A Beginner's Guide to the Internet/INTERNET.ISO/text/tutors/intro/polly.txt

Text File | 1995-03-10 | 15.6 KB | 275 lines

Everything I Need to Know About the Net, I Learned in the Public Library
LITA President's Program July 1, 1991
Jean Armour Polly
Assistant Director, Public Services
Head, Microcomputer Services
Liverpool Public Library, 310 Tulip St.  Liverpool NY 13088-4997
[phone]
INTERNET [e-mail]
AppleLink: UG0314
Well: [e-mail]

In 1985, Liverpool Public Library became the first public library east of Chicago
to operate a public electronic bulletin board system.  It was up more or less
continuously for three years.  During that time we grappled with almost every
free speech issue known to man. We struggled, trying to apply public library
principles to this electronic virtual reading room. We let anyone with a home
computer use the BBS.  We let them use online pseudonyms, but they had to
register with their real names.  We posted our Rules and Regulations in the
welcome message.  There would be no discussion of illegal activities condoned,
and no profanity. In fact, we had an obscenity filter in the software.  When a
person tried to upload a message, it first passed through the filter.  If any hits
were found, the message was not saved.  To make it work, we had to think up
all the dirty words we knew.  It made for an interesting meeting!  However, we
hadn't allowed for people who can swear but can't spell, and just how obscene
you can get without ever spelling a word out in its entirety.  Our parser wasn't
THAT sophisticated. We were unsure of our role in providing this service.

BBS's have been described  as clearing-houses, and system operators as
publishers. But like an analog library collection, we wanted to make decisions
about what kinds of things could go on the BBS.  After all, we ran the board on
a souped up Apple IIe, with three or four disk drives and one phone line.
Storage space was a rare commodity, and we couldn't afford to allow one
person or group to monopolize the disk, shutting out others. Which is in fact,
what happened.  A particular religious group began uploading voluminous
treatises to the message spaces.  Only thirty messages could remain online in
each of the sub boards at one time.  This group filled every possible slot in
record time.  And many of the messages were hateful, too, slamming other
religions and holiday celebrations. What to do.  There was a right to free
speech, but it was balanced by the lack of disk space.  The evangelists had
appropriated more than their share.  Our solution was to create a sub board
where all these types of messages could be uploaded.  It was called The 200
Club, borrowing from the Dewey classification for Religion and Philosophy,
and Jim and Tammy Baker's popular TV show of a similar name.  A user
could choose to go to that area of the board, or could ignore it.  As a sidebar to
this issue, we found that much of the material being uploaded was from a
copyrighted publication.  We added to our Rules & Regs list that copyrighted
material could not be posted without permission of the copyright owner.  That
solved part of the problem. Why did we cease operations?  For one thing, the
proliferation of boards in our area made us somewhat redundant.  We felt
strongly that there should be a publicly-owned and operated means of
telecommunications, since so many boards are run at the whim of their sysops,
who may or may not want to support the principles of the Constitution.

For another thing, the time and resources factor caught up with us.  It takes
time to create an electronic library space, and we had other committments. But
the third thing was what pulled the plug.  It was the spectre of government
regulation that scared us off.  We didn't want to be a test case and have our
files seized by the FBI.  We didn't want to be a place where pedophiles could
solicit children.  And so after upholding our public-spirited principles for so
long and so well, in the face of Big Brother, we gave up with a whimper. Not
that we're gone forever.  We are committed to the concept of
telecommunications' being just one more door to the Library, one that's open
24 hours a day.  That's why when our regional network came courting us, we
were ready to get married. I'm going to tell you about what NYSERNet, our
regional, is doing in New York State, because it is a model that could be
replicated by other regionals.  But first I want to say what my public library BBS
experience taught me about networking:

Acquire what people want.
Make everything easily available to everybody.
Make it free to come in the door and look.
Give everyone library cards, but get some ID first.
Don't let people appropriate the materials without your knowing about it.
Let them know if they screw up, there may be a fine.
If you rip a page, tell someone.
Don't use library materials in the bathtub.

