From: phillips@syrinx.umd.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.announce,rec.arts.sf.misc,news.answers
Subject: Rec.arts.sf groups, an introduction
Summary: Last modified Jul 6 1992
Date: 15 Aug 92 19:04:08 GMT
Expires: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 00:13:01 GMT
Reply-To: phillips@syrinx.umd.edu
Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.misc
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Supersedes: <sf.post_710794945@syrinx.umd.edu>

Archive-name: sf-groups-intro

Send questions and updates or comments to: phillips@syrinx.umd.edu.

			What is rec.arts.sf.*?
  Rec.arts.sf.* (r.a.sf.*) is a set of newsgroups devoted to discussion
of SF, in its rather broad meaning of "speculative fiction", including
both science fiction and fantasy, as well as that vast blurred mass of
material in between (to steal a phrase from the call for votes that
caused the creation of these groups).

		So what groups are there, anyway?
Here's a short, one-line-per-group listing of the groups:

rec.arts.sf.misc	Replaces rec.arts.sf-lovers as the catch-all
rec.arts.sf.announce 	Announcements (moderated: scott@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG)
rec.arts.sf.fandom	Fannish activities, cons, etc.
rec.arts.sf.marketplace	Personal for-sale notices
rec.arts.sf.movies	SF movies that don't have their own groups
rec.arts.sf.reviews	A renaming of rec.arts.sf-reviews.  (Moderated.)
rec.arts.sf.science	Science and theory related to sf
rec.arts.sf.starwars	Star wars, books, movies, etc
rec.arts.sf.tv		SF tv shows that don't have their own groups
rec.arts.sf.written	Novels, stories, etc.


		More specific information, please.
  Some of those one-liners might not be very clear...which is why the
original charters of the groups are included here as well.  They show
the intent of the people who advocated most strongly for them.
  (Charters follow at end of article.)

	    Other newsgroups of interest to SF fans
  For Dr. Who fans, there's a newsgroup specifically for discussions
about the movies, the show, and anything and everything related to Dr.
Who: rec.arts.drwho.
  For Star Trek fans, there are several groups:
  rec.arts.startrek.info.  A distillation of news and information
about Star Trek, including synopses of new episodes, convention
reports, station airing times around the US and the world, and other
tidbits of factual information about Trek.  Moderated: send submissions
to trek-info@dweeb.fx.com; questions or comments should be sent to
trek-info-request@deeb.fx.com.
  rec.arts.startrek.current, r.a.s.fandom, r.a.s.tech, and r.a.s.misc
were recently created.  There is a monthly information posting in those
groups (and in news.answers, eventually) which describes all of r.a.startrek
in detail.
  For Cyberpunk: alt.cyberpunk.  There's also alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo,
virtual reality via prose interaction.
  Fandom has its own groups, as well: alt.fandom.cons and alt.fandom.misc.
  For Pern fans, look in alt.fan.pern.
  Other alt.fan.* groups: alt.fan.douglas-adam, alt.fan.pratchett, 
alt.fan.eddings, alt.fan.piers-anthony, alt.fan.asprin

rec.arts.sf.misc
     Charter: Group rec.arts.sf.misc will be the general-purpose
              and spillover group for science fiction and fantasy
	      discussions that do not find a more specific subgroup 
	      under rec.arts.sf.*, or that would otherwise require 
	      wide crossposting among the other subgroups.

rec.arts.sf.announce (moderated, <scott@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG>)
     Charter: (moderated) Announcements of happenings in the
              SF world, such as cons, including calls for con
              participation, readings, deaths, honors, new SF
              mailing lists, periodic postings of rec.arts.sf
              subgroup charters and other administrivia,
              signings, TV specials, meetings, shop openings and
              closings, etc. Not for personal or commercial ads.
     Send submissions to: sf-announce@zorch.SF-Bay.org; questions to
	the moderator address above.

rec.arts.sf.fandom
     Charter: Discussions of fannish activities; meant to provide
              a new home for the SF-related part of the traffic
              currently posted to alt.fandom.* and similar
              postings current in rec.arts.sf-lovers.

rec.arts.sf.marketplace
     Charter: A place for personal wanted-to-buy and for-sale ads
              for SF related materials.  Personal ads only;
              commercial ads belong in comp.newprod or commercial
              advertising channels, not elsewhere on USENet.  Do
              NOT crosspost ads; those looking to buy or sell SF
              stuff will be reading this group and just annoyed
              by ads mixed in elsewhere.

rec.arts.sf.movies
     Charter: Discussions of all aspects of SF related movies not
              otherwise covered in more specific groups (such as
              the Star Trek group).  Specifically includes
              screenplays looking for producers, and discussions
              of novelizations as compared to the movie base;
              discussion of novelizations independent of the 
              related movie belong in .written.

rec.arts.sf.reviews (moderated)
     Revies of SF books and movies.  There are six moderators, total.
	Send submissions to: sf-reviews@presto.ig.com.

rec.arts.sf.science
     Charter: A home for the spinoff discussion of real and
              speculative science and sometimes about how the
              laws of science could be used in creating new SF
              universes.  

rec.arts.sf.tv
     Charter: A group for discussing general television SF, both
              live acted and cartoons.  Note that some tv shows,
	      (such as Dr. Who and Star Trek) have their own
	      specialized newsgroups as well.

rec.arts.sf.written
     Charter: A group for discussing the general SF which is seen
              by its audience in written form, whether printed or
              online.  Note that many more specific groups in
              rec.arts.sf.* exist to pull some traffic from this
              group, but in general, this is where new releases
              are discussed, informal reviews given, continuity
              topics discussed, authors compared, and is the
              starting point for many threads which should
              eventually be moved to more appropriate groups.
              (Please cooperate when the call is put forward to
              move a discussion to a more specific group.)


Leanne Phillips
"Do not meddle with the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick
to anger."  (I don't want to hear other versions.  I've heard them all before.)
Words to live by: "Violence is the refuge of the incompetent."
	(Yes, I know it isn't right; it's deliberate.)