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You
wouldn't be reading this if you didn't know how to access
the worldwide network of computers known as the Internet.
So this section isn't about modems, dialups, ISPs and so on;
you've already got all that under control. Rather, our intention
is to help you use the Internet purposefully, as a source
of information you need.
Get organized. Without proper organization, your research
time can simply vanish into the black holes in cyberspace.
Before you sign on, list the information you need, or the
questions you want answered, or the topics you wish to pursue.
Stick to your list. Especially on the World Wide Web, it's
all too easy to become distracted by the Internet's many byways.
The Internet isn't everything. Despite all the hype, other
sources of information, including people whom you encounter
face-to-face or on the phone, remain valuable and unique sources
of information. In addition, it is not a good or wise thing
to substitute Internet surfing for making contact with actual
people, reading a book, enjoying your backyard, etc.
Use search engines and indexes. Search engines are specialized
programs that search for any topic you specify on the World
Wide Web, or ferret out Usenet newsgroups (see below) or listserv
mailing lists (see below). For example, AltaVista, a well-known
search engine, searches not only the Web but also the Usenet
system. Given a key word or phrase, these programs set off
like hound dogs, sniffing out the information you want. Each
search engine has its own rules and procedures; be sure to
read and follow the directions for best results.
Check www.hometownamerica.com/usa/usa_dir_net_h.html
for a list of engines which search the Web and also a list
of indexes of the Usenet newsgroup system and listserv mailing
lists. An excellent site operated by George Mason University,
www.gmu.edu
provides elaborate searching methods, including web sites
and libraries geared toward but not limited to academic research.
You can use a search engine to locate other search engines,
or lists of search engines. Also, Web sites, especially the
larger ones, have internal search engines. Simply type in
a key word or phrase, and the engine will search the Web site
you're visiting, saving you the time you'd otherwise spend
wandering through a large site.
Some of you may have noticed that search engines are more
intuitive than before, in that you may often call up topics
not only using "key words," but phrases, naming
acts of legislation or modes of business. "Meta search
engines" also makes searching easier. Meta search engines
simultaneously search several search engines at once. One
such meta search engine is known as Copernic 2000.
It provides access to some 65 information sources, including
AltaVista, Deja.com, Excite, HotBot, Infoseek, Lycos, Magellan,
WebCrawler and Yahoo! Download it free at: http://www.copernic.com/index.html
Browse judiciously and leave a trail. Web browsing starts
when you visit an interesting site, find it includes an index
to other sites, jump from the index to a new site, discover
its index and jump from there to a third site, which also
has an index, and...well, you get the idea. This is why it's
so easy to get lost on the Web and stray from your research
goal. When you browse to a site you know you'll want to re-visit,
use your Web browser to set a "bookmark" before you leave
the site. Later, you can pull down your bookmark list and
return to the desired location with a click of the mouse.
This clearly beats using your browser's "back" function to
page backward through dozens of sites just so you can return
to your starting point.
The Internet researcher (you) can cruise any of three lanes
on the vast superhighway of the Internet:
e-mail.
file transfer.
the World Wide Web.
The World Wide Web lane is the most popular and expanding the
fastest. But each lane of the information superhighway can take
you to meaningful destinations on your hunt for information
about assistive technology or any topic that interests you.
E-mail (electronic mail) conveys messages to individuals or
to whole groups of individuals simultaneously. For example,
you can send e-mail to a certain well-known person at president@whitehouse.gov.
E-mail also is the information distribution method used by newsgroups,
which are online discussion groups, and listserv mailing
lists, to which you can subscribe.
One of the wonderful things about e-mail is that you can communicate
with people all over the world without paying long-distance
telephone charges and without waiting for conventional mail
(now known to e-mailers as "snail mail"). In addition, you can
save your e-mail for reading later or re-reading, and share
e-mail with others by forwarding.
Newsgroups are carried on the Usenet system which
connects hundreds of thousands of computers all over the world
so users can discuss topics of common interest. Most-but not
all-Usenet computers (news servers) are linked to the Internet,
and they serve up many thousands of newsgroups.
