Logo SavoyNet Frequently-Asked Questions

Index of Questions

Resources
Are there any G&S resources on the internet?
How can I get books about Gilbert and Sullivan?
Are there any printed journals or magazines devoted to G&S?
Where can I get G&S videos?

SavoyNet Administrivia
How do I unsubscribe from SavoyNet?
A lot of the SavoyNet traffic seems irrelevant. What can be done?
What if I'm having trouble sending and/or receiving SavoyNet messages?
Why isn't SavoyNet a usenet newsgroup?

Resources

Are there any G&S resources on the internet?
Other than SavoyNet itself, there is the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive and the G&S Discography on the World Wide Web. The Archive contains many links to other useful sites. A more modest list of links is on Yahoo's G&S page.

How can I get books about Gilbert and Sullivan?
Hundreds of books about G&S have been published over the years. Only a fraction of these—and not necessarily the best ones—are available new in bookstores at any given time. Cookson's Internet Bookshop includes a list of the most essential (in David Cookson's opinion) G&S books.

Once you've decided what books you want, the question is how to get them? Your local library is a good starting point (though the selection of G&S books in most municipal libraries tends to be rather limited). You can also haunt the antiquarian booksellers (but this is like looking for a needle in a haystack). On occasion, you can trade with or buy from a fellow-collector.

A number of excellent internet-based sources have popped up in recent years. The best listing of these is the sources page at the G&S Archive.

Are there any printed journals or magazines devoted to G&S?
Yes, there are several. Be aware that all of the journals listed below have a mixture of G&S history and commentary, G&S news of general interest, and G&S news of local interest to the publishing Society. Most will send you a sample issue on request, so that you can decide for yourself whether the mixture is to your liking. (I happen to be a subscriber to most of these but am reluctant to put "reviews" in print, for obvious reasons.)

What are good sources for G&S videos and recordings?
See the video sources and recordings sources listed at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography site.

SavoyNet Administrivia

How do I unsubscribe from SavoyNet?
We hope you won't, but if you must, see the page on listserv commands.

A lot of the SavoyNet traffic seems irrelevant. What can be done?
You are entitled to expect that SavoyNet messages will generally be related to the subject of Gilbert and Sullivan, and that accepted rules of "netiquette" will generally be adhered to. However, this is an unmoderated list, and there is little that can be done (other than peer pressure, in extreme cases), to get people to post only the messages that meet some minimum standard of relevancy. Also, SavoyNet is growing all the time, and this naturally means there are more people posting messages. And lastly, the subject of Gilbert and Sullivan is much broader than many people realize, and it's just not possible for every message to appeal to every subscriber.

If you feel that people are flooding the net with irrelevant messages, feel free to raise the issue — preferrably by private email with the people concerned. Another option is to take SavoyNet in digest form, which will result in your receiving "digest" messages containing multiple postings concatenated together. This reduces the volume somewhat, though you still see all the original postings.

What if I'm having trouble sending and/or receiving SavoyNet messages.
If you've read this FAQ, the home page and the listserv commands page and are still stuck, feel free to send email to the listowner, Marc Shepherd. Be sure to check with your own internet provider, as the problem may not reside with SavoyNet at all, but at your local site.

Why isn't SavoyNet a usenet newsgroup?
SavoyNet is probably too small to be approved as a "big seven" newsgroup. It could certainly be made an "alt" group, but not all sites carry these groups. Even if SavoyNet could gain approval under the big seven hierarchy, the mailing list format would probably have to be retained for the benefit of the many subscribers who cannot get access to usenet. It has also been pointed out that the signal-to-noise ratio would probably get worse.
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Last Modified: 25-Dec-01
This page maintained by Marc Shepherd
URL: http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/savoynet/faq.html