Surfing the INTERNET: an Introduction Version 2.0.2 December 15, 1992
c. 1992 Jean Armour Polly. Material quoted from other authors was compiledfrom public Internet posts by those authors. No copyright claims are madefor those compiled quotes. Permission to reprint is granted for nonprofiteducational purposes. Please let me know if you find this compilation useful.This first (much shorter) version of this appeared in the June, 1992 WilsonLibrary Bulletin. Please include this entire copyright/copy notice if youduplicate this document. Updates may be ftp'd:
ftp nysernet.org (192.77.173.2)login anonymouspassword name@machine.nodecd /pub/resources/guides
Please choose the most current version of surfing.the.internet.
Please send updates and corrections to: jpolly@nysernet.org
Today I'll travel to Minnesota, Texas, California, Cleveland, New Zealand,Sweden, and England. I'm not frantically packing, and I won't pick upany frequent flyer mileage. In fact, I'm sipping cocoa at my Macintosh.My trips will be electronic, using the computer on my desk, communicationssoftware, a modem, and a standard phone line.
I'll be using the Internet, the global network of computers and theirinterconnections, which lets me skip like a stone across oceans andcontinents and control computers at remote sites. I haven't "visited"Antarctica yet, but it is only a matter of time before a host computerbecomes available there!
This short, non-technical article is an introduction to Internetcommunications and how librarians and libraries can benefit from netconnectivity. Following will be descriptions of electronic mail,discussion lists, electronic journals and texts, and resources availableto those willing to explore. Historical details about the building of theInternet and technical details regarding network speed and bandwidth areoutside the scope of this piece.
What's Out There Anyway?
Until you use a radio receiver, you are unaware of the wealth ofprogramming, music, and information otherwise invisible to you.Computer networks are much the same. About one million peopleworldwide use the Internet daily. Information packet trafficrises by 12% each month.
About 727,000 host computers are connected, according to a January, 1992report (Network Working Group Request for Comments: 1296) by Mark K. Lottor.So, what's all the excitement about? What's zipping around in that fiberand cable and ether, anyway?
On my electronic adventure I browsed the online catalog at the University
Library in Liverpool, England, leaving some "Hi there from Liverpool, New
York" mail for the librarian.
I downloaded some new Macintosh anti-virus software from Stanford's
SUMEX archive.
Then I checked a few databases for information needed for this article, andscanned today's news stories.
I looked at the weather forecast for here in the East and for the SanFrancisco Bay area, forwarding that information to a friend in San Josewho would read it when he woke up. The Internet never closes!
After that I read some electronic mail from other librarians inIsrael, Korea, England, Australia and all over the U.S. We'reexchanging information about how to keep viruses off public computers,how to network CDROMS, and how to reink inkjet printer cartridges,among other things.
I monitor about twelve discussion groups. Mail sent to the groupaddress is distributed to all other "subscribers". It's similar toa round-robin discussion. These are k