For Safe Conduct Through the Network, Get "The Internet Passport"

Until recently, the best orientation to the Internet was by word of mouth. Experienced users showed neophytes how to use the somewhat quirky programs, and people told their friends when they found something "cool." However, such a system is out of scale with a network of over a million computers and seven million users. A number of guide books are now available.

One of the best of these is The Internet Passport: NorthWestNet's Guide to Our World Online, Fourth Edition. This 450-page book by Jonathan Kochmer and NorthWestNet is designed for computer users, not network administrators. With little experience on the network, you can pick up the The Internet Passport and start using the Internet immediately. The Internet Passport was written in Seattle and often uses local resources as examples a benefit for readers from the University of Washington community.

Explanations and sample sessions are included for basic Internet resources--electronic mail, Telnet, and FTP. The Internet Passport also offers extensive information on advanced resources such as mailing lists, LISTSERV, Usenet, libraries, and campus-wide information systems. Since it is impossible to explain every system for these resources, Kochmer offers instructions for common systems and points to sources of specific information for the others.

The Internet Passport balances cataloging the resources on the network with explaining how to use them. There are excellent sections on databases and directory services, with short descriptions of hundreds of other offerings. These descriptions do not offer step- by-step instructions, but they tell you what is on the network, how to get your foot in the door, and how to get help.

While this guide emphasizes established, reliable network resources, it also includes descriptions and sample sessions for programs developed in the past two years--Archie, Gopher, WAIS, and World-Wide Web. In addition, K-12 and supercomputer resources on the Internet are discussed.

To order The Internet Passport from NorthWestNet, send email to passport@nwnet.net or call NorthWestNet at 562-3000.

University of Washington Computing & Communications
Windows on Computing, No. 13, May 1993
newsltr@cac.washington.edu