IT Services

Mailing lists allow a single message to be sent to many users at the same time and are useful for communication and non-real-time discussion.

Whilst most email programs allow you to build up your own lists manually, this method should not be used to created lists which will have more than 50 recipients or which will handle a high volume of messages.

These are best managed through the centrally provided facility in use in the University called LISTSERV.

 

With a mailing list, a message sent to a central address is automatically forwarded to all members of the list

 

Mailing lists can be open or closed - an open list is one that anyone can join, a closed list you must subscribe to (the list administrator will decide if you are eligible to join or not).

They are also either moderated or un-moderated. Messages sent to a moderated list are first reviewed by a list moderator, who may reject submissions if they do not fall within the subject area or content guidelines. Messages to an un-moderated list are sent out to the list without prior content review.

 If you want to subscribe to a University "Listserv" mailing list, see the following Knowledgebase article.

Staff and students at the University can request the creation of a new mailing list by completing an online request form. Once the list has been created, the list owner becomes responsible for managing the list e.g. reviewing subscription requests, adding list members, moderating messages submitted to the list etc.

Set up a mailing list

The establishment of large email lists covering entire job families, such as all manual staff or all technical staff, is the joint responsibility of the Internal Communications team and IT Services. Individual users should not attempt to establish such lists themselves, either through the Listserv system or in Outlook or other email packages.

If you need to send a message to a large group of staff for which no distribution list already exists, please contact:

Linda Callaghan, Internal Communications Officer, at linda.callaghan@manchester.ac.uk or 58388