>What is the address of the listserv you got this ... thanks :-) I have a database file with all this information -- I build it from information Eric culls together with a program he wrote. I should have mentioned that those statistics don't include ANY confidential (hidden) lists -- they reflect lists normal people can join. I'd be glad to post the parsed database file in whatever format people like. It can be Dbase, Comma-Quote, Paradox, whatever. Here is the second draft of the letter to list owners with open lists but private notebooks. Hopefully this one repairs some of the problems pointed out in the previous draft, without creating too many new ones. John Buckman Dear LISTSERV list owner, My name is John Buckman, and my company is developing graphical software to make LISTSERV easier to use. It is called "InfoMagnet" and will be available in August. I am writing to you because your LISTSERV list is set up with Subscription=Open, but Notebooks=Private (or notebooks=<blank>, which means they are private). I'd like to state my argument for making your Notebooks public. You may be not be aware that non-subscribed users receive the message "access control violation" if they try to search your list archives. Since your list subscription appears to be open, a user must join your list to send the search. This problem came up recently because of some features in our software which take advantage of LISTSERV searches. For instance, our software lets the user obtain a list of recent topics from your list. A user who was curious but didn't want to commit themselves quite yet to subscribing could see what kind of subjects your list discusses. This helps users find lists they are interested in, and, in turn, helps the list owner by making it easier for the right people to find your list. We does this by sending a database job (a search) to your list. Because your notebooks are private, non-subscribers can't use this function on your list and instead receive an error. InfoMagnet also makes is very easy to search list archives. When I was looking for a list which discussed my particular synthesizer, I found 20 or so possible candidates around "music". I sent each a job looking for "kurzweil" or "k2000" discussed in the last month. My keyboard is called a Kurzweil K2000, and I found 2 lists which actively discussed it, while 3 others mentioned it briefly. I was able to find just the list I was looking for, even on an extremely obscure subject. If those list owners had set their notebooks to private, it would have been much more difficult. I'd have to join all 20 lists, receive confirmation, do my search, and then leave the 18 lists I didn't want. That is my argument for making your notebooks private. On the othe hand, there are some good reasons for keeping them private, even when your subscription is open. If you want to keep track of who has access to your list archives, then you should require them to first subscribe--you can then keep track of the SUB messages you receive. You may also not have an open subscription policy; perhaps you reject some people and sign them off your list. There are other good reasons as well, so you may not want to change your notebooks status. However, by making your notebooks private you make it a little harder for potential members to find your list. You can write to me, John Buckman, at [log in to unmask], or bring any issues you would like to discuss to LSTOWN-L. If you like, I can send you a document showing how to make the change to your list. Thanks! John Buckman