E-Mail Distribution Lists

Project groups may want to create an e-mail distribution list to send their licensees or affiliates general news or updates about their work. E-mail lists can also be used as a way to facilitate discussion between licensees about the software: list owners and list members can send a message to an address that will distribute it to all the subscribers of a list.

This article discusses some of the ways an e-mail list might be used. It also discusses some software options, with particular attention to Mailman, a distribution list tool that the University of Washington supports.

Uses for E-mail Distribution Lists

• Send an automatic welcome message to new users explaining the next steps they can take.
• Send an automatic welcome message with personalized information like user names and passwords for them to download software code (if the e-mail list is connected to a database).
• Create a community of users in which they can ask each other questions about your technology or research.
• Send announcements to users with news or updates.
• Send newsletters to friends and supporters of your research.
• Create an archive of messages for reference.

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