The Internet is a collection of interconnected computer networks that cover the entire world. It can be accessed by anyone with a computer, a modem, appropriate software, and an Internet service provider. The World Wide Web is one branch of the Internet that is used for posting and viewing information. It is composed of hypertext documents and multimedia applications. On the WWW one can find Web Pages, hypertext documents, that most often contain links to other pages through hypertext links. Web pages can contain almost anything that you would expect to find in any printed document including text, tables and graphics, but they also may offer video and audio components and virtual reality. Hypertext allows the Web reader to jump from place to place within a document or even to documents at other locations by clicking on "highlighted" words or phrases within a given text. A home page, also called index page, is usually the starting point of a site on the WWW. The easiest way to access a site on the WWW is to use a Webbrowser such as Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer. A browser is the software used to navigate through the World Wide Web and enables users to view the many kinds of information on the WWW, such as HTML documents, FTP directories, gopher pages, images, audio, and video.
Please take a look at my compilation of interesting WWW sites located at: http://www.arts.cornell.edu/german/links.html. These links are arranged by the following catagories:
*NOTE: Please feel free to contact me at mg53@cornell.edu via e-mail, if you have any question.
An E-Mail discussion list consists of users discussing list specific subjects via electronic mail. Any message sent to the list automatically goes to all subscribers to the list. This type of communication allows people with similar interests to meet electronically and exchange ideas. A discussion list may be open to anyone or a closed forum for registered users. A discussion list may also be moderated or unmoderated. In moderated discussion lists a designated person screens all incoming messages before sending them to the list, in order to restrict queries and comments to the list specific topic. In an unmoderated list all messages are automatically sent to all list subscribers. Some discussion lists can create high volumes of mail for subscribers while other lists have hardly any traffic To receive mail from a discussion list and participate in discussions you must subscribe to the list. This normally entails that you must send a message to the list request address. Discussion lists are operated by automated computer programs called listservers, the most popular of which is Listserv. This computer program will add your name automatically to its subscriber list upon receiving your e-mail. Since your request is not handled by a "real" person, it is essential that the subsriction protocol is followed without any deviations. The list request address is different from the list address. The list address distributes your e-mail to all subscribed users rather than performing a function such as adding your name to the subscriber list. It is very important to understand the difference between the two addresses and to use the correct address.
Example: The Coalition of Women in German (WIG) has an unmoderated e-mail discussion list which is called WIG-L. For more information on the WiG-List, click here.
There are several Listserv commands used by the Listserv program that refer to a variety of functions useful to a subscriber. For a description of commands used by Listserv, Listproc, Mailbase, Mailserv and Majordomo see James Milles' Discussion Lists: Mail Server Commands. These commands are all to be sent to the request address.
There are a number of ways to find a discussion list that is of interest to you. You can visit the following sites on the WWW that provide discussion lists through searchable indexes:
http://www.liszt.com
http://paml.net/
Or, you can find specific Listserv lists by sending an email message to listserv@listserv.net with the message: list global /"topic" (specify topic)
The Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a multi-user text-based chat system where people can meet on "channels" (virtual rooms, usually with a certain topic of conversation) to talk in groups, or privately. As a user you run software, a "client" program (e.g. mIRC), which connects you to a "server" in an IRC network (the largest one is called Efnet). All servers are usually interconnected and pass messages from user to user over the IRC network. It is generally recommended to try and connect to a server that is geographically close to your location, although this may not always improve your connection.
On IRC you are known to others by a nickname. You are free to choose any nickname you like. Anyone can create a new channel, and a channel disappears when the last person on it leaves. A channel operator (ChanOp or Op) is someone with a "@" next to their nickname in the channel's names list. Channel operators have control of a particular channel and can "kick" or "ban" people from the channel, as well as perform a number of other functions.
