GO-PHER-IT: YOUR PASSPORT TO THE INTERNET
Go-pher-it: Your Passport to the Internet is a three week
distance-learning workshop conducted entirely through e-mail. It is
designed to introduce the beginner to the worldwide gopher
information distribution system, as well as to enhance the skills of
the somewhat more experienced user.
The Internet gopher is the express elevator of the Internet, capable
of cutting through layer upon layer of information quickly. It
permits you to traverse the world's databanks. You can be viewing a
color photograph of an ancient Chinese vase stored on a computer in
Taiwan and, on a moment's notice, "be" in the UK, accessing a
database of historical names and dates. It enables you to easily
retrieve all sorts of information, and to connect to many other
services. Invented at the University of Minnesota, home of the
"Golden Gophers" sports teams (hence the name), the gopher program
connects many of the major Internet computers together into one
unified information service, or "gopherspace."
In just three and one half years, gopher has sprung up from one
installation on the University of Minnesota campus to more than seven
thousand around the world. One key to gopher's success has been that
it is not overly complicated. It is easy to use, and, moreover,
makes an ordinary, logical presentation out of dissimilar and
scattered "chunks" of information from all over the Internet.
What are some of the advantages of gopher?
* There is a wealth of information available by gopher, including
virtually all of the resources of the Internet.
* You change effortlessly from one computer to the next, and scarcely
know it, as the menu interface remains the same.
* Gopher is the most popular interface to the Internet, and it
supports the latest Internet features.
* It lets you browse the Internet and find "hidden gems" that you
might otherwise not have known about.
* Gopher is good for those times when you have only a vague idea of
what you are searching for, as well as for retrieving information
when you know what you want.
WORKSHOP INFORMATION
During the workshop, you will learn:
* How to make the basic connection to gopher.
* How to use gopher to connect with some representative gopher sites.
* How to query gopherspace with the powerful Veronica program.
* How to setup gopher "bookmarks" and make changes in them in order
to personalize your gopher sessions.
* How to use gopher's bookmark facility to create your own customized
online service.
* The intimate relationship between gopher and other key Internet
retrieval tools, such as FTP, WAIS, and WWW while learning something
about them in the process.
Dates: In order to accomodate difficult winter schedules, three
workshops are planned:
Session I.........January 2 - January 22
Session II........February 6 - February 26
Session III.......March 6 - March 26
Cost: $20 per participant, per Workshop.
Sign up for ONE session only unless you plan to take the Workshop more
than once. To sign up for one of the Go-pher-it Workshop sessions,
please send an e-mail message to the listserv:
listserv@netcom.com
and in the body of the message, include:
subscribe go_pher_it
to subscibe to Session I, or
subscribe go_pher_it2
to subscibe to Session II, or
subscribe go_pher_it3
to subscribe to Session III.
This will automatically put you on the mailing list for more
information about the workshop, and you will receive an
acknowledgment with the particulars about signing up.
In order to get the most from this workshop it is helpful to have
access to a gopher client program, either by remote access, or by
actually running one on your own computer directly connected to the
Internet. To participate in the workshop you only need access to
e-mail; however, it is very desirable to be able to actually use a
gopher client while you are doing so.
The workshop leader, Thomas P. Copley, Ph.D., is one of the founders
of The Electronic University in San Francisco, and is an experienced
instructor of distance-learning courses via networks. In addition to
consulting for Apple Computer, Inc. on hyper-textual
distance-learning software, Dr. Copley has served on the faculties of
Washington State University, Antioch College, and Armstrong
University. He is also the Editor of the electronic newsletter the
TELELEARNING NETWORK SYNTHESIZER.
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Thomas P. Copley ror@netcom.com
GO-PHER-IT WORKSHOP Arlington Courseware
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