By now, just about everyone, with the possible exception of cave dwellers, has heard of the vast reserves of information available on the Internet. It has become a leading place to go when seeking knowledge on a topic. Cyber-space junkies can't get enough of the riches that can be found with a mouse-click.

But what about Internet newcomers? They may feel overwhelmed by everything the vast network has to offer. It can be a slow, tedious process navigating to remote destinations. There are a variety of methods available to help you weave your way through cyberspace, however, including several, free search tools available on the Internet to help make your travels more fruitful. And since online time isn't free, knowing where to find information will save money as well as time.

Information is stored and exchanged in a variety of ways on the Internet, including E-mail, file-transfer protocol (FTP), Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS), Usenet newsgroups, and the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web has become the most popular means for many users to travel, or surf, the ‘Net. And there is no shortage of software applications that let users take advantage of everything the Internet has to offer.

The World Wide Web

The World Wide Web, generally referred to as the Web or WWW, is a multimedia environment developed at CERN, the European Research Laboratory for Particle Physics. The recent increase in the popularity of the Internet is mostly because of the ease with which new users can access and use the Web. Once on the Web, users can travel around the world via their modem with just a mouse-click. This is accomplished easily because sites are linked together in a hypertext format. (Hypertext is a presentation of information in which text, sounds, images, and actions are linked through complex associations that let users browse re-lated topics.)

The Web is hypertext on a global level. Click highlighted text at one site, and you can travel across town or halfway around the world. Just about everything you can do on the Internet is done easier on the Web.

With readily available Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Mosaic, users can access the Web and search for information and files using one of many different search functions, which include Lycos, WebCrawler, and Yahoo. Users also can search FTP sites using FTPsearch'95 or access Usenet newsgroups using DejaNews.

Here are brief descriptions of some of the search utilities available on the Web.

Lycos (http://www.lycos.com). Lycos may be the most efficient of the many search engines available. The prime advantage of using Lycos over other search engines is the sheer volume of information it has cataloged. Currently, 91% of the Web—more than 10 million sites—is indexed in Lycos.

By using Lycos, you can be sure you've conducted a thorough search of the Web for information. It displays a list of Web sites matching your query and provides brief excerpts from home pages with the highlighted keywords used in the search. This feature lets you quickly judge whether or not a site will be useful to you.

WebCrawler (http://www.webcrawler.com). WebCrawler began as a research project at the University of Washington at Seattle but re-cently came under the control of America Online. It's still freely available as an Internet search tool, however.

WebCrawler lets you search for phrases as well as keywords and will display a list of hyperlinks to satisfy your query. The responses are rated on a scale from zero to 100 based on how relevant the site is to your query. Web-Crawler is easy to use and fairly fast, but it doesn't have many options to streamline the search process. (Hyperlinks are connectors that jump users to different locations on the Web when they click highlighted words.)

With WinSock Archie Client, users can search for specific files at FTP sites or just explore directories.

Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com/search.html). Yahoo is one of the most popular Web search tools, primarily because of its name. Yahoo stands for Yet Another Hierarchically—Officious/Obstreperous/Odiferous/ Organized—Oracle and was developed at Stanford University. Yahoo's catalog isn't as complete as the one on Lycos and it's not a speed demon, but it's easy to use and carries some of the more popular sites in its catalog.

DejaNews (http://dejanews3.dejanews.com). If you're a frequent user of Usenet newsgroups, DejaNews is a search tool that can speed your browsing. Users can search an indexed archive of most Usenet postings (excluding alt.*, soc.*, talk.*, and *.binaries). DejaNews will display the list of matches where users can view a message, post a response to the message, or E-mail the originator of the message directly.

DejaNews is a fast, efficient search tool designed specifically for Usenet newsgroups. Searches can span over many newsgroups, encompassing vast amounts of data. You also can create a query filter to limit the search to specific newsgroups.

