By now, most of our members are aware that we have two large-scale e-mail lists by which our members communicate with each other: the members' list and the open line list. This fact has been an occasional source of confusion to some members.

You can easily tell to which list a message belongs by looking at the subject line of the message. Each list has a different “logo,” which appears at the start of the subject line. The subject line of messages from the members' list begins with the letters “MEM,” while messages from the open line list have a subject line that starts with “OPLN.”

If you subscribe to both lists (most members do), you should be careful not to submit messages meant for one list to the other. Here are some tips that may help you decide which list to use.

When your message is originating a new topic, you are free to use either list. If you think that your message might result in an active back-and-forth exchange, it would be better to use the open line list, which is set up to handle a higher volume of messages. On the other hand, if your message is likely to be met with only a few replies and relates to professional matters, it would be better to use the members' list, which reaches a larger number of member-subscribers but has a lower message volume. Each subscriber may post no more than two messages per week to the members' list.

When you are replying to a message on a topic that was started by someone else, you should be careful to reply via the same list as the one that brought you the message. To send a message to the members' list, address your message to . To send a message to the open line list, send your message to .

“TechNotes” runs in each issue of TAP, with the aim of educating us about aspects of technology and communications relevant to our work.