Newsgroups are collaboration-centered tools predicated on the exchange of content. When populated with active participants, honest and open exchange of ideas, solid ground rules for content and etiquette, and constant outreach, newsgroups can be cost-effective resources for nonprofit organizations. Newsgroups can yield documents representing both work product and an archival record of thoughts, opinions, and experiences that informed that product. In essence, a newsgroup is the simplest, and cheapest, way to setup a fully-fledged groupware tool for an organization or network of organizations. What are Newsgroups? The whole purpose of an online forum, be it a newsgroup or Web-based tool is provide a means for people and groups to share information, not simply receive it. Therefore newsgroups, much like online bulletin boards, or even online chats (instant messaging or otherwise) are not viable forms of information dissemination and communication unless four basic things are present:

• Fresh content on a relatively continual basis
• Content and participation by both a news and existing base of users
• Responses to existing content, to ensure that users will continue to participate
• Tools which make search, retrieval, filtering, and posting of messages as painless as possible

The strength of newsgroups lie in their ability to serve as good question and answer forums, and learning spaces that can accommodate a wide range of users at their convenience, and without a steep learning curve. From a practical standpoint, newsgroups can be hit-or-miss in terms of content quality. Since most discussions tend to follow a "call and response" model, where users post thoughts or questions and others post responses that often lead to new discussions, it is difficult to gauge a newsgroup's success. Many times, a larger, yet silent, user base for newsgroups exists. This pool of "lurkers" may very well receive benefit from others' postings, yet will never disclose their own thoughts or feedback on information. Newsgroup postings, however, may help users understand that:

• their issues are not unique
• others are concerned with similar issues
• there is a heretofore untapped base of knowledge and experience that might inform new efforts

Discussions, unlike chats, can lend themselves to a longer period of time without constraints other than those the participants choose to exercise themselves. Moreover, newsgroups allow for simple delivery and display of text without displays that usually make consistency of Web-based presentations difficult across browser platforms. Yet newsgroups, outside of their filtering capabilities, do not have much flexibility in terms of customization for display of messages. One undervalued benefit of newsgroups is that the archive of discussions yields tangible reference documents and work product. Often, when numerous posts or questions reach at point at which newsgroup participants have throughly addressed them, they are repackaged as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) documents that are then utilized as reference tools by participants and newcomers and others in their work. Newsgroup tools operate off of a standard protocol known as NNTP, which actually is older than the HTML protocol for Web documents and even the HTTP protocol for Internet communications. Newsgroups themselves are discussion and information-sharing forums hosted on machines called news servers. News servers can either choose to host their own local or internal newsgroups, or can receive news feeds from an international network of news servers called Usenet, the worldwide network of computers that transmits messages to public newsgroups. Newsreaders Newsgroups are accessed through programs called newsreaders, similar to e-mail clients, which download and organize messages from a news server. They can also download particular files, including large size documents, for later viewing offline. Some newsreaders also feature filtering tools that help to either block out or highlight unwanted or priority messages respectively. Messages or threads can be marked as read or unread. You can also decide to “kill” a message or thread, which ensures that you will never see it again, regardless of whether you have read it. Newsreaders allow users to post new threads or reply to existing posts. To reply to a post, you usually open that message, select the Reply-To option, which will then include a quoted version of the original message in your response. You can edit the subject line, select as much of the original message as needed, and elect to either send the message directly to the newsgroup or the individual poster. Users can also cross-post to more than one group, Messages are cross-posted to more than one newsgroup by putting the name of newsgroups in the “To” field of their messages. in effect allowing one to start new threads simultaneously across different groups. One added feature of newsreader tools are their ability to download or save an entire thread or set of messages in a single file, and to synchronize message postings between newsreader and news server such that content already read will not be displayed again, unless desired by the user. Both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator come bundled with newsreader tools. There are also standalone newsreaders freeware and shareware tools available for download. Newsgroup Pros and Cons In general, newsgroup pros and cons could be described as follows: Pros:

• Open to anyone, anywhere (unless moderated or password protected)
• Discussions do not take place in real-time, allowing users to participate when it is convenient, and to create content that is usually more substantive than in chats, or message boards.
• More global visitors than most e-mail lists and viewable without being Web-based
• Easier to ignore unwanted messages without scrolling through a lot of text. Newsreaders can be set to automatically delete messages after a certain period of time, or based on keywords, the poster, subject, or date
• No messages are downloaded to a hard drive unless desired
• Easier to subscribe/unsubscribe
• Easier to participate in an discussion while maintaining a certain degree of anonymity (newsreader software, for example, allows users to add made-up e-mail addresses to prevet their collection by junk e-mailers)
• More democratic information sharing model than e-mail discussion lists, the latter of which are usually identified with one organization. Democratic participation also leads, many times, to groups forming their own identities and rules for participation based on common interests and experience.
• Postings usually have a shelf life, depending upon the discretion of the newsgroup and/or news server administrator.
• Archive of discussions yield tangible reference documents and work product.

