Introduction to Internet Services

Electronic Mail
Electronic mail (email) is probably the most popular Internet service. You can use email to communicate with people all over the world in much the same way you would use postal mail. However email is much faster than postal mail. As with postal mail, you must get a person's address before you can send them email. One you get someone's email address and enter it into your computer, your email program will figure out how to deliver the message -- just as the post office figures out how to deliver a letter or parcel. Your email message will be delivered to the recipient's electronic mailbox and they will be able to read your message at their convenience. Likewise, if someone sends you email, it will be waiting in your electronic mailbox the next time you login to your Internet account. A variety of programs are available for sending and receiving email. Two of the most popular are Eudora and Pine. For more information on these programs see:

• Eudora Light Software and Documentation
• Eudora FAQ
• Getting Started With Pine

Usenet News
Usenet News is a large Internet bulletin-board-like system with thousands of discussion forums called newsgroups. You can access newsgroups through special news reading programs or through Netscape (some other Web browsers also support newsgroups). Several newsgroups are devoted to journalism-related topics including: alt.journalism, alt.news-media, and alt.journalism.criticism.

Mailing Lists
Internet mailing lists are discussion forums similar to newsgroups. However, unlike newsgroups, Internet mailing lists deliver messages directly to your email box. While anyone who has the right software and full Internet access can read messages posted to a newsgroup, only subscribers can read messages posted to a mailing list. Mailing lists are often moderated and tend to stay more on topic than newsgroups. However, because mailing list messages are delivered directly to your email box, they are more difficult to ignore than newsgroups and may pile up if you don't check your email for a few days. Subscribing to a mailing list generally involves sending an email message to the appropriate subscription address.

Telnet
Telnet programs are software packages that allow people to login to one computer and then connect to another computer. They are useful for connecting to public access computers such as some library card catalogs. You can often login to these systems without a password. FTP
FTP is the oldest program widely available on the Internet for transferring files between computers. FTP is fast and efficient, however, it is difficult for the novice to use. Several somewhat user-friendly FTP programs are now available. In addition, your Web browser can use FTP to retrieve files for you automatically.

Gopher
Gopher was developed to make Internet file transfer easier to do. Unlike FTP, gopher features a user interface with menus.

WWW
The World Wide Web is a system for linking together and accessing files located on computers all over the world. Most Web browsers can support not only the Web's HTTP program, but also FTP, telnet, and gopher -- and all with an easy-to-use interface!

As you surf the Net, you are bound to run across some new lingo. The Lingo page contains definitions of the most common Net terms.

Besides having its own lingo, the Net also has its own code of etiquette -- Netiquette. Keep in mind the following Netiquette rules: (from http://www.fau.edu/rinaldi/net/elec.html by Arlene H. Rinaldi ):

• Keep paragraphs and messages short and to the point.

• Focus on one subject per message and always include a pertinent subject title for the message, that way the user can locate the message quickly.

• Include your signature at the bottom of Email messages. Your signature footer should include your name, position, affiliation and Internet and/or BITNET addresses and should not exceed more than 4 lines. Optional information could include your address and phone number.

• Capitalize words only to highlight an important point or to distinguish a title or heading. *Asterisks* surrounding a word also can be used to make a stronger point. Capitalizing whole words that are not titles is generally termed as SHOUTING!

• Limit line length and avoid control characters.

• Follow chain of command procedures for corresponding with superiors. For example, don't send a complaint via Email directly to the "top" just because you can.

• Be professional and careful what you say about others. Email is easily forwarded.

• Cite all quotes, references and sources and respect copyright and license agreements.

• It is considered extremely rude to forward personal email to mailing lists or Usenet without the original author's permission.

• Be careful when using sarcasm and humor. Without face to face communications your joke may be viewed as criticism.

• Acronyms can be used to abbreviate when possible, however messages that are filled with acronyms can be confusing and annoying to the reader.
  Examples: IMHO= in my humble/honest opinion
  FYI = for your information
  BTW = by the way
  Flame = antagonistic criticism
  :-) = happy face for humor
  

• When you join a list, monitor the messages for a few days to get a feel for what common questions are asked, and what topics are deemed off-limits. This is commonly referred to as lurking. When you feel comfortable with the group, then start posting.

• See if there is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for a group that you are interested in joining. Veteran members get annoyed when they see the same questions every few weeks, or at the start of each semester.

• Follow any and all guidelines that the listowner has posted; the listowner establishes the local "netiquette" standards for her/his list.

• Keep in mind that some discussion lists or Usenet groups have members from many countries. Don't assume that they will understand a reference to TV, movies, pop culture, or current events in your country. If you must use the reference, please explain it.