In order to use IRC you need a connection to the Internet, use an IRC Client (e.g. mIRC for PC users; IRCle for Mac users), and you need to install and configure the software on your computer. Once connected to IRC you can choose a nickname for yourself, choose an IRC Network (Efnet is the largest and easiest to use), and an IRC Server from the list provided below. Now you are ready to join a channel by typing e.g. " /join #new2mirc " or " /join #irchelp " or " /join #ircnewbies ", or you can obtain a list of all current channels by typing "/list".
Common IRC commands are:
EFNET Servers (Efnet is the most common network. Most servers are on Port 6667):
irc.blackened.com (Arizona) irc2.blackened.com (Arizona) irc.primenet.com (Arizona) irc-1.netcom.com (California) irc-2.netcom.com (California) ircd.netcom.com (California) irc.stanford.edu (California) eff.org (California) irc.ucdavis.edu (California) irc.uci.edu (California) irc.calpoly.edu (California) irc.best.net (California) irc.colorado.edu (Colorado) irc.eng.yale.edu (Connecticut) irc.gate.net (Florida) opus.bridge.net (Florida) irc.law.emory.edu (Georgia) irc.ilstu.edu (Illinois) Irc.uiuc.edu (Illinois) irc.mcs.net (Illinois) irc.ais.net (Illinois) irc.ecn.bgu.edu (Illinois) irc.cnde.iastate.edu (Iowa) irc.cerf.netirc.digex.net (Maryland) irc-2.mit.edu (Massachusetts) pegasus.ccs.itd.umich.edu (Michigan) irc.cris.com (Michigan) irc.visi.com (Minnesota) irc.umn.edu (Minnesota) irc.mo.net (Missouri) irc.rutgers.edu (New Jersey) azure.acsu.buffalo.edu (New York) irc.cs.rpi.edu (New York) irc.lightning.net (New York) red-dwarf.cit.cornell.edu (New York) organ.ctr.columbia.edu (New York) irc.frontiernet.net (New York) irc.ionet.net (Oklahoma) irc.voicenet.com (Pennsylvania) irc.pitt.edu (Pennsylvania) irc.cdc.net (Tennessee) irc.neosoft.com (Texas) anarchy.tamu.edu (Texas) piglet.cc.utexas.edu (Texas) irc.nol.net (Texas) irc.phoenix.net (Texas) ircd.texas.net (Texas) irc02.irc.aol.com (Virginia) irc.psinet.com (Virginia) becker1.u.washington.edu (Washington)
Usenet is a worldwide distributed discussion forum similar to a bulletin board. It consists of a set of "newsgroups" with names that are classified hierarchically by topic. "Articles" or "messages" can be "posted" or retrieved on these Newsgroups with the appropriate software. The articles that are posted are sent to other interconnected computer systems via a wide variety of networks. Some Newsgroups are "moderated"; in these newsgroups, the articles are first sent to a moderator for approval before appearing in the Newsgroup. Usenet is available on a wide variety of computer systems and networks, but the bulk of Usenet traffic is transported via the Internet or UUCP. A newsreader preferred by many Macintosh users is NewsWatcher by j-norstad@nwu.edu (John Norstad). The current version is 2.0b8. "WinVN" is a public domain NNTP newsreader for Microsoft Windows and Windows NT. There are versions available for WINSOCK, Novell LWP, and DEC Pathworks/LanMan. It supports the XOVER extension, and can display articles in thread trees. SMTP and MAPI outgoing mail are supported. You can also access Usenet Newsgroups via Netscape. You need to enter the name of your news (or NNTP) server in the Mail and News Preferences in the Option menu of Netscape. If you don't know the name of your news server, contact your local computer support people.
group-mentors@acpub.duke.edu is a body of volunteers experienced with the Newsgroups creation process. They assist people who want to propose new groups with the formation and submission of a good proposal. It is strongly encouraged, though not required, that they be contacted with an outline of the basic idea for a proposal, and a mentor will work with the proponents to submit a formal proposal.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Contact the WiG Steering Committee.