Psychology: Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, Searching, and Government Information

Psychology: Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, Government Information, and More: WWW Resources

Newsgroups:

A newsgroup is usually referring to a Usenet newsgroup -- a list that is accessed either through the Internet at sites such as DejaNews, or via your local Internet Service Provider, such as Moorhead State -- news.msus.edu. Newer versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer have news-reading software included. Contact the Computer Center for more details about accessing newsgroups.

Posting to a newsgroup means simply writing a mail message and sending it to the newsgroup. Posting makes it readable to anyone who is reading the group - which could be many people. You
may reply to posts also. This is the backbone of Usenet communication -- posts and replies to posts. These posts and replies, when surrounding a single topic, are known as a thread.

The following is a sampling of newsgroups related to psychology, educational psychology, or counseling. Some revolve around particular disorders, and some are of the "support" variety.

alt.psychology
alt.psychology.personality
sci.psychology.personality
sci.psychology.announce (moderated)
misc.education
alt.support.ocd
alt.support.autism

For more information on psychology-related newsgroups go to:

Usenet Newsgroups -- a brief list of Psychology and other social science related newsgroups

Yahoo's Listing of Psychology Newsgroups

Discussion (Mailing) Lists:

Otherwise known as "listservs" or "mailing lists," discussion lists are lists that you subscribe to, and will receive posts in your e-mail mailbox. Generally, mailing lists/discussion groups are usually more of a professional nature, with more "serious" discussion. Mailing lists and discussion groups differ from newsgroups mainly because they are limited to members only. You are a member of a mailing list, while newsgroups are open to everyone. Don't let this be daunting. Mailing lists are one of the best ways to find out what professionals in your field are discussing, the latest trends in research and practice, and they are a way to forge professional connections that will help you now and later. Each time you send mail to the listserver, the e-mail gets posted to all members of the list. Mailing lists can create a huge amount of mail in your e-mail's inbox, so be careful - only stay subscribed to mailing lists that truly interest you!

See the following sources for an introduction to Discussion Lists:

Listserv is a software system that organizes and manages mailing lists on the Internet. Not all discussion lists are managed by listserv, but many are. Find out more about using listserv and finding mailing lists by visiting these sites:

Listserv: Quick Reference (Rhonda Ficek, Instructional Technology)
Mailing Lists in Psychology (IAAP list)
Listz is one of the better discussion list finding tools on the Internet. It is keyword searchable. You can search for Usenet groups, discussion lists, and IRC channels using keywords from your topic of interest.
Grohol's Psychology & Support Mailing List Pointer
One of the newest discussion lists related to psychology is COGSCI -- It supports discussions on topics related to Cognitive Science research. Please note that this list focuses on research issues.

Psychology on the WWW:

Gateway Sites:

PsychWeb -- Great resource! Includes info on books, discussion groups, journals, tips for psychology majors, and more.
APA Resources for the Public
Cognitive and Psychological Sciences on the Internet (Stanford) - Including academic programs, organizations, newsgroups and mailing lists, and more.
Yahoo's Psychology Sites -- Links to resources in counseling, education, mental health, publications, tests, and more.
More Psychology Resources on the Internet -- From the Library -- Including journals, organizations, and other gateway sites.

Government Information:

You may have reason to check on current legislation, for example, to see the most current version of the IDEA legislation (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 1997). Do you know what to do?

First stop - try THOMAS (Library of Congress)

Current and historical legislation - to view status of a bill, an amendment, full version of a law, etc. Can search by public law number, or by keyword. To view some files will require the software, Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Reader is a free download off of the Internet. Any file that is labeled a PDF or a Post-Script file will require Adobe Acrobat. Visit Adobe's site to download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free. (Do this on your own computer - not in the lab!)

GPO Access/MOCAT (Monthly Catalog of Government Publications)

This is the Government Printing Office's most complete catalog of publications. It's a good place to start when looking for published government information.

Searching:

Workshop participants -- Go to this page, Search Engines, and use the links given in conjunction with your worksheet.

Back to Subject-Based Research Guides

goodmanb@mnstate.edu