Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet

NING T

, and more. Alas, there's a big "but!'' Unlike the phone system, Internet is not yet universal; not everybody can use all of its services. Almost all colleges and universities on the Internet provide telnet access. So do all of the for-fee public-access systems listed in Chapter 1. But the Free-Net systems do not give you access to every telnet system. And if you are using a public-access UUCP or Usenet site, you will not have access to telnet. The main reason for this is cost. Connecting to the Interne

access.

be connecting to a service known as Hytelnet, which is a database of computerized library

128.233

to acces

haracter

IX (acces

gi

l address better suited for computers. The "escape character" is good to remember. When all else fails, hitting your con

te

You'll see some

e to H

sio

......

? . Up/

. Left/R

. ? f

for catalog

aces

ssary

tips

escape keys

commands

........

was written b

ibraries, Saskatoon

by Earl Fogel, Computi

. Play with the system. You might want to turn on your computer's screen-capture, or at the very least, get out a pen and paper. You're bound to run across some interesting telnet services that you'll want to try - and you'll need their telnet "addresses.'' As you move around Hytelnet, it may seem as if you haven't left your host system - telnet can work that quickly. Occasionally, when network loads are heavy, however, you will notice a delay between the time

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BRARY

browse a library you can't physically get to? Many libraries share books, so if yours doesn't have what you're looking for, you can tell the librarian where he or she can get it. Or if you live in an area where the libraries are not yet online, you can use telnet to do

H A R V A R D U

OFFICE FOR INFOR

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IS (Harvard OnLi

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(Harvard Universi

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S Timeshar

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ES NOT REQUI

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ll

reens flash by quickly until finally

ME TO

e Library Info

the 2-character databa

log of the Ha

f Older Wide

rd Libraries and

Index (selective 19

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ternationa

m any place in HOLLIS,

tabase code, a

ing HOLLIS, type HELP.

IS hours of operati

ER OR RETURN KEY AFT

far from Harvard, the librarians at Brandeis University came up with Library On-Line User Information Service, or Louis; MIT has Barton). If you want to do some general browsing,

IVERSITY LIBRA

t a search option from t

line. Use either u

thor

tle s

bject

al subje

yword sear

number sea

her sear

e contents of the Uni

Union Catalo

ered on the COMMAND

R OR RETURN KEY AFTER

f Harvard has shed th

he school. Why not see

re in their

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r HELP. You typed: TI JOY OF SEX **********************

R OR RETURN KEY AFTER

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llis, hit esc

h serves the city of Colorado Springs. Several years ago, its librarians realized they could use their database program not just for books but for cataloging city records and community information, as well. Today, if you want to look up municipal ordinances or city records, you only have to type in the word you're looking for and you'll get back cites of the relevan

TERESTING T

ICU

ennsylvania country extension officers offer tips for improving farm life. One database lists Pennsylvania hay distributors by county - and rates the quality of their hay! The service lets you search for information two different ways. A menu system gives you quick access to reports that change frequently, such as

versity's Advanced T

ar information as PENP

so maintains lists of u

ies updates on

icsuf.cati.

in:

password. Hit "a'' at the main menu for agricultural information. Hit

I

iami maintains a da

in souther

allcat.me

n: li

able to search for doctors, hospitals and other providers that

r Conversatio

EUR

l give you the ham's name, address, callsign, age, type of license and when he or she got it. Telnet: callsign.cs.buffalo.edu 2000 or ham.njit.edu 2000. W

cit

, "name," and "zip" (which you would follow with a Zip code). Be careful when searching for hams in a large city; the

u

nter to d

IM

nder

CUL

tains a free service

their line of

hpcvbbs.

-in is

MIS

ic Table of the Eleme

ts you look up various

men

camms2.c

sword

NG

menu that lets you select from several databases, including the Library of Congress card catalog (with book entries dating to 1978) and a database of information on copyright laws. For the

3RD CONGRESS, which was updated on 05/10/93 and cont

n is NOT current through

en ANY information i

l titles, sponsors, a

dexing terms and di

eeks after the bill

RIEVE to fin

ame -------> ret

ve sen

-------> ret

rds -----> re

e word HELP and p

OR NEW

ERSA

at You choose one of the three databases now online, one on AIDS, and then ask questions in English. Ask the AIDS database, "When was AIDS first discovered?'' and it answers: "The first case of AIDS in North America was diagnosed in 1979. Before that, it existed in Africa, probably beginning in the 1950's. AIDS was discovered in North America when a number of young men with a history of hom

RIGH

der Co

ENT

yland Info Database. Telnet: info.umd.edu Choose a terminal type and hit enter (or just hit enter if you are using VT100). At the main menu, choose the number next to "Educational Resources." Then select the number next to "International," followed by "Factbook." You can then search

Information Service l

s before the Haw

cess.uhcc.

