5 How do I get the archives of STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT?
The are three ways to get archives of STAT-L/SCI.STAT.CONSULT. First, the LISTSERV software for STAT-L maintains monthly archive files back to 1994. Send the command INDEX STAT-L to LISTSERV.VM1.MCGILL.CA to obtain a listing of these file names. Ssend the command GET filename filetype F=MAIL to receive a specific archive file.
You can also search the archives for keywords, but the syntax is a throwback to mainframe days. Here's an example of how to find statistics humor in previous postings. Send the following message to LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA (not to STAT-L!)
// JOB Echo=No Database Search DD=Rules
//Rules DD *
Search jokes in stat-l Index
/*
This will get you the following output:
Database STAT-L, 11 hits.
Index Item # Date Time Recs Subject ------ ---- ---- ---- -------
002264 94/05/12 20:47 57 Re: anyone know a good stats joke...
002346 94/05/16 12:42 24 Re: heard any good stats jokes?
002352 94/05/12 16:42 29 Re: anyone know a good stats joke...
002374 94/05/17 00:39 34 Re: anyone know a good stats joke...
002387 94/05/17 17:16 30 Re: anyone know a good stats joke...
004886 94/10/11 09:36 49 Re: The charge of epistemological naivete
005643 94/11/07 17:45 59 Re: Political Correctness vs. Offensive topics of +
005664 94/11/08 11:32 36 Re: Political Correctness vs. Offensive topics of +
008101 95/03/02 14:58 116 us government censorship to the internet?
009133 95/04/18 04:56 90 --NEED HELP WITH EVALUATION--
021605 96/12/23 10:04 48 Re: Farms (STAT-L 21 Dec 1996)
Obviously only some of these are successful hits. For example, any message with the word "epistemological" in the title can't be humorous. Send to LISTSERV@VM1.MCGILL.CA the following syntax to get the text of specific messages:
// JOB Echo=No Database Search DD=Rules
//Rules DD *
Search jokes in stat-l
Print all of 2264 2346 2352 2374 2387
/*
Send the command GET LISTDB MEMO F=MAIL to LISTSERV@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU to get a full description of LISTSERV search functions (note that LISTSERV.VM1.MCGILL.CA does not have this file).
gopher://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/11/othergroups/statl/ is a gopher site that contains the archives of STAT-L. If you are still using gopher software, point it to jse.stat.ncsu. This site has archives going back to 1990. In case you were curious, there were 21 messages posted for the whole month of January 1990. Volume has picked up a bit since then.
http://www.reference.com also maintains an archive of STAT-L, other lists, USENET groups, and web discussion groups. I'm not sure how far back this archive goes.
Finally, archives of USENET messages, including messages for SCI.STAT.CONSULT are maintained at two sites, http://altavista.digital.com which apparently only goes back a month or so, and http://www.dejanews.com going back to March 19, 1995. Follow the instructions at either site for restricting your search to just one newsgroup.
Some people may wish to prevent their postings from being added to these databases. If your posting contains an X-Header looking like x-no-archive: yes or if you place x-no-archive: yes as the first line of the body text of your message, then your message not be archived.