The Online World resources handbook

Practical tips http://home.eunet.no/~presno/bok/12.html
some other protocol.
Read about 'offline readers' in chapter 16 for more about this.
Recommended.
Surfing strategies.
Frank Burns of the American online service MetaNet is spokesperson for the strategy Scan Focus
Act.
On your first visits to a new online service, you SCAN to get an overview of what is being offered
and find out how to use it most efficiently. Notes are made of interesting bulletins, databases,
conferences, messages, news services, public domain and shareware programs, games, and more.
Capture everything to disk. Don't study it until disconnected from the service. Rate the material to
prepare for your next moves: FOCUS and ACT.
New Netscape users may have problems doing this. However, it is not as complex as it
sounds, and in particular if you take the trouble to retrieve shareware utilities like
Cache Master or Web Saver from the net. They let you read and search the Web texts
saved in Netscape's cache on your hard disk. Use http://www.shareware.com to locate
them.
Another option is to have Netscape mail you the pages.
As you learn about offerings, users and applications, your use of the services changes. Things that
caught your attention on your first visits, lose to discoveries. Some applications may be promoted to
"something I want to do again," like when you decide to read a given news report on Monday
mornings.
Here are some other hints:
Find out what you do NOT need to know and have enough self confidence immediately to
discard irrelevant material. Walk quickly through the information. Select what you need now,
store other interesting items on your hard disk, clip references, and drop the remainder of your
capture file.
Learn when and how to use people, computers, libraries and other resources. Prepare well
before going online. Note that the online resource may not necessarily be the quickest way to
the goal. If you want the name of Michael Jackson's latest album, you may get a faster answer
by calling a local music shop. . . .
Make an outline of how to search the service before going online. If required, start by going
online to collect help menus and lists of search commands (unless you already have the printed
user information manual). Study the instructions carefully, plan your visit, and then call back.
Often, it may be useful to do trial searches in online data captured to hard disk during previous trips.
Do this to check if your use of search words is sensible.
Who knows, you may even find what you are searching for right there. Besides, you must use the
correct search terms to find what you are looking for.
Write your search strategy on a piece of paper. If you know how to write macros for your
communications program, consider writing some for your planned search commands. Few people
can type 240 characters or more per second. Using macros may save you time, frustration and
money.
It may be wise to do your search in two steps. On your first visit: Get a LIST of selected
headlines or references, and then log off the service.
Study your finds, and plan the next step. Then call back to get full text of the most promising
stories.
This strategy is often better than just 'hanging online' while thinking. When you feel the pressure of
the taximeter, it is easy to make costly mistakes.
Novices should always go the easiest way. Don't be shy. Ask SOS Assistance services for help,
if available. When using commercial services, invest in special communication programs with built in
automatic online searching features. They are designed to make your work easier.
Limit your search and avoid general and broad search terms. It is often wise to start with a
search word that is so 'narrow' that it is unlikely to find articles outside your area of interest. Your goal
is not to find many stories. You want the right ones.
You should periodically go back to the SCAN phase, and not concentrate on FOCUS
and ACT alone.
Using email gateways to Internet resources
Things are so simple with Netscape. If you want a file, just click on the link, and it gets transferred to
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