Yes, it is possible to get past conversations on resadm-l--
The tool is LDBASE.  Essentially, you have to establish an
LDBASE session with ALBNYDH2.BITNET

At my command line I type LDBASE ALBNYDH2.BITNET

Once the session is active, the command syntax, for example if I wanted
to find all messages containing the term "conflict of interest"
would be

search conflict and interest in RESADM-L
LDBASE would respond with the number of "hits"
I am by no means an expert on LDBASE, but you can get a summary
of its functions and commands by sending the following command to
xxxxxx@ALBNYDH2.BITNET

Help LDBASE

* Elizabeth (Liz) Mazzella            xxxxxx@HEALTH.STATE.NY.US*
* Director, Technology Transfer & Contract Programs           *
* Health Research, Inc. (A Non-Profit Corp.) Albany NY 12209  *
* Voice: (518) 431-1200                    Fax: (518)431-1234 *