NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/bit/listserv/edtech/2404

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From: [e-mail] (Gleason Sackman)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.edtech
Subject: November Hunt Results - 1 of 4
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Date: 17 Nov 92 21:22:53 GMT
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---------- Text of forwarded message ----------
Date:         Mon, 16 Nov 1992 15:47:22 PST
From: "(Rick Gates)" <[e-mail]>
Subject:      November Hunt Results
To: Multiple recipients of list NETTRAIN <[e-mail]>

***************************************************************
*                                                             *
*          RESULTS OF THE NOVEMBER 92 INTERNET HUNT           *
*                                                             *
*             (warning: extremely long message)               *
*                                                             *
*           (lean quite heavily on the delete key)            *
***************************************************************

The winner for this months Hunt is:

        Hope N. Tillman
        Director of Libraries
        Babson College
        Babson Park MA 02157-0310

Hope scored the maximum points, 49, in an entry dated Sun, Nov 1, 5:10
EST.  Some of you may recall that Hope was our first winner.
Congratulations on a job well done!

I also received the first team entry for the Hunt.  Congratulations to:

        The Polar Raiders
        The University of Tromsoe
        Norway

The Polar Raiders scored 40 points.

As always, if any players would like to receive their scored entry,
feel free to send me a message.

STATISTICS
----------

Once again, we are up in total number of players, 27 in all this time.
In addition, I received numerous messages carrying comments,
suggestions, questions, and good words of support.

A STATEMENT OF DIRECTION
------------------------

One of the primary comments that I've received is "OK, I see how your
players accessed the information they're after, but how do they know
where to begin looking?  Where do they start?

With anything as large, dynamic and unique as the Internet, there are,
as one might guess, many different theories about how to get started.
These seem to fall into a couple of major camps.  The *extremes* of
these two camps are:

Camp 1: Let's get this damn thing organized.  We want a set of indexes
to the whole thing so we can find out what we what, when we want, once
and for all.  Nobody wants to go looking all over creation!  You learn
only by direction.

Camp 2: Are you kidding, you can't index the Internet.  It's too huge!
Not only that, but it's too dynamic.  Anybody can add to it.  Don't
try fencing it in.  You'll just kill it.  What you need to do is jump
in with both feet, roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.  You
learn only by doing.

In reality there are few that would embrace either of these points of
view.  I believe that for the most part, the players are the type of
people that both recognize the need for better, more comprehensive
tools, but are so attracted by the volume of valuable information that
they're willing to jump in with both feet.  These are the pathfinders
of the Net.

To those that prefer to wait until the way is more established, I've
included both answers and suggestions toward the kinds of tools and
resources that *do* attempt to pave the way toward easier access.

So keep those comments coming.  As you can see, I will listen.

Finally, I've received enough requests about accessing previous Hunts
that I'm looking into ways to archive the questions, the answers, and
assorted comments.  Hopefully, this will allow me to keep overhead
commentary (such as this), to a minimum, and allow people to get right
to what they want.

ABOUT THIS HUNT
---------------

Some of the answers are a lot longer this time around, as I'm trying
to include more of the strategy of searching for those that have
requested it.

Many of Hope Tillman's answers are quite good in this respect.  Also
good at showing strategy (and entertaining reading to boot), were many
of the answers contributed by Stephen Elliott of Trent Univ.  Stephen's
answers all begin with the word Keys:.

Brygg Ullmer managed to answer all the questions using only the Gopher
server at the University of South Carolina.  Brygg admits that some
questions may be better served by accessing a resource directly
through telnet or ftp, but it's still a good demonstration of the
power and flexibility of Gopher.  (Thank you Univ. of Minn!)

Finally, thanks to the University of Arizona School of Library
Science, and Gretchen Whitney in particular, for letting me use the
computer lab to finish off these results while I'm here in Tucson on
vacation.  (Hey! We all have different ways to relax!)