NYSERNet is a nonprofit corporation "whose mission is to advance science,
education, and research through the interchange of information via computer
networks".  Affiliates include over 40 academic sites, libraries, non-profit
organizations, commercial research and government facilities.  Their goal is
statewide connectivity for everyone. NYSERNet used to own its own
hardware.  But it found it was doing so much in that realm it didn't have
enough time to concentrate on its real mission, the network advocacy business.
Now it manages the regional network on hardware owned by PSI
(Performance Systems International). PSINet was founded several years ago  by
some ex-NYSERNet employees. PSINet has POPs or Points of Presence on over
40 US cities, with more coming online all the time. PSI offers such things as
Internet access on demand, with no dedicated lines for the customer to install,
although the Standard Connection Service is available as well. There is also an
individual dial-up service, which allows you to dial into a local POP and telnet
out to any PSI standard connection remote site. This would be especially useful
for those who travel frequently but want to access their home LAN. There's a
$35 a month internet after dark service, too. NYSERNet is doing so much in
the field of K-12 networking, FrEdMail, and individual dialup access that I will
only highlight a few of their many current projects.

New Connections

NYSERNet is aggressively bringing new users to the internet. Recently a
number of sites have come online due to the New Connections grant program,
one of them is the Liverpool Public Library. Others include the American
Museum of Natural History, the Russell Sage Foundation, the New York
Public Library, and various K-12 sites. NYSERNet subsidizes network costs for a
trial period of varying lengths. Although the site must provide its own phone
line, 9600 baud modem, and computer, NYSERNet loans the software
necessary to launch a SLIP connection directly to the network backbone. This is
what PSI calls "Dial-up Host" capability. For example, at my library I run the
TCP/Connect II software for the Macintosh, published by InterCon. It is
configured to call my local POP in nearby Syracuse. Once I access PSINet with
my host name and password, I am given a dynamic IP (Internet Protocol)
address, which I then use to begin my SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol)
connection. At that point I am connected directly to the network backbone and
can use the full range of internet activities, from electronic mail to ftp and
telnet. At the end of the grant period, we can elect to keep the software and pay
for our connection, which at this time is about $200 per month.


Liberty Hi
Recently, NYSERNet received a $90,000 grant from IBM for its "Liberty Hi"
program. The idea is to link several NYS high schools and colleges in a kind of
"electronic intrastate of learning" in order to facilitate a "seamless path" for the
student about to enter college. Via email, high school students can discuss
subjects with college professors, talk about college life with university students,
search the library OPAC,  or get the straight story direct from the admissions
offices of the pilot program's colleges. There will also be an electronic (and
anonymous) counselling service modelled on Cornell's nationally-known
"Ask Uncle Ezra". It is the idea that the student can be virtually at college
before being admitted. Then when the student does reach college, it is a known
territory and less of a culture shock.

NYSERNet and the New York State Library

In 1989, the Statewide Automation Committee released a report on the
telecommunications future of New York State's 7,000 libraries. It proposed the
idea of the "Electronic Doorway" through which even the smallest and most
remote libraries could access the resources of other libraries around the State.
The New York State library is the largest State library in the nation, with over
5.5 million items in its collection. In 1991, it will join NYSERNet and make its
OPAC available to internet researchers. Further, the State Library and
NYSERNet will collaborate in a joint initiative to begin implementation of the
Electronic Doorway concept. They will begin to explore possibilities for staging
a replacement of the NYS Interlibrary loan system (NYSILL). And they will
investigate a statewide electronic mail system among libraries and library
systems. It is still a puzzle how libraries, some of whom do not even have a
phone, will be funded in order to buy telecommunications equipment.


Interest Groups
NYSERNet also facilitates two interest groups, one for K-12 users and one for
libraries. The NY State Library cosponsors the Library IG, which has  big plans
and is advising NYSERNet on many fronts. Soon to be mounted is an easy to
use interface, tentatively called NYSERGate, which will permit users to log on,
study a menu of remote hosts,  and then telnet out to a variety of other sites,
which may hold unique or unusual resources. It will not be limited to solely
library OPACS. This summer,  a NYSERNET/PSI BBS will be created, It will be
available to anyone with a computer, a modem, and an Individual Dial-up
Service account from PSI. The account is free. IG members can participate in
moderated discussions with other affiliates. Also, users of the BBS can use the
email features of the board to send and receive mail across the internet.

