Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!wuarchive!hsdndev!dartvax!mars!nic!kira!news From: cavrak@kira.UUCP (Steve Cavrak) Newsgroups: comp.edu Subject: Re: Is There A Guide Book On Using the Internet For Beginners ? Message-ID: <1991May27.151332.1482@uvm.edu> Date: 27 May 91 15:13:32 GMT References: Sender: news@uvm.edu Organization: Univ. of Vermont, Eng., Math., and Bus. Admin. (EMBA) Computer Facility Lines: 72 wongl@iris.ucdavis.edu wrote: I am a newuser on the net. I want to know how to use it to do research. How can I find out about all the resources available on the net and get at them? Does any one know of any good non-technical user's guide for beginners? Guidance of any sort will be a big help. Thanks! Most of the internet exists as an (electronic) oral tradition. The best way to learn is to find someone who will give you a 10 or 15 minute tour. Since as Madison Avenue is happy to point out, local dealer participation is optional, your milage may vary, batteries not included, etc., you will find that local variations in internet access will vary from institution to instituion, from platform to platform, from vendor to vendor. Basicall there are only three useful things -- mail (which you know how to do), Telnet (which gives you a login session on a host somewhere, which you also know how to do), and FTP (file transfer program / protocol, which is what you use to do your internet shopping.) That said, some nice things to grab, (which you have to do over the internet ! hence a visit to your local computer center or hackers den might help), are: a. If you are a Macintosh User, there is a hypercard stack that gives you a guide to the internet. You can get it via anonymous ftp from nnsc.nsf.net, with a dialog that goes something like ... ("something like" because there are details that change from site to site and one of the things you have to learn is to be flexible and creative in exploring Cyberspace. << You type what's in lowercase ... in lowercase !>> $ ftp nnsc.nsf.net ... NAME: anonymous PASSWORD: jqpublic@big.state.edu dir ! to list directories cd internet-tour ! to change directory dir ! to see whats there get internet-tour-README ! to get this file get internet-tour.hqx ! to get this file quit b. If you are an MS-DOS user, there is a "Hytelnet" TSR browser that lists some nice things. (But read the section above to get a flavor on how to do anonymous ftp) The browser is basically a series of ASCII files connected by hypertext links. The information on the addresses was gleaned from many sources, the authors of which are mentioned below. HYTELNET is available by anonymous ftp from wsmr-Simtel20.army.mil and can be found in the directory PD1:HYTELN11.ZIP.1 -or- by anonymous ftp from wuarchive.wustl.edu, and can be found in the directory /mirrors/msdos/hypertext as hyteln11.zip;1 -or- by anonymous ftp from vaxb.acs.unt.edu, and can be found in the directory HSC1$DUA1:[ANON] as HYTELNET.ZIP;1 c. Or as a unin user, you can grab something call the Internet Pocket Guide and the HitchHikers Guide to the Internet from nic.near.net