Cons:

• Extremely difficult to screen out off-topic posts
• Lack of real-time communication can make participation awkward, resulting in responses that are either too lengthy or too glib.
• High-volume of off-topic posts (and potentially disruptive posts) without quality control (unless actively moderated)
• Democratic nature of newsgroups can turn into free-for-all discussions, or inflexible information spaces, without some amount of moderation or editorial entity.
• Easy for bots to grab e-mail addresses from posters to use later in bulk e-mails
• Impossible to determine readership
• Filtering for new and existing content requires discretion of the news server/newsgroup administrator and individual newsreaders
• For some users, all of the things listed as "good"

Usenet consists of more than 100,000 news server hosts with millions of subscribers that collectively deliver a news feed of some 400MB of information daily through over 65,000+ newsgroups. Since all newsgroups are hosted on the same news server, users can view an entire range of available content at one time, and make decisions about what to view, block out, or revisit at a later time. Content and sources organized by categories, based on the individual group, content in each group, and subject heading. Usenet itself goes back to the days of the Arpanet. Arpanet was the original networking technology that led to the development of the Internet. It was funded under the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), as an experimental network for university computer science departments and private research institutions that received defense funding. The idea was to create computer network that had a control system such that, if any point on the network were damaged or under attack, any remaining points would still be carryout the functions of the network with minimal damage. In 1969, the first host was connected at the University of California, Los Angeles. By 1977, there were some 50 hosts worldwide, but access was again limited only to those departments that received funding to be a part of the network, and more importantly, to utilize the networking research and protocols necessary to connect to the information being passed back and forth. Oh yes, and you needed a pretty expensive machine to be a part of the fun in the first place. It seems that the researchers noticed a curious thing: small subgroups of users were developing via an electronic messaging system. This previously overlooked feature, designed to provide was a fast publishing medium that would allow any user to post content that could then be circulated to other users, was also being used to encourage communication with one another, particularly to respond to another's posting. Your postings didn't have to be spelled properly, they could be short simple statements, and you could be as informal as you wanted. Moreover the sender and receiver did not have to be online at the same time, and past messages could be reviewed at a later time. Early on, they recognized that as information needs grew, it might be necessary to create different groups based on frequently posted categories of information. During the next two years, folks not able to participate in the Arpanet project, were working with the UNIX operating system to find a way to convey data over ordinary phone lines. This method developed into something called UUCP (Unix-to-Unix CoPy). Sometime in 1979, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis, then two graduate students at Duke University in North Carolina, found a way to use UUCP to convey information of specific interest to others in the UNIX community. Two of the folks they connected with Steve Bellovin, then a graduate student at the University of North Carolina, and Stephen Daniel, wrote software that could link computers at Duke and UNC together. The software could only handle a few messages at a time, and it did it quite slowly, thanks in part to the utilization of then-speedy (and homemade) 300-baud automatic dial modem. What it could do, however, was dial computers, and using a few simple scripts, could check for changes in existing files during a period of time, and make a copy of those changes on another machine. They rewrote the program in C programming language, dubbed their NetNews progam "A News" and circulated it. Less than two years later, Mark Horton, a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, and Matt Glickman (a nearby high-school student) released an improved version of the software. In contrast to the Arpanet, if your institution had access to Unix, you could access this system (dubbed NetNews0 at no cost, save the cost of the phone call needed to connect to another host. In essence, it opened up a net of content to a wider audience. The crucial juncture for Usenet was when the University of California, Berkeley, then an Arpanet site, became part of the Usenet network. It was an unwieldy marriage, especially for the Usenet folks. Arpanet was essentially a series of mailing lists where a central moderator controlled the flow of information. Usenet, however, was predicated on the notion that the user should be able to control what information s/he received. On the other hand, Arpanet opened up a range of content and sites for new Usenet groups to develop and grow. Arpanet had to expand to meet a growing demand of users whom not only wanted to get access to technical information, but also wanted, in a sense, to be connected to something-- possibly each other-- electronically. Discussions about science fiction and the like, conducted on a federally-financed network, was not always easy to protect. In fact, a large part of Usenet's existence rests on some creative maneuvering by researchers who maintained that informal discussions were indeed a part of testing the bonds of the network they were seeking to create. Enter AT&T Bell Labs and Digital Equipment Corporation, which helped Usenet (or NetNews as it was also nicknamed) grow, thanks to more efficient e-mail routing programs and increased network support respectively. To get some idea of how quickly Usenet was growing during this time, consider the following sets of numbers. In 1979, during its inception, Usenet was averaging 2 articles a day among three host sites. Six years later, it was averaging 375 articles a day among 1,300 host sites. Nine years later, it averaged 1800 messages a day among 11,000 host sites-a total of 4 MB of information daily. Somewhere during all of this growth, a system of "freenets" formed to provide Usenet access to community and civic entities that were not able to participate on the universities' or corporate connections. The now defunct Cleveland (Ohio) Freenet started this revolution by using NetNews software to develop and host local newsgroups that were devoted to individual community services, but that also connected citizens to the larger community of content that was developing on other newsgroups. The software, moreover, made it even easier to post and read messages from others. One other important development came during 1987, when the U.S. government, via the National Science Foundation (and much pressure from the academic community) developed the NSFNet. A special protocol had been developed to allow Usenet to be carried directly over Arpanet instead of placing the burden on individual phone lines. Eventually NSFNet replaced the Arpanet in 1989 as the backbone for what we now call the Internet. A special protocol was developed allowing Usenet to be carried directly over this network. Usenet, in essence, was able to connect the industrial military research complex to individual neighborhoods around communities based on content. In other ways, it was the big kickstart needed to develop ways to develop efficient and effective messaging that made one's online experience less of chore. There was also an assumption that by providing a mechanism that allowed for collaborative communication, rather than competitive shouting matches, the needs of the users could and would dictate the evolution of the tools needed to accommodate their demands. Moreover it was assumed that once people cleared the initial hurdles to participations, there would be a wide range of interactions available, all rooted in some form of community. Newsgroups vs. E-mail Lists, Web Boards, and Chat In short, e-mail lists can be described as "push" tools, which disseminate information to users whether they elect to receive information or not. Newsgroups and newer generation discussion forums can be described as "pull" tools, which require a user and or client-side mechanism that requests information to be received. In general, the quest for tools that meet the wide range of nonprofit needs generally seek to meet five basic requirements:

