The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog By Ed Krol O'Reilly and Associates o 400 pages (approx); Will probably include a quickref o $24.95; quantity discounts available o ISBN 1-56592-025-2 o Available September 10, 1992 (available overseas in late October) o Order from ORA directly (1-800-998-9938) or your local bookstore "The Whole Internet" is a complete and comprehensive introduction to the Internet for new users. In the Nutshell tradition, it contains "all you need to know" about the Internet to get started and to make use of it. The author, Ed Krol, has been around the Internet for years, and is well-known as the author of RFC 1118, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet." However, this book is more than an update of the "Hitchhiker's Guide": it's a complete new work, aimed at readers who are new to the Net; users who have been poking around the Net, but haven't really figured out how to use it well; and even users who have been around for a while, but want to read up on some of the newer services that are available. We started this project when we were asked to write a book that would answer most of the questions that a new Internet user brings to a network administrator. The challenge was very frank: "If you've succeeded, I can stick a note on my door telling users to buy this book before bugging me with questions--and then only deal with real problems." We think we've succeeded. If you're an administrator, you can recommend this book, and watch your workload decline. If you're a new user, you can read this book and avoid dealing with your grumpy admin. Another of our goals was evangelistic: to generate interest among people who are only vaguely familiar with the Internet. We did this by showing what the Network offers--most specifically, in the form of a Resource Catalog that lists a broad range of the resources that are out there, ranging from the Bryn Mawr Classical Reviews to Project Hermes (law) to Not Just Cows (agriculture) and the University of Stuttgart's wonderful online cookbook. We chose to make this list as broad and eclectic as possible. It's not a list of free software sources, for example; it's a list that anyone from a high-school teacher to a theologian can pick up, glance at, and say "yes, that's interesting; this Internet thing might be worthwhile." Of course, this book offers everything that you'd expect in a book about the Internet--a little history, how the net works, addressing, and general background on what you're allowed to do. We cover the standard Internet services--telnet, ftp, mail, news, white-pages, including "minor" applications like talk and chat. We give advice on what to do and what not to do: how electronic mail differs from postal mail or a phone message, how to avoid poorly thought-out news postings that can start seemingly endless flame wars. But basic knowledge of the tools and etiquetter is only half the problem. To a new user--or even to an old user--the Internet is fairly confusing and disorganized. Finding what you want can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. Not long ago, the only way to find out about Internet resources was to keep you ear to the ground, attend conferences, and talk to gurus. Our Resource Catalog only partly solves this problem: we've had to be selective, and new resources are added daily. Four new Internet applications--Archie, the Gopher, WAIS, and the World-Wide Web (WWW)--provide the real solution. These four tools are like "reference librarians" that let you find, with relatively little trouble, exactly what you want: Archie points you at files in FTP archives. It's particularly useful for finding free software; Gopher is a general tool for accessing any Internet resource, via subject-oriented menus; WAIS is an extremely powerful tool for searching large libraries and collections, based on keywords; WWW organizes all of the Internet's resources in terms of a "hypertext" model. You can move between resources by following "links." To a new user, these are the tools that make the Internet worthwhile. This is the only book we know of that covers all of these tools. At $24.95, this book is a bargain! CONTENTS: 1: What Is This Book About? 2: What is the Internet? 3: How the Internet Works 4: What's Allowed on the Internet 5: Remote Login: Telnet 6: Moving a File: FTP 7: Electronic Mail 8: Network News 9: Finding Software: Archie 10: Finding Someone 11: Finding Anything: Gopher 12: Searching Libraries: WAIS 13: The World as Hypertext: WWW 14: Other Applications 15: Dealing with Problems Resources of the Internet A: Service Providers B: International Network Connectivity C: Acceptable Use The Resource Catalog portion of the book will be available through the Internet. We haven't decided on actually how (anonymous FTP, WAIS resource, hypertext?), so stay tuned for details. ---------------------------------------------------------------- This and other O'Reilly books are available through bookstores or directly from the publisher. For a list of our overseas distributors or US bookstores mail, FAX, or call 707-829-0515. US and Canada: To order from the publisher, write to O'Reilly & Associates, 103A Morris St, Sebastopol, CA 95472, call 1-800-998-9938, or FAX 707-829-0104 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | From the America Online - New Product Information Services | +===============================================================+ | This information was processed from data provided by the | | above mentioned company. For additional details, contact the | | company at the address or telephone number indicated above. | | All submissions for this service should be addressed to | | BAKER ENTERPRISES, 20 Ferro Drive, Sewell, NJ 08080 U.S.A. | +---------------------------------------------------------------+