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What are newsgroups?A newsgroup is like an electronic bulletin board. Messages are posted and people log on to read them and respond. Unlike email, the messages are not delivered to an inbox, but stored on a computer (the news server), and utilize a different delivery protocol (nntp). Note that newsgroups are different from email distribution lists (such as ListProc lists), which are also generally used for online discussions, but which deliver email directly to subscribers' inboxes. USENET newsgroups form a vast, worldwide communications system. In addition to worldwide newsgroups, newsgroups can be set up for just the UW community. Messages posted to local newsgroups such as these will not be distributed outside the UW server. Newsgroups offer a highly efficient way to both disseminate information to large numbers of people and hold long-distance discussions among many people. They are commonly used at the UW to communicate with faculty, staff and students. To get started using newsgroups, see the Using Newsgroups section of this guide. |
