LESSON 1: WELCOME / SYLLABUS
LESSON 1: WELCOME / SYLLABUS"O brave new world, That has such people in't!"--William Shakespeare, _The Tempest_, 1611-12
Do not despair. You *can* and *will* learn to surf through cyberspace. After all, I did it, and, like many of you, I come from the old card catalog-based library school tradition; in fact, I only began exploring the Net a few years ago, with an IBM 286 PC and a shell account on our University's mainframe system. What motivated me to start is the same thing that motivates you.
As librarians, we recognize a professional responsibility to manage information in all forms and formats, which includes information on the Net -- not, I might add, an easy task. Speaking at the 1995 South Carolina Library Association's annual meeting in February, Jean Polly, Director of Public Services, NYSERNet, pointed out that the Internet was created by teckies who like to group information in files under headings such as "Neat Stuff," and "More Neat Stuff." Add to this the fact that the Internet itself is so vast and so volatile, and you'll see right away what librarians are up against.
Rick Gates, creator of the Internet Hunt, has described the Internet this way:
If the Net *is* a library, then it's adding a new wing today (overnight) while removing another; and all the books at the Reserve Desk are being moved to a new location; the online catalog is being augmented by three new tools, (one of which is free, one of which was written by the new person in Dept. A); the entire phono disk collection just disappeared; any number of users can simultaneously check out the latest issue of the Journal of Obscure Chemistry; the reference department works at home now, and we just discovered 10,000 new books in a part of the library that we swear wasn't there yesterday. And tomorrow will be different . . .
In the world of cyberspace, there is little doubt that the skills of the library profession are needed more than ever before. But who will teach us how to manage information on the Net? Unfortunately, most of us will have to assume the responsibility for teaching ourselves, and that's the purpose of this electronic classroom. I want to share with you some of what I've learned about locating and retrieving electronic information.
In the lessons that follow I'll be introducing you to the Internet; I'll explain what it is and how it got started, and I'll take you down some interesting pathways in a variety of information-packed fields. We'll talk about how to use the basic tools of the Internet, how to find the information we need, and how to transmit data electronically from site to site.
All you will need for the trip is a computer with access to
email and telnet and, as we prepare to journey into the realms of
gopherspace and hyperspace, a sense of kinship with Steven
Spielberg or Gene Roddenberry.
- ADDENDUM 1: SEARCHING IN BUSINESS
- ADDENDUM 2: SEARCHING IN HEALTH AND MEDICINE
- ADDENDUM 3: SEARCHING IN EDUCATION
- ADDENDUM 4: FINAL EXAM ANSWERS
Once you get this information, do *not* send it to me. I have no need for it, but you will. Keep it handy next to your computer terminal and remember, the best thing you can do right now is to begin developing a friendly relationship with your local Internet service provider. When you come up against technical or operational roadblocks, it is he or she - not me - who will have the answers for you.
Remember, there is no uniformity of networks and connections among us. Because basic commands differ from one software package to another, what works for you may or may not work for me. For example, because of the variety of software packages being run at the eight campuses of the University of South Carolina, we cannot always share "cheat sheets" or instructional guides among the various sites; folks at each location have to learn particulars given their campus setup (and, yes, of course there are different setups from department to department as well, even on the same campus!).
bck2eln@sc.edu
Patrick Crispen, creator of the "Roadmap for the Information superhighway Internet Training Workshop," who has graciously permitted us to quote him and to borrow from the basic format of his workshop. He's the one who got me started and I cite him frequently.
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"BCK2SKOL" is a free electronic library classroom created by Ellen Chamberlain, Head Librarian, University of South Carolina Beaufort, and Miriam Mitchell, Sr. Systems Analyst, USC Columbia. Additional support is provided by the Division of Libraries & Information Systems, University of South Carolina Columbia. |
Links checked 19 October 1999. See the BCK2SKOL homepage for course
update details.
Copyright © 2000, the Board of
Trustees of the University of South Carolina.
URL: http://www.sc.edu/bck2skol/fall/lesson1.html