IE-L Information

The individual events listserve, or IE-L, is a national mailing list dedicated to the art of forensics. Since its creation in 1994, more than 11,000 messages have been sent over the listserve. Hosted by Cornell University, the listserve is open to coaches, competitors, and anyone else interested in forensics.

So if you have a passion for forensics, subscribe to the IE-L and join the discussion.

Bilge Tanyeri
List Manager

For more information see:

Subscribing to IE-L

Its easy to subscribe to the IE-L!

Send a message to listproc@cornell.edu. In the body of the message type:

subscribe ie-L Chris Doe

Note that the command, subscribe, comes first, followed by the name of the list. Replace Chris Doe with your real name. You do not need to fill in the subject line or any other e-mail fields except the body.

There are no fees for subscribing to the ie-l, and you may unsubscribe at any time. The ie-l has an "open subscription" policy, meaning anyone can subscribe to it.

back to top

Unsubscribing to IE-L

If you want to leave the ie-l, you must unsubscribe from it. Send the following unsubscribe command to listproc@cornell.edu:

unsubscribe ie-L

Note that the command, unsubscribe, comes first, followed by the name of the list. You do not need to fill in the subject line or any other e-mail fields except the body. There are no fees for unsubscribing from the ie-l, and you may resubscribe at any time.

back to top

Posting to IE-L

To participate in the ie-l you simply send an e-mail message to ie-l@cornell.edu. You should complete the "Subject:" line of your message as you would if sending the mail to an individual. Write your message in the e-mail body, and send it off.

The ie-l is set up as an "open posting" list, which means that it accepts mail from anyone, even non-subscribers. This list has also been set up for discussion, meaning that replies to messages will go to everyone on the list.

If you receive your list mail in digest format please note that a reply to the message, whether directed to the sender or to the whole list, will have a generic subject line. It is a good idea to change the digest-related subject line so that it reflects the original message's subject line (which will be within the body of the digest, just above the text of the message itself). If you want to reply to just one person on the mailing list, use the review command to obtain the individual's e-mail address.

**WARNING** Reply With Caution

Always check the "To:" line after you use the reply feature of your e-mail program and ensure the message is destined for the correct address (either the list or an individual). A hasty reply can mean embarrassment to both the sender and the recipient - it has happened in the past, and it could happen again. Do not let it happen to you.

back to top

Customizing your subscription

A common command submitted to listproc after subscribing to a list is set. This allows you to tailor how you receive mail from the list, such as whether you receive copies of your own messages, whether your list mail comes one message at a time or all together, etc. The set command has proven to be a point of confusion to many people because of the number of options it offers and their somewhat cryptic format (see the command summary table).

When you subscribe to the ie-l, you have personal attributes associated with the subscription which you can adjust. These are:

  • how your mail is received,
  • what your password is,
  • what e-mail address you use, and
  • whether other people can tell that you are subscribed.

If you are unsure of your current settings, you can learn what they are by sending the following command, in the body of an e-mail message, to listproc@cornell.edu:

set ie-L

The set command comes in handy for turning list mail off and on, as detailed below, when out of town for more than a couple of days.

The general format for the set command is:

set ie-l keyword option

The keywords are "mail," "address," and "conceal."

Setting "mail" options - There are four mail options from which to choose. Use one of the following forms of the set command to adjust your mail options for a list.

To receive copies of your own messages whenever you send them to the list, use the ack option ("ack" stands for "acknowledgment"). It is recommended that you use this option. When you see your own post, you know that it has been sent out to the list:

set ie-L mail ack

To avoid receiving a copy of your own messages whenever you post them to the list, use the noack option ("noack" stands for "no acknowledgment"):

set ie-L mail noack

To receive messages from the list in digest format, use the digest option. Note that you will see your own messages as part of the digest's contents:

set ie-L mail digest

To postpone receiving messages from the list, use the postpone option:

set ie-L mail postpone

This may be useful to you if you will be away from e-mail for a while but want to remain subscribed to the list. You could unsubscribe from the list, but then others who wish to see who is on the list would not see your name. To resume your subscription for the list, you must issue one of the other three commands in this section (for example, ie-L mail ack).

Setting your e-mail address - When you subscribe to the ie-l, listproc extracts your e-mail address from your message. If that address is going to change for some reason, such as a school converting their e-mail account addresses, you can reset your subscription address.

To change your address, you must send the command from your current subscription address. Your current address will be replaced with your newaddress. If your address has changed and you no longer have access to the old address, send e-mail describing the problem to Bilge Tanyeri, and ask that your old address be replaced with your new one.

To change your address, use the following form of the set command. After the name of the list, use the keyword address, and follow it with your new address.

set ie-L address new-address

Setting your "concealed" status - If you wish to conceal or unconceal your subscription to a list, use the set command with the keyword conceal; add yes or no to be concealed or not, as in the following examples:

set ie-L conceal yes

set ie-L conceal no

back to top

Mailing List Digests

If you do not want to receive individual messages from a list every time someone sends something to it, you may wish to use the digest option with the set command. Listproc creates digests daily.

Digests reduce the individual number of messages received, but have the drawback of a generic subject line. If you wish to reply to a particular message in the digest, you should delete any others that appear in the text of your message. You should also change the subject line before sending the reply.

back to top

Losing Access to E-mail for a While?

If you will be leaving for vacation, break, sabbatical leave or for other reasons, you may wish to suspend mailing list subscriptions if you will be without e-mail access. If you use the postpone option with the set command, your name will remain on the list of subscribers but mail delivery to you will be halted. To resume mail delivery, use one of the set mail options shown on the previous page.

back to top

Back