Part 3

The SRI NIC list-of-lists is also available via electronic mail. Send a message to [email protected] with the following line in the message body: Send netinfo/interest-groups Example: To: [email protected] Subject: Message: Send netinfo/interest-groups

The List of Lists

A comprehensive list-of-lists can be obtained from some larger host computers running LISTSERV software, by sending a LIST GLOBAL command in an interactive message. This will return a "one line per list" list of all lists known to that host as of that date. For example: To: [email protected] mail Subject: Message: LIST GLOBAL

The global list can also be searched online. For details send LISTSERV the command INFO DATABASE

Network Accessible Database Server

Only available on the [email protected] is a searchable interest groups database. For example, to search of the databases for lists on "cats" you would send the following statements (copy them exactly into your mail message to the LISTSERV):

//DBlook JOB Echo=No Database Search DD=Rules //Rules DD * Select cats in lists index Select cats in intgroup index Select cats in new-list index

These statements search the global LISTSERV list of lists ("in lists"), and the local copy of the SRI-NIC Interest Groups ("in intgroup"), and the archives of the "new-list" list ("in new-list"). Send LISTSERV the command INFO DATABASE for more information.

The 5th Revision of the Directory of Scholarly Electronic Conferences

This resource is available at LISTSERV@KENTVM or [email protected] and via anonymous FTP to ksuvxa.kent.edu in the library directory.

This announcement is extracted from the ACADLIST README FILE

"This directory contains descriptions of 805 electronic conferences (econferences) on topics of interest to scholars. E- conference is the umbrella term that includes discussion lists, interest groups, e-journals, e-newsletters, Usenet newsgroups, forums, etc. We have used our own judgment in deciding what is of scholarly interest -- and accept any advice or argument about our decisions. We have placed the entries into categories by deciding what the *dominant* academic subject area of the electronic conference is."

"The 5th Revision involves an attempt to make it easier to feed the Directory into HyperCard(TM), dBase(TM) and other database programs. The first step in this effort has been to use field labels for each part of each record. We've also reduced the size of each record by trying to keep topic information between 25-50 words (some are still bigger). Advice on this topic will be gratefully accepted at [email protected]."

"In addition, information about editorial policy and archive availability and frequency have also been included in each record. Where possible the information in each record has been checked for currency and accuracy by checking the LISTSERV header in the case of LISTSERV based e-conferences and contacting the moderators of other kinds of e-conferences."

"The field labels are as follows: LN: (e-conference name) TI: (topic information) SU: (subscription information) ED: (edited? Yes or No) AR: (archived? if Yes, frequency, private=subscribers only) MO: (moderator, editor, listowner, manager, coordinator, etc.) IA: (`official' institutional affiliation)."

"Topic descriptions are taken in whole or part from the descriptions provided by each listowner, editor, moderator or coordinator to the New-List, the List of Lists, and the Internet Interest Groups file."

"Any errors are the responsibility of the compiler of the Electronic Conferences for Academics Files. If you can provide corrections or additional information about any of these electronic conferences, please contact:

Diane Kovacs (Bitnet) DKOVACS@KENTVM (Internet) [email protected]

These files are available on the Directory of Scholarly E-Conferences: ACADLIST README (explanatory notes for the Directory) ACADSTCK HQX (binhexed, self-decompressing, HyperCard Stack of entire Directory - Keyword searchable) ACADLIST FILE1 (Anthropology- Education) ACADLIST FILE2 (Geography-Library and Information Science) ACADLIST FILE3 (Linguistics-Political Science) ACADLIST FILE4 (Psychology-Writing) ACADLIST FILE5 (Biological sciences) ACADLIST FILE6 (Physical sciences -now includes Academic Computing and Computer Science) ACADLIST FILE7 (business, Academia, news) ACADWHOL HQX (binhexed self-decompressing Macintosh M.S. Word 4.0 document of all 7 directories) ACADLIST.CHANGES (Major additions and deletions)

How to retrieve the abovefiles via mail

1. Send an e-mail message addressed to LISTSERV@KENTVM or [email protected]. 2. Leave the subject and other info lines blank. 3. The message must read: GET Filename Filetype (e.g.,filename=ACADLIST filetype=FILE1 or HQX or whatever) 4. The files will be sent to you and you must receive them. 5. If you need assistance receiving, etc. contact your local Computer Services people.

How to retrieve the files via anonymous FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

FTP to KSUVXA.KENT.EDU 1. when prompted for `USERID,' type ANONYMOUS. 2. Your password will be your actual userid on your local machine. 3. Type: cd library 4. Type: GET Filename.Filetype (e.g., filename=ACADLIST filetype=FILE1 or HQX or whatever) 5. The files will be transferred directly into the directory you ftp'ed from at your site.

New Lists and List Changes

New lists are being started every day, and old ones fade away. To find out bout these changes, join the NEW-LIST mailing. Here is part of their Welcome message:

"The `NEW-LIST' list has been established as a central address to post announcements of new public mailing lists. In addition, `NEW-LIST' might be used as a final verification before establishing a list (to check for existing lists on the same topic, etc.). However, be sure to check sources such as the Internet List-of-Lists (SIGLIST or INTEREST-GROUPS list), LISTSERV GROUPS, and the LISTS database on the major LISTSERVs (we have the LISTS database on NDSUVM1)."

"We will gladly rebroadcast New List announcements, final list proposals (to avoid conflicts or redundancy), or emergency announcements about the availability of some list.

