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Lesson Two:
Internet Communication

Introduction

The Internet provides several effective communication tools, including e-mail, discussion groups, chat rooms and web conferencing. E-mail (which is still the most frequently used Internet tool) can be used to communicate one-to-one in more traditional ways, but its electronic nature also provides a forum for discussion groups which allow researchers to communicate locally or world-wide with people that share common interests. Mailing lists and Usenet newsgroups are two types of electronic discussion groups. 

Chat rooms, another form of discussion group, provide for instantaneous communication between people. Increasingly, business and educational institutions are using web conferencing as a supplement to employee training and to enhance the educational experience in traditional and online classes. Throughout the rest of this course, you will be able to apply these various technologies by communicating online in a variety of formats.

To further complicate using the Internet, these communication tools may refer to useful information resources in formats other than HTML.  Alternatively you may find sites which offer interactive features relying on special programming supported only by the latest versions of web browsers, streaming audio or video files which require additional software programs, or preformatted files which require a special viewer. The Internet also provides access to a huge variety of software programs which may ease the process of information retrieval.

Electronic Mail

E-mail, also known as electronic mail, is one of the most popular Internet services. E-mail allows you to send messages to one person, or to send a message simultaneously to a group of people. One of the greatest advantages of e-mail over other forms of communication is the convenience to the recipient. Messages wait in your mailbox until you open it. Another advantage of an Internet e-mail account is that you can check your e-mail as you travel; assuming you can access the Internet in the city you are visiting through friends, family, professional organizations, or a public or college library. 

In order to send e-mail, you must know the recipient's e-mail address. E-mail addresses consist of two parts: a username and a domain name. The username refers to the mailbox, logon name or user ID. The domain name is the Internet address of the computer where the user's e-mail is stored (also called the server). The parts are separated by an @ symbol. For example, the e-mail address for the President of the United States is president@whitehouse.gov

There is no world-wide Internet directory of e-mail addresses. There are several services that allow you to search for Internet e-mail addresses, including the following: 

These services allow you to search for corporate and government officials, as well as friends and relatives. 

Since the conditions for taking this course require you to have Internet access and e-mail, details of individual e-mail programs will not be covered. Generally, the following commands can be found in any e-mail program: 

·  compose: create a message 

·  send: send the message you created 

·  reply: respond to a message you received 

·  forward: send a copy of the message you received to another person

·  attach: attaches a document to the e-mail message, either as text at the end of the message or as a separate file

Most e-mail programs have an address book where addresses are stored along with a nickname. The nickname is used in the To: field instead of typing the entire e-mail address. 

There are many free e-mail systems on the Internet. These include

In addition to these free e-mail providers, many Internet Search Engines provide free e-mail as one of their services. AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, GO.com, NBCi and Yahoo all provide free e-mail. 

Discussion Groups: Mailing Lists

An electronic mailing list, sometimes called a listserv, or discussion list allows you to interactively subscribe to a collection of postings focused on a particular subject. They are some of the most popular forms of group communication available on the Internet. Postings, in the form of e-mail messages, are automatically delivered to your electronic mailbox. You can simply read the contents of the messages, if you want to merely "lurk" in the background and not contribute to the mailing list, or you can ask a question, give your opinion, and participate in an ongoing discussion. Mailing lists can involve just a few people or tens of thousands. There are thousands of mailing lists covering almost any conceivable topic. (See How To Locate Mailing Lists for information on selecting a listserv on a specified subject.) 

Mailing lists can be very prolific, generating hundreds of messages per day, which can create serious problems for the subscriber with limited mail storage. A full mailbox may cause messages to bounce back to the list administrator, which could result in the cancellation of your subscription.

Although some mailing lists are run manually by human beings, most are maintained by computer programs called listservers or mailing list managers (MLM's). The MLM's handle subscriptions, unsubscribing, automated postings of individual messages to the entire list, and other specialized functions. The most common MLM's are Listserv, Majordomo, Listproc, Mailbase and Mailserv. Each MLM has unique attributes though there are several features common to all and necessary for you to understand. Keep in mind that listservs are not difficult to use if you follow some simple rules and commands.

