboxes filled with multiple one-liner replies from one
person. Keep in mind that some people out there have to pay for
their service.
E. When including the original (or RE: posts) in your replies, PLEASE
edit them. BRIEFLY quote or summarize that posting AFTER you
offer your reply. Doing so will make your message clearer and
avoid confusion. (New subscribers are continually joining the
list; they may not have read the original message. And since a
number of topics are often being discussed on the list at any
given moment, even long-time subscribers may not remember what
prompted your remarks unless you remind them.) NOTE: if you're
replying to a long message, do NOT quote it in its entirety!
Include just a few relevant lines.
F. To request something from someone who has posted to the list, DO
NOT send to EXOTIC-L. Send instead to the mail address listed
by the individual you are responding to. Otherwise you broadcast
your message unnecessarily to all of the people on the list.
10) MY MAIL SYSTEM DOESN'T IDENTIFY THE WRITERS OF THE MESSAGES THAT
APPEAR ON EXOTIC-L. HOW CAN I GET THIS INFORMATION?
Some EXOTIC-L subscribers have mail systems that do not identify the
writers of EXOTIC-L messages. All these subscribers know from the
header is that the message is from EXOTIC-L. Such subscribers may
wish to take advantage of a new optional feature called DUALHDR that
provides the e-mail address and usually also the name of the writer
INSIDE the mail message. If you choose this option, your mail message
will begin with an INTERNAL header that looks like this:
To include the duplicate header:
Send E-mail to:
<LISTSERV@PLEARN.BITNET> for Bitnet users,
with a blank subject line and the following command as the
first (and only) line of the message body:
SET EXOTIC-L DUAL
To remove the extra header information, repeat the above procedure but
send the command:
SET EXOTIC-L SHORT
Be sure to send this message to LISTSERV, NOT to EXOTIC-L!! If you
receive a response saying that you don't have a subscription, try
LISTSERV's other address (i.e., Bitnet if you tried Internet, or vice
versa).
11) WHEN SHOULD I REPLY PRIVATELY RATHER THAN TO EXOTIC-L?
EXOTIC-L is set up so that replies will automatically go back to the
person who wrote the letter. Sending letters to EXOTIC-L is ONLY
appropriate when the contents are likely to be of interest to a number
of subscribers (reading material, nutritional info, teaching techniques,
etc. fall into this category). However, if you are writing to
request a copy of a fact-filled list someone has mentioned, please send
your request PRIVATELY, NOT to EXOTIC-L. Similarly, comments directed at
a particular person (e.g., "Right on, Rhoda. Good point," or "Thanks for
the info," or "What a horrendous experience that must have been. I
don't know why people do such things," or "Hi, Jane, I'm glad to see
you've joined the list. Write to me," etc.) should be sent PRIVATELY,
NOT to EXOTIC-L. Also, short general statements of approval or
disapproval (e.g., "Hooray! I'm glad someone finally said that!" or
"I can't imagine how anyone can believe such nonsense") should NOT be
sent to EXOTIC-L. Finally, please send privately most expressions of
thanks or apology.
12) I'VE TRIED TO POST A MESSAGE TO THE LIST, BUT I RECEIVED A MESSAGE
BACK SAYING THAT I'M NOT AUTHORIZED TO DO SO. I'M A SUBSCRIBER--WHY
WAS I TOLD I'M NOT AUTHORIZED?
Only people whom the LISTSERV software recognizes as subscribers can
post messages on EXOTIC-L. To subscribe, send the following message
to LISTSERV@PLEARN.BITNET (Bitnet) or LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL
(Internet): SUB EXOTIC-L Your Name (e.g., SUB EXOTIC-L Jane Doe).
If you've already subscribed to EXOTIC-L and you run into problems,
chances are that you subscribed under a different address than the one
from which you sent your recent message--e.g., you subscribed under
your Bitnet address and then sent a message from your Internet
address. The LISTSERV software recognizes subscribers by their e-mail
address. If you subscribe under a Bitnet [or Internet] address, you
have to send all messages to LISTSERV and EXOTIC-L from that same
address. If you are unsuccessful posting a message to the list's
Bitnet address, try sending the message to the list's Internet
address. If your e-mail address has changed since you subscribed,
please contact me PRIVATELY (not via a message to EXOTIC-L).
13) I'M GOING ON VACATION FOR SEVERAL WEEKS. CAN I STOP MAIL WHILE
I'M AWAY, OR DO I HAVE TO UNSUBSCRIBE?
To halt the flow of incoming EXOTIC-L E-mail:
Send E-mail to:
<LISTSERV@PLEARN.BITNET> for Bitnet users,
with a blank subject line and the following command as the
first (and only) line of the message body:
SET EXOTIC-L NOMAIL
To restore incoming EXOTIC-L mail service, repeat the above procedure
but send the command:
SET EXOTIC-L MAIL
Note: BE SURE TO SEND THESE MESSAGES TO LISTSERV, NOT TO EXOTIC-L!
Also, if you receive a message back telling you you're not a
subscriber, see section 8 and 12 above.
14) DOES EXOTIC-L EXIST IN A DIGEST FORMAT?
Yes! If you choose to receive the digest option, each day you will
receive anywhere from one to five files containing the EXOTIC-L
messages of the past day. Each file will begin with a table of
contents that will list the different Subject: headings discussed in
this particular digest. You will still be able to post to EXOTIC-L in
the normal fashion, just as if you were receiving the postings as
individual, in-coming E-mail. There will, of course, be an increased
time lag between the submission of a posting by a EXOTIC-L subscriber
and the time you receive it in digest form.
