What is E-Mail?
E-Mail or Electronic Mail is a means of communicating to other people electronically. People can communicate via E-Mail through the use of various networks locally, in the U.S. and around the world. E-Mail is a convenient way to send messages to other people because once a message is sent, it is put into an electronic mailbox waiting for the person to login and read it whenever convenient. E-Mail is a great way to avoid playing phone tag with other people. Better yet, if you can get an academic account through your school, its free!
How do I get an E-Mail Account?
Most universities, colleges, governmental agencies, and private organizations have access to E-Mail. Try contacting the Academic Computing Department at your medical school to see if they can help you. If you can't get one through your school, you can also subscribe to various other systems by paying a connect fee (CompuServe, America OnLine, Delphi).
How does E-Mail work?
Here in the US, the main network for sending E-Mail is through the Internet. The Internet is actually a loose association of many smaller networks around the world. Even though the machines on the Internet are different, they all communicate through the same language or protocol (TCP/ICP). Though primarily funded by organizations in North America the Internet is the closest thing to a global network with participating sites all around the world and connections to many national networks such as JANET (England), BITnet, UUCP and Usenet. Through the use of various gateway sites, one can usually send E-Mail to other people even though they may be on different local networks.
How do I send E-Mail once I get an account?
Well that depends on what particular program your school uses. It varies, but in general to send E-Mail to another person you must know their E-Mail address. It is usually in the form of "user@host.domain". When prompted by your local mailer for the destination, simply type the person's E-Mail address that you want to mail to. The best way to find out another person's address is to ask them. There are various directories to search for a person's address but it is generally difficult because of the complexities of each individual local network. One such directory which you can try is called Netfind and can be accessed by TELNET to "bruno.cs.colorado.edu", with the login name "netfind".
What else can I do with an E-Mail account?
The AMA-MSS created an electronic forum called MSSNET-L so that AMA-MSS members could discuss matters pertinent to the MSS. This includes matters such as debates on resolutions, MSS Policy, Governing Council Updates, and MSS Chapter Updates. To sign up for MSSNET-L, send a one line E-Mail message to listserv@vm1.spcs.umn.edu. Leaving the subject blank, in the body of the text, type: SUBSCRIBE mssnet-l firstname lastname. Make sure you type it exactly as it appears, disregarding the quotes, and substitute your first and last name where it appears. Your name will automatically be added to the list. To mail to the rest of the MSSNET-L members, send your mail to mssnet-l@vm1.spcs.umn.edu where it will be automatically forwarded to everyone else on the list.
In addition to MSSNET-L, with an E-Mail account you can also access Usenet (a global bulletin board with various interest groups where people post/read messages), FTP (a way of transferring files and documents over the Internet), and Telnet (to directly login to a remote machine from any Internet terminal in the world). For more detailed information on these other uses, consult Zen and the Art of the Internet by Brendan Kehoe, which ComPro will be passing out during Annual '94. You can also retrieve this document, free of charge by using FTP to site "ftp.cs.widener.edu", and looking under the directory /pub/zen.