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RIETVELD USERS/ABUSERS MAILING LIST (EMAIL NEWSGROUP)

Call 2 of 2.  This is a repeat of Last Sunday's posting
just in case some people may have missed it.  

A Rietveld-users mailing list for people who are involved with the
Rietveld method for structure refinement and/or
quantitative analysis.  Tim Buckner, who manages the
University of Alabama Crystallography Information Server
has kindly provided the facilities and setup this discussion
area.

If it proves popular and articles start clogging up 
participants email accounts, an attempt will be made to
convert it to a Usenet newsgroup and link the mailing
list to it.

Participants of this mailing list might like to make a
printout of this for easy reference.

-------------------

WHAT IS A MAILING LIST?

For people who have never used a mailing list before and don't
really know what it is all about, following is an attempted
very brief explanation.

Normally with email, you send a message to a single person and
have a one-on-one discussion.

With a mailing list (or email newsgroup), you email to a
special email address that is linked to software that
distributes your message to everyone who has put
themselves down as participants (subscribed) on the mailing list.

So (for the Rietveld mailing list) when you email a message to
rietveld@xtal.cmc.uab.edu - a copy of your message is
forwarded to all other participants (through a "gateway")
However, if you want to be one of the participants, 
you must have added yourself to the mailing list by
using the "subscribe" command that is explained below.

-------------------

WHY CREATE THIS MAILING LIST?

Creating this email newsgroup was informally discussed and
considered desirable during the recent SCA (Society of
Crystallographers in Australia) meeting at Medlow Baths in the
Blue Mountains.  There are several Rietveld-users groups in
Australia where people regularly meet to discuss problems and
solutions.  However, having an electronic Rietveld mailing
list complements these discussion groups in allowing a greater
geographical reach for queries and discussions.

===================================

HOW TO BECOME ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS

To "subscribe"/join to the mail list (no cost is involved)
send email to :-

rietveld-Request@xtal.cmc.uab.edu

with the following message in the body text :-

subscribe 

----
You should then receive a confirmation reply via email
including the commands the listserver program recognizes.

------------------------------------------------

MAKING IT EASY TO SUBMIT ARTICLES AND MESSAGES

To make it easy to send articles and messages, try using the
"alias" facility of your email program:-

e.g.  alias        name            email address
     rietveld    Rietveld Users    rietveld@xtal.cmc.uab.edu

Then when you want to send an article or query , just email it
to "rietveld" and your email software should handle the rest.

==============================================================

If your email program does not support this "alias" option :-
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

a)     Consider changing to a "better" email program such as
the public domain (i.e., free) "pine" software which is 
available for UNIX, DOS and Mac.  This program is very
user friendly and powerful (to obtain binaries, anonymous ftp to 
ftp.cac.washington.edu:/pine (140.142.100.6:/pine).

(there are other programs around - e.g., Wintrumpet (MS-Windows), 
Eudora (Mac and MS-Windows), etc).

b)     Email the old fashioned way to "rietveld@xtal.cmc.uab.edu" 
to submit your message or article.

================================================================

Continuing a Discussion on the Rietveld Users Mailing List.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To "Reply" Only to the Author :-

If you want to discuss a topic with only the author of the article,
just "reply" to the message and it will only be sent to the
that individual.

---------------------

To "Follow-on" Your Comments to Everyone in the Mailing List :-

You may wish your reply on a particular topic to be read by
everyone else in the mailing list as part of an on-going
discussion (the preferred option for a mailing list).
Use the "forward" command of your email program to send
the message to the Rietveld mailing list at
rietveld@xtal.cmc.uab.edu (or using the alias you have set up
in your email program ("rietveld" or "riet"?)).
This keeps the titles of the discussion consistent and please
also consider including the relevant parts of the previous
message you are discussing so that the context of your
comments can be understood as a free-standing article.

=================================================================

STARTING THINGS OFF

As the start-up of discussion on a new email list can be a
bit slow, can new subscribers please introduce themselves
and their main interests (and a query/comment?).  This
will help break the ice and hopefully start things off.

-------------------------

The main topics for discussion are (but not limited to) :-

User problems and suggested fixes.
New user pitfalls :-
    (e.g., why does my Rietveld software, while refining
a hexagonal structure, give beta not equal to 120 degrees?)

Sample preparation techniques.
Data collection techniques and optimization.
Vendor/author announcements of Rietveld software
     (commercial and public domain).
Reviews/announcements of Rietveld books, articles and software.
Comparison of rietveld software
Installation of Rietveld software.
Rietveld Goodness of Fit Plots and other Graphical Output.

Discussion of new code, functions, algorithms, etc.

Data formats.
Software requirements
Available Software
Reported bugs/glitches/kludges/"features" of various software and
      their possible work-arounds or solutions.
Discussion/comparison of complementary techniques :-
      e.g., direct methods, maximum entropy.

Any other topics users consider relevant (suggestions welcome).

All articles will be archived for future reference and
FAQ (frequently asked question files) will be encouraged
for common topics.

--------------------------

For queries/problems about the mailing list,
please email me at  :-

lachlan@dmp.csiro.au.

------------------------------------------------------------
Lachlan Cranswick  -  CSIRO     _--_|\  lachlan@dmp.CSIRO.AU 
Division of Mineral Products   /      \ tel +61 3 647 0367 
PO Box 124, Port Melbourne     \_.--._/ fax +61 3 646 3223 
3207 AUSTRALIA                       v