*** As a common courtesy, PLEASE remember to change your Subject
headings to reflect which message you are
To select the digest option for EXOTIC-L:
Send E-mail to:
<LISTSERV@PLEARN.BITNET> for Bitnet users,
with a blank subject line and the following command as the
first (and only) line of the message body:
SET EXOTIC-L DIGEST
To deactivate this option and once again receive each individual
EXOTIC-L posting as a separate, individual piece of incoming E-mail,
proceed as above but send the command:
SET EXOTIC-L MAIL
15) WHAT SHOULD I DO IF MAIL FROM EXOTIC-L SUDDENLY STOPS?
A. If you receive a message from LISTSERV informing you that your
EXOTIC-L options have been set to NOMAIL, that means that mail from
the list was repeatedly returned as undeliverable, probably because of
a mail problem on your system. The fact that LISTSERV's notification
reached you indicates that the problem was probably short-lived and is
now resolved. You can set yourself back to MAIL by sending the message
SET EXOTIC-L MAIL to LISTSERV@PLEARN.BITNET (if you subscribed under a
Bitnet address) or LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL (if you subscribed under an
Internet address). If one address doesn't work, try the other.
B. If you haven't received a notification, but you also haven't
received EXOTIC-L mail for a day, send the following two-word message
to LISTSERV@PLEARN.BITNET (if you subscribed under a Bitnet address)
or LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL (if you subscribed under an Internet
address): QUERY EXOTIC-L
If you get back a message saying that you're not subscribed to
EXOTIC-L, send the QUERY EXOTIC-L message to the other LISTSERV
address (i.e., if you sent the message to LISTSERV@PLEARN.BITNET, try
sending the same message to LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL). If your message
is successful, you should get back a message from LISTSERV telling you
how your "options" are set. The key part will look something like
this:
16) HOW CAN I RECEIVE COPIES OF MY MESSAGES TO THE LIST?
EXOTIC-L is now set up so that people do not receive copies of the
messages they post to the list.
If you wish to receive such copies:
Send E-mail to:
<LISTSERV@PLEARN.BITNET> for Bitnet users,
with a blank subject line and the following command as the
first (and only) line of the message body:
SET EXOTIC-L REPRO
17) I'VE BEEN AWAY FOR TWO WEEKS. I'D LIKE TO SEE WHAT I'VE MISSED ON
EXOTIC-L DURING THE TIME I'VE BEEN GONE. IS IT POSSIBLE TO ACCESS
PREVIOUS MESSAGES? [also useful for new subscribers]
Yes. All EXOTIC-L messages are automatically archived. To find out
what logs are available, you can send LISTSERV the following command:
INDEX EXOTIC-L . You'll then receive a list of the available logs. To
obtain the logs, send LISTSERV the following command:
GET EXOTIC-L
[filename]
where [filename] is the name of the log file you want. For example:
GET EXOTIC-L LOG9412
will get you the log for December 1994 (9412 refers to the 12th month
of 1994). (It's possible that the wording of your request may take a
slightly different form, depending on your mail system, but what you
want is EXOTIC-L LOGnnnn.) Warning: these logs are LARGE.
Once again, welcome to EXOTIC-L. We look forward to your
participation in our list. If you have any questions about this
message, please forward the question via mail to katsmith@vt.edu, not
to the list.
Sincerely,
Kathryn A. Smith
Mail=Yes.....Receive individual pieces of mail from EXOTIC-L
Repro=No.....Not receive back a copy of mail you sent to EXOTIC-L
Ack=Yes......A brief acknowledgement will be sent when you send mail
Header=Short.Minimum mail header added to top of each piece of mail
Files=Yes....Can GET and PUT files onto the LISTSERV
Renewal=Yes..RENEW your subscription on occassion
Unsubscribe form EXOTIC-L SIGNOFF EXOTIC-L
Stop receiving mail temporarily SET EXOTIC-L NOMAIL
Start receiving mail again SET EXOTIC-L MAIL----------------- Information from the mail header -------------------
Sender: "EXOTIC-L Exotic pet bird discussion group."
Most of us don't need this additional header, since our mail systems
provide this information in the normal header. However, for those
whose mail systems won't cooperate, the DUALHDR option should be very
useful.
<LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL> for Internet users,
<LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL> for Internet users,
<LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL> for Internet users, >> query EXOTIC-L
> Distribution options for Jane Doe
Your options may vary; the important part is Mail=Yes. If the reply
from LISTSERV says Mail=Yes, contact your computer support staff to
find out whether they're aware of a mail problem. If they don't know
of any problem, contact me privately at katsmith@vt.edu. If the reply
from LISTSERV says Mail=No, that means your subscription has been set
to NOMAIL. The most likely explanation for its being set to NOMAIL is
that mail started to bounce and so I set your subscription to NOMAIL
but the notification from LISTSERV bounced, too. In that case,
contact your system's computer support staff to find out whether the
problem has been solved. If it has, you can set yourself back to MAIL
(see section A above). If they aren't aware of a problem, your best
bet is to contact me privately.
If you have questions or encounter problems, please write to me
privately at katsmith@vt.edu. However, PLEASE TRY THE ABOVE STEPS
FIRST!! Under NO circumstances should you send messages about your
subscription to EXOTIC-L.
<LISTSERV@PLEARN.EDU.PL> for Internet users,
katsmith@vt.edu
Blacksburg, VA
EXOTIC-L and DOM_BIRD list owner
CAGTAG-L list co-owner
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