Ever thought about joining a “virtual community”—an online support network, say, for PWAs? Or perhaps you hunger for up-to-the-minute reports on AIDS meds? Suppose you’re an advocate with your ear to the web for late- breaking HIV policy news. Well, an e-mail list, or listserve, is just what you need. For the cybernetically challenged among us, an e-mail list is a topic-specific, by-subscription service that sends you messages regularly. Some lists are “read only”; others let you send messages to the group. Some are moderated (a list manager screens all messages before forwarding); others are a free for all. Of the dozens of HIV-specific listserves, these are some of the best:

TREATMENT/RESEARCH

Lipidlist
Topic: metabolic disorders such as lipodystrophy, body-shape changes and elevated blood fats (sponsored by Survive AIDS, formerly ACT UP/Golden Gate)
Traffic: about five messages per day
To subscribe: send e-mail to listproc@critpath.org
First line: subscribe LIPIDLIST, then your first and last names

Treatment
Topic: technical aspects of AIDS treatment activism (sponsored by Critical Path AIDS Project)
Traffic: about three messages per day
To subscribe: send e-mail to listproc@critpath.org
First line: subscribe Treatment, then your first and last names

AIDS Mailing List
Topic:(e-mail list of the sci.med.aids newsgroup)AIDS science and medical research info and updates (moderated)
Traffic: about three messages per day; digest available
To subscribe: send e-mail to majordomo@wubios.wustl.edu
First line: subscribe AIDS, then your e-mail address

Medpulse
Topic: HIV treatment updates from medical journals (sponsored by Medscape)
Traffic: one message per week
To subscribe: register on www.medscape.com under the “HIV” section

Hemophilia Support
Topic: medical info and support for people with bleeding disorders
Traffic: about 35 messages per day
To subscribe: send e-mail to lists@web-depot.com
First line: subscribe hemophilia-support

NEWS

AEGIS AIDS List
Topic: full-text updates on AIDS policy, treatment, and research
Traffic: about five messages per day; digest available
To subscribe:  send e-mail to aids-requests@lists.aegis.com
Subject line: subscribe

CDC HIV/STD/TB PREVENTION NEWS UPDATE 
(formerly CDC Daily Summaries)
Topic: brief summaries of daily news—about prevention and more—compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (beware: condensing may have introduced errors); also sent to subscribers of AEGIS AIDS LIST
Traffic: one message per day
To subscribe: send e-mail to preventionews-subscribe@cdcpin.org


POLICY/ACTIVISM

AIDSACT
Topic: activist discussion of AIDS advocacy, policy and research
Traffic: about three messages per day
To subscribe: send e-mail to listproc@critpath.org
First line: subscribe AIDSACT, then your first and last names

HealthGap
Topic: updates on international campaign to expand AIDS treatment access (sponsored by the Health GAP Coalition)
Traffic: about seven messages per day
To subscribe: send an e-mail to listproc@critpath.org
First line: subscribe healthgap (leave subject line blank)

LISTAS EN ESPAÑOL

Genetpoz
To subscribe: send e-mail to lists@web-depot.com
First line: subscribe gentepoz

SIDA-ETS
To subscribe: send e-mail to listasrcp@listas.rcp.net.pe
First line: subscribe sida-ets end

Veihache
To subscribe: send e-mail to majordomo@listas.netverk.com.ar
first line: subscribe veihache

[Adapted from an article in AIDS Treatment News by permission of John S. James, a world-class HIV e-mail maven.]


SURF SAVVY

Some tips to make your cybertrip as smooth as possible:

  1. Avoid message mayhem: To keep from being bombarded by too many e-mails, find out if the list offers a digest (all messages compiled into one summarized message).
  2. (Un)Subscribe: When you join a new e-mail list, save the instructions; if you decide to leave the list, they will tell you how. Be careful not to send an unsubscribe message to the list itself (it will go out to all subscribers, who may feel rejected).
  3. Confidentiality: Some people are reluctant to join e-mail lists because they fear that their e-mail address will be sent to thousands of strangers. Fortunately, if you only receive messages, most lists will keep your e-mail address confidential. If you want to send messages and protect your privacy, get a second e-mail address for this purpose, perhaps through a free service like Excite or Hotmail. Most lists ask you to enter a name when you subscribe, but any name will do.
  4. Sift messages: To avoid mixing mail from e-mail lists with other messages, most e-mail software allows you to set up “filters” that automatically sort incoming mail into different mailboxes.