SOME STRATEGY
-------------

For an idea about how best to get started, I'll leave it again to
Stephen Elliott.  He includes the following at the top of his entry:

  Meta-Strategy / Game Plan

  I get the impression that some people are sitting alone in a dark room
  staring at a MAIL> prompt wondering how to go about doing the Internet
  Hunt.  Sorry, can't be done.  If nothing else, you are going to have
  to get a copy of Scott Yanoff's list [Finger [e-mail]
  to see how to do that].  In addition to that, I would highly
  recommend:

  1. A copy of Zen and the Art of the Internet or similar document
  2. At least one actual human being to teach/help you [I rely on a
  systems librarian and a computer hacker - an excellent combination].
  3. Getting hooked up to a gopher service as soon as possible - a WAIS
  server and a trip in the WorldWideWeb would also give you an excellent
  idea of what's out there.
  4. Hytelnet is an excellent tool, but unless it's mounted on your
  system, you need a PC to make use of it.
  5. If all this completely baffles you then simply send notes to all
  your friends [NOT to your electronic conferences!] saying: "send me
  all the Internet stuff you have".


THE ANSWERS
-----------

 1. (5) 'How can I get the text of the Supreme Court opinion on
 the "right to die" case CRUZAN v. DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPT. OF
 HEALTH?'
 (Thanks to Neal McBurnett, AT&T Bell Labs, Denver for contributing
 this question.)

Winner's Answer

      The Supreme Court opinion text is on Cleveland Freenet in
      the Project Hermes Supreme Court opinion section. To get
      there,

      TELNET to freenet-in-a.cwru.edu
      Login as visitor or registered user
      At main menu, pick 4. The Courthouse and Government Center
      At next menu, pick 2. The Courthouse legal information
      At next menu, pick 6. Supreme Court Opinions (Project
       Hermes)
      At next menu, pick 6. Supreme Court Opinion File
      At Enter command, type slash enter
                slash is "/"

                enter is "enter key" or "return key"
      At Enter pattern to search subject, type name of case
         "CRUZAN v. DIRECTOR, MISSOURI"
      This will bring up the records from which to select
      the text of the opinion.

Other Answers
-------------

 USC-Math Gopher Service: Multitopic/Misc/Supreme Court rulings
 <search for "Cruzan">

 88-1503 Opinions (listed first) are for this case; 91-744 rulings cite
 the precedents established by this earlier case.

 ----------
 ftp to info.umd.edu, cd to /info/Government/US/SupremeCt/1989term
 get file called 88-1503

 INDEX in /info/Government/US/SupremeCt is useful in finding
 cases by name

 archie was used to find "supreme", "archie -slt supreme"

 ----------

 connect to Gopher at gopher.micro.umn.edu
 Select option 5, Internet file server (ftp) sites/
 Select option 2, Popular FTP Sites via Gopher/
 Select option 15, Supreme Court Rulings (CWRU)/
 Select option 2 for Index.

 Files available on CRUZAN v. DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPT. OF HEALTH are:
 88-1503.S:      CRUZAN v. DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPT. OF HEALTH, Syllabus
 88-1503.O:      88-1503--OPINION, CRUZAN v. DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPT. OF HEALTH
 88-1503.C1:     88-1503--CONCUR, CRUZAN v. DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPT. OF HEALTH
 88-1503.C2:     88-1503--CONCUR, CRUZAN v. DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPT. OF HEALTH
 88-1503.D1:     88-1503--DISSENT, CRUZAN v. DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPT. OF HEALTH
 88-1503.D2:     88-1503--DISSENT, CRUZAN v. DIRECTOR, MISSOURI DEPT. OF HEALTH

 The file containing the Opinion is 88-1503.O.   Return to the Supreme
 Court ruling menu and select 6, Ascii. The file we are looking for is
 #44.  You can have gopher mail this to you.

 Alternatively you could ftp to ftp.cwru.edu. The file is
 /hermes/ascii/88-1503.O.filt.

 ====================================================================
 2. (7) I'm hooked on the Usenet, and I've got a great idea for a
 new newsgroup.  Where can I find the steps I need to follow to
 put my machine on the Usenet?

Winner's Answer

      Use WAIS.  Telnet "QUAKE.THINK.COM" and select
      "JIK-USENET [pit-manager.mit.edu]. It is
      currently no. 170 (10/31/92).
      Pick keywords "Usenet newsgroup steps" to search.
      Among documents retrieved is the document which
      will do what you want:
      Jonathan Kamens, "How to become a Usenet site."
      You can request it to be sent to you by mail by
      selecting it and typing m (for mail) and then
      putting in your address when requested.
      Alternatively, ftp a copy from pit-manager.edu
      cd pub
      cd usenet
      cd news.announce.newusers
      get "How_to_become_a_Usenet_site."

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