Introductory User Guide

OBJECTIVE
 Promote the exchange of information relating to topics of interest to 
 researchers in the areas related but not limited to, animal genome 
 mapping, genetics, genomics, and bioinformaitcs.

LISTSERV
 The AnGenMap is operated on Smartlist, a listserv daemon that automates
 the most operations, including automated handling of subscription and
 unsubscriptions, verification of sender's email address, etc.

 The listserv archives all posted mails on AnGenMap website, and are
 available for web search or browse.

RULES OF USE
 In principal we enforce no rules for an open discussion forum. However
 with the development of internet and growth of the AnGenMap group, we
 implemented a few technical regulative measures for better operations.
 (1) Only subscribed users can post
 (2) The subjects are centered on scientific/research related topics only

REGISTRATION
 Users can open an account on the AnGenMap Directory, and manage
 subscription/unsubscription via his/her profile.

HOW TO USE THE LISTSERV
 The way this group will operate is, if you have a question or comment, 
 send a message to the list address.  The message will be broadcast to
 everyone on the mailing list once approved by the list moderator. There
 is no censoring - we intend to make the list a free open forum.

 When you receive a message and you want to contribute to the discussion,
 you can reply and it will broadcast to the group as well. Or, you can
 send a message to the originator if you think the group won't want to
 see what you have to say. But please don't be afraid to reply with a
 broadcast, even if you think what you have to say might not be
 interesting to everyone.

 The AnGenMap list requires that all mail posts must be in plain text
 only (see this guide for why this is necessary and how to). In
 addition, these useful hints on how to write good emails may be helpful
 since your mail is to be sent to over thousands members: (1) Good email
 conduct; (2) Mailing List Manner; (3) Effective Mailing List Email;
 (4) Good email style.

WHO WILL WANT TO USE THE DISCUSSION GROUP?
 Anyone with an interest in animal gene/trait mapping or molecular
 genetics, structural and functional genomics, and bioinformaitcs. You
 can participate either actively or passively.

DISCUSSION EXAMPLES
 A discussion group like this has many good uses. Generally, good 
 discussion can be started by statements like...

        "Has anyone out there ever tried...?"
        "What's the best technique for...?"
        "What did [substitute any name here] mean when he/she
            said...
                ... in his [talk, paper, message, etc.]...?"
        "We have the following position available.."
        "We are planning a meeting about...  Does anyone have any
             comments?
         etc., etc...

 There are a few good sample discussions in the past few years that worth 
 taking a look at.

OTHER ITEMS
 There's a strange feature about e-mail messages. Sometimes, things you
 say in jest or sarcasm can be taken wrong. A neat convention used on the
 internet is to put a smily ":-)" at the end of a sentence to indicate
 a smile when you use humor or sarcasm.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
 The AnGenMap Frequently Asked Questions and Answers  (FAQ) serves as an 
 extension of this User Guide.  It covers more tips and norms user should 
 observe using this listserv.  Many listserv policies are also embeded in 
 this document.

A LITTLE HISTORY
 AnGenMap was started in late 1993 as an internet discussion group within 
 the U.S. Pig Genome community for gene mappers and interested individuals. 
 As the animal genomics research quickly expanded in the following years, 
 the listserv soon became a defacto discussion group among all animal 
 genomics scientists world wide.  The list name AnGenMap was originally 
 designated for "animal gene mappers". In its 3 decades of developments,
 animal genome research has evolved much beyond the original goal of gene
 "mapping".  The AnGenMap came along to have effectively served the 
 international community of livestock animal genomics/genetics research
 as a public communication and information sharing channel. The list
 started with less than a hundred people and now it has more than three
 thousands subscribers from over 60 countries/regions following a steady
 growth, during which quite a number of list function developments and
 improvements were also made.

Original draft: October, 1993 (Max F Rothschild).
Revisions: January, 1998; March, 2004; January, 2007; October, 2009; July, 2015; September, 2017; August, 2019; May, 2024 (Zhiliang Hu)