------------------------------------------------------------------------ December, John. (1994, 1 September). Electronic Publishing on the Internet: New Traditions, New Choices. Educational Technology, 34(7):32-36. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright (c)1994 by John December. All rights reserved. You can print this for personal or academic use. Do not store this paper in any other information retrieval system. URL: http://johndecember.com/john/papers/et94.txt ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Electronic Publishing on the Internet: New Traditions, New Choices John December Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ABSTRACT The rapid growth of the global Internet creates new possibilities for communicating. Once the province of institutions and publishers, mass information dissemination now is in the hands of individuals through the Internet. I begin this article by noting that Internet electronic publishing marks a change in media control---from systems in which institutions exercise editorial control to systems in which information communities shape content and dissemination. I then summarize Internet tools and practices used for electronic self-publishing. I then discuss case studies illustrating information accumulation and distribution on the Internet. Finally, I describe issues and challenges for the future of electronic publishing on the Internet. THE INTERNET CHANGES INFORMATION DISSEMINATION Publishers of books and magazines have systems of editorial control to ensure that information content matches audience needs. This control grew naturally out of the ownership of the medium, and this system ensures quality (certification), access (archiving), and distribution (marketing) (Franks, 1993). A person working outside this system, using the Internet computer network, could send a document to all Internet users---over fifteen million people---through electronic mail. However, such a mass mailing would probably be met with derision by most recipients because of the sender's lack of selectivity. In traditional forms of publication, this selectivity is a function of editorial control. On the Internet, this control process arises not from any one individual or institution, but from interaction within information communities. The information communities shape (but not necessarily control) information content and dissemination. Thus, electronic publishers on the Internet work in a non-traditional system of publication, and the key to this new form of publishing involves understanding Internet tools, practices, and publication products. ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING ON THE INTERNET: Tools, Practices, and Products The Internet is not one network, but a network of networks that links more than fifteen million people in more than 50 countries (Miller, 1993). On these networks, people communicate and retrieve information using many tools and forums. Tools such as online card catalogs allow a user to browse the bookshelves of libraries all over the world from a terminal. Forums such as electronic mail link individuals and groups together in asynchronous discussions. Real-time forums like Internet Relay Chat link groups of people together in synchronous text interchanges. There are tools to organize, find, or retrieve information from computers distributed globally on the network. Electronic publishing on the Internet involves using these tools and forums to distribute information or entertainment that appeals to an audience. To gain an audience's attention, the electronic publisher must first recognize that Internet information communities have particular interests, shared experiences, expectations, and cultures. These communities have traditions and practices for information creation and dissemination. These practices---in combination with the appeal of the information to the audience---determine what information becomes distributed more widely. In the following section, I will present a brief description of these tools (December, 1993b) and discuss traditions and practices for electronic publishing using them. Tools for information and communication on the Internet vary in complexity and purpose. These tools are based on rules for computer communication (protocols) and have a variety of user interfaces. In many cases, the software is available in the public domain or is included in the software distributed with the user's operating system. The basic tools for communication on the Internet are electronic mail, telnet, and file transfer protocol. Electronic mail Using email, a sender transmits a message to a receiver at an Internet address. The message is traditionally text, although multimedia extensions to email are available. The sender and receiver have accounts on computers that are on the Internet or on a communication system that can exchange electronic mail with the Internet. The user can create a mailing list and send the same text to many users. While this can be done, usually established ways for group communication use LISTSERV (described below). Telnet Using telnet, a user can remotely begin a login session on computer at an Internet address. This service is usually an interactive menu interface that presents information---an online card catalog, for example. Telnet can be used to connect to real-time multi-user conferencing systems or as a gateway to other information systems. The computer accepting the telnet request might accept any user or only those who enter a user identification and password. Services offered through telnet are oriented toward information systems. These include online public-access catalogs (OPACs) for libraries and services like the weather service at the University of Michigan (telnet downwind.sprl.umich.edu 3000). Systems using telnet as an interface do not have a standard interface, so developers must create the menu interface and the information structure (versus using an off-the-shelf gopher server). Therefore, aside from OPACs, there are not many telnet-based information services, and their numbers are not growing (versus explosive growth in gophers and WWW servers). File Transfer Protocol (Ftp) and Archie Using ftp, a user can send or retrieve copies of files to or from a remote computer. The files