Gopher: Easy Access to net.information by David Sklar [sklar@picasso.ocis.temple.edu] . . Like a global warren of electronic rabbits, the net grows exponentially. As more sites and resources are added, the maze of information becomes harder to manage. Fortunately, tools have been created to help you dig up the information you crave. Tools like Gopher. Computer scientists at the University of Minnesota developed Gopher in April 1991 to help students there find on-campus information. Since then, the project has become worldwide, forming a system of Gopher servers that can be accessed from anywhere on the net. The basic premise behind Gopher is client-server computing. A local Gopher database only holds so much information, but it knows where other Gophers are--it has a map of "Gopherspace". So if a user gives a request that it can't fill locally, it asks the other Gophers of which it is it is aware. Starting from a simple main menu, a user can move into other menus and files, which may be stored on computers across the globe. This is completely transparent to the user. For example, Jane Net, wanting to find some information on research grants on biophysics at labs in North Carolina would run the Gopher client program from her account. This program would connect to its local Gopher server, and Jane would see her Gopher Main Menu, such as this one at Temple University: . Internet Gopher Information Client v1.11 Root Gopher server: cronkite.ocis.temple.edu . 1. About_Temple_Gopher. 2. Computer_Guidebook/ 3. Help-Net/ 4. Library Online Catalog 