Managing list overload

Email discussion lists are an essential part of our jobs, enabling us to keep in touch with the world outside our own libraries. In addition to the MBLC-hosted general-interest list, cmrls@mblc.state.ma.us), CMRLS also maintains several lists of more limited scope (e.g., public library directors, school librarians, etc.). Similarly, C/W MARS offers the CWINFO list (cwinfo@cwmars.org) as a means of communicating and discussing issues specifically related to their library automation functions. Beyond these local lists, you may subscribe to any number of similar lists, forums and newsletters from professional organizations, special interest groups or even vendors.

While all this information is useful, it can easily overwhelm an inbox, making it difficult to discern daily high-priority communications from those that do not need immediate attention. The solution is two-part: create folders to contain categorized messages, and rules (or filters) that will automatically move email to the appropriate folders. The procedures to accomplish this vary among email clients, but virtually all email programs, whether local or online, have some capacity to create filtering rules.

When filtering list messages, the simplest arrangement might be to create a single folder to receive all list messages.


Once the folder is created, you can construct a rule based on who (or what) is sending the message. Again, the exact method may vary, but basically your rule might say, "If the message was sent to cmrls@mblc.state.ma.us, then move it to the List folder." In this "all lists" example you may be able to include multiple senders in the same list ("…cmrls@mblc.state.ma.us OR cwinfo.cwmars.org OR slg@cmrls.org...), or you can create a rule for each list, sending them all to same folder.


Of course, you can also create separate folders for each list, and a corresponding rule for each,

e.g.:

"If the message was sent to cmrls@mblc.state.ma.us, then move it to the List\CMRLS folder."

"If the message was sent to cwinfo@cwmars.org, then move it to the List\CWINFO folder."

The "To:" field is only one of several criteria available for sorting messages. The "Subject:" fields allows for even more flexible filtering. Many lists include the list name in the subject, allowing for easy identification, e.g., "If the subject contains [CMRLS], then move it to the List\CMRLS folder." Similarly,

even finer granularity can be achieved using multiple criteria, or multiple conditions for a single criterion. For example, a common problem with a general list like cmrls@mblc.state.ma.us is that some types of messages - giveaways or job postings, perhaps - have no relevance for a particular user. A rule can be created that states, "If the subject contains [CMRLS] AND the subject contains [freebie], then move it to the List\CMRLS\freebies folder." Alternatively, if there is no desire at all to even see those freebie posts, the "then" piece of the statement may instead delete the message, or perhaps forward it to an interested colleague who is not subscribed to the list.

The success of some of these rules will depend to a large degree on senders consistently using keywords that will match the rules' criteria. To this end, try using these keywords in the subject line of your messages when appropriate. Here are a few suggestions:


Giveaway items:  [freebie]
Job postings:  [job]
Performer inquiries or recommendations: [performer]
Book club requests:  [book club]

Use of the square brackets will serve to distinguish these keywords from normally-occurring text. Can you think of others types of messages that would benefit from such "tagging?" Feel free to post any suggestions to the list.


As mentioned, different email clients use different procedures to create rules, filters and folders. Many allow you to select a message and create a rule based on its specific content; others may require some exploration of menu options to accomplish the same thing. In any case, it's well worth the effort to spend some time creating some basic filters, time that will be recovered many times over by your streamlined email system.