Date: Fri, 09 Sep 1994 11:20:55 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "On Internet '94" by Dern/Abbott BKONIN94.RVW 940606 Mecklermedia 11 Ferry Lane West Westport, CT 06880 "On Internet 94", Dern/Abbott, 1994, 0-88736-929-4, U$34.95/C$44.95 ddern@world.std.com meckler@jvnc.net This is a set of resource listings of mailing lists, texts and archives, systems, services, newsgroups and WAIS databases on the net. Of great value to those who act as Internet guides within their own institutions, this is promised to be an ongoing service, updated on a yearly basis. The largest section of the book is devoted to mailing lists and electronic journals, in chapters one and two. The distinction is not readily apparent other than in degree of moderation, and this may account for the fact that a number of lists appear in both chapters. (Indeed, some entries appear, in slightly different terms, more than once in a given chapter, since most are listed by list name, but some are listed by descriptive name.) Another odd division is the separation of the reviewed mailing lists to an appendix at the end of the book. This work relied upon returns from a questionnaire sent out by Meckler, which had both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, if full details were returned, there are some very interesting datum points which you are not likely to find in the list of lists. On the other hand, it is obvious that many list owners sent back very terse entries largely with insufficient instruction on how to get or use the lists. Some lists are startling by their absence, and I therefore assume that the returned questionnaires were the sole source used. I would hope to see more editing in future editions. Chapter three refers to electronic texts, archives, ftp sites, and resource guides. Obviously, this had to be very selective. Like the "catalog" of the Krol book, it is interesting, useful, and even fun, but definitely limited. Chapters four, five and six list community, campus, and commercial systems which may allow greater or lesser degrees of public access. Chapter seven is the annotated Usenet newsgroup list by Spafford and Lawrence. The final chapter is a list of WAIS servers. It is certainly handy having all this information in hard copy, and the research, particularly in the mailing lists, can be quite useful. At the same time, some general editing needs to be done. Access methods still need a bit of work. The index, for example, at least has a "Mystery" entry for the DOROTHY-L list, but nothing under "Literature" or "Writing" (even though these categories exist). Tech support types will find no entries at all for desktop, IBM, Mac, MS-DOS, personal computer or PC. In spite of the gaps, this first effort at "On Internet" shows significant promise beyond the comparable "Internet: Mailing Lists" (cf. BKINTMAL.RVW) and I look forward to the 1995 edition. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKONIN94.RVW 940606. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated newgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" (Sept. '94) Springer-Verlag