Twenty years of ListServ as an academic tool

Abstract

While the World Wide Web has garnered massive attention as an academic tool, ListServ has been quietly dominating academic discourse for nearly twice as long and with little fanfare. Each list is a virtual neighborhood defined by common interest, and among them there is a special version frequented by scholars, often referred to in the literature as Scholarly Electronic Forums (SEFs) or Scholarly Discussion Groups (SDGs). ListServ has been the great equalizer, allowing all parties to speak in the same manner, regardless of their level of technology and bandwidth access. The entry barrier has always been lower than other related technologies. Thus, while the hyperbole continues to swirl around the Web as an educational medium, the quiet e-mail message, magnified through the use of ListServ, continues to dominate academic discourse, staying the course after nearly 20 years of service.