  • Administrative Address: All listservs have an administrative address which you send commands to concerning subscribing to the list, unsubscribing to the list, suspending subscriptions, and the like. This is not the address to which you post messages to the list.
  • Listname/Posting Address: All listservs have a listname address or a posting address to which you post messages you want the entire list to see. This is not the address for administrative commands! A common mistake for new users is to confuse the addresses, which annoys list members by clogging their mailboxes with useless messages. An easy way to remember the difference between the two addresses is to think of your local newspaper. The administrative address would be comparable to sending a letter to the subscription office of the newspaper, while the listname/posting address would be comparable to sending a letter to the editor of the newspaper which would then be read by all subscribers to that newspaper.
  • The Welcome Message: This is the first message sent to you after subscribing to the list. It will contain all the necessary commands you need to unsubscribe to the list or otherwise change your subscription. The welcome message will also indicate what address to use for the listname/posting address. Save this message!
  • Command Syntax: Most listservs use the following syntax for their administrative addresses: mailmanager@computer.abc where mailmanager is Listserve, Majordomo or one of the other MLM's which maintains the listserv and computer.abc is the host computer of the list, such as athens.net or stanford.edu.
  • List Information: Most listservs have detailed information which you can access by sending the message, "info listname" where listname is the specific name of the listserv, i.e., Greenthumb, to the administrative address. This will provide information on all aspects of the list. If you are unsure of what a listserv covers, request this information prior to subscribing to the list.
  • Archives: Many listservs provide an archive of prior postings which can be searched by members of the list. 

How to Subscribe to Mailing Lists

  • Open your e-mail program. 
  • Send the following message to the administrative address of the list (i.e., majordomo@athens.net or listserv@listserv.kent.edu): 
     

subscribe

name of list

your full name
  • Example:

subscribe

Greenthumb

John Doe
  • Leave the subject field blank.
  • Check your e-mail within 48 hours since the list may ask you for a confirmation. For some lists, you have to respond with a code within 24 hours.
  • Save the welcome/confirmation message received from the list since it will contain information on how to unsubscribe. Remember that some lists send hundreds of messages a day! If you are overwhelmed with messages you may need to cancel your subscription.
  • The confirmation message will also provide the listname/posting address for the list. For example, the listname/posting address for the Greenthumb listserv is: greenthumb@penningtonseed.com
    (The administrative address for the Greenthumb listserv is majordomo@athens.net)
  • Your address will be added to the list and you will begin to receive all of the e-mail contributions posted by list subscribers.
  • You can unsubscribe with a similar request sent to the list administrative address, majordomo@athens.net with the command, unsubscribe Greenthumb John Doe.

How to Locate Mailing Lists

The following sites provide searchable indexes to mailing lists:

Discussion Groups: Usenet Newsgroups

Usenet newsgroups, also called bulletin boards, are a similar e-mail conferencing system, but are less intrusive to the subscriber than listservs since messages are posted to Usenet sites around the world instead of appearing in each subscriber's mailbox. Usenet refers to the huge collection of messages which are posted to tens of thousands of newsgroups worldwide. Millions of people around the world regularly read newsgroup messages, following their favorite topics of interest. New newsgroups are added and old ones deleted every day.

Usenet can provide a unique information resource not readily accessible from any other source. If you are looking for personal anecdotes about products, especially computer-related hardware and software products, how-to information, practical advice, or the latest news stories, newsgroup archives may be a valuable resource.

Newsgroups are organized into two broad categories. World newsgroups are automatically distributed to all Usenet sites; these newsgroups follow a clearly defined set of rules and guidelines. Alternative newsgroups are distributed only to sites that request them. These newsgroups are not named because they deal with alternative topics, but rather denote a newsgroup created without formal rules and guidelines. Within each category, both types of newsgroups are further subdivided into classes called hierarchies, which make up the first part of the newsgroup's name.

