What is a LISTSERV mailing list?

A LISTSERV mailing list is based on a computer program called LISTSERV that allows people to create, manage, and control electronic mailing lists. Each list has a topic of interest, just as a company might have a postal mailing list to distribute a catalog. To avoid requiring everyone within a mailing group to maintain a separate alias or nickname for the group, the LISTSERV product maintains a single list of subscribers that everyone can use.

Sometimes mailing lists are public; that is, anyone with an email account anywhere in the world can subscribe. Sometimes lists are private or confidential. In this case, the list's owner or sponsor can subscribe people, and LISTSERV won't let anyone else know about the list.

Mailing lists can make sending mail to groups of people much easier, especially if the membership of the group is constantly changing. Group members need only to maintain their own addresses and subscription status.

You may often hear people refer to any mailing list as a "listserv". This is not accurate; only a list maintained with the LISTSERV program is a LISTSERV mailing list. LISTSERV is a registered trademark of L-Soft international, Inc. Other products, such as ListProc and Majordomo, perform similar electronic mailing list functions, but you should use the term LISTSERV only in reference to actual LISTSERV mailing lists.

Following is a direct quote from L-Soft international, taken from L-Soft's licensing agreement, on the use of the term "LISTSERV":

ALWAYS USE OUR MARKS IN PROPER CONTEXT AND FORM

Trademarks identify a company's products or services. Grammatically, they are "proper adjectives", used to qualify a generic name such as "software", "product", or "mail transfer agent". Our Marks should never be used as a noun, or in plural form. Here are a few examples:

RIGHT:	A LISTSERV mailing list A LISTSERV server "We have several LISTSERV servers in our department."
WRONG:	A LISTSERV A LISTSERVer "We have several LISTSERVs in our department."

In headlines, the use of unqualified product Marks is tolerated, to save space, provided that the implied meaning is "product", and that there is no possible doubt about this. For instance, you may print "XYZ Assist for LISTSERV", meaning "XYZ Assist for use with the LISTSERV product". You may not print "Manage your LISTSERVs with XYZ!", however, because the implied meaning is either "server" or "list".

Our Marks should not be abbreviated or extended. You must always state our Marks exactly as they are written on your trademark license certificate. In practice, this is only a problem with LISTSERV. Always write it exactly as LISTSERV -- not LSV or LISTSERVE or LISTSERVER.

Our Marks may never be incorporated in company names, whether a corporate name, partnership or d/b/a. Thus, you may not call your company "LISTSERV Consulting".

For a collection of documents with general LISTSERV information, and information about owning and subscribing to LISTSERV lists at Indiana University, see LISTSERV and other mailing lists.

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