1. accessibility to content through an easy to use product that requires few downloads and add-ons
2. capacity to coordinate a range of varied information types from a range of sources
3. allows senders to disseminate information easily and efficiently
4. ability to prioritize information for easy analysis and decision-making
5. functionality to target and filter appropriate and/or relevant information for the appropriate viewers

There is a continuum of information dissemination mechanisms through which a large number of nonprofits communicate electronically. At one end there are individual e-mail messages directed to one or a few people. At the other end are relatively sophisticated Web-based message board services. Somewhere in the middle lie newsgroups, the original Internet discussion forum tools. E-mail lists can best be described as a “push” medium, that is information is disseminated to users by others, regardless of whether they request it. Newsgroups and newer generation discussion forum tools, by comparison, are “pull” technologies, which means that information is not sent or received unless a user or client-side tool actively requests to receive information. Most nonprofit electronic communications involve a mailing list, which is essentially an electronic group of people with the same interests who exchange or disseminate information via e-mail. Mailing lists are generally well-suited for sending and receiving messages to a large of group of people quickly, easily, and cheaply. This is particularly true for content such as legislative action alerts or policy updates. Moreover, most mailing list software allow for all messages to be:

• posted to an unmoderated or moderated list
• archived for retrieval by individual subscribers at their convenience,
• within a given period to be condensed into a daily digest, making it easier to sort through all the postings to a given list.

The volume on a mailing list, however, can build up quickly, leading to four major drawbacks:

1. difficulty following e-mail based exchanges or conversations, relevant responses to previous postings or a new line of discussion. List subscribers often do not follow a consistent protocol or naming convention for their message subject lines when posting new information or responding to a previous posting
2. lag in reading times between different recipients on a list
3. inability to easily filter out specific messages based on content without either reading through a message or blocking out potentially useful information
4. everybody reads mail at different times, so it is hard to catch up if one's inbox has a high volume of mail to begin with

