PRIMER:
Overview
Netiquette
E-mail/Chat
Mailing Lists
Newsgroups
FTP File Transfer
Telnet
Gopher
Websites/Web Search
Cite Sources
Make A Bookmark Page
Create A Home Page
Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Inc.
The Genealogist's Internet Primer, by Sharon L. Brevoort
Overview
The Internet (also called the Net) is a complex and extensive network linking many thousands of computers around the world. The Internet provides access to these resources using various access methods such as e-mail, chat groups, mailing lists, newsgroups, FTP, telnet, gopher, and the world-wide web.
Definitions
Netiquette is a set of informal rules regarding the language and style of communicating on the Internet.
E-mail is the way Internet participants communicate by sending messages to one another.
Chat Groups are special interest groups that meet online at a given "place" and time to discuss a selected topic.
Mailing Lists collect messages and queries posted by readers to a central location and later distribute them to members through e-mail.
Newsgroups collect messages and queries posted by readers to a central location and make them available through a newsreader.
The World-Wide Web is an global set of web pages accessed through a web browser, often interconnected by hyperlinks.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a method used to access files on a remote computer. You can retrieve a file by downloading it from a file archive to your PC and you can upload files from your PC to a remote computer (such as uploading your web pages to a server).
Telnet is an access method which connects your PC to a host computer as if your PC were a terminal, using the specific commands available on the host computer to access databases, card catalogs, and information services.
Gopher is an access method which connects your PC to use databases and services on a host computer through a menu.
Recommended Reading
Most anything you would like to learn about using the Internet is available somewhere online for free and most books on using the Internet for genealogy go quickly out of date. For those who like to have a book on hand, however, the best Internet genealogy resource currently available is this one by Cyndi Howells, webmaster of the encyclopedic Cyndi's List. Her book offers plenty of practical information and helpful hints written in plain English.
Netting Your Ancestors by Cyndi Howells, Genealogical Publishing Co., 1997
An upcoming book by Karin Rex will cover skills, tools, and techniques for searching the web such as keyword and phrase search strategies, finding people and businesses, and searching newsgroups. Watch Karin's website for the publication information. Her last book, Internet Illuminated (Skillpath Publications, 1996), is a general-purpose overview of the Internet.
If you are ready for more detail try Using the Internet (for Windows) or Internet 1997 Unleashed (for Windows, Macintosh, and Unix). These two books cover everything: what questions to ask before selecting an online service provider, dealing with spam, streamlining your browsing speed and search techniques, e-mail, chat, newsgroups, mailing lists, FTP, Telnet, Gopher, downloading and using specific Internet software products, creating your own website.
Using the Internet, 4th Edition, Jerry Honeycutt, et al, Que, 1998.
Internet 1997 Unleashed, 4th Edition, Jill Ellsworth, Billy Barron, et al, Sams.net Publishing, 1997.
Other References
Searching for Cyber-Roots by Laurie and Steve Bonner, Ancestry, Inc., 1997
Web Publishing for Genealogy by Peter Christian, Hawgood/Family Tree Magazine, 1997
Your Roots by Richard Eastman, Ziff-Davis Press, 1995
Genealogy Online: Researching Your Roots by Elizabeth Powell Crowe, Windcrest/McGraw-Hill, 1995
Morgan Stanley's The Internet Report, December, 1995.
The Genealogist's Internet Primer:
Overview | Netiquette | E-mail/Chat | Mailing Lists | Newsgroups | FTP | Telnet
Gopher | Websites | Cite Sources | Bookmark Page | Create Home Page
Permission to print a single copy for personal use is granted.
http://www.hvcn.org/info/gswc/primer/overview.htm
Revised 15 October 2007. Send comments or changes to Sharon at wwwgswc@aol.com.
Images © Corel Corporation.