OYA's Technical Services Unit provides the following information to help staff use and maintain Outlook's Personal Distribution Lists feature.

The State of Oregon e-mail system will soon be undergoing changes that impact Outlook Personal Distribution Lists.

Effective Friday, March 6, some personal distribution lists will no longer work correctly and they will need to be re-created.  This change only affects users' personal distribution lists that contain state e-mail addresses outside of OYA -- for example, a message sent to a distribution list that includes John Doe at Corrections and Sue Smith at Human Resources won't reach them.

Central distribution lists maintained by OYA's Technical Services Unit will not be affected.

Do you use Personal Distribution Lists?  Then Be Prepared!

ü Prior to March 6, open each of your Personal Distribution Lists and print the list of members.

Open Microsoft Outlook:

1. Open Tools Menu

2. Open Address Book

3. Select Contacts
(or Personal Address Book)*

4. Open a personal distribution list

5. Print!

* E-mail addresses of personal contacts can be stored in either the Contacts folder or the Personal Address Book; however, the Contacts folder is the recommended location because of the flexibility it provides.

ü After March 6, refer to the list(s) you printed and re-create the Personal Distribution Lists. 

Need a refresher on creating Personal Distribution Lists?  Review the instructions on the next page . . .

C A U T I ON Do not create Personal Distribution Lists until after March 6!!

What? You haven't heard of Personal Distribution Lists? Intrigued?

If you frequently send messages or meeting requests to the same group of people and aren't taking advantage of Microsoft Outlook's Personal Distribution List feature, you're missing out on a timesaver.  Personal Distribution Lists enable you to create a collection of contacts, rather than selecting individual names each time from the address list.  Still intrigued?  Review the following instructions . . .

Questions? Contact the Help Desk – jjis.helpdesk@oya.state.or.us or 503-378-4333.

Create a Personal Distribution List in Microsoft Outlook

1. Select the File drop-down menu. 2. Select New. 3. Select Distribution List. 4. In the Name box, type a name. 5. Click Select Members. 6. In the Show names from the drop-down list, select the address book that contains the e-mail addresses you want in your distribution list.  This should default to Oregon Youth Authority, however, you may also want to select names from the Contacts folder (or the Personal Address Book). TIP:  E-mail addresses of personal contacts can be stored in either the Contacts folder or the Personal Address Book; however, the Contacts folder is the recommended location because of the flexibility it provides. NOTE:  If your personal contact e-mail addresses are in the Personal Address Book and you would like them in your Contacts folder, please see the instructions for importing the Personal Address Book to Contacts. 7. In the Type name or select from list box, type the name of an individual or group (for example, OYA Bend Parole & Probation) you want to include or scroll down through the list until you locate the name of the individual or group. 8. Select the name and click Members or double-click the name to move it to the window on the right side of the screen. Repeat for each individual or group who should be in the Distribution List. 9. Click OK. 10. Click Save and Close. The distribution list will be saved in your Contacts folder by the name you gave it in step 4.

Import Personal Address Book Entries to Contacts
Personal contact e-mail addresses stored in the Personal Address Book can be imported into the Contacts folder.
1. Select the File drop-down menu. 2. Select Import and Export. An Import and Export Wizard screen opens. 3. Select Import from another program or file. 4. Click Next. An Import a File screen opens. 5. Scroll down through the list of files. 6. Select Personal Address Book. (This is the file to export from.) 7. Click Next. A second Import a File screen opens. 8. Select the Contacts folder.  This is the destination folder where the personal address book entries will be exported to. 9. Click Next. A third Import a File screen opens indicating the actions that will be performed. 10. Click Finish. An "Import and Export Progress" status message appears on the screen during the process.