Is the Internet a telephone? Is it a teacher? A painter's
palette? A printing press? A billboard for advertisements? Anyone
of these books might argue that the Internet is all of these and
more. With the expanding range of services offered on and via
the Internet, there is a greater need for these sorts of guides
and printed assistants to a growing abundance of electronic resources.
Although each one of these books is dated by virtue of being written
or printed months before you see it, this sort of temporal deficiency
is more than compensated by pages of eye-opening, keyboard-tapping
content. The ever increasing specialization of the Internet only
means a ever growing stream of these sorts of books in the months
and years ahead. So much for the paper-less bookshelf. - ejv
Paula Berinstein
Finding Images Online
Wilton, Conn.: Pemberton Press, 1996.
357 p., paper. ISBN 0-910-96521-8
Price $US29.95
Pemberton Press: http://www.online.com/pempress
Tens of thousands of images scattered on online servers make the Internet
virtually the largest graphics warehouse ever known. But how do you find
that right picture for your work? Paula Berinstein tackles this problem in
this book by pointing out what you can find and what you can't find on the
Web, with Gopher, and in the commercial databases and services. In 21
chapters with 4 appendices, Berinstein devotes the first third of the book
to the basics: descriptions of the basic kinds of images, the kinds of
equipment you'll need to be most efficient, and some suggestions on how
to search. The middle third of the book specifically describes what you'll
find in CompuServe, America Online, and other commercial services as
well as with everyday Internet tools like Gopher and the Web. She also
describes the advantages and disadvantages of image-specific online
databases like the Kodak Picture Exchange. The last third of the book
explains how you can look at what you've downloaded, provides a too brief
warning about copyright, and gives you a handy subject guide to images
online. For those who spend way too much time looking for just the right
picture, or for those whose livelihood depends on a stock of images for
ready use, Finding Images Online will be of immense help. Frequent
updates of this book on the publisher's Internet site will keep the
information up-to-date, too. - ejv
Scott Kersnar
NetSuccess: How Real Estate Agents Use the Internet
Sebastopol, Calif.: O'Reilly & Associates, 1996.
204 p., paper, with CD-ROM. ISBN 1-565-92213-1
Price $US34.95
O'Reilly & Associates: http://www.ora.com
According to Becky Swann of the Internet Real Estate Directory, there are
thousands of real estate sites on the Web. Ten percent of these sites are
outstanding, while another ten percent aren't worth your electricity or
time. With tens of thousands of different kinds of properties available
over the Internet, how can you find anything? What makes a good site, and
what doesn't? In twelve chapters, this book explains the Internet's utility
by explaining how real estate agents are already exploiting it to reach
customers and clients. Written by a former real estate broker for other
real estate brokers, this book is not just for the property-minded. Chapter
9 on an Internet business plan provides appropriate advise for anyone
putting their business on the Web. Chapters 10 and 11 explain how
Internet strategies, that bringing different groups together, make it
feasible to offer customers new and radically different services. For
those looking for real estate and for those selling it, this book can be a
great place to start. - ejv
Jeff Pulver
The Internet Telephone Toolkit
New York: Wiley, 1996.
201 p., paper, with CD-ROM. ISBN 0-471-16352-X
Price $US29.95
Wiley: http:/www.wiley.com/compbooks/
Telephonic computers? It's not impossible, with Jeff Pulver's book that
explains how you can use your computer, Internet connection, and certain
kinds of software to reduce your computer to a mere telephone. Some
computers may be insulted by this sort of book, but thousands of Internet
users still find themselves using the telephone in spite of the networked
universe. Pulver doesn't demand much of the reader in this thin book - just
buy into the fantasy and test your software options. The first four
chapters convince you that this indeed can work and will work in the
foreseeable future. The last nine chapters look at options from Internet
Phone, WebPhone, WebTalk, TeleVox, FreeTel, CoolTalk, NetMeeting, and
other options. Two appendices provide a list of resources and more
information on Free World Dial-Up. Will this book put AT&T, Sprint, or
MCI/British Telecom out of business? No, because even the author admits
that these sorts of solutions to long-distance communicating will
eventually fit into the profit structure of the dominant
telecommunications organizations (p. 192, to be specific). For those a
little terrified about abandoning the trustworthy telephone, the
accompanying CD-ROM gives you plenty of opportunities to test software
risk-free. Overall, the author has pulled together just enough information
to interest those new to Internet telephoning, plus given those with some
experience with one or other approach a place to learn more about other
solutions. For those serious about using the Internet for all of their long
distance calls, this book is required reading. - ejv
Raphael Sagalyn
The Great American Web Book: A Citizen's Guide to the Treasures of the U.
S. Government on the World Wide Web
New York: Times Business/Random House, 1996.
257 p., paper. ISBN 0-812-92814-8
Price $US17.00
Random House: http://www.randomhouse.com
Almost a half of a decade ago, the Clinton Administration entered the
White House, determined to alter the way in which the American
government informed its own public. By a remarkable coincidence, this
interest in electronic communication coincided with the development and
popularization of World Wide Web browsers such as Mosaic and Netscape.
Gratefully, the White House did not attempt to control the application of
the Web and HTML with a new agency or superficial Office of Virtual
Communication. Diversity was the key, in the ways in which U. S.
government agencies explored the Internet and made themselves more
public. This book is a collection of those experiments in government
information, and as such could serve as a model to other governments in
how to encourage access in this digital age. The author simply takes you
on an electronic ride through the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive
branches of the American government, followed by a tour of the Internet
sites of the cabinet offices, from Agriculture to Veterans Affairs. For the
rest of the book, there is an in-depth description of various independent
federal agencies from the CIA to even the U. S. Postal Service. Of course,
you can find the
Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in this wonderful book as well as the
Space Shuttle. I wonder what kind of world we would have if every government in every country made public this kind of information every day? In any case, for those addicted to government reports, press releases, statistical studies, photos, maps, and other kinds of facts andfactoids, Sagalyn's The Great American Web Book is as necessary as breadand water.- ejv
Staff of Classroom Connect with Vince Distefano
Child Safety on the Internet
Lancaster, Pa.: Classroom Connect, 1996.
(distributed by Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, N. J.)
296 p., paper, with CD-ROM. ISBN 0-135-69468-X
Price $US34.95
Classroom Connect: http://www.classroom.net
Prentice-Hall: http://www.prenhall.com
Where does the "dark side" of Internet exist for children? In the minds of
adults, imagining virtual kidnappers at every mouse click? Or in the eyes
of young Internet users themselves? For those concerned over the content
of the Internet, this book proclaims that it is indeed the band-aid for all
ills, imagined and real. Ten chapters and four appendices take you on a
thrilling tour of the "dangers" of the Internet, with chapter headings like
"The Internet's Dark Side," "Dangerous Minds," "Become a Computer
Detective," and "Police the Net." And if these chapter headings and the
general tone of the book don't send the right paranoiac message, look at
the first screen dump in chapter 1: it's the opening page of Playboy (p. 5).
The second and third screen shots in the same first chapter are from the
Adult Mall and the Ku Klux Klan. These sorts of editorial tactics will make
this book a popular one with young people for precisely the wrong reasons,
and lead too many adults to simply pull the telephone jack and modem. For
those interested in presenting children and adults with a positive view of
the Internet, please look elsewhere but certainly not in the pages of this
unnecessary thriller. - ejv