Downloading Files

The preceding list is just a sample of the search-and-retrieval capabilities available on the Web. But new users beware: The multimedia characteristics of the Web make a fast modem a must. So if you find your 9600 baud modem is slowing you down, preventing you from taking full advantage of the Web, fear not. Here are a few alternative methods for downloading files and retrieving information from the Internet.

File-transfer protocol, commonly referred to as FTP, is the way users transfer files from remote sites to their computers and vice versa.

When downloading files, users log on to what is commonly referred to as an FTP site using anonymous FTP. This means that you type anonymous in the user identification field and your E-mail address in the password field. This lets host sites keep track of who is accessing them and what users are downloading.

For instance, if you wanted a copy of WinZip, a popular file compression program for Windows, you could download one using anonymous FTP by going to the FTP site at hubcap. clemson.edu. There you could browse the path/pub/pc_shareware/windows/Archive, where you would find the file Winzip56. exe. Using your FTP software, you could download the file to your computer.

But what if you don't know where to find a copy of WinZip?

Archie To The Rescue

One disadvantage to downloading files from FTP sites is trying to locate what you want. Directory structures at FTP sites can be confusing to newcomers. To help users avoid getting lost at an FTP site, the Internet offers a search function called Archie.

Archie, which is on about 30 servers worldwide, is a free service available to anyone on the Internet. This system lets users search the vast network of FTP sites to locate general directories or specific files. With Archie, users can enter a specific file name or a general topic, then Archie will respond with a list of FTP sites where your file or topic can be found.

There are a number of shareware and freeware Archie and FTP applications that make finding and retrieving files from an FTP site a simple process for even the most inexperienced user. The basic WinSock Archie Client is easy to learn and works with FTP software such as WS-FTP. Simply run your query, scan the results, and download your file.

If you prefer to stick with the World Wide Web, try FTPsearch'95 (http://ftpsearch. unit.no/ftpsearch). FTPsearch'95 searches FTP sites much the same way Archie does. Enter your query parameters, and FTPsearch'95 will return a hyperlinked display of FTP sites. Just click the site that best suits your needs to retrieve your file.

Gopher Helps Navigation

In an effort to help users readily navigate the information available on the Internet, developers at the University of Minnesota perfected a program called Gopher. Gopher lets users burrow into the Internet using a series of interconnected menus that look similar to the File Manager in Windows. With an application such as WinSock Gopher, users can connect to a Gopher server and move through an alphabetized list of headings to search for information.

Once connected to a Gopher server, users can access a search utility called Veronica (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Netwide Index to Computer Archives). Like Archie, Veronica is a free service available to Internet users. Veronica lets users search Gopherspace and returns an easy-to-follow list of documents, files, and directories that match your query. Simply click the title to download the file or view the document.

Gopher also gives users the capability to access the vast resources of Wide Area Information Servers, commonly referred to as WAIS (pronounced "ways"). WAIS is a networked information retrieval system where servers search an index for keywords and return a list of matching documents.

Commercial Providers

If the Internet still seems too immense and confusing for you, there are alternatives. Commercial online services, such as CompuServe, America On-line, and Prodigy, are more readily accessible and much more organized than the Internet. And when you're ready, these providers all offer direct access to the ‘Net.

The online services are organized into topic-oriented forum and bulletin board areas that make locating information a snap. In addition, they all offer access to various libraries and information services, but beware of the surcharges. Certain areas, such as the magazine and computer libraries on CompuServe, cost extra to access, view, and download an article.

If you effectively manage your online time, however, you can keep costs down. CompuServe starts at $8.95 per month for basic service while America Online charges $9.95 per month. Prodigy offers its value pack plan starting at $14.95 per month.

Whatever your topic, however arcane, rest assured it can be found somewhere on the Internet. The search tools are available and easy to use. And if you have questions, a friendly soul in cyberspace should be able to help you.

by Tracy LeBlanc

For More Information:

CompuServe
(800) 848-8990
(614) 529-1340

America Online
(800) 827-6364
(703) 448-8700

Prodigy
(800) 776-3449
(914) 448-8000