An Introduction to Research Processes

Back to Finding Sources on the Internet

Newsgroups and mailing lists are among the oldest forms of communication on the Internet. Their goal is similar: to support discussions of particular topics, such as adult education or immigration, among people connected to the Internet. Newsgroups achieve this goal by collecting messages sent by individuals and posting them to a particular site. To read these messages, you can use a software program called a newsgroup reader (which is often built into a Web browser), which lists the messages on newsgroups and allows you to read them. Mailing lists use a different strategy. Rather than collecting each message and displaying it in a central location, each message is sent as an electronic mail message to every member of the list.

To read more about using Newsgroups and Mailing Lists, view our unit on Using Other Internet Resources.