I just couldn't stay out of the thread on the 'Net as a reference tool.

Let's not forget the history of the 'Net. After it's initial
communication function by the military, it was (and is) used by academics
to share their RESEARCH. All of these documents are lying around out
there in cybersapce waiting to be accessed by way of ftp or gopher
searches.

While the WWW is getting evermore cluttered with *look-at-me*
sites, it's also a great place to look for information. Witness the
Smithsonian's home page - did I read that it now runs to 1,500 pages?
(URL:  http://www.si.edu/). The Library of Congress' Thomas page
(http://thomas.loc.gov/) has tons of governmental stuff like the
Congressional Record, the Federal Register, full text of pending
legislation, and access to all our *wunnerful* politicians). Some states
have their state Codes online (http://www.law.indiana.edu/codes/). Have
you priced legal publications lately?

Need to find a business anywhere in the US? Look 'em up in the online
yellow pages - yep, all of 'em! (http://www.telephonebook.com/) How about
a university professor? Find their university's home page and find its
online phone book.

Find almost anything in the world at the BUBL Subject Tree
(http://www.bubl.bath.ac.uk/BUBL/Treealphabet.html). Think Yahoo's pretty
neat? Check out BUBL! Looking for a new car? Find out how much the dealer
pays for it (and it's options). Look it up at
http://www.enews.com:80/magazines/.

Want to check out a museum and what it's got - see LA County Natural
History Museum's terrific index (http://cwis.usc.edu/lacmnh/webmuseums/).

How 'bout finding what kind of stuff the NEA
(http://gopher.tmn.com:70/Artswire/Govarts/NEA/NEAINFO/) or NEH
(http://www.neh.fed.us) has been funding. There it is.

Don't know the URL (address)? Look it up in Lycos (http://www.lycos.com)
or Alta Vista (http://www.altavista.digital.com/).

Don't forget the advantages of Discussion Lists for research either.
After all, this thread started with a request for information. That's all
research is, isn't it?

Yes, there's lots of drek out there. But the more you look, the more GOOD
stuff you'll find, too.

BTW, if you want a demo copy of Netscape, go to their home page and
download a copy.

Nothing on the 'Net? I don't think so. But, enough of my two cents for now.

Hope this helps.

Gregg Jackson ([log in to unmask])
Librarian
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
"Where children grow up...and adults don't have to!"
        Please visit our Home Page at:
                http://www.a1.com/children/home.html
        (NOTE: that's a "one" not an"L" after the "www.a" bit.)
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