CPSC 110: Email Project

The Internet has many different ways for people to communicate with each other. We won't cover e-mail and USENET until the very end of the course, but certainly e-mail is not new to you. You may even be subscribed to several mailings lists already.

Put simply, a mailing list is a group of people who rally around one topic whether it be their favorite tv show, their favorite programming language, their favorite outdoor activity, their favorite sports team, or whatever they have in common. Members of the mailing list send e-mail to a special address; the server for that special address passes the e-mail on to everyone on the mailing list.

A USENET newsgroup is somewhat similar except that messages on a newsgroup are passed around by USENET servers, not through e-mail. Consequently, you typically need a special newsgroup reader.

For this project you will subscribe to a mailing list or newsgroup and read it regularly. You are encouraged to subscribe to more than one mailing list or newsgroup to make sure that you get a sufficient number of messages.

In the rest of this page, you may substitute the word "newsgroup" for "mailing list" unless a distinction is made.

Mailing List Requirements

Subscribe to at least one mailing list. You're strongly encouraged to subscribe to more than one so that you can be sure you'll get enough e-mail message throughout the course.

If you're already subscribed to a mailing list, you do not have to subscribe to a new one unless your mailing list doesn't meet the requirements below.

Your mailing list must meet these requirements:

The mailing list must receive at least twenty messages a week.
The mailing list must be for discussion, not for information. calvin-sos is a mailing list at Calvin for dispatching emergency messages; it does not qualify since you are not supposed to interact with the others on that mailing list.
The mailing list should have nothing directly to do with Calvin College. Related mailing lists are okay (like lists for Reformed Theology or for Western Michigan).

Finding Mailing Lists

There are several places to find mailing lists:

Search the Web (using your favorite search engine) for your interests. Often Web sites for an interest will also have information about mailing lists. In particular, search for your interest and "mailing list"; e.g., search for "tubas mailing list" at your favorite search engine for mailing lists about tubas.
Yahoo! Groups has thousands of groups, and each one sponsors a mailing list.
Ask a friend who shares an interest and may already be subscribed to an mailing list you might like.

See this page for information on how to read USENET newsgroups. There's no simple way to read newsgroups at Calvin, so it's strongly suggested that you pick a mailing list.

Reading the Mailing List

Read every message that comes to you on the mailing list. If your mailing list is particularly busy, you might want to pick a less busy list. You may find it useful to save every message from the mailing list in a special folder until the end of this course to make it easier to answer the questions for your report.

Each time you read your e-mail, record how many messages you got from your mailing list.

You must also look for specific types of e-mail:

Each week find at least one message that was the most interesting or useful. Print a copy of this message, and write on that page what you found interesting or useful.
Find and print two messages during the course that were particularly mean. The meanness could be due to the tone of the message or perhaps obscene speech. How were these messages handled by the members of the mailing list? That is, what the sender reprimanded, ignored? Did other group members respond similarly? Were the responses appropriate or would you have handled it differently?
Find and print two messages during the course that were off-topic (i.e., unrelated to the mailing list). How was this handled by the members of the mailing list?

For each message that you print out, clearly indicate its type (i.e., "interesting week #1", "mean #1", "off-topic #1", etc.). Answer the questions in well written paragraphs.

Interacting with the Mailing List

At least two times in the semester, you must send an e-mail message to the list. (You are welcome to post as many messages as you like.) Your messages should be appropriate for the mailing list, but it can introduce a new thread of discussion or continue an existing thread.

For each of the two messages that you send, answer these questions:

What kind of message was it? A new thread or continuing an old one? Answering a question, asking a question, or just making a comment?
What were your feelings about your message after you sent it? In hindsight, would you change anything?
What response did your message get? You may get no response at all; if so, why?

If you send more than two messages, pick your favorite two. Answer the questions in a well written paragraph.

What If Your Mailing List Gets No Traffic?

If you discover that the first mailing list you pick gets very little traffic, subscribe to another mailing list or two to make up the difference. If you still get very little email from these mailing lists, you can then use the USENET newsgroups at Google Groups. The unfortunate thing about Google Groups is that there is no way to record which messages you've read.

Browse the newsgroups to find messages to satisfy the requirements for this assignment. Try to find groups similar to your mailing lists. It may be difficult to pick out messages by week, so instead of finding an interesting message for each week, find seven in all; just make sure that there are at least two days between any two of these interesting messages. You can use any combination of mailing lists and newsgroup messages to get your seven interesting messages.

It's a bit difficult (perhaps nigh impossible) to interact with the newsgroups on Google Groups, so interact with your mailing lists. A very obvious message to send to a mailing list, if it's receiving little traffic, is to ask why the mailing list gets so little traffic and to ask if there are other mailing lists that get more traffic.

If you end up using Google Groups, mention this in your report, and discuss why you think your mailing lists got so little traffic.

General Questions

Think about these questions throughout the semester, and write out answers for your report. Answer the questions with full sentences, not just simply "yes" or "no".

What was the overall tone of the mailing list? Was it easy each week to find an interesting or useful message? Was is easy to find mean messages?
Does your mailing list its own Web site? If so, where is it? Is your mailing list archived? If so, where is it?
How many emoticons or abbreviations (see About.com's emoticons and acronyms page)? Did you find them helpful or obnoxious?
How useful or interesting was the mailing list? Will you remain subscribed to it after this project is done?

Turn In

At the end of the course (the due date is on the schedule page), submit a report that includes your typed answers for the questions as well as print outs of the various message asked for in this project. Staple everything together. Make sure your name, course number (i.e., "110"), section letter, and "E-mail Project" are printed clearly on the top paper. The e-mail project is worth 30 points.

Last modified: Wed Jan 30 10:35:16 EST 2002
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