UC Davis Information & Educational Technology

Listproc Replacement Project

Contact

Sponsor

Information and Educational Technology

Status update (December 2010)

Sympa has been used to create all new email lists since June 22, 2010. Information and Educational Technology moved all active email lists and archives from Listproc to Sympa during summer 2010. Inactive lists were migrated only if the list owner asked for them to be moved. The remaining inactive lists were deleted when the Listproc software was fully retired on Dec. 14, 2010.

Access the new email list service at lists.ucdavis.edu.

If you have questions, please contact the IT Express Computing Services Help Desk at (530) 754-HELP (4357).

Message to list owners (June 16, 2010)

Training: Several training sessions were held in the second half of 2010. Find material from the Aug. 25th campus training session here (PDF). If you need help with the service, please contact the IT Express Computing Services Help Desk at (530) 754-HELP (4357).

Description

This project will choose and install a service to administer campus email lists, plus review the guidelines for using and managing the lists. The new service will replace Listproc, which is outdated, insufficiently reliable, and requires frequent manual intervention to keep operating. The plan is to find a good replacement in 2009, ideally open-source, and install it in early 2010. Existing lists will be migrated to the new service, and no downtime is expected.

The guidelines governing campus use of the email list service also need review, to see if they meet current campus needs; any revisions will be developed and reviewed by TIF-CSI, among other campus groups.

An electronic mailing list is composed of email addresses of 1) people who subscribe to an email distribution service, typically one that focuses on a particular topic, or 2), members of a defined group (such as a class list). List managers typically use the lists to announce, distribute, share and discuss information. Subscribers use the lists to keep up with topics that interest them by asking questions and posting answers via the email distribution service. When a user sends email to a list, all addresses on the list automatically receive a copy of that email. Some lists have hundreds or even thousands of subscribers.

Stakeholders

The stakeholders include all faculty, staff, students, affiliates and others who send mail to, and receive mail from, the mailing lists; mail list owners who administer lists; and Data Center and Client Services (DCCS) staff in IET who administer the service, create the lists, and assist list owners.

As of spring 2009, the UC Davis campus community uses the Listproc service for:

10,279 lists
483 lists with public web archives
1,514 lists with secure web archives
1,213 active class mailing lists
315 web archives for active class mailing lists

Goals

  • Improve productivity of stakeholders by installing a better list management system
  • Reduce user frustrations with the limits of Listproc
  • Increase reliability of campus list management system
  • Reduce manual maintenance
  • Add modern features
  • Update guidelines that steer use of the service

Groups/processes to be consulted

  • 200-45 Review Process (see description)
  • Technology Infrastructure Forum, Client Support Issues Committee
  • IET Leadership Council
  • TSCs, via TSP Update meeting

Reference Documents for Additional Information

Listproc Replacement Project in TechNews

IET will post items about the project at TechNews, the online source for information and news about campus tech. Items will be linked here.