List Review Service

These folks subscribe to and monitor a list for awhile and then report on it to everyone else. It's a great idea and a useful way to "sample" a list. Here is the subscription information. Email its author to be added to the List Review Service list, BITNET ADDRESS: SRCMUNS@UMSLVMA

LIST REVIEW SERVICE ISSN: 1060-8192 Published bi-weekly, when school is in session, by The University of Missouri, St. Louis Libraries. Raleigh C. Muns, editor. For more information: Thomas Jefferson Library University of Missouri St. Louis 8001 Natural Bridge Road St. Louis, MO 63121 314/553-5059

Internet Library Guides

Three different Internet library guides are available to help both beginning and experienced OPAC users.

Art St. George's Internet-Accessible Library Catalogs and Databases includes directions for Internet libraries and Campus Wide Information Systems as well as dialup libraries and bulletin boards in the United States. Available from: ariel.unm.edu /LIBRARY/INTERNET.LIBRARY

Billy Barron's Accessing On-line Bibliographic Databases contains a number of useful features such as guides to local OPAC escape sequences and commands. FTP to ftp.unt.edu (129.120.1.1) /LIBRARY/LIBRARIES.TXT

Dana Noonan's A Guide to Internet/Bitnet comes in two parts. Part two is about Internet Libraries. It is an easy to use guide to many national and international OPACS and their login and use instructions. (available via anonymous ftp from vm1.nodak.edu then CD NNEWS (although nnews may not show up on the directory menu, it works.) A printed version is available for $10 from Metronet. For more information: Metronet 226 Metro Square Building Seventh and Robert Streets St. Paul, Minnesota 55101 612/224-4801 FAX 612/224-4827

Must-have Books for the Internet Surfer

Kehoe, Brendan. (1993). Zen and the Art of the Internet: a Beginner's Guide (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. The first edition is available for free from many FTP sites (see below) This version has about 30 pages of new material and corrects various minor errors in the first edition. Includes the story of the Coke Machine on the Internet. For much of late 1991 and the first half of 1992, this was the document of choice for learning about the Internet. ISBN 0-13-010778-6. Index. $22.00

To ftp Zen 1.0 in a PostScript version: ftp.uu.net [137.39.1.9] directory /inet/doc ftp.cs.toronto.edu [128.100.3.6] directory /pub/zen ftp.cs.widener.edu [147.31.254.132] directory /pub/zen as zen-1.0.tar.Z, zen-1.0.dvi, and zen-1.0.PS ftp.sura.net [128.167.254.179] directory /pub/nic as zen-1.0.PS It is also available to read on many Gopher servers.

Krol, Ed. (1992). The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates. Comprehensive guide to how the network works, the domain name system, acceptable use, security, and other issues. Chapters on telnet/remote login, File Transfer Protocol, and electronic mail explain error messages, special situations, and other arcana. Archie, Gopher, Net News, WAIS, WWW, and troubleshooting each enjoy a chapter in this well-written book. Appendices contain info on how to get connected in addition to a glossary. ISBN 1-56592-025-2. $24.95

LaQuey, Tracey, & Ryer, J.C. (1993). The Internet Companion: a Beginner's Guide to Global Networking. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Beginning with a forewordby Vice-President Elect Al Gore, this book provides an often-humorous explanation of the origins of the Internet, acceptable use, basics of electronic mail, netiquette, online resources, transferring information, and finding email addresses. The In the Know guide provides background on Internet legends (Elvis sightings is one), organizations, security issues, and how to get connected. Bibliography. Index. ISBN 0-201-62224-6 $10.95

Marine, April. (1992). INTERNET: Getting Started.. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International. This book has an international overview, and includes things the others don't, such as an index to all the RFC's (Request for Comments), Internet organizations, source information for the TCP/IP CD ROM, and the answer to "who is in charge of the Internet?" (No one is. The Internet is a cooperating group of independently administered networks. Some groups set basic policy though.) ISBN 0-944604-15-3 $39.00 SRI 333 Ravenswood Ave. Menlo Park, CA 94025

Tennant, Roy, Ober, J., & Lipow, A. G. (1993). Crossing the Internet Threshold: An Instructional Handbook. Berkeley, CA: Library Solutions Press. A cookbook to run your own Internet training sessions. Real- world examples. Foreword by Cliff Lynch. ISBN: 1-882208-01-3 $45.00 Library Solutions Institute and Press 2137 Oregon Street Berkeley, CA 94705 510/841-2636 FAX: 510/841-2926

Magazine

Matrix News, the monthly newsletter edited by John S. Quarterman. Subscriptions are $30 per year. for a paper edition, $25/yr for an online edition. Matrix News, Matrix Information & Directory Services, Inc. (MIDS) 1106 Clayton La. Suite 500 W Austin, TX 78746 512/329-1087 FAX: 512/327-1274 [email protected]

Organizations

CNI Coalition for Networked Information 1527 New Hampshire Ave., NW Washington, DC 20036 202/232-2466 FAX: 202/462-7849 [email protected]

CPSR Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility PO Box 717 Palo Alto, CA 94302 415/322-3778 FAX: 415/322-3798 CPSR Newsletter, annual Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference, poster ("Technology is driving the future-- it's time to find out who's steering.") [email protected]

EFF The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Inc. 155 Second St. Cambridge, MA 02141 617/864-1550 FAX: 617/864-0866 Publishes the EFFector in online and print editions. T-shirts, bumper stickers ("I'd rather be telecommuting"; "ISDN: Make it so."; "CYBERNAUT") [email protected]

Internet Society 1895 Preston White Drive Suite 100 Reston, VA 22091 703/620-8990, FAX 703/620-0913 Annual conference, quarterly Internet Society News. [email protected]

============================================= For more information about this article: Jean Armour Polly Manager of Network Development and User Training NYSERNet, Inc. 111 College Place Syracuse, NY 13244-4100 315/443-4120 FAX: 315/425-7518 [email protected] =============================================

End of Project Gutenberg's Surfing the Internet, by Jean Armour Polly