Beyond the Walls Kit

Beyond the Walls¬, the World of Networked Information, was the theme of a
workshop sponsored by NYSERNet, Inc. and the Academic Computing
Services, School of Information Studies, and Library at Syracuse University, It
was presented in January, 1991,  and was so successful that many participants
asked that the show "go on the road" to be presented at other academic sites. In
response to this, a kit has been developed which contains all the materials
necessary to help you replicate this workshop at your own organization or
campus. It includes, among other things,  all the course handouts and a
videotape of the demo portion. The video includes all phases of an internet
session, including logging in and out, reading and sending electronic mail,
using anonymous FTP to transfer files, subscribing to LISTSERVs, and use of
telnet to log onto remote hosts. The kit can be easily customized to your own
situation. It's available from NYSERNET, 111 College Place, Room 3-211,
Syracuse, NY 13244-4100. The cost is $99 which includes postage, or $49 for
NYSERNet affiliates and Interest Group Members.


New User's Guide to Useful and Unique Resources on the Internet
This guide was created to highlight twenty-two interesting places for users to
visit in their first uses of telnet and FTP. A new project of the K-12 Networking
Interest Group and the NYSERNet Library Networking Interest Group, the
guide was just released in May, 1991. Version 2.0 will be out in September or
October. The guide was compiled and edited by Andrew Perry, Assistant
Director of Libraries and Systems Management at the State University of New
York at Binghampton. It includes instructions for connecting to popular sites
such as the Cleveland Free-Net, CARL (Colorado Association of Research
Libraries, and WUGATE, as well as sessions for NASA Archives, Lou Harris
Data Center, US Supreme Court Opinions, the Weather Underground, and
more. A copyrighted document, the over 70-page guide is available from
NYSERNet for $10, which includes postage and handling. The fees will be used
to seed a funding pool for special networking projects.


More
I want to take a moment to talk about public libraries on the Internet, and
beyond that, on the NREN (National Research and Education Network). Now
that I've got my internet connectivity, what am I going to do with it? Interest
my colleagues, no doubt, and show them the places they can visit and the
souvenirs they can bring back through FTP.
 But, even more critically,  I want to show my library patrons what this data
highway is all about. I want to get them excited about it, so they can start getting
excited about public access to the NREN. Because if they don't ask for it, they
are not going to get it. Much has been made of the idea of a public on ramp to
the NREN's high speed data highway. I'm here to say that we don't just need
an on ramp. We need rest stops with travel folders where experienced guides
will direct us. Possibly the regional nets will provide these value-added
services, which may consist of training,  guided tours, and various other ways
to humanize the often-chilly  ether of telecommunications. Pioneers do have
to deal with a harsh environment. But around the campfire of a glowing
offhook light, I envision bards like Vint Cerf delivering a soliloquy like this:

Rosencrantz and Ethernet
By Vint Cerf

All the world's a net! And all the data in it merely
    packets
Come to store-and-forward in the queues a while
    and then are
Heard no more. 'Tis a network waiting to be
    switched!

To switch or not to switch? That is the question.
    Whether
"Tis wiser in the net to suffer the store and forward
    of
Stochastic networks or to raise up circuits against a
    sea
Of packets and, by dedication, serve them.

To net, to switch. To switch, perchance to SLIP!
Aye, there's the rub. For in that choice of switch,
What loops may lurk, when we have shuffled
    through
This Banyan net? Puzzles the will, initiates
    symposia,
Stirs endless debate and gives rise to uncontrolled
Flights of poetry beyond recompense!

So now the Internet has its own video and its own poem. Both serve to
humanize it. It's only a matter of time before someone spots Elvis telnetting
into their host, or subscribing to a LISTSERV.

I think the library's mission is to help remove barriers to accessing
information, and part of this is removing barriers between people. One of the
most exciting things about telecommunications is that ASCII is the Great
Equalizer. The old barriers of sexism, ageism, racism are not present, since you
can't see the person you're talking to. You get to know the person without
preconceived notions about what you THINK they are going to say, based on
prejudices you may have, no matter how innocent. It's like the Julie Gold
song, the one that won the Academy Award last year:

From a distance
You look like my friend
Even though we are at war.
From a distance
I can't comprehend
What all this war is for.

Telecommunications helps us overcome what has been called the tyranny of
distance. All of a sudden sudden we DO have a global village, where kids from
all over the world can discuss their dreams for for the future on KIDS-91 and
now KIDS-92. Children are comparing their likenesses instead of focusing on
their differences.

I think librarians have to become advocates of advocacy. I urge you to
participate in a listserv discussion group, get involved with an electronic
conference on the WELL or other service, join Computer Professionals for
Social Responsibility, and/or the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Don't just
put your notes away and think the conference is over. It is just beginning.


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