1. Sign up. To join a mailing list, send a blank email to:
   join-listname@lists.aapt.org (where listname is app-l, cet-l, etc.) or click on the corresponding link on the AAPT listserve page. 
2. Set your e-mail preferences.
   1. Regular e-mail: When you subscribe to a listserv, by default you will receive an e-mail each time someone posts to the list. If you wish to reset this setting after changing it, send an email to lyris@lists.aapt.org with the message, "set listname mail".
   2. E-mail digest: This option allows you to receive only one e-mail each day with all of that day's messages included in it. To subscribe to the digest, send an e-mail to lyris@lists.aapt.org with the message, "set listname digest".
   3. No e-mail: You can elect to subscribe to the listserv without receiving any e-mail from it. This will allow you to read messages using your newsgroup or Web browser (see below), and you will still be allowed to post messages to the group. To activate this option, send an e-mail to lyris@lists.aapt.org with the message, "set listname nomail".
3. Read and post messages. This can be done in one of three ways:
   1. Via e-mail: You will receive emails in your inbox, and can read and respond as desired. New messages should be sent to listname@lists.aapt.org.
   2. Via newsgroup: Type news://listname.aapt.org into your Web browser. This will pull up your default News Browser, usually a program such as Internet Explorer, Netscape News (part of the Communicator Suite), or Agent. You can read the messages from your list and respond much as you would read and respond to e-mails, without overloading your e-mail inbox.
   3. Via the World Wide Web: Type http://lists.aapt.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=listname to access the list's messages in your Web browser. This option is especially useful if you are away from your own computer or you don't have e-mail access but you need to participate in the list's discussion.

A note about posting messages

To post to the list via e-mail, send your e-mail to listname@lists.aapt.org. This will distribute your message to every active member of the listserv. When you are replying to a post, hitting the reply button will send your reply to everyone. If you would like to reply ONLY to the author of the message, remember to start a NEW message with the author's email in the To: field.

In general, AAPT lists adhere to the standard rules of "netiquette." General rules can be found in many locations on the Internet. Specifically, a good introduction to listserv etiquette is Arlene Rinaldi's The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette.