billy@vaxb.acs.unt.edu (02/22/91)
Hi, The latest version of "UNT's Accessing On-line Bibliographic Databases" handout is now complete. It now contains 168 library systems covering 220 sites. Credit for most of the new information goes to Dana Noonan, Metro State University (for all the UK info) and Peter Scott, University of Saskatchewan. Included at the end of this letter is the answer to some questions that have popped up on numerous occasions. Further discussion should take place on preferably the PACS-L or LIB_HYTELNET mailing lists. ================================================================================ Billy Barron Bitnet : BILLY@UNTVAX VAX/Unix Systems Manager THENET : NTVAX::BILLY University of North Texas Internet : billy@vaxb.acs.unt.edu SPAN : UTSPAN::UTADNX::NTVAX::BILLY ================================================================================ Some commonly asked questions: How do I acquire the files? The files are available on vaxb.acs.unt.edu (129.120.1.4) via anonymous FTP. The files are: LIBRARIES.TXT - ASCII version LIBRARIES.PS - Postscript version LIBRARIES.WP5 - WordPrefect 5.1 source (transfer in binary mode) LIBRARIES.ADR - Numeric IP addresses of Internet libraries LIBRARIES.CONTACTS - Contacts for some of the Internet libraries NETWORKS.HLP - VMS help file source for a wide area networks help topic, which includes a section on library systems. BITNET only users should use the BITFTP service to acquire the files. I do not personally know how to use BITFTP. However, it is definitely not accessed by sending mail to BITFTP@UNTVAX. As an absolute last resort, the files may be requested via email (note: some networks such as UUCP may file size limits that may prohibit the transfer of these documents through electronic mail). Why is there UNT's guide and the Art St. George/Ron Larsen guide? Art St. George and I have some differences of opinion in the area of formatting and what should be included in an Internet library guide. Though I could just use the St. George guide, I need to format the information into a easy to use for novice computer users for my on-campus users. It is not much harder to provide it to the Internet at large and also gather my own information. Joe St. Sauver, the author of the VAXbook, on PACS-L put forth a rather good argument for the case that two guides are actually a benefical thing. By the way, I think Art St. George's claim of FIRST, BEST, and MOST AUTHORITATIVE is incorrect. If anybody deserves FIRST, it is Joe St. Sauver. MOST AUTHORITATIVE is without a doubt the Internet Resources Guide. BEST is a matter of opinion. I will not make any claims about my guide besides that many people find it useful. Are there some other useful sources of information? 1. HYTELNET - A Hypertext database for MS-DOS systems on Internet Resources including Library systems. Available via anonymous FTP on WUARCHIVE.WUSTL.EDU, WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL, or VAXB.ACS.UNT.EDU. Written by Peter Scott, University of Saskatchewan. A new version should be released in the near future. 2. LIBTEL - A TELNET front-end for VMS and Unix system to access Library Systems. Available via anonymous FTP on VAXB.ACS.UNT.EDU. Written by D. Mahone. Where do I send updates? Send all new information, updates, and deletions to BILLY@VAXB.ACS.UNT.EDU (more details on first page of guide). If you are using a TELNET/TN3270 package not listed in the appendix, please send me the information on it. Also, if you have instructions for a library software package not yet described, please send them to me and give me at least one example where it is in use. Sorry about the Appendices on some library software that are not yet completed. I will complete as time permits. Why don't you use a smaller font size to save paper? To keep 80 characters or less per line is the major reason. Also, a smaller font will not save that much paper (I've looked at it). I have problems printing the PostScript file. I'm pretty clueless on this one. I have printed the PS file from a PC to an Apple Laserwriter II without a problem.
billy@vaxb.acs.unt.edu (05/31/91)
Hi, Another release of the "UNT's Accessing On-line Bibliographic Databases" handout is now complete. The count is now around 200 Internet library systems. Included at the end of this letter is the answer to some questions that have popped up on numerous occasions. Further discussion should take place on the PACS-L or LIB_HYTELNET mailing lists. ================================================================================ Billy Barron Bitnet : BILLY@UNTVAX VAX/Unix Systems Manager THENET : NTVAX::BILLY University of North Texas Internet : billy@vaxb.acs.unt.edu SPAN : UTSPAN::UTADNX::NTVAX::BILLY ================================================================================ Some commonly asked questions: How do I acquire the files? The files are available on vaxb.acs.unt.edu (129.120.1.4) via anonymous FTP in the library directory. The files are: LIBRARIES.TXT - ASCII version LIBRARIES.PS - Postscript version LIBRARIES.WP5 - WordPerfect 5.1 source (transfer in binary mode) LIBRARIES.ADR - Numeric IP addresses of Internet libraries LIBRARIES.CONTACTS - Contacts for some of the Internet libraries NETWORKS.HLP - VMS help file source for a wide area networks help topic, which includes a section on library systems. Detailed Description by Roy Tennant (rtennant@library.berkeley.edu) [edited by Billy Barron]: Please note that these instructions are only for Internet sites. Users with access only to BITNET should send a mail message to BITFTP@PUCC with HELP at the first and only line of the message. The response will give you instructions on using the Princeton BITFTP server, which provides a mail interface to the FTP portion of the TCP/IP protocol suite. TO RETRIEVE: At your system prompt, enter: ftp vaxb.acs.unt.edu or ftp 129.120.1.4 When you receive the Name prompt, enter: anonymous When you receive the password prompt, enter your Internet address. When you are at the ftp> prompt, enter: binary At the next ftp> prompt, enter: cd library Then enter: get FILENAME As an absolute last resort, the files may be requested via email (note: some networks such as UUCP may file size limits that may prohibit the transfer of these documents through electronic mail). Why is there UNT's guide and the Art St. George/Ron Larsen guide? Art St. George and I have some differences of opinion in the area of formatting and what should be included in an Internet library guide. Though I could just use the St. George guide, I need to format the information into an easy to use form for novice computer users for my on-campus users. It is not much harder to provide it to the Internet at large and also gather my own information. Joe St. Sauver, the author of the VAXbook, on PACS-L put forth a rather good argument for the case that two guides are actually a benefical thing. Where do I send updates? Send all new information, updates, and deletions to BILLY@UNT.EDU (more details on first page of guide). If you are using a TELNET/TN3270 package not listed in the appendix, please send me the information on it. Also, if you have instructions for a library software package not yet described, please send them to me and give me at least one example where it is in use. Sorry about the Appendices on some library software that are not yet completed. I will complete as time permits. I have problems printing the PostScript file. I found a problem at my end that was causing 75% of these problems. I have not yet resolved what is causing other people difficulty. The evidence right now is pointing to the fact that *some* FTP packages are stripping out CRs when they are not supposed to (WIN/TCP on VMS is an example of this). The text version is all on one line. How can I fix that? The following is the combination of a couple of mail messages from Scott Robinson, CMU (she@opel.ece.emu.edu). Thanks, Scott! The problem is probably due to the fact that the UNIX ftp(1) (at least the one under Ultrix) strips Carriage Return charaters during file transfers. Use the 'cr' command to toggle carriage-return stripping. With stripping off, you will have the necessary delimiter. Then use tr(1) or your favorite editor to convert your Carriage Returns into the appropriate character. I used the following to convert files I retrieved (and later renamed to get rid of the ';#' stuff.) #!/bin/sh for i in README libraries.adr libraries.contacts libraries.ps libraries.txt networks.hlp do mv $i foo tr -d '\015' < foo > $i done