List-Servers, Gmail and MS-O365

For those wondering why there has been a “failure to communicate” from the NMR lab, and suddenly you may be receiving multiple copies of each new email.   I have two admissions.  First, I had the solution in front of me the whole time; second, I “knew” that I could fix the problem myself from within the “system”.   

I take a bit too much pride in leaning into new ideas and technologies.   As a lab manager in NMR this has generally served me well.  In the case of using O365 as a content management and communications platform, which I previously used successfully in the lab environment the expectation that the “new” tech would win out was sorely misplaced. Ignoring suggestions given early on to try something else, I doubled down on my vision to leverage a new way of doing things.  I would just dig deeper into the various problems that were pointed out and resolve them one-by-one.     

Now that the debacle is nearly over, I have far more knowledge about the intricacies of UT’s myriad email servers than I care to admit or describe.  In short, many of the servers (Gmail and Outlook in particular) do not communicate with each other and some of the email addresses assigned to us are merely placeholders with no deliverable end point.  So, it falls upon an old -tried and true technology of email listservers to bridge the gaps and ensure everyone receives announcements and other communications from the NMR lab, no matter what t email server or address they rely on. 

Yes, apparently the only way to guarantee communications with the three hundred strong NMR users at UT-Austin is by way of the ListServer resource (also provided by UT-IT).    At the expense of sending communications out non-specifically, it should be safe to say that everyone in the Chemistry department will receive these announcements.   The emailed announcements are now being sent to  nmr_users@utlists.utexas.edu cmprofs@utlists.utexas.edu cmgrads@utlists.utexas.edu and cmpdocs@utlists.utexas.edu as was requested in the first place.   

Moving to ListServer resources has the added benefit of being easily and immediately implemented.  Changing the platform and structure for content management takes longer. A web site with open access to training documents and videos as well as user tips and tricks to getting the most out of your spectrometer time is currently under construction.  Contents which is already written will be uploaded as soon as possible once a UT compliant web hosting is setup and stable.

SKSmith 6/15/2023