Newsgroups, by comparison, allow users to choose the discussions or content they wish by being able to view the entire range of discussions and threads available all at once. Unlike mailing lists, newsgroups allow readers to choose the information they wish to read, organized by topic. Users in a newsgroup can post messages for others to read and respond to. Each response to a topic forms a “thread” of related content. Users can also start new threads of their own. Newsgroups can also be set to place an expiration date on content, based on the size or currency of information, as opposed to simply blocking out messages. If set to a regularized schedule, people can be encouraged to view the content at regular intervals, rather than relying on messages that may have been blocked, deleted, or hard to find an inbox. Moreover, there is an accepted protocol for information dissemination that can be revisited by newcomers to a particular discussion, such that valuable time does not have to be wasted revisiting past discussions or frequently asked questions. It is, in essence, a democratic system to the degree that people who read the content ultimately control what is and isn't disseminated and discussed, and how to categorize that content. Another major distinction is more subjective, but significant. E-mail lists require a message sender to designate who specifically should receive content. Newsgroups start with the assumption that message content will be found by those who should see it as well as those who have an interst in seeing it, without going through a number of intermediaries who make that assessment on their behalf. Locating Newsgroups Newsreaders connect to news servers, either through a direct or dialup Internet connection. When first installed, or started, newsreaders will ask for the outgoing mail (SMTP) server which you can get from your Internet Service Provider or network administrator. This is the conduit that allowed you to send e-mail messages to the outside world, and which allows you to post new messages and replies to newsgroups. You then need to enter the name of the news server to which you would like to connect. A large number of nonprofits do not have news servers set up (though the feature comes bundled in Windows NT server software for free). There are systems that allow you to connect to their news servers for a monthly subscriber fee, and most ISPs provide their clients with free access to Usenet newsfeeds. Also some groups and companies provide news servers for technical support purposes, and will have instructions on how to connect to them. When successfully connected, a news server will list all available newsgroups it hosts; you can then select which newsgroups to subscribe to. Most newsreaders contain a search engine that allows users to search for newsgroups based on name or descriptions. Newsgroups are arranged in hierarchies, sometimes featuring a number of subcategories, depending upon the level of specificity required. Usenet, for example, has a classification system of nine main hierarchies which have been in place for years: alt (popular or alternative topics), comp (computer science discussions), humanities, misc (miscellaneous), news (news server issues), rec (games, sports, recreation and hobbies), sci (science), soc (sociological related themes), and talk (debate and controversial items). There are also smaller main hierarchies for countries, companies, and academic institutions. Unlike a mailing list, a subscription simply means that you have chosen to make that newsgroup active in your newsreader, so that whenever you start your reader program or software, you will receive any new content that the newsgroup receives. At any time, you can view content from another newsgroup that the server hosts. Those desiring to create a new group usually belong to an existing group where a certain topic arena is found to be wanting. There is actually a formal accepted protocol on Usenet for creating a new newsgroup, that, although somewhat involved, exists to prevent the dilution of existing discussions. Interested participants recommend that a news group be formed under that existing hierarchy, discuss the parameters for the new group, and then put their recommendation to a vote. On a private news server, a new group can be added if there is not currently an existing group that covers a desired topic. Participating In Newsgroups Formal registration is not required to view, respond or contribute to any newsgroup. The level of information one elects to disclose about them is strictly voluntary. Users can also post or read messages to or from newsgroups one is not subscribed to by way of cross-posting (similarly to a "Cc" in an e-mail message). No central governing body controls a public newsgroup. Private newsgroups, however, such as those hosted by a specific organization, may require registration or password-based access to content. Moreover, public and private newsgroups may not be listed in the "official" Usenet newsgroup hierarchy, and may be accessible only through direct access to the news server hosting the newsgroup.. It is important to remember that public newsgroups, in general, are self-policing, relying upon volunteer server administrators and/or moderators and the participants themselves for the content and policy decisions or environment of a particular group. There are, however, a number of rules, procedures, and etiquette for newsgroups that have been adopted as standard practice. Usually these “policies” are combined into a document that is circulated periodically to a group called a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document. FAQs usually describe the purpose and tone of a newsgroup, and serves to prevent new subscribers from asking questions that have already been presented. In general, most common etiquette includes rules such as:

• Not posting inflammatory messages to purpose provoke heated arguments
• Not correcting other postings for spelling and grammar errors (unless requested to do so)
• Not making spelling or grammatical errors if the newsgroup participants are not accomodating
• Not restating the obvious or posing questions that have been previously answered
• Not posting test messages

Newsgroup Content One of the overlooked features of newsgroups is that they can handle a pretty varied range of content, in many instances more consistently and effectively than e-mail clients. Newsreaders, for example, can support HTML documents like browsers, support digital identification certificates similar to encryption tools used on e-mail, and can even support secure server transactions. Moreover, they can support attachments, much like e-mail clients, especially large files broken into multiple parts. These features, however, are not widely available on public newsgroups listed in the Usenet directory, as they are usually employed in private settings, based on the needs of its audience. Resources Cnet Insider's Guide to Newsgroups Internet FAQ Consortium "Using Internet-style Groupware on the Intranet" EarthWeb 4/12/00, Jon Udell Newsreader Tools (Cross Platform) Microsoft Internet Explorer/Outlook Express Netscape Communicator Newsreader Tools (PC) Free Agent Gravity NewsXPress Xnews Newsreader Tools (Macintosh) NewsWatcher How The Usenet Was Invented Yahoo Guide to Usenet Finding Newsgroups(Infinite Ink) Master List of Newsgroup Hierarchies List of Public News (NNTP) Servers Mailgate (Note: Mailgate is a gateway service that allows to read messages of the newsgroups within a web browser. You cannot post directly to the groups, but you can read current and archived postings.) Coyote Communications