Newsgroups: bit.listserv.cinema-l
Date:         Wed, 15 Apr 1992 12:43:15 CDT
From:         Jeremy Butler <JBUTLER@UA1VM.BITNET>
Subject:      SCREEN-L FILELIST Arrives

CINEMA-L's listserv cousin, SCREEN-L, has just set up a FILELIST for
film/TV related text files.  Here's the info on it that I just
sent out to SCREEN-L (if you have questions, send me personal e-mail;
I don't subscribe to CINEMA-L):


A FILELIST is an archive of text files that users may retrieve through
e-mail channels.  (It's simple, I swear.)  SCREEN-L FILELIST is
intended to be a collection of materials related to film/TV studies.

Not only may you retrieve the files that are currently stored on
SCREEN-L FILELIST, but you are also invited to place your own
materials on it.  It is intended to be a distribution point for
all sorts of things related to film/TV studies.  It may be used to
distribute conference papers days before the meetings begin.  Or
sample syllabuses for courses may be placed on it.  Or works-in-
progress that are being prepared for publication (be sure to put a
copyright notice on something like this) may find a temporary home.

And since SCREEN-L FILELIST stores only text material (as in ASCII),
it may be used by both Mac and IBM-compatible computers.  In
perfect harmony.  And it can be read into most word processors (look
for information on "ASCII" or "DOS text" or just "text").

The SCREEN-L FILELIST is just starting out and there's plenty of room
for files.  I'll have to add the files from this end initially, so, if
you're interested in putting something on you'll need to contact me.

As of 8 April 1992, these were the initial offerings on SCREEN-L FILELIST:

* filename filetype   lrecl nrecs   date   File description
* -------- --------   ----- ----- -------- -------------------------------

  PROV1    ASC           68   295 92/03/13 PROVINCIAL NOTES, W.L. Thompson
  PROV2    ASC           65   264 92/03/13 PROVINCIAL NOTES, W.L. Thompson
  FILM90   DAT          241   277 92/04/08 '90 Film Database (comma-delimited)
  FILM91   DAT          213   340 92/04/08 '91 Film Database (comma-delimited)

("lrecl" tells you how many characters wide the file is.  "nrecs"
indicates its length.)

PROVINCIAL NOTES is writings on film, TV and music by Atlanta-based critic
Lang Thompson.  FILM90/91 DAT are text files of hundreds of films released
in 1990 and 1991 (w/producer, director, scriptwriter, cast credits).  They
are ready to be sucked into just about any database program; that is, the
data in each file is "comma-delimited" (check your database manual to see
if you can use them) for use by database or spreadsheet programs.

SCREEN-L FILELIST also contains the archives of every message ever posted
on SCREEN-L.  Those messages are collected on a monthly basis and look
like this:

*                             rec               last - change
* filename filetype   GET PUT -fm lrecl nrecs   date     time   Remarks
* -------- --------   --- --- --- ----- ----- -------- -------- ----------------
  SCREEN-L LOG9103    ALL OWN V      80  4101 91/03/31 17:55:15 Started on Fri,
  SCREEN-L LOG9104    ALL OWN V      80  9111 91/04/30 14:26:43 Started on Mon,
  SCREEN-L LOG9105    ALL OWN V      80  2714 91/05/30 22:13:10 Started on Wed,

These files may also be transferred through e-mail channels, but there are
easier ways to search them, which I'll explain in a separate post.

So, you're interested in SCREEN-L FILELIST (you must be, to have read this
far down).  How do you control it?

Through e-mail (or using TELL or SEND).  All you have to do is send
e-mail to LISTSERV@UA1VM (BITNET) or LISTSERV@UA1VM.UA.EDU (Internet) and
issue commands on the very first line of the message--after all the
addressing header stuff.

What commands do you use?

There are really just two:

1.  To find out what files are available on SCREEN-L FILELIST use the
    following command:

    INDEX SCREEN-L

    A text file looking a lot like the listings above (but with a buncha
    other stuff) will come zipping to you through the mail channels.

    Note:  This file is about 150 characters wide, while the standard
    computer screen is only 80.  As a result, when you look at it, sometimes
    material from one line wraps around to the next.

2.  To retrieve a specific file, send the following command:

    GET filename filetype SCREEN-L

    Substitute for "filename" and "filetype" the appropriate names
    that you carefully noted in the index of SCREEN-L.  E.g.:

    GET FILM90 DAT SCREEN-L

    Fast as the little electrons will carry it, a file called
    FILM90 DAT will come winging your way.  (DOS-types please note:
    there's no period between "filename" and "filetype.")

And that, in theory, is how it works.  SCREEN-L FILELIST is still
kinda in the testing stages, however.  I count on the more adventuresome
of the SCREEN-Litarians to put this thing through its paces.  (I'm
particularly curious to see if it works with addresses outside the
US.  Could some of our extra-US members give it a try and let me know
how it functions?  Or don't?)

Whew.  That's it for now.

----------
          One of the things which distinguishes ours from all earlier
          generations is this, that we have seen our atoms.
                                     --Karl Darrow
----------

|                                      | BITNET   :        JBUTLER@UA1VM |
| Jeremy G. Butler - - - - - - - - - - | Internet : JBUTLER@UA1VM.UA.EDU |
| SCREEN-L Coordinator                 | GEnie    :           J.BUTLER27 |
|                                                                        |
| Telecommunication & Film Dept * The University of Alabama * Tuscaloosa |
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.cinema-l