Newsgroup discussion are not conducted in "real time," as in
a chat room; they are conducted on message boards. That is,
using e-mail, a group member posts a comment or query for other
members to read, then those who wish to respond post a message
in reply. Newsgroup discussions are "threaded": postings are
organized so that a group member can follow the thread of a
single discussion from its start to the most current message.
To find a list of newsgroups which interest you, use a search
engine (such as AltaVista) which can search Usenet. When we
fed the words "assistive technology" into the AltaVista Usenet
search engine, we received a list of 5,148 groups! In addition,
some Web sites post lists of newsgroups. Try the sites at www.liszt.com
or www.Tile.net/news
which offer newsgroup search engines and some helpful information
about newsgroups in general.
You will notice that newsgroup names all have a prefix. This
prefix indicates the general category of a newsgroup. The most
common prefixes are: alt. (alternative), comp. (computer), news.
(obviously, news), sci. (science), biz. (business), talk. (yep,
talk), soc. (social issues), rec. (recreation) and misc. (you
guessed it, miscellaneous). A newsgroup prefix may also indicate
the place of origin of a newsgroup: for example, "au." means
Australia and "fi." indicates Japan.
When you select a newsgroup by clicking on its link from a list
produced by a search engine, a list of that newsgroup's postings
will appear on your screen. (Most Web browsers include a "news
reader" for this purpose.) Click on any posting to begin reading
and use your e-mail function to respond to a posting or start
a new discussion thread. Remember that your posting will be
distributed to thousands of computers all over the world. Whether
you simply read a newsgroup's offerings or participate more
fully by becoming a "poster," you should be aware that every
newsgroup has certain ground rules which are posted in documents
called FAQs (frequently asked questions). It is wise to download
and read a newsgroup's FAQs before participating.
Mailing lists also depend on e-mail. Listservs
are the most common type of mailing list; they are managed by
a computer (the host) which automatically enters and deletes
subscriptions to the list and broadcasts the list's content
to all subscribers. Unlike newsgroups, in which anyone can read
and respond to messages, mailing lists require you to subscribe
in order to participate.
Many mailing lists convey discussions in which your e-mail to
the list is e-mailed to every other member of the list, any
of whom may e-mail a response, which in turn is e-mailed to
every subscriber. (When you join a mailing list, you will find
your e-mailbox rapidly becomes quite full.) Alternately, a mailing
list may be the means by which an organization e-mails news
bulletins, fact sheets, newsletters and other information to
subscribers. (Infinitec Inc.'s listserv mailing list is this
type.)
To subscribe to a mailing list, you must send an e-mail request
to the list's computer. The list's address takes the form: listserv@hostaddress.
For example, ABLETECH-L is a list for parents, teachers and
others concerned with disability and assistive technology; its
address is: listserv@listserv.okstate.edu.
A subscription request addressed to a listserv should carry
a message in this form: subscribe nameoflist your name.
For example, to subscribe to ABLETECH-L, you'd send a message
saying saying: sub ABLETECH-L yourname. Specific directions
are available for each mailing list. Form is important when
dealing with lists, because your requests and other e-mail are
interpreted by a host computer which is programmed to "understand"
instructions in only one way.
To find indexes of mailing lists on the Web try www.Tile.net/lists
or www.liszt.com.
Commercial online services with Internet gateways, such as AOL,
provide help in locating both mailing lists and newsgroups.
On the Web, list indexes are linked to forms which help you
subscribe to the lists you choose. As with newsgroups, there
are appropriate ways to interact with a mailing list. FAQs usually
are available.
Whether you communicate one-on-one, or through newsgroups and
listserve mailing lists, e-mail is an important-perhaps the
most important-research option when dealing with topics such
as disability. The information you want about real, practical
experience with assistive technology can best be had from people
who have used the technology. Additionally, an online discussion
group can turn into a valuable support community for people
with disabilities, their families and the professionals who
serve them. Access to e-mail means you are never alone with
your problem or concern.
