A brief introduction to electronic mail

Electronic mail[1] is an electronic system for exchanging messages. What differs from a regular mail system is that the messages are transmitted from computer to computer through one or many computer networks locally, nationally or internationally. Text, pictures, sound, software or virtually any form of data can be transmitted from one person to another. A message sent by e-mail can be delivered within seconds, and the costs are minimal compared to regular postage. Another important advantage is that the information you receive by e-mail can be stored, edited and forwarded easily. Sending e-mail is completely free whether you are a student, employee at the university or reside in another country. Today there are several millions of people available through electronic mail, also several information services are available through e-mail.

When we want to send conventional mail to someone, we are always dependent on knowing their address, the same goes for e-mail. These addresses are often called e-mail addresses

name@address

The symbol @[2] divides the name and the address. On an English keyboard you'll find the sign by pressing Shift+2. The name in front of the @, is usually the username, while the part behind is the domain-name. The domain name usually consists of several parts divided by dots. In many cases name.surname is used instead of the actual username, since this form is easier to remember. All employees at NTNU should use e-mail addresses on this form, while students only use their username. Here is an example:

employee: roger.rogers@adm.ntnu.no
student: rorog@stud.ntnu.no

This way of writing e-mail addresses (username@domainname) is an international standard when the e-mail system on a machine is connected to the internet.

Users of other mail systems may write their address different ways. One example is those who use systems based on the X.400 standard. Usually different mail system co-operate together well, so there is nothing to worry about when sending mail from another standard. Today most people use the international standard mentioned above, so the fact that alternatives exist is not really worth thinking about.

As mentioned above, a prerequisite for sending e-mail is knowing the e-mail address of the recipient. This goes both ways. Electronic mail addresses for employees at NTNU are listed at NTNU, HiST and SINTEF's phonebook. You can also search for students at NTNU (not available in English yet).

E-mail should not be used for mass-distribution of information (spam), news should be used for that as it is a far better medium.