Within the world newsgroups, some of the major hierarchies include:

biz (business related)
comp (computers and computer applications)
news (newsgroups about Usenet itself)
rec (hobbies and sports)
sci (sciences)
soc (social issues)
talk (current events and issues)
misc (miscellaneous)


Alternative newsgroups include:

alt (alternative topics)
bionet (topics for biologists)
biz (business)
clari (wire service feeds)
k12 (K-12 education)

The main hierarchies are denoted by abbreviations similar to those above, which come first in the newsgroup name. All newsgroups are further described with one or more words separated by dots. There are many other group hierarchies not listed above.

Some typical newsgroups useful for research and recreational use include:
 

alt.algebra.help

alt.archaeology

biz.jobs.offered

comp.robotics.research 

rec.hunting.dogs 

rec.running

sci.environment 

sci.physics.fusion

soc.culture.french

soc.history.medieval

Usenet computer sites usually store messages for less than a week, then remove them to make room for new messages. Newsgroup archives provide a unique resource for information on personal experiences or perspectives on products and events. Usenet archives are particularly valuable for information on computing, for help with software problems, hardware incompatibilities, and interpreting error messages. There are two ways of accessing Usenet:

    • Both Netscape and Internet Explorer provide special client software called a newsreader, which allows you to connect directly to the nearest Usenet server. Most online service providers such as America Online and local Internet service providers provide Usenet access via a newsreader, though some may limit access to certain groups.
    • Deja.com is a web site which provides a search engine and a huge archive, extending back to 1995, of Usenet messages. This site is accessible with a browser and requires no special software.
    • AltaVista also allows you to search for newsgroups.


To search for newsgroups, go to Deja.com. Enter keywords to search for the subject of your choice, or click on a category. A keyword search will produce a list of newsgroup messages. You can click on the subject line to read the articles posted, post (send) an article to the group, or e-mail a message to the author of the article. To read articles on the same topic, click View Thread. For additional information on Usenet, visit the Deja.com Usenet Short Course link.

Before you post articles to a group, you should view the FAQs (frequently asked questions) for that group so you will understand what is being discussed. If you ask an inappropriate question, your e-mail will be flooded with nasty messages called "flames." Dear Emily Postnews provides a humorous FAQ on proper Usenet netiquette so you can avoid being flamed.

Discussion Groups: Internet Chat

Communication on the Internet goes even further than personal e-mail, newsgroups and mailing lists, to encompass real-time conversations (synchronous communication) among two or more people. Chat is available on the Internet through Internet Relay Chat or IRC. It consists of thousands of chat channels, each covering a different topic and with participants from all over the world. To participate in IRC, you either have to have chat client software running on your computer, or you can Telnet to a public client running on another system. A good source for information about IRC is the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Help Archive which contains discussions about client software and updated versions of the IRC FAQ.

There are many web-based chat sites which are accessible with a web browser and do not require additional software.

To locate some of these sites:

    • Go to Yahoo! and enter "Chat Rooms" in the search box or click on Chat. Yahoo! provides access to many chat sites after an initial registration and acceptance of conditions. Many of these sites require that your computer have audio capability, including a sound card and speakers. Follow all instructions in each chat room. A search on "Chat Rooms" will retrieve a number of chat sites (not controlled by Yahoo!) on every conceivable topic.

Discussion Groups: Web Conferencing

Many institutions are discovering new ways to integrate Internet communications into their organizations. One of the most popular ways is through the use of web or online conferencing.

Web conferencing is currently being used by businesses for employee training, meetings and general communication. Educational institutions are using web conferencing as a way to enhance on-site classes or distance education classes. Web conferencing is a tool which provides a way for "students" to share information, ask questions, get answers, discuss problems and work collaboratively. Conferencing provides opportunities to solve issues by providing a dynamic exchange of text, graphics, HTML links to information, audio, and video in a structured conversation organized by topic.

