michigan informatics
Using Discussion Lists to Stay Informed
Discretion
Just like e-mail messages, you should also keep in mind that your posting could be forwarded to a wider audience than intended. For discussion lists with web archives, your postings can indefinitely remain searchable. If you work for commercial or government organizations, there may be restrictions against actively participating in advocacy work. If your institution has restrictions and you plan to subscribe or post to advocacy lists, you may want to use a personal e-mail address.
A more interactive way of staying informed via e-mail is to participate in a discussion list (also known as listservs or e-mail groups). The discussion lists may cover a narrow or a broad area of public health. Discussion lists can be a forum for exchanging information with colleagues potentially from around the world. Some discussion lists only allow subscribed members to post e-mail messages, while other lists are open to the public.
The main benefit of the discussion lists is you can engage in discussions with individuals with similar interests. For example, if you are working on a project, you can send an e-mail message to the discussion list to ask advice from your public health colleagues. Discussion lists are one of the easiest ways to stay up-to-date on public health news as many individuals share information.
If you are subscribed to a highly active discussion list, you may become overwhelmed with the volume of e-mail that you might receive. Most discussion lists provide an option for setting your preferences to reduce the volume of the messages into a daily digest format. Some discussion lists also maintain a searchable web archive of postings to the discussion list.
The time cost-benefit analysis for discussion lists is important. Sign on to observe a list for a week or look at a period of time in the archives. Consider the percentage of the messages that were on target or potentially valuable to you. Remember to periodically evaluate whether you are getting enough value from participating in the discussion list. If not, consider temporarily or permanently unsubscribing from that discussion list.
Take some time to explore the selected examples of public health.
- Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce: Discussion & E-mail Lists - A mix of links to discussion lists on a variety of topics hosted by APHA, CDC, FDA, PHF and others.
- Environmental Protection Agency Listservs
- ProMED-mail (Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases, International Society for Infectious Diseases) - The global electronic reporting system for outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases & toxins, open to all sources.
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