John's Research Resources Page 2
for educators exploring resources on the Internet
In an effort to keep this information current, this area is ALWAYS under construction. Last updated October 8, 1996
In an effort to keep this information current, this area is ALWAYS under construction. Information available on the Internet can be
Teachers may be more concerned with information of the following types:
The "sites" (that is, the places where this information is stored) are of several types, depending on the tools used to store and retrieve the information. The Tools used to retrieve this information include...
To some extent, university site administrators are falling away from using WWW for their most prized academic materials. This may be the result of the high traffic on WWW. Many of the WWW sites offered by universities offer new student information and general public information. In many cases, the academic information can be reached by a Web Browser, but the university's home page may not show the links to these resources. Telnet, Gopher, or FTP may be necessary to view their most valuable files.
Of course, you might not know that a site has information you want. You would only know that Kansas State University web page contains links to some of the country's finest databases of historical information if someone told you that such information would be at that site. That is where the Search Engines become indispensible.
Click Here to Jump to the Lesson on Search Engines.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allows you to download files from other sites. (Download -- you know -- Load a file down from a remote computer to yours.) You can do this with NETSCAPE, so it is generally not necessary to use specific FTP software for getting files from remote sites. However, NETSCAPE will not allow you to upload files -- you know, send files up from your computer to remote sites. So, if you need to send a file (upload) to an FTP site you need FTP software such as FETCH (Macintosh) or WS-FTP (Windows).
Many academic sites used to leave shared files on servers known as FTP sites. This was an early means of sharing files in the Internet.
The following sites -- accessible using NETSCAPE -- describe locations of FTP resources.
Goher was developed at the University of Minnesota, and only a handful of university continue to emphasize this service. Gopher sites can be accessed and searched using NETSCAPE. However, the sites, which contain considerable academic information from some universities, have been indexed and are searchable using search engines specific to Gopher site databases. Gopher servers offer their information in text only.
In NETSCAPE, you can access a gopher site, if you have the URL address, by entering "gopher://" at the beginning of the address in the OPEN dialog box. For example, if you click OPEN, then enter "gopher://umn.edu/" you get the main gopher menu at University of Minnesota. From there, you can search the archives at that institution.
A few good places to begin research using Gopher sites are shown here, using Veronica, a Gopher search engine. Note that NETSCAPE may be used to access these sites, or the older software intended specifically for Gopher searches, TurboGopher.
Software for Telnet is available from NCSA at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaigne.
For example, you can login to Harvard University's library system using HOLLIS--the Harvard On-Line Library Information Service. NETSCAPE is suitable for entering the library catalog system, but some parts of Harvard's network require passwords for further examination. NETSCAPE will not work, and you would have to acquire software for this purpose, such as NSCA Telnet. Naturally, you would also have to get permission from the library administrator, and a password.
Many university library systems operate in this way. Access is not readily available to the public at some sites.
Direct Telnet access to the Library of Congress can be made using the URL address telnet://locis.loc.gov.
Using Email
If you have nothing else on the Internet, Email is the most valuable tool available. It allows text-only communication and is heavily used to pass information. See Listserves, below, as one potential way of using Email for academic research. Email requires an account, usually obtained from a commercial institution, such as America Online, Compuserve, etc., or from a government agency such as GINA. Several Email readers are available as freeware. The latest version of NETSCAPE offers Email capability.
The Virtual Tourist offers a map of Email and site addresses by geographical region. --http://wings.buffalo.edu/world/
FINGER software makes it possible to search for Email addresses. Usually you learn the Email addresses of people you need to contact from other sources, and from Listserves.
The quality of information varies from list to list, but also varies over time depending on who is contributing at the time. New members generally observe, for a while, and begin sending messages only when they have a feel for the character of the list. Some lists deteriorate when too much traffic congests everyone's mailboxes. When that happens, some members will often form a new list on a more specific topic. Some lists are available to anyone interested; others are selective, and request a message of introduction, which can usually be accomplished by Email.
A good method of finding contact with colleagues is to fish around among listserves until you find one that suits your interest. Once you have joined an appropriate list, you can ask if anyone has information of the kind you are seeking. With some luck, you may get a response from someone who has the information you want -- occasionally linking you to a source document, or, with the best of luck, sending you the document by Email.
Instructions for joining a list may be found at some of the lists of lists, such as TileNet. None of the lists of lists below includes all of the listserves available, so it is wise to look through several of them.
The Webber Listserve List has a search engine for finding appropriate listserves. --http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/staff/morgan/listwebber.html