ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 71 8/C & R L News How to becom e an Internet pow er user … By L arry Schan k m an … or the seven habits o f highly successful In te rnauts P ower. That’s what we really want fromthe Internet, right? We want information, and we want it now! As librarians, we are ex­ pected to share our skills with others. Ulti­ mately, our goal is not just simply to provide people with the information they desire, but the knowledge of how to find that information themselves. But most o f us are not technicians. Our pri­ mary concern is not with protocols, technol­ ogy, or keystrokes. Rather, we seek pure in­ formation, regardless o f format. Naturally, we must know how to find it ourselves. Following are some tips based on what I call the seven habits o f highly successful Internet users. 1. P o w er u sers reco g n ize th at p a tro n s w an t in fo rm atio n , n o t just a p h ysical ob ­ ject (i.e., b ook o r jou rn al). Let’s face it, most libraries don’t have everything. The Internet provides (connected) librarians with equal ac­ cess to public-domain information and data. Regardless o f how w e feel personally about computers and the so-called virtual library, our patrons need us to provide them with timely inform ation. Librarians are trained in the practicalities o f retrieving, organizing, and pre­ senting information to effectively resolve a patron’s need for knowledge or personal em­ powerment. A positive attitude towards this power helps us both individually and as a pro­ fession. 2. P o w e r u s e rs c o m p r e h e n d t e c h n o ­ babble an d k now all th e latest tren d s in In tern et access. Today’s Internet is an ever- evolving phenomenon, still in its infancy. New software and searching tools gain preeminence quickly. Keep in top form by monitoring the latest news and trends affecting the nets. Talk to computer center staff to assure that your organization’s mainframe or host server utilizes the latest protocols and services. Read regu­ larly at least one Internet magazine,1 and sub­ scribe to a current awareness discussion group or listserv (see sidebar). 3. Pow er u sers n etw ork w ith colleagues an d m o n ito r issues and new s w ith in th e ir a re a s o f in terest. Find a listserv or usenet group which shares your interests. Monitor the discussions and become active yourself. Power users are not passive lurkers. Network with your peers; it is easy, fun, and rewarding. Down­ load current copies o f the D irectory o f S chol­ arly E lectron ic C on feren ces or Charles Bailey’s List o f L ibrary-R elated Lists a n d E lectron ic Se­ rials to identify lists (see sidebar). 4 . Pow er u sers s e a rc h th e In tern et effi­ cien tly w ith tools su ch as V eronica, A rchie, Aliweb, and WAIS. Don’t let the silly termi­ n olog y intim idate you. O ne m inute with Veronica, Archie, or one o f the equivalents in World Wide Web (e.g., Aliweb, WWW Worm, or Web Crawler) can save hours o f manual searching. Most gophers offer Veronica search­ ing o f files and directories throughout the In­ ternet somewhere within their menu structure. Archie searches mostly files in ftp archives.2 Several of the better gophers place these fea­ ture conveniently on the opening screen.3 If you don’t see the actual word V eronica‚ you can find it among such menu items as All t h e G o p h e r s in t h e W orld , S e a r c h A ll o f G opherspace‚ or O ther G op h er a n d In fo r m a ­ tion Servers. After you select the Veronica option, Larry Schankman is reference librarian at Mansfield University, Mansfield, Pennsylvania; e-mail: lschank@clark.net D ecem ber 1994 / 719 you might have to specify a particular host (there are only a few Veronica databases world­ wide4). Eventually you will see a prompt at which you can type keywords (e.g., Haiti and Clinton). Veronica will not only locate files, directories, and objects (sounds, videos, pic­ tures), but will even connect you to the appro­ priate site after you highlight and select one o f the hits. Note that not all Veronica sites index all resources, and many sites are often busy, so you may need to try several sites. 5. P o w er u sers distinguish them selves by th e ir a p p aren t ease an d m astery in lo­ catin g new reso u rces. New gophers and web servers pop up daily, though most mirror the same master sites. Some power users memo­ rize dozens of Internet addresses and glide along the keyboard effortlessly. That’s power. But this is not a test, we can use a cheat sheet. Dozens o f books, lists of lists, and directories5 exist (see the sidebar). Compile your own list to suit your needs and keep it near the refer­ ence desk. 6. P o w er u sers are n o t intim idated by th‹ quan tity an d diversity o f in fo rm ation so u rces. At first find just one good, uncompli­ cated site, preferably a gopher since they’re easy to use and require only a basic Internet hookup (graphical programs like Mosaic re­ quire special connections or