Web conferences may take place in "real-time" where all participants are communicating at the same pre-arranged time. (NetMeeting is one such system; it is a free download from Microsoft.) Web conferences also take place in an asynchronous environment where participants logon to the conference site when convenient and respond to comments and concerns of other participants. This form of communication allows participants to carefully consider what they wish to post to the conference. In both business and educational situations, web conferencing allows people who may have felt left out of more traditional forms of communication (i.e, a business meeting or a class lecture), to contribute.


Downloading From Web Sites

There are a number of web sites which provide software libraries of downloadable programs which you may have read about. Most sites arrange programs by operating system and subject category. Several of the sites listed below also provide reviews or ratings for available programs, indicate whether the programs are freeware or shareware, and provide the price for shareware: 


Once you have located a file or program to download, remember to create a special "Downloads" folder in which to place your downloaded files, note the filename and let your browser handle the file transfer. Refer to the FAQ's for more information related to downloading, etc.

Netiquette

When communicating on the Internet, it is essential to observe certain rules of behavior. Effective communications are governed by netiquette (Internet etiquette). Actually, netiquette refers to rules of behavior governing the use of all Internet services, including communicating with discussion groups, creation of web pages, and connecting to FTP and Telnet sites.

Some of the basic rules of e-mail netiquette include the following:

    • Never say anything you don't want made public. Think before you post a message. Always make sure you really want to send what you have written. E-mail messages are not secure. Most organizations archive all e-mail messages that pass through their servers. Messages may also be intercepted en route.
    • Don't use e-mail when you are emotional. If you are angry, you can sound abusive or threatening. Be careful when expressing humor and sarcasm because it can be misinterpreted. With most systems you can't get the message back after you click the send button.
    • Use emoticons (smileys) to help express emotion. Standard emoticons include:

 

Expression of humor 

:-)

Frown, or expression of sadness 

:-(

Wink, or expression of sarcasm 

;-)

A large collection of emoticons is available from The Unofficial Smiley Dictionary on the Electronic Freedom Foundation's Extended Guide to the Internet.

    • Use informative, carefully phrased subject headings. Many people get a hundred or so pieces of e-mail a day. If you want your message to be read, give your messages concise and informative subject headers.
    • DON'T USE ALL UPPERCASE LETTERS! IT'S EQUIVALENT TO SHOUTING. don't use all lower case either. it's much easier to read a mixture of upper and lower case letters especially if you need to use proper nouns or names such as mary smith, united states, nasa, etc.
    • Keep the sentence and paragraph length reasonably short. Some systems break up lines longer than 65 characters. If the note is forwarded, it might be indented by tab. Or messages may be strangely formatted by other mail systems. Sometimes strange characters are inserted at the ends of lines, which makes reading long sentences difficult.
    • Make an effort to spell words correctly and use correct grammar. You will make a better impression on the recipients.
    • Netiquette learned in a particular e-mail environment may not apply in general to your e-mail communication with people across the Internet. The Internet is an international network. Be careful with slang and avoid local abbreviations and acronyms, if possible, or define the ones you use.
    • When replying to an e-mail message or newsgroup posting, include at least a thread of the original e-mail you are replying to just to remind the recipient of the original subject discussed, but don't include the entire message to which you are replying. Edit out all the irrelevant material.
    • Don't redistribute private e-mail sent to you without first asking the originator's permission.
    • Never send chain letters via electronic mail. Chain letters are forbidden on the Internet and can result in network privileges being revoked. Notify your local system administrator if you receive one.
    • Sign your e-mail messages so people will know who you are. Be sure to include your name and address, or organization, if appropriate. You can create a signature file ahead of time and add it to the end of your messages. Signature files should not be more than 4 lines long.

One of the best web sites providing a broad view of the rules of netiquette is Arlene Rinaldi's The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette.


 

Complete Exercise Two. It is worth 12 points.

Copyright& copy; 1997-2000 Florida Community College
Learning Resources Standing Committee
Internet Course Task Force