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Introduction

Outline of Section

1.1 Email and LISTSERVs

Electronic mail distribution lists, known variously as LISTSERVs or reflectors, allow individual users to post a single email message that is sent out to a defined group of other individuals, those who have “subscribed” to the list. Such lists provide for a sense of on-going community for the individuals participating (either by reading only, or by contributing by posting messages of their own).

Electronic mail distribution lists developed not long after the initial develop of electronic mail itself. Abbate (1999) describes the role of such lists in the ARPANET community (ARPANET being the predecessor of the Internet as it exists today):

“Email and mailing lists were crucial to creating and maintaining a feeling of community among ARPANET users. Mailing lists allowed users to send messages to a single list address (such as sf-lovers@hostname) at a host site where a list administrator maintained a database of list members. A program running on the host computer then automatically re-transmitted the message to each person in the database. This meant that an individual could communicate with a large group without having to send out numerous messages and without having to keep track of the addresses of all the members. Even more important, mailing lists allowed a virtual community to take on an identity that was more than the sum of the individuals who made it up.” (p. 110).

The nature of each list, as perceived by the members, is variable, depending on many factors including the content of the messages themselves. Some factors, however, can be readily quantified and corresponding metrics developed to allow lists to be effectively compared. The examination of these aspects can provide important data about a list, and particularly when viewed over a period of time.

This dissertation focuses on the information relating to frequency and size of messages over time as a means of describing the “activity levels” of one particular list. It uses the archives of the list to identify other information relating to the posters of messages, their countries of origins and other information contained within the poster's email address, as described by the domain naming system used across the Internet.

The effects of moderation on the numbers of messages and the originators of messages are also examined in an attempt to provide quantitative data to determine whether the results have achieved the intentions.

1.2 The BEE-L Email Distribution List

The BEE-L email distribution list has a twelve year history of informed discussion of beekeeping issues and bee biology. As described by Dick (2001a):

“BEE-L is the oldest Internet mailing list for discussing bees and beekeeping. It was originally started as a list for international communication between bee researchers at universities and government institutions. Over the years, it has evolved more to the discussion of practical beekeeping, but still retains some of its original character.”

Activity on the list has been steady throughout the time period, with an exception of late 1997 and early 1998, which had an unusually large number of messages. The number of messages at that time, and their nature, led to the introduction (in April 1998) of “moderation” of postings, with a small group identified to act as the “gatekeepers” to the list from that time until the present.

Morris (2000) described that period of the list's history:

“Orphaned, the list continued more or less on auto-pilot. Beekeepers continued to come on board, flame wars became commonplace, misinformation abounded and somewhere along the way most researchers left. Indeed, the list degenerated to “chatroom” quality and reached the point that was deserving of dissolution. Rather than ending the list, I chose the only way of enforcing the requests for civility and netiquette. That choice was list moderation.”

The list has always and is still open to membership from anyone, and while participation is encouraged, the list retains a distinct North American and hobbyist beekeeping bias. This is evident in the list membership as well as the nature of postings over time.

This dissertation examines quantitative aspects related to the list's activity by examining the archive of all messages posted to the list. Specifically, data is examined to determine the relative levels of participation of “scientists” and “educators” (as revealed by the email addresses used for posting to the list).

As well, the frequency and size of posting to the list are analysed to identify trends and cycles. Emphasis is placed on the impacts of moderation of the list activity to determine what measurable impacts can be established based on data from the archives.