Nicknames make it easier for other people to find you in the Penn State electronic telephone directory (LDAP).
You may have noticed that some people have rather cryptic e-mail addresses like jhs127@psu.edu while other people have easy to type and easy to remember addresses like JSmith@psu.edu. In this example, the jhs127 is this person's user id and JSmith is this person's alias. Sending mail to either of these addresses results in the same person receiving your mail. By using an alias you may make your own e-mail address easier for others to use.
A listserv is an email-based mailing list. It is used to send announcements to a large group of people and for creating discussion groups among interested individuals. You can use these steps to request a new listserv.