I do suggest that you learn to use the Gopher, WAIS, Veronica searching
available at the Almanac Site at North Carolina State University. Telnet
to:
twosocks.ces.ncsu.edu
and experiment.
Best regards,
------------------
Gabriel A. Hegyes
ghegyes@nalusda.gov
January 10, 1993
GETTING STARTED ELECTRONICALLY WITH
THE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE NETWORK
The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) is a cooperative effort
of university, government, business and non-profit organizations
dedicated to the exchange of scientific and practical information
on sustainable agricultural systems. It is a network in the
broadest sense of the word, supporting the interaction of
existing and new sources and users of information. The
networking of information is in many forms, such as printed
information and meetings, as well as computer networks. This
document explains how to use the electronic network portion of
SAN.
SAN is encouraging the distribution of information via the
existing system of inter-connected computer networks commonly
called "the Internet". Originally developed in the United States
for research purposes, the Internet is connected to hundreds of
large and small computer networks throughout the world through
"gateways" that exchange messages. Because it is a decentralized
network of existing networks, instructions for using the Internet
vary from site to site. The information in this overview is for
you to use to discuss your options with the computer networks
that may be available to you, and to begin accessing agricultural
information once you are connected and familiar with your system.
GATEWAYS VS. FULL INTERNET SERVICE
If you are at a university or government facility, your computer
may be fully connected to the Internet. Alternatively, you may
have an account on a system with a "gateway" to the Internet,
such as Econet, CompuServe, MCI-Mail, or many others. A full
Internet connection includes three functions: electronic mail
(email) using "SMTP" protocol; FTP (File Transfer Protocol, for
exchanging files immediately rather than sending them via email);
and Telnet (a protocol for running programs, such as menu-driven
database searches, on a remote computer). Many systems that have
gateways to the Internet can exchange email, but cannot run FTP
or Telnet on other Internet machines.
Since SAN is committed to linking a wide variety of individuals
and institutions, it is making all of its information searchable
and retrievable via email messages: a search message is sent to
a "server" computer that interprets the request and
electronically mails back the results. Thus users with only
email access through a gateway to the Internet can access all SAN
information. Much of the same information is available more
interactively and/or more quickly via Telnet or FTP, however, so
a full Internet connection with FTP and Telnet services may be
more desirable. The interface of a commercial or nonprofit
system, on the other hand, may in some cases be easier to use
than the available university or government system.
WHAT TO DO ONCE YOU'RE CONNECTED
Since so many different computer systems are connected to the
Internet, the best source of help in getting started using email,
FTP or Telnet is the computer consultant for your local system.
Once you are familiar with your system, join the SAN discussion
group and explore the SAN databases or calendar. You do all of
these via email messages to "Almanac," an automated mail handler.
Since Almanac is a computer program, not a human being, it is
important that you address messages to it without error, and that
the body of each message contains just the appropriate
information (see below), no more and no less.
Databases:
SAN has two databases available for searching on the Internet:
SARE-projects (summaries of the projects funded by the USDA/CSRS
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program and the
EPA/USDA Agriculture in Concert with the Environment program);
and Showcase (annotated bibliography of educational and
informational materials, emphasizing information readily useful
to farmers). To get information about searching these databases,
send the following line(s) in the body of an email message to
almanac@oes.orst.edu
send ext sare-projects catalog
send ext showcase catalog
Calendar:
There is a calendar of sustainable agriculture meetings and
events updated monthly by Gabriel Hegyes, SAN Coordinator. You
can retrieve it by sending email to almanac@oes.orst.edu, with
the following in the body of your message:
send sust-ag-cal
Discussion Group:
SAN has an email group "sanet-mg" with over 200 individuals
interested in, and knowledgeable about, sustainable agriculture.
Members of the group share sources of information and help answer
each others' questions. To join "sanet-mg" send the following
line in the body of an email address to almanac@oes.orst.edu
subscribe sanet-mg
After you have subscribed, anything that anyone sends to "sanet-
mg@oes.orst.edu" will automatically be sent to you and everyone
else on the list. Notice that the address that handles
subscribe/unsubscribe requests is different from the address that
handles mail to the group.
When you send mail to "sanet-mg@oes.orst.edu" you will probably
get a few "bounce-back" messages, indicating that your message
could not be delivered to one or more of the addresses on the
list. Don't be concerned about these messages; your message was
delivered to all valid and active addresses on the list.
MORE INTERNET RESOURCES
In addition to these specialized information sources, the
Internet has quite a few other databases and mail lists on
agriculture and other topics relevant to sustainable agriculture.
One example is the USDA's "Research Results Database" or RRDB.
It can be queried via email by sending the following command to
almanac@esusda.gov
send rrdb catalog
Mark Campidonica's publication "A Guide to Agriculture on
Internet" contains many more sources and examples. It is
available via anonymous FTP to silo.ucdavis.edu, under the
subdirectory pub/extension/document, as ag-guide.ps (PostScript
version) or ag-guide.exe (WordPerfect 5.1 version). It contains
step-by-step lessons in email, FTP, and Telnet, using
agricultural examples. If you cannot retrieve this document via
anonymous FTP, you can request a printed copy by mail from Jill
Auburn at jsauburn@ucdavis.edu. There is no charge for the 101-
page booklet, but donations are appreciated to cover printing and
handling.
Another useful listing of agricultural and biological information
sources on the Internet is Bill Drew's "Not Just Cows" available
via FTP from ftp.unt.edu or hydra.uwo.ca. An excellent general
guide to the Internet (more than agriculture) is Brendan Kehoe's
"Zen and the Art of the Internet" available via FTP from many
sites, including ftp.cs.widener.edu. If you are not familiar
with how to use FTP, ask your computer support personnel.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information or help accessing SAN, contact:
Gabriel Hegyes, SAN Coordinator
SANlink, c/o AFSIC, Room 111
National Agricultural Library
10301 Baltimore Boulevard
Beltsville, MD 20705-2351
Internet:ghegyes@asrr.arsusda.gov
Telephone: 301/504-6425 FAX: 301/504-6409
SAN is supported by a grant from the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education (SARE) program.
On Thu, 20 May 1993, GTK@stc10.ctd.ornl.gov wrote:
> Now that I have access to sanet-mg, what do I do to receive information?