might be text or binary. Just as with telnet, the computer accepting the ftp request might accept any user or only those who enter a user identification and password. Ftp is used extensively for sharing information on the Internet. It has been the primary means for people to share files, and is the basis for higher-level tools accessing this information. Ftp sites are controlled by systems administrators, so a person, unless he or she has the permissions to do so, must work through a system administrator to place items for ftp at a given site. Archie provides a way for a user to find files with names matching a given name pattern available at ftp sites for retrieval by any user (anonymous ftp). Archie reports the location of files by the Internet address of the computer containing the files and a description of where on that computer the files reside (the pathname). To use archie, a user can have client software installed. This client software provides the interface to the archie server (a machine which provides the archie service). A user can also telnet to a machine running an archie server or use archie by electronic mail. Since archie locates ftp resources, these tools can be used together to find information on the Internet. While an excellent way to share information, ftp sites are difficult for users to locate and browse. Archie makes this far more efficient, but the lack of any information except file names makes information retrieval difficult. Gopher Users can browse and retrieve information using a system of menus using Gopher. These menu selections can point to another gopher, a document, or a link to a telnet connection. As with archie, a user can obtain a gopher client to use as an interface to a gopher server or use a telnet session or electronic mail to access a gopher server. Gopher is one of the fastest growing forms of information retrieval on the Internet. With a simple interface (menus) that can be easily accessed and used from nearly any terminal, gophers are enjoying wide popularity as campus-wide information systems (CWIS) and information systems for organizations and corporations. The development of veronica, a tool that locates gopher menu entries in gophers worldwide, information retrieval on gophers is much easier. World Wide Web (WWW) World Wide Web is a system for browsing and retrieving information linked by hypertext. World Wide Web links can be to files, gophers, telnet connections, ftp sites, or Usenet newsgroups. Just as with gopher and archie, a user accesses World Wide Web by obtaining client software or by using telnet. The Mosaic client gives the user a multimedia (graphics, sound, motion pictures) interface into WWW. WWW viewed using a Mosaic client is the fastest growing form of information retrieval on the Internet. The interface of Mosaic is appealing---graphics, fonts, an easy point-and-click operation. People with little or no training in the details of gopher, Usenet, ftp, telnet, and WWW can use these applications using mosaic. Traditions for sharing information on WWW using Mosaic largely revolve around the ``home page'' (a file serving as a launching point for further information about an organization). The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) developed Mosaic, so pages from the NCSA system often are starting points for exploring the World Wide Web through Mosaic. NCSA's ``What's New With NCSA Mosaic'' (Uniform Resource Locator http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/Docs/whats-new.html) contain pointers to new resources available on WWW. LISTSERV A LISTSERV system provides the user with a way to participate in discussions or obtain information by electronic mail. A common use of LISTSERV is to set up mailing lists for asynchronous computer conferencing. A LISTSERV also is used as an information retrieval system. In response to a command emailed to it, a LISTSERV server will respond with a text file or other appropriate action. A user accesses a LISTSERV by sending email to the Internet address of the LISTSERV server. Since it is based on email, LISTSERV is a easily-accessible interface for many people, on the Internet and on communication systems that exchange electronic mail with the Internet (BITNET, UUCP, Fidonet, commercial online services). LISTSERV facilitates interactive asynchronous computer conferencing or one-way broadcasting of text information (electronic journals and newsletters). LISTSERV discussion lists are used widely for computer-mediated scholarship. Kovacs (1993) in the Directory of Scholarly Electronic Conferences lists over 1,200 electronic conferences on subjects ranging from anthropology to to the physical sciences. Strangelove (1992) lists over a hundred electronic journals, some of which are peer reviewed, many of which are distributed using LISTSERV or electronic mail. Usenet Usenet is a system for asynchronous text discussion on subjects separated into newsgroups. For example, one newsgroup, soc.culture.indian.telugu, is for discussion related to the culture of the Telugu People of India. Usenet is not confined to the Internet, as any communication system which can use the Usenet protocol can carry Usenet. Usenet newsgroups are distributed according to a news-feed scheme arranged by cooperating computer system administrators. A user accesses Usenet by using a newsreader program. This program displays the newsgroups from which a user can choose and offers the reader a chance to read articles in a newsgroup or contribute their own article. Articles are deleted from a computer system after a time determined by the system administrator. The newsgroup names themselves are not deleted, and new newsgroups are routinely added according to a system for newsgroup formation defined by the Usenet community. The subject-matter of Usenet newsgroups is wide-ranging. There are more than 2,000 newsgroups in categories related to science, computers, recreation, society, and other topics (Spafford, 1993a; Gilmore & Spafford, 1993). Some newsgroups (approximately 360) are moderated so that only articles approved by a moderator can be posted (Spafford, 1993b). The day-to-day traffic of Internet newsgroups involves much discussion (for example, more than a hundred articles were be posted to a the alt.folklore.urban