Many feminists of the 1960s and '70s, myself included, said this about the women's movement. Twenty-five years later, I find myself saying it again-this time, about WMST-L, an e-mail forum that I started in 1991 for discussion of Women's Studies teaching, research, and program administration.

Through WMST-L, I've "met" thousands of people all over the world who share an interest in Women's Studies. Some have become my good friends. WMST-L keeps me informed about what's happening in Women's Studies: events, trends, controversies, publications, films, research projects, classroom strategies and problems, new directions and developments, and more. When I need information, I have an international body of well-informed virtual colleagues to whom I can turn. And when I travel, I continually meet people whom I "know" from WMST-L.

People relatively new to e-mail may wonder why I'm making such a fuss about WMST-L. After all, according to the Gender-Related Electronic Forums web site, there are now well over 500 women-related e-mail forums, or "lists", as they're most often called. WMST-L may be a fine list, but so too are many others.

That's quite true-now. But in early 1991, when I started WMST-L, I could count on my fingers all the women-related lists. And while many factors contributed to the proliferation of such lists between then and now, I believe WMST-L's success played a significant part in spurring the growth of other women-focused forums.