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206 RESEARCH ON THEINTERNEThuman intervention, although most software is now ca-
pable of some filtering. Unmoderated mailing lists tend
to be larger and function more quickly. LISTSERVs can
also be public or private. Public lists have open enroll-
ment, while private lists require members to meet specific
membership criteria, such as enrollment in a professional
organization, employment or enrollment at a specific in-
stitution, or designated academic or professional status.
Newsgroups are similar to mailing lists in that they
sort and distribute mail according to subject specialties,
but they utilize pull technology, which requires users to
access a server to read messages, rather than receive them
as e-mail. Newsgroups generally thread, or group their
messages, into topics, giving users the option to choose
which discussions, within a general topic, to interact with.
Newsgroups have become a major component of online
instruction.
USENET is the largest news group on the Internet
to date. USENET was originally created in 1979 by
graduate computer science students at Duke University
and the University of North Carolina as an alternative
to the ARPAnet, which many students and researchers
contended was too restrictive. USENET evolved into hun-
dreds of subject groups, arranged hierarchically. Exam-
ples are alt (alternative), humanities (fine art, literature,
and philosophy), sci (the sciences), and soc (sociology
and social concerns). USENET groups evolved into one of
the most vibrant areas of intellectual, cultural, and recre-
ational discourse on the Internet. They have recently been
subsumed by a commercial search engine, but remain
fully functional, and searchable, including the archives.
They contain a plethora of extremely unique information,
but some care should be exercised since identity and in-
formational claims are not verified. Even with these lim-
itations, USENET represents one of the most underused
research tools on the Internet. There are currently many
other mail and newsgroups, many of them managed by
commercial interests.Bulletin Board Systems
Bulletin board systems are computer systems used as
information centers and forums for particular interest
groups or locations, and as such had limited, though
unique usability. BBSs typically required individual dial-
up access and faded out as the Internet developed. It could
be argued that portals represent an analogous conceptual
approach.Chat Rooms and MUDS
Multiuser dungeons (MUDs) were inaugurated at Eng-
land’s Essex University in 1979 for the purpose of allowing
multiple users to create imaginary worlds and play fantasy
games. Along with their successor MOOs (object-oriented
MUDs), these virtual spaces have enormous potential as
brainstorming and discussion venues. They are currently
underused for this purpose.Online Conferences
Online, or virtual conferences, are online versions of a
physical conference, capitalizing on the unique featuresof a Web environment. Online conferences may utilize
a combination of virtual space (MUDs and MOOs) and
other real-time chat technologies; online video and audio
feed; white board technology; e-mail and mailing lists;
online reports, articles, and supplementary documents;
and related hyperlinks. Since virtual conferences typically
model academic conferences, virtual conference atten-
dees register, often paying money, choose a conference
track or tracks, and read, listen to, or watch the confer-
ence presentations and any supplemental material pro-
vided. The track participants typically join a mail list or
partake in chat sessions, which mirror conference dis-
cussion and networking, a key element of conferences.
Presenters are generally available via e-mail for ques-
tions and discussion as well. Conference products include
bibliographies and proceedings, as well as electronic up-
dates.
While there are numerous criticisms of online con-
ferences, there are many advantages. There is no travel
involved, thus allowing underprivileged participants and
those with time constraints to participate; the cost is min-
imal; materials can be read and presentations attended in
a flexible manner and over long periods of time; hyperlink
technology provides a plethora of supplemental materials;
and e-mail connectivity allows interactivity with partici-
pants and presenters, many of whom are essentially off
limits at nonvirtual conferences.LIBRARIES AND THE INTERNET
Providing research access and assistance is one of the es-
sential functions of libraries. With the advent of the In-
ternet, there has been much discussion as to how useful
libraries remain. The fact is, however, that libraries have
embraced the Internet since its origin and are reliant on it
for operation. They are extremely proactive in the devel-
opment of research-based Internet applications and ser-
vices, and remain critical in assisting in almost all aspects
of Internet use and evaluation.
Academic libraries, often affiliated with the early
ARPAnet partners, established an early presence on the
Internet by hosting their catalogs online. Since these aca-
demic libraries were among the most prestigious in the
world, this sudden, global sharing of collections enabled
researchers to locate rare or previously unknown materi-
als and expanded the scope and depth of their research
enormously. As the Internet developed with the WWW,
libraries migrated to the Web as the primary medium for
catalog delivery and other services.
The technological development of online catalogs
over the Internet led to cooperative or union catalogs.
MELVYL, a union catalog comprising all the Univer-
sity of California schools, began development in 1977.
HYTELNET was the first Internet software to provide ac-
cess to global library catalogs. Libdex is a contemporary
Web-based directory and search engine for libraries on
the WWW.Libraries without Walls
The concept that the materials contained within the physi-
cal structure of a library no longer limited the library’s col-
lection first surfaced in the mid-1980s. Access to library