Big Dummy's Guide To The Internet Part 18

Telnet: locis.loc.gov Pa.s.sword: none needed.

When you connect, you'll get a main menu that lets you select from several databases, including the Library of Congress card catalog (with book entries dating to 1978) and a database of information on copyright laws.

For the congressional database, select the number next to its entry and hit enter. You'll then be asked to choose which legislative year to search. After that, a menu similar to this will come up:

***C103- THE LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION FILE FOR THE 103RD CONGRESS, which was updated on 05/10/93 and contains 4,044 records, is now available for your search.

CURRENCY: All information is NOT current through the above date, which is machine generated when ANY information is added to the file.

Bill numbers, official t.i.tles, sponsors, and status (STEP) added within 48 hours. Indexing terms and digests added later, in some cases several weeks after the bill is added to the file.

TO START RETRIEVE to find: EXAMPLES: SEARCH: member name --------------> retrieve rep gingrich retrieve sen kennedy bill number --------------> retrieve h.r. 1 subject keywords ---------> retrieve day care

FOR HELP: Type the word HELP and press the ENTER key.

READY FOR NEW COMMAND:

CONVERSATION

Communications Canada, a Canadian government agency is developing Conversational Hypertext Access Technology (CHAT) is a system being developed by Communications Canada to provide easy database access to people with little or no computer experience, using what are known as hypertext links. Instead of cryptic computer commands, users type questions in English.

Telnet: debra.doc.ca Log in: chat You choose one of the three databases now online, one on AIDS, and then ask questions in English.

Ask the AIDS database, "When was AIDS first discovered?" and it answers: "The first case of AIDS in North America was diagnosed in 1979.

Before that, it existed in Africa, probably beginning in the 1950's.

AIDS was discovered in North America when a number of young men with a history of h.o.m.os.e.xuality developed a rare type of cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma."

Sometimes, you do have to rephrase your question. For example, when asked "What is the link between AIDS and drug use?" the computer responds: "I know two things about drugs: the drugs that are used to treat people with AIDS, and the risks that drug users have in getting AIDS.

Please ask about treatments or drug users."

COPYRIGHT LAW

See under Congress.

CURRENT EVENTS

Every year, the CIA publishes a Fact Book that is essentially an almanac of all the world's countries and international organizations, including such information as major products, type of government and names of its leaders. It's available for searching through the University of Maryland Info Database.

Telnet: info.umd.edu Choose a terminal type and hit enter (or just hit enter if you are using VT100). At the main menu, choose the number next to "Educational Resources." Then select the number next to "International," followed by "Factbook." You can then search by country or agency.

This site also maintains copies of the U.S. budget, doc.u.ments related to the North American Free Trade Agreement and other government initiatives. At the "Educational Resources" menu, select the number next to "United States" and then the one next to "Government."

The Access Legislative Information Service lets you browse through and look up bills before the Hawaiian legislature.

Telnet: access.uhcc.hawaii.edu

ENVIRONMENT

Envirolink is a large database and conference system about the environment, based in Pittsburgh.

Telnet: envirolink.org Log on: gopher

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintains online databases of materials related to hazardous waste, the Clean Lakes program and cleanup efforts in New England. The agency plans to eventually include cleanup work in other regions, as well. The database is actually a computerized card catalog of EPA doc.u.ments -- you can look the doc.u.ments up, but you'll still have to visit your regional EPA office to see them.

Telnet: epaibm.rtpnc.epa.gov No pa.s.sword or user name is needed. At the main menu, type

public

and hit enter (there are other listed choices, but they are only for use by EPA employees). You'll then see a one-line menu. Type

ols

and hit enter, and you'll see something like this:

NET-106 Logon to TSO04 in progress.

DATABASES: N NATIONAL CATALOG CH CHEMICAL COLL. SYSTEM H HAZARDOUS WASTE 1 REGION I L CLEAN LAKES

OTHER OPTIONS: ? HELP Q QUIT

ENTER SELECTION -->

Choose one and you'll get a menu that lets you search by doc.u.ment t.i.tle, keyword, year of publication or corporation. After you enter the search word and hit enter, you'll be told how many matches were found. Hit 1 and then enter to see a list of the entries. To view the bibliographic record for a specific entry, hit V and enter and then type the number of the record.

The University of Michigan maintains a database of newspaper and magazine articles related to the environment, with the emphasis on Michigan, dating back to 1980.

Telnet: hermes.merit.edu Host: mirlyn Log in: meem

GEOGRAPHY

The University of Michigan Geographic Name Server can provide basic information, such as population, lat.i.tude and longitude of U.S.

cities and many mountains, rivers and other geographic features.

Telnet: martini.eecs.umich.edu 3000 No pa.s.sword or user name is needed. Type in the name of a city, a Zip code or a geographic feature and hit enter. The system doesn't like names with abbreviations in them (for example, Mt. McKinley), so spell them out (for example, Mount McKinley).

By typing in a town's name or zip code, you can find out a community's county, Zip code and longitude and lat.i.tude. Not all geographic features are yet included in the database.

GOVERNMENT

The National Technical Information Service runs a system that not only provides huge numbers of federal doc.u.ments of all sorts -- from environmental factsheets to patent abstract -- but serves as a gateway to dozens of other federal information systems.

Telnet: fedworld.gov Log on as: new

See also under Congress and Current Events.

HEALTH

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration runs a database of health- related information.

Telnet: fdabbs.fda.gov Log in: bbs

You'll then be asked for your name and a pa.s.sword you want to use in the future. After that, type

topics

and hit enter. You'll see this:

TOPICS DESCRIPTION

* NEWS News releases * ENFORCE Enforcement Report * APPROVALS Drug and Device Product Approvals list * CDRH Centers for Devices and Radiological Health Bulletins * BULLETIN Text from Drug Bulletin * AIDS Current Information on AIDS * CONSUMER FDA Consumer magazine index and selected articles * SUBJ-REG FDA Federal Register Summaries by Subject * ANSWERS Summaries of FDA information * INDEX Index of News Releases and Answers * DATE-REG FDA Federal Register Summaries by Publication Date * CONGRESS Text of Testimony at FDA Congressional Hearings * SPEECH Speeches Given by FDA Commissioner and Deputy * VETNEWS Veterinary Medicine News * MEETINGS Upcoming FDA Meetings * IMPORT Import Alerts * MANUAL On-Line User's Manual

You'll be able to search these topics by key word or chronologically. It's probably a good idea, however, to capture a copy of the manual, first, because the way searching works on the system is a little odd. To capture a copy, type

manual