While all of you with U.S.F. internet accounts should be able to access these groups with no problem, they may not be carried on all newservers. Some differences between mailing lists and newsgroups are a function of newsgroups' method of dissemination. With discussion lists like our LIS5937A discussion list, mail is received and then emanates from one server. Usenet newsgroups are delivered in a very different fashion. Newservers are set up at sites all over the globe which handle newsgroup traffic.
People can post comments from any server.
It takes a while for this traffic to make the rounds. Messages from newsgroups don't show up in your email's inbox. You always have invoke your newsreader in order to receive and send newsgroups messages. Also, mailing lists have a membership. It's possible for a listowner can review a list of everyone who reads a given mailing list.