• Keep your questions and comments relevant to the focus of the discussion group.

• If another person posts a comment or question that is off the subject, do NOT reply to the list and keep the off- subject conversation going publicly.

• When someone posts an off-subject note, and someone else criticizes that posting, you should NOT submit a gratuitous note saying "well, I liked it and lots of people probably did as well and you guys ought to lighten up and not tell us to stick to the subject".

• If you can respond to someone else's question, do so through email. Twenty people answering the same question on a large list can fill your mailbox (and those of everyone else on the list) quickly.

• When quoting another person, edit out whatever isn't directly applicable to your reply. Don't let your mailing or Usenet software automatically quote the entire body of messages you are replying to when it's not necessary. Take the time to edit any quotations down to the minimum necessary to provide context for your reply. Nobody likes reading a long message in quotes for the third or fourth time, only to be followed by a one line response: "Yeah, me too."

• Use discretion when forwarding a long mail message to group addresses or distribution lists. It's preferable to reference the source of a document and provide instructions on how to obtain a copy. If you must post a long message, warn the readers with a statement at the top of the mail message. Example: WARNING: LONG MESSAGE

• If you crosspost messages to multiple groups, include the name of the groups at the top of the mail message with an apology for any duplication.

• Resist the temptation to "flame" others on the list. Remember that these discussions are "public" and meant for constructive exchanges. Treat the others on the list as you would want them to treat you.

• When posting a question to the discussion group, request that responses be directed to you personally. Post a summary or answer to your question to the group.

• When replying to a message posted to a discussion group, check the address to be certain it's going to the intended location (person or group). It can be very embarrassing if they reply incorrectly and post a personal message to the entire discussion group that was intended for an individual.

• When signing up for a group it is important to save your subscription confirmation letter for reference. That way if you go on vacation you will have the subscription address for suspending mail.

• Use your own personal Email account, don't subscribe using a shared office account.

• Occasionally subscribers to the list who are not familiar with proper netiquette will submit requests to SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE directly to the list itself. Be tolerant of this activity, and possibly provide some useful advice as opposed to being critical.

• Other people on the list are not interested in your desire to be added or deleted. Any requests regarding administrative tasks such as being added or removed from a list should be made to the appropriate area, not the list itself. Mail for these types of requests should be sent to the following respectively:

  LISTSERV GROUPS- LISTSERV@host

  MAILING LISTS - listname-REQUEST@host or listname-OWNER@host

  For either Mailing Lists or LISTSERV groups, to subscribe or unsubscribe, in the body of the message include:

  SUBSCRIBE listname yourfirstname yourlastname (To be added to the subscription) or UNSUBSCRIBE listname (To be removed from the subscription)

Copyright (C) 1993, 1994  EFF, The Electronic Frontier Foundation. All rights reserved.

Published by The Electronic Frontier Foundation
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Phone: (202) 347-5400. FAX: (202) 393-5509. Internet: <ask@eff.org>

Redistribution, excerpting, republication, copying, archiving, and reposting are permitted, provided that the work is not sold for profit, that EFF contact information, copyright notice, and distribution information remains intact, and that the work is not qualitatively modified (translation, reformatting, and excerpting expressly permitted however--feel free to produce versions of the Guide for use with typesetting, hypertext, display, etc. applications, but please do not change the text other than to translate it to another language. Excerpts should be credited and follow standard fair use doctrine.)

EFF's Guide to the Internet License

Copyright (C) 1994 The Electronic Frontier Foundation
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Distribution Policy

This guide may be freely reproduced & distributed electronically or in hardcopy, provided the following conditions are met:

1. Please do not qualitatively modify the guide, and leave all copyright, distribution, attribution, and EFF information intact. Permission expressly granted for translation to other languages and conversion to other formats.

2. EFF has signed a contract with MIT Press to publish a hardcopy book version of the guide, entitled Everybody's Guide to the Internet. All other for-profit distribution of printed versions of the guide is forbidden. However, you may print out copies and recoup the cost of printing and distribution by charging a nominal fee.

3. Any for-profit non-paper distribution (such as shareware vendor diskettes, CD-ROM collections, etc.) must be approved by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (the time- and usage-based access fees of online services, bulletin boards, and network access providers are specifically exempted). Donations appreciated.

4. You may not charge a for-profit fee specifically for this guide, only for a collection containing the guide, with the exception of a nominal copying charge (online usage fees exempted, as above).

These conditions hold for any derived version of this guide.

Last update 26 February 1996
http://www.ccrc.wustl.edu/spj/surf/services_intro.html
Prepared by Lorrie Faith Cranor (lorracks@cs.wustl.edu) and Staci D. Kramer (sdk@cris.com)