newsgroup in a single day). Discussion proceeds on any number of topics. Within the maelstrom of the Usenet discussion, members of the groups encounter similar questions by new users over and over. The tradition of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Lists with answers help new members and summarize accumulated knowledge for experienced users. These FAQ lists are periodically posted and maintained by participants of the newsgroup. The ``official'' (as defined by group members) FAQ will often be posted to the USENET FAQ repository on the computer rtfm.mit.edu. There are over 750 files of FAQ material on rtfm.mit.edu. CASE STUDIES People have used the tools and forums described above to publish information used by large audiences on the Internet. These case studies revolve around a common theme of information lists---as these are in demand on the Internet. There are hundreds of people on the Internet who have electronically published information that is read by hundreds of thousands of people. Any of the FAQ maintainers in USENET newsgroups would have gone through processes similar to those described below. These stories illustrate the broad reach information published on the Internet can have. The Yanoff List: meeting the demand for a concise list of ``what's out there'' In September 1991, Scott Yanoff, a computer science student at the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee, created a list of six items--- telnet addresses of Internet information services. He posted the list to internet and service related newsgroups like alt.bbs.internet and news.answers. According to Scott, ``I posted my list one day and next thing I knew people were writing to me with things to add to the list'' (Yanoff, 1993a). After that, Scott added the list to the University's ftp site, gopher, and set up an email list to reach people who could not access the list by those methods. Scott describes how the list grew from contributions from other people, ``I owe most of the list to OTHER people . . . that's what is great about the Internet . . . I decided to share my list, and everyone else shares their knowledge in helping to contribute to the list'' (Yanoff, 1993a). Today, the list, popularly known as ``The Internet Services List,'' (Yanoff, 1993b) contains listings for more than 135 separate services accessible through telnet, ftp, finger, gopher, and email. Daniel Dern (1994) calls Yanoff's list ``one of the most frequently cited or referenced documents on the Internet.'' Accessing Bibliographic Databases: enumerating card-catalogs worldwide through an automated process While he was working as VAX/UNIX Systems Manager at the University of North Texas in 1989, Billy Barron had to find out what libraries in Texas had online databases (Barron, 1993). His boss had asked him because the library was considering a change in their online library catalog vendor, and they wanted to see what other libraries were using. He created a list and placed it in a public access site (similar to an ftp site) on Texas' statewide network, THENET, and sent mail to THENET-MANAGERS mailing list describing the document. Billy maintained the list manually, tracking the addition of new online card catalogs worldwide, taking suggestions people by email. In late 1990, Billy announced the list on PACS-L the Public-Access Computer Systems mailing list and other library related lists and newsgroups. Billy updated the the list based on comments. Through 1990 to 1993, he would spend an average of several hours per week maintaining it. During late April of 1993, Billy talked with his friend, Marie-Christine Mahe from Yale University at GopherCon '93. Marie-Christine was keeping links to the libraries on the Barron list through gopher. They both realized that a program could generate the Barron list from the gopher links. Marie-Christine wrote the program to do this. Of course the gopher links require maintenance. This automation freed up more of Billy Barron's time. He describes how this automated process has changed his work: ``If I had tried to maintain the pace I was, the document would no longer be in existence. Plus it became boring to me as I was working on newer and more interesting systems such as the CICNet Electronic Journal project'' (Barron, 1993). Today, the list is at the ftp site at the University of Texas at Dallas (Barron & Mahe, 1993). and at the gopher server at yaleinfo.yale.edu, where links are made to every known Internet-accessible online library catalog in the world. Great Canadian Scientists: a list with national and cultural appeal As a writer/editor for a newsletter at Simon Fraser University, Barry Shell was often interviewing scientists. Someone pointed out that he should profile great Canadian scientists. Barry assumed there would already be a compilation, but after searching the library, he did not find any books on the subject. So in May 1991, he started a list of great Canadian scientists and posted it to the newsgroups can.general, sci.med, sci.physics, sci.chem, sci.bio, and soc.culture.canada. Based on feedback, he added names and watched the Usenet discussion cover the questions of what is "great" who is "Canadian" and who is a "scientist." His list grew with nominations, and approximately every six months, he would post the list to the Usenet groups and take suggestions and comments. Currently, the list has more than 150 nominations. In October 1993, Barry displayed the list during Canada's Science and Technology Week an a shopping mall. Barry would like to interview many of the living scientists on the list and create a book from the project. Another vision for the work Barry has is ``to mount the whole thing on the new Data Highway . . . so that it is a `living' text that evolves as people use it over the nets'' (Shell, 1993). The December List: a variety of formats leads to greater utility In May 1992, I began an independent research project about the Internet. I found information about the Internet scattered in many places throughout the Internet. I listed these locations, and posted the list to alt.bbs.internet (the only Usenet newsgroup at that time with the word `internet' in it). Within twenty-four hours of my first post, I received comments. I added items to the list, and organized it so that it