a Local Area Net­ w ork, and som e know ledge o f URLs, Uni­ versal Resource Locators). Read on e o f the many b ook s6 or free how -to guides to b e ­ co m e fam iliar with th e s e re s o u rc e s (th e sidebar lists som e gop her sites with co lle c­ tions o f such guides). Examine all the menu choices to gain inti­ macy with the directory structure and informa­ tion content. Keep a notebook with screen prints or written path directions near the refer­ ence desk. Navigating the Internet is just like finding your way in a new town: initially you need to ask for directions and consult maps, but eventually you’ll know your way around instinctively, short cuts and all. The following are my favorite gophers in order o f preference: • honor.uc.wlu.edu 1020 [must include the number] • vienna.hh.lib.umich.edu • gopher.cic.net (see especially the Re­ source Discovery Tools directory) • nysernet.org • gopher.uidaho.edu. If your organization does not have gopher capability telnet to one of several “public” go­ phers (ask your support technicians to explain your options). When prompted for a login, most T h e m a in m e n u o f W a s h in g to n a n d L ee U n iv e rs ity ’s “H o n o r ” g o p h e r . 7 2 0 /C&RL News G uides to cyberspace G u ides to d o w n lo ad In addition to the growing number of books and articles about the Internet, several guides are available for searching and downloading over the Net itself. The following gopher sites are very useful since they provide ready access to many o f the better resources in one place: • gopher.cni.org (directory = Coalition FTP Archives/Publicly Available Documents/Guides to Network Use) • gopher.internic.net (several great choices in directory = InterNIC Information Services) • gopher.uidaho.edu (directory = Com­ puter and InternetDocumentation) • library3.library.carleton.ca (directory = Electronic Resources/Internet Guides) • refm ac.kent.edu (directory = Internet Training and Information). Lists of lists Among the many guides that will help you become a power user are the following lists of lists. Again, Veronica will help you find spe­ cific information. • C h arles B a il e y ’s List o f Lib rary -R elated Lists a n d E lectron ic Serials. Available above or also via telnet (login = mlink) at vienna.hh. lib.umich.edu in directory = Libraries and Li­ brarianship. • D irectory o f S cholarly E lectronic C on fer­ e n c e s (includes listservs, news groups, elec­ tronic journals, etc.). Available via e-mail at listserv@kentvm.kent.edu with message: get acadlist file n f=mail, where n = 1 (Education and Library and Information Science) 2 (Humanities: part one) 3 (Humanities: file two) 4 (Social Science) 5 (Biological Sciences) 6 (Physical Sciences) 7 (Business, Econom ics, Publishing and News) 8 (Computer Science) 9 (Social, Cultural, and Political Aspects of Computing; Academic Computing Sup­ port). It is also searchable online by keyword or subject via gopher at refmac.kent.edu (choose from main menu) and many other sites, or ftp from ksuvxa.kent.edu in directory = library • List o f Lists Resources. Available for brows­ ing or searching via gopher at cwis.usc.edu in directory = Other Gophers and Information Resources/Gopher-Jewels/Internet and Com­ puter Related Resources/Lists o f Lists Resources. • N etstuff a n d B estgo4 Lists. Available via ftp at ftp.clark.net in directory = /pub/lschank; download com pressed WordPerfect version (use the b in a ry command) with extension .zip or older ASCII version with extension .asc. Another way to get a list of lists via e-mail is to send the following message to any listserv host: list g lo b a l‚ or more precisely, list g lo b a l/ ‹k e y w o r d › . For example, the message “list glo­ bal/geography” to listserv@kentvm.kent.edu yields a list of several discussion groups con­ cerned with geography. Useful listservs To subscribe to most listservs, leave the sub­ ject line blank and send as a message: sub­ scribe ‹list nam e› ‹you r first n am e› ‹y ou r last nam e›. Example: subscribe govdoc-1 jane doe. Note: Save the subscription verification let­ ter for future reference; it explains how to post messages, unsubscribe from the list, search, etc. • gopher-jewels: announces new gophers and services. Send one-word message o f “sub­ s c r i b e ” (n o n am e ) to : g o p h e rje w e ls lis t- request@tpis.cactus.org; searchable via gopher at cwis.usc.edu in directory = Other Gophers and Information Resources/Gopher-Jewels. • net-happenings: current awareness ser­ vice consisting o f posts mostly from other lists; announces new Internet tools and sites, con­ ferences, and services for educators. Warning: generates large number of daily postings. Sub­ scribe to: listserv@is.internic.net. • newnir-1: announces new Internet re­ sources; provides good current awareness with a manageable number o f messages; gopher archive at govan.cent.gla.ac.uk in directory = Softw are and Mail Archives/University o f Glasgow Mail Archives. Subscribe