V15N2.INTRM15 (fwd)

[Peter Milbury <pmilbur@EIS.CALSTATE.EDU>]

Hello LM_NET!

   The forwarded message below came as part of my subscription to the
LITANEWS.  I think that many LM_NETTERS took advantage of these services
at ALA Mid-Winter in L.A.

Peter Milbury

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 08:46:27 EST
From: Katharina Klemperer <kathy@elmer.harvard.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list LITANEWS
     <LITANEWS%DARTCMS1.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu>
Subject: V15N2.INTRM15

V15N2.INTRM15 LITANEWS
-----------------------------------------
Impressions of the Internet Room 1.5

Filed from the Internet Room in Los Angeles

THE FIRST THING PEOPLE saw as they walked into the Internet Room at
the 1994 Midwinter Meeting was a room filled almost entirely with
Apple MacIntosh computers. There were 19 Macs and 6 IBM-compatibles,
but the IBM-compatibles were rendered almost entirely useless because
of network problems that kept them down most of the conference. Many
ALA attendees didn't need help with the Internet, but they did need
help with the Macs. Once people had overcome their inexperience with
Macs, which typically took a couple of minutes, they were surfing the
Internet as usual because the interface usually took them to their
home environment.
   Because it was Midwinter, it appeared that the crowd was
predominantly more sophisticated users and that most people wanted to
connect to their home machines to check their E-mail. Perhaps next
Midwinter the room will be renamed the " E-Mail Room." The Internet
Room helpers were subjected to more mail-handling programs than one
could possibly imagine. Typical problems ranged from not knowing the
proper IP address for connection to finding that control characters or
function keys were not being properly emulated. A frequently-resolved
problem was whether to use a Telnet session or a TN3270 session. All
the Internet Room helpers spent a lot of time trying to resolve IP
addresses, explaining the Mac environment, helping determine whether
attendees were connecting to a UNIX or an IBM mail environment and
then trying to help attendees fix mail problems in environments the
helpers had never seen before.   The Internet Room did have several
machines with tours of Internet
resources on them and all the Macs had TurboGopher and Mosaic mounted
on them. Users who had little experience with the Internet were
treated to these resources and were excited to find how easy they are
to use. Unfortunately, there are still people who do not have Internet
accounts and they were disappointed to find the room couldn't provide
them with accounts or the ability to send messages to people on the
Internet. Another common misunderstanding occurred amongst attendees
who were initially excited to find they could copy the Gopher and
Mosaic software and then disappointed to learn they needed a network
drop to make use of them.
   Conference participants seemed to appreciate the Internet Room and
access to their accounts, although several grumbled about the Macs.
Ironically, some people who wandered into the room assumed an
exhibitor had set it up. A few asked "What are you selling--the
Internet?" In a way, LITA is selling the Internet, though not in the
precise way these users seemed to imagine. Surprisingly, some people
didn't even know that LITA is an ALA division. Nevertheless, all
technical problems and misunderstandings aside, ALA and LITA provided
a valuable service by offering access to the Internet for both the
beginner and the advanced user.-- Mark S. Farrar, Internet Room
Volunteer, MIT Humanities Library