would be easy to read, listing Internet descriptions, information services, electronic publications, societies and organizations, newsgroups, and a bibliography. I had the list placed on my university's ftp site, and posted an announcement of its updates to alt.internet.services (a newsgroup formed after alt.bbs.internet people grew tired of having non-Internet BBS related items posted to their group). Over the next year, I continued to gather information, drawing on information from mailing lists and my own use of archie, ftp, gopher/veronica, wais, and WWW. In the fall of 1993, several people inquiried if I had an HTML (hypertext markup language---a text format used in WWW for marking up and linking documents) version of my list. Kevin Hughes of Honolulu Community College sent me a version of my list in HTML that he had generated from my text copy. My list's consistent format made it possible for software to scan the list and put it into HTML. But I realized that my list, in text format, was less useful for inclusion in other information systems. So I created a data format to markup my list's information and software to generate HTML, LaTeX (typesetting language), and text versions (December, 1993b). This variety in format has added to the popularity of my list, as the Postscript version (generated from LaTeX) makes an attractive handout for a course. The HTML version through Mosaic acts as a launching pad for exploring the Internet. CHALLENGES In order to publish their own information on the Internet, people need access---hardware, an Internet connection, software, and skills. Current command-line access to email, ftp, telnet, archie, and the other interfaces is not often easy to learn for new users. Moreover, the variety and number of tools makes it difficult for the user to conceptualize the Internet as one communication/information space. The appeal of the Mosaic interfaces is that in unifies many existing tools for networked information retrieval in a multi-media (text, images, sound, movies) interface. Interfaces like Mosaic are the direction for the future. Creating a graphical interface to unify other communication services---email and real-time conferencing---remains the next challenge. Another challenge lies in archiving issues. Standards should exist for information storage, retrieval, and display so that automated processes (like used for generating the Barron list) can be used to gather information about what information is contained in a document or site. Moreover, information stored should be in formats that clients and interfaces can display in a variety of formats. My experience with the December List highlights the value of this flexibility in presentation format for information. And the development of other formats---sound, graphics, movies---underscores the need for even more flexibility. Another challenge for electronic publishing involves quality and distribution. Anyone can publish information in Usenet newsgroups, ftp sites, or on a home page viewed by Mosaic. Practices in the information communities---such as FAQs, word-of-mouth dissemination, and those described above in the case studies---can improve the quality of the information available. However, more traditions for peer review and critique of information need to be developed. This will come about, perhaps, when the issues of access/interfaces and archiving create a larger set of users who begin to demand more quality in the content of Internet information. CONCLUSION The imprimatur of established publishers lies in their reputations for quality, access, and distribution. The Internet community must develop similar standards for electronic publishing. These standards can grow out of current practices associated with the tools and forums. The case studies I've discussed have shown how people can publish information on the Internet and gain a wide audience. The future holds more promise, as the flux of Internet activity continues to create new tools and traditions for electronic publishing. REFERENCES Barron, B. (1993, December 9). Personal email to the author. Barron, B. and Marie-Christine Mahe. (1993). Accessing on-line Bibliographic Databases. Uniform Resource Locator ftp://ftp.utdallas.edu/pub/staff/billy/libguide/. December, J. (1993a, December 1). Information sources: The internet and computer-mediated communication. Uniform Resource Locator ftp://ftp.rpi.edu/pub/communications/internet-cmc.readme. December, J. (1993b, December 1). Internet tools summary. Uniform Resource Locator ftp://ftp.rpi.edu/pub/communications/internet-tools. Dern, D. P. (1994, January/February). From the editor. Internet World, 7-8. Franks, J. (1993, January 21). What is an Electronic Journal? Public-Access Computer Systems Forum . Uniform Resource Locator gopher://wiretap.Spies.COM:70/00/Library/Article/Publish/electron.jnl. Gilmore, J. and Spafford, G. (1993 November 30). Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies, Part I and Part II. Uniform Resource Locator ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.lists/Alternative_Newsgroup_Hierarchies,_Part_I and ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.lists/Alternative_Newsgroup_Hierarchies,_Part_II. Kovacs, D. (1993). Directory of Scholarly Electronic Conferences. Uniform Resource Locator ftp://ksuvxa.kent.edu/library/. Miller, M. (1993, November 15). Contact High. The Wall Street Journal, R4. Shell, B. (1993, December 13). Personal email to the author. Spafford, G. (1993a, November 29). List of Active Newsgroups, Part I and Part II. Uniform Resource Locator ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.lists/List_of_Active_Newsgroups,_Part_I and ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.lists/List_of_Active_Newsgroups,_Part_II. Spafford, G. (1993b, November 30). List of Moderators for Usenet. Uniform Resource Locator ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.lists/List_of_Moderators_for_Usenet. Strangelove, M. (1992, July). Directory of Electronic Journals and Newsletters. Uniform Resource Locator ftp://ftp.cni.org/pub/net-guides/strangelove/. Yanoff, S. (1993a, December 4). Personal email to the author. Yanoff, S. (1993b, December 1). Special internet connections. Uniform Resource Locator ftp://csd4.csd.uwm.edu/pub/inet.services.txt.