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Usenet remains one of the least commercial and wide-ranging "regions" of the Internet. More than the web, Usenet, along with email, can build "virtual communities" -- people drawn together by common interests who may never meet, but who share information, stories, advice, etc.
One way of gaining access to Usenet newsgroups is via your DANTE account. Instead of typing "pine" at the DANTE% prompt, type tin instead. This will log you into the University's USENET reader program.
Usenet Newsgroups can also be accessed through the Web via Deja News. This method takes advantage of the Netscape browser viewing and printing characteristics and provides access to a larger number of Newsgroups. Dejanews began in March 1995 and has kept an archive of all messages sent through the free service since then.
The names assigned to newsgroups are hierarchical, just like call numbers in the Library of Congress classification scheme. The name is a series of words or abbreviations separated by periods. These move from general to specific as the abbreviations move from left to right. The highest level of the hierarchy is usually common to the entire Usenet system, such as alt and rec. For a comprehensive list of the hierarchies, visit Master List of Newsgroup Hierarchies at http://home.magmacom.com/~leisen/master_list.html
Examples:
rec.outdoors.fishing.saltwater (rec. is for groups that relate to artistic
activities, hobbies and other recreations)
news.answers (news. is for information that applies to all newsgroups,
such
as rules of etiquette)
alt.fan.leo-dicaprio (alt. is for alternative topics)
misc.invest.stocks (misc. is for miscellaneous)
comp.answers (comp. is for computer-related topics)
soc.romance (soc. is for socially-oriented lists)
Archives: most newsgroups maintain archives of their postings, so those who are new can catch up and those who are looking for something specific can find it.
Article: an individual newsgroup message.
Cross-posting: posting an article to more than one newsgroup.
FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions are a compiled list of the most commonly asked questions posed to, discussed in or related to a newsgroup. These are found on the newsgroup, at news.answers or at http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/top.html (highly selective).
Network News Transport Protocol or NNTP: the language, means of communication or protocol for exchanging and managing Usenet news.
Newsgroup or Usenet newsgroup or IDG (Internet Discussion Group): a free Internet discussion group (interest group, mailing list) that posts messages on a specific topic (and theoretically exclusively on that topic). They first appeared in 1979. The messages are not posted and received through email, but rather to the newsgroup area maintained on the Internet and available through ISPs and universities. Newsgroups are useful because they help you receive information on a topic or obtain an answer to a question from all over the Internet. They help you connect with people who are interested in the same things you are. They also provide an opportunity to publish creative writing, opinions, advice and gossip. According to Dejanews (http://w2.dejanews.com/info/idg.shtml), newsgroups are "an electronic community of people interacting with each other." Messages posted to newsgroups may be read by thousands of people all over the world. Most newsgroups are maintained by volunteers interested in the topic.
Newsreader: a software program that runs on a personal computer. It enables someone to read and participate in discussion forums via the Internet. You use the newsreader program to interact (read and post messages) with the newsgroup. It also keeps track of the newsgroups you have joined and individual messages you have viewed. It is the equivalent of the web browser, but for newsgroups. Major browsers often contain a newsreader.
Post or Posting: composing either an original article or a response to someone else's article and then publishing it to the newsgroup's area.
Thread or threads: all the articles that respond to a particular question, minor topic or issue posed on the newsgroup. Thread is the appropriate descriptive term because one follows the topic as its coverage weaves through the correspondence on the newsgroup.
Usenet: a system for exchanging messages called articles arranged according to specific categories called newsgroups. It is a large and rapidly changing community of individuals who communicate over the Internet according to an agreed-upon code of etiquette.
The following newsgroups list new groups as they are added to Usenet: news.answers, news.lists and news.groups.
The following websites feature lists of newsgroups:
| Deja News, http://www.dejanews.com | Liszt of Newsgroups, http://www.liszt.com/news | Tile.net/news, http://tile.net/news |
Vital information about newsgroups and how they work is contained in actual newsgroups. Consult the following groups before posting your first message:
| news.announce.newgroups | How to establish a newsgroup and lists of recently added newsgroups |
| news.announce.newusers | Go here first: background articles and information to help you understand and use newsgroups effectively. "A Primer on How to Work with the Usenet Community" is most helpful to beginners. |
| news.answers | FAQs and other basic questions answered |
| news.newusers.questions | Exactly what the name implies |
Four of the general Internet search engines we have already used will also search newsgroups.
AltaVista,
http://www.altavista.digital.com
(Click on the drop down arrow next to "the Web" and click on
"Usenet")
Excite,
http://www.excite.com/Reference/usenet.html?a-un-t
(Click on Newsgroups in the More Services area at the bottom of the
www.excite.com
page)
HotBot,
http://www.hotbot.com/usenet/index.html
Infoseek, http://www.infoseek.com
(Click the radio box next to Newsgroups under the search box on the main
page)
Search engines specifically geared to Usenet Newsgroups usually keep six months of archived messages. They include:
Deja News, http://www.dejanews.com
Adapted from: Ackerman, Ernest and Karen Hartman. Searching & Researching on the Internet & the World Wide Web. Wilsonville, OR: Franklin, Beadle and Associates, 1997.
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