IRO

e database and confe

, based in

enviro

on:

The agency plans to eventually include cleanup work in other regions, as well. The database is actually a computerized card catalog of EPA documents - you can look the d

bl

es, but they are only for use by EPA employ

l

nd you'll see so

on to TSO04

CHEMICAL COLL. SYSTEM H HAZARDO

IONS: ? H

SELECT

you enter the search word and hit enter, you'll be told how many matches were found. Hit 1 and then enter to see a list of

higan maintains a dat

ted to the environment

dating bac

hermes.m

: mi

in:

GRA

mich.edu 3000 No password or user name is needed. Type in the name of a city, a Zip code or a geographic feature and hit enter. The system doesn't like names with abbreviations in them (for example, Mt. McKinley), so sp

ERN

l Information Service

bers of federal docume

to patent abstract - bu

r federal info

: fedw

on a

Congress and

AL

g Administration runs

d info

fdabbs

in

for your name and a p

ure. After

pi

ter. You'l

DESCR

News

Enforcem

and Device Prod

evices and Radiologi

Text from D

ent Informa

mer magazine index a

deral Register Su

mmaries of F

of News Releas

al Register Summarie

Testimony at FDA Co

Given by FDA Commi

eterinary M

Upcoming

T Impor

n-Line Use

obably a good idea, however, to capture a copy of the manual, first, because

nu

enter. T

c

ter. You'l

VAILABLE TOPI

E TOPIC YOU

NU

SU

OCT

User

logging function and hit your 1 key and then enter. The manua

OLLEGE PROGR

uding NASA, the Department of Energy and the Federal Aviation Administration. Several more federal agencies provide minority hiring and scholarship information. MOLIS provides information about minority

ST

aintains a database o

Lutho

rsythetn.s

nt: s

main me

ect

hit

RE

der we

P

mission NASA has ever launched along with daily updates and lesson plans for teachers. The system maintains a large file library of GIF-format space graphics, but you can't download these through telnet. If

ragalactic Database l

ars and other objects

ipac.cal

in

n you ever wanted to a

system run by the Smi

y in Cambr

cfa204.h

n: ei

nt at the University

board system that provid

libraries rel

acemet.pha

your name an

COURT

yland Info Database m

isions fr

: info

and hit enter (or jus

in menu, choose the num

r. One of your options

mber and then, at the n

"Supreme

LN

rsity of Saskatchewan,

lnet sites aro

access

n: hy

I

ut the ex

ndia.colo

something

haracter

5 14:1

closed by f

s you the date and e

ined by a feder

SPOR

in Paris can help you

A to point B on subway

tro.jussie

-in is

ll be asked to choose

English or French) an

station you plan to le

nt to

AT

gan's Department of Atm

ies weather forecasts fo

iing and hurr

rl.umich.edu 3000

n name i

in the FTP list for inf

nd radar we

BULLETIN-BO

nline communicators. But there are a number of "bulletin-board" and other systems that provide even more confere

s a Cleveland bookstor

s. Its online system fea

ferences on book

t: bo

me and select a passwor

co, this system has Spanish conferences, but English comma

of

e T

Board

udas de

s Comentar

a los afin

sano arte

emas Operativ

peor enem

acio Cultura

Mundo

olo apto p

a los Romantico

iscusiones

one number. To do this, at any prompt, hit your M key and then enter, which will bring up the mail system. Hitting H brings up a li

b

hit

blic. Originally an in-hospital help network, it is now sponsored by Case Western Reserve University, the city of Cleve

D FREE-NET D

inistrati

Post

lic S

ouse & Gover

Arts B

and Techno

ical Arts

olhouse (A

ty Center & R

ness and In

he L

versit

e Tel

mmunicati

A TODAY HE

--------

ree-Net, "go hel

Choic

ion. It links residents to various government agencies and has daily stories from USA Today. Beyond Usenet (found in the Teleport area), it has a large collecti

Free-Net, you can lo

be able to post messag

have to apply in wr

his is available

ulletin-board syst

rences and files are m

ystem commands thems

tudrwa.t

Iowa Student Comput

ces, including several

K for a list of availa

conference (you have to

number next to it)

on about

bs.isca.

ogin:" pr

b

hit

$1 to anybody willing to set up a similar system. A number of cities now have their own

si

hit

THE FINGER

telnet or ftp. But it works with only one file, called .plan (yes, with a period in front). This is a text file an Internet user creates with a text editor in his home directory

email

new mail since that time and what, if anything, is in their .plan file. Some people and institutions have come up with creative uses for these .plan fi

du Latest National W

regions in M

ton.edu Locations and

es around

du Current major-leagu

he previous

it.edu The day's

da are left in a particular soda machine in the comp

G SOMEONE

plete - college students, users of commercial services such as CompuServe and many Internet public-access sites, and many others simply won't be listed. Major e-mail providers are working on a universal directory system, but that could be some time away. In the meantime, a co

rnic

. The quickest way

is

ing for. Another service worth trying, especially since it seems to give begi

i.reston

through a variety of other "white pages" systems, including

ry

an get details of other commands by hitting a question mark at the pr

info.cnri.r

ubject:" line blank.

ry

If you want details on more com

a

MIT that keeps track of the e-mail addresses of everybody who posts a U

ver@rtfm

:" line blank. As

t-addresse

e last name of the per

THINGS

hen you try to conn

down for mainten

vailable" message. Th

ome r

gain

"host unkn

pelling of t

ord on a telnet site

ogin incorre

. If you get the mes

e same time to disengage

st

to disconnect f

sengage and return

8

mpendium of FAQs related to Internet bulletin-board systems. Peter Scott, who maintains the Hytelnet database, runs a mailing list about new telnet services and changes in existing ones. To get on the list, send him a note at scott@sklib.usask.ca. Gleason Sackman mai