BKINTPSP.RVW  950311
 
"The Internet Passport", NorthWestNet, 1995, 0-13-194200-X, U$29.95/C$40.95
%A   David Feiner Willard Robison
%A   Jonathan Patrick Kochmer
%C   113 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ   07632
%D   1995
%G   0-13-194200-X
%I   Prentice Hall
%O   U$29.95/C$40.95 (515) 284-6751 FAX (515) 284-2607 beth_hespe@prenhall.com
%O   (206) 562-3000 fax: (206) 562-4822 passport@nwnet.net camares@mcimail.com
%P   667
%T   "The Internet Passport"
 
Until recently, this was only available from NorthWestNet or a very select
group of specialty bookstores.  With the involvement of Prentice Hall in this
edition, the work may see a wider distribution.
 
This work is a fairly bare bones and no nonsense guide to the Internet.  The
book is orderly, and the explanations and illustrations are clear.  Each
chapter covers a single topic.  Most chapters end with additional references,
most often online materials or sources.  The work is well researched and highly
competent in most cases.  There is, in the early chapters, a gracelessness to
it which lacks any kind of appeal.  What humour there is tends to seem somewhat
contrived and sanitized:  a topic on the hardware that connects computers on
the Internet is subtitled "Router Rooters:  'Go Internet Go!'"  Nevertheless,
it is a thoroughly researched and valuable reference for those interested in
using the resources of the Internet.
 
Section one, which is also chapter one, is a brief introduction to the
Internet.  There is minor mention of the technologies and organizations
involved in the Internet, as well as brief mention of Fidonet and UUCP.  The
bibliography is a very solid list of valuable titles, but would have had
significantly more value with some annotation.
 
Section two covers the basic tools and functions of the Internet.  The topics
are well chosen, starting with email, mail servers, mail gateways to other
networks and systems, telnet and ftp.  Chapter four discusses mail etiquette. 
This section, I am happy to note, gives more space to the topic than is usual. 
In the end, though, it comes down to a list of rules that reduce to "keep it
short, keep on topic, be complete and don't mess up."  It would be nice to see
one of these essays tell people how and why flame wars start, which might help
to avoid them.  Chapter eight, following ftp, deals with file compression and
archiving.
 
Section three moves into the next level of sophistication, in terms of
communications, with group discussions.  As the book puts it, these are the
"Community Forums" of the net.  Chapters nine, ten and eleven deal very
clearly, completely and usefully with Usenet, BITNET LISTSERVs and Internet
mailing lists.  I am noted for highly critical reviews:  I find nothing of any
substance wrong with this section, and recommend it highly and without
reservation.  Once again, the end of each chapter gives useful directions on
how to find out further information, particularly the specifics of various
LISTSERVs and mailing lists.
 
Section four starts to look at the resources of the Internet as a library, with
electronic journals, books, catalogues and data bases.  Chapter fifteen is very
similar to the catalog section of various works with listings of sites and
resources by topic.  Section five deals with exploration and retrieval tools,
such as archie, gopher, WAIS, WWW and directory services.  The final section
contains specialized interests, becoming an information provider on the net,
the use of the Internet in public education, health related issues and access
to supercomputing facilities.  The chapter on providing information is
excellent, giving, very briefly, a background and detailed overview which is
more reliable than those in works dedicated to "doing business" on the
Internet.  (A concise introduction to HTML would be a valuable addition.)
 
The book concludes with several appendices.  The most interesting are likely
Appendix A, which gives suggestions of online sources of information about the
Internet, and, B, which gives a short list of Internet access providers and
methods.  The glossary is very well done:  not overblown with imposing numbers
of entries, but good explanations of the important terms.
 
The unprepossessing beginning of this work hides a very carefully researched
and well organized reference for those wishing to get into the Internet and its
resources.  Unfortunately, this most recent edition does not show much
development from the previous one.  I am sorry to see the same weaknesses, and
recnet references which could have covered some shortcomings ignored.  Less
flashy than some, it should nevertheless have a place on the desk of every
serious Internet user.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993, 1995   BKINTPSP.RVW  950311

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