File transfer protocol or FTP describes a very common
method of accessing a remote computer (FTP site) and copying
information (file) from the remote computer to your computer
(downloading). It's often faster than downloading from the Web,
but certainly not as pretty. Some FTP sites are restricted to
registered user, such as university faculty or students, but
there are thousands of anonymous FTP sites which are
open to the public. When asked to "login" (sign in) to the site,
the visitor simply types "anonymous" as the account name.
To search out interesting ftp (file transfer protocol) sites,
you might point your browser to ftpsearch.ntnu.no,
a Norway-based service which, when we tried it, yielded a list
of 50 ftp sites in response to the key word "disability." Many
Web sites include indices of related sites, some of which are
Gopher servers accessible through the Web.
While working with FTP you may come across Archie and Veronica.
Archie, a program similar to Gopher, requires you to
know the exact name of the FTP file you want. Veronica
is a continually updated database of the names of almost every
menu item carried on thousands of Gopher servers. The Veronica
database can be searched from most Gopher menus.
The bottom line: The popularity of conducting Gopher searching
for FTP sites is declining as the World Wide Web expands. Yet
millions of FTP-retrievable files, including full-length books,
remain available on the Internet. Some of these files are not
available on the World Wide Web, so Gopher searching still has
its place in the Internet researcher's tool kit.
Because it is so easy to use, the Web has become the most popular
part of the Internet. The Web owes its popularity and distinct
character to HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) the code
or "language" in which Web files (hypertext documents) are written.
Hypertext documents are moved across the Internet according
to HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). With no effort on your
part, your Web browser, an HTTP client program you've
installed on your computer, interprets HTML and displays the
result on your monitor. (Web browsers also do more than that,
of course. Your browser probably handles e-mail, accesses newsgroups
and searches Gopher server menus, among other things.)
HTML's unique feature is its ability to create links
which lead from one location on the Web to another. (The Web
is the only part of the Internet which uses links.) A link is
indicated by a word or words (usually underlined and/or distinguished
by color) or a graphic (illustration). By clicking on a link,
you can jump to another place within a Web site or to a whole
different Web site. Linking enables Web browsing, which is a
good thing, but the mindless pursuit of links can get you thoroughly
lost.
A Web site, a location on the Web created and sponsored by a
person or organization, may include one or many parts, called
"pages." Typically, the user enters a site at the home page,
which is the main page or "front door" of a site. The "address"
of a Web site is its URL (uniform resource locator).
Given one or a few URLs, you can be off and running through
the Web in pursuit of various links. Remember: store the URLs
of sites you particularly like in your browser's list of bookmarks,
so you can find your way back again! Here's another tip: if
you don't click on a link, but just hold your cursor on it,
you'll see the URL for the site at the other end of the link
displayed somewhere in your browser window. In Netscape Navigator,
that display is at the lower left edge of the window.
Thanks to linking, the Web can be a particularly rich source
of information. The ability to follow information as it branches
all over the Web adds depth and breadth to the pursuit of a
topic. However, your movement around the Web can slow to a crawl
or end in a crash unless you have a fast computer (a Pentium-based
DOS machine or Power Macintosh) with ample RAM (at least 16
MB) and a fast modem (28.8 bps or better). Speedy and robust
computing equipment has become standard, thanks in large part
to the computing public's desire to browse the Web.
The huge volume of resources available on the Internet can be
exhausting. And there's a lot of clutter out there, which can
be distracting and confusing. When you start to feel the unmistakable
symptoms of "information overload," a variety of burn out, it's
time to call a halt. There's no point in sitting, glassy-eyed,
before a computer monitor as data you no longer can make sense
of or retain washes through your numb senses into your tired
mind. Turn off the computer and go do something else.
Novice Internet researchers will spend a lot of time separating
"noise" from meaningful information. But, with practice, you'll
develop not only the skills, but the mental discipline you need
to stay on track. The effort of learning to think like an experienced
Internet researcher will be rewarded every time you hit on exactly
the information you need, preferably from a person who understands
your situation because he or she has been there. |