as e-mail to: listserv@itocsivm.csi.it. • scout-report: weekly announcements of new Internet resources and services; search­ able gopher archive at is.internic.net in direc­ tory = InterNIC Information Services/Scout Re­ port. Subscribe as e-mail to: majordomo@ is.internic.net. mailto:listserv@kentvm.kent.edu ftp://ftp.clark.net mailto:listserv@kentvm.kent.edu mailto:request@tpis.cactus.org mailto:listserv@is.internic.net mailto:listserv@itocsivm.csi.it D ecem ber 1994 / 721 telnetable gophers expect you to type “gopher.” If you are asked for a password, either the lo­ gin is incorrect or the site does not allow out­ siders to dial in. Below are some o f the better public sites with “gopher” or no login required: • consultant.micro.umn.edu • gopher.msu.edu • inform.umd.edu • sunsite.unc.edu • vienna.hh.lib.umich.edu (login = mlink). First-rate gophers contain the most useful items on the opening screen. The main menu o f Washington and Lee University’s “Honor” gopher is on page 719. 7. P o w er u sers m ain tain a d atab ase o f su bject-orien ted sites an d individual t e x t / d ata flies. Often you’ll need more than just an all-purpose gopher. Pow er users are busy, driven people with specific needs. The internet has a database for everyone. Find specific material from a Som e plist o f lists or Internet direc­ tory. Maintain a directory list users o f important ftp7 and World dozens Wide Web sites as well. Sev­ eral info-scouts have prepared net a d d articles and pathfinders iden­ tifying Internet resources by and gli su b je c t. T h e U n iv ersity o f the k e y Michigan maintains one o f the best known databases o f such effortle guides in the C lea r in g h o u se That's f o r Su bject-O rien ted Lists.8 Find an archive that main­ tains texts or data in your area o f interest and learn the essential commands to search and retrieve files. Most importantly, anticipate likely reference questions and download useful ma­ terial onto your local computer b e fo r e ques­ tions arise. Strive for a successful “live” session by knowing your destination in advance. This requires preparation and practice. Searching the Internet should be no different than an online, for-fee search: ill-preparedness may lead to unpleasant results. As my final advice: feel the excitement of cyberspace and explore! Notes 1. See especially: In tern et R ese a rch (ISSN 1066-2243); In tern et W orld (ISSN 1064-3923); The W orld W ide W eb Newsletter (ISSN 1350- 2263); and selected coverage in library-oriented journals such as C om puters in L ibraries, D a t a ­ base, and Online. 2. Two o f the best Archie databases via go­ her are: archie.intern ic.net and unlinfo2.unl. du 2007 (include the number). 3. Gophers with Veronica on the main menu include gopher.tam u.edu, gopher.uchicago. edu, g o p h er.u id a h o .ed u , g o p h er.u n r.e d u , infolib.lib.berkeley.edu, and refmac.kent.edu; ee page 719 for a screen print from honor.uc. lu.edu 1020. 4. To search Veronica directly, without navi­ gating menus, type in one o f the following URLs: gopher://veronica.sunet.se:2347/7; go- pher://info.psi.net:2347/7; g o pher://sound garden.micro.umn.edu:8001/7. 5. Current directories include ARL’s annual D irectory o f E lec tro n ic Jo u r n a ls , Newsletters, a n d A c a d e m ic D iscu ssion Lists (Washington, D.C.: Association o f Research Libraries, Office o f Scientific and Academic Publishing); Eric B raun’s T he In te r n e t D irec to ry (New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1994); Ed­ w er ward T. Hardie’s In tern et M ail­in g Lists (E nglew ood Cliffs, m orize N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1994); and f Inter­ In tern et W orld ’s On In tern et 9 4 , edited by Tony Abbott sse s (W estport, C onn.: M eckler, along 1993). All are fairly complete, though no one directory can a rd keep up with the constant ad­ ly. ditions and changes. 6. Two free lists available w er. via g op her are Jo h n Maku­ lowich’s B ib lio g ra p h y o f In tro­ d u c t o r y I n t e r n e t B o o k s at gopher.cni.org (path given in appendix), and Kevin Savetz’s U n official In tern et B o o k List at library3.library.carleton.ca in directory = Elec­ tronic Resources/Internet Guides/Books about the Internet. 7. For a good list o f essential ftp-accessible documents, download internet-cmc.txt from ftp.rpi.edu in directory = pub/communications; the list is also available via gopher at many sites, including gopher.cni.org in directory = C oalition FTP Archives/Publicly A ccessible Documents/Guides to Network Use/December, ohn; Computer Mediated Communications and Internet Tools. 8. Una.hh.lib.umich.edu (telnet login = “go­ pher”) or gopher.lib.umich.edu in directory = What’s New and Featured Resources; una’s ftp directory = /inetdirs; for a list o f several re­ sources by topic download my “Social Sciences and Humanities” guide. ■ p e s w J o m e o re de b o ss p o gopher://veronica.sunet.se:2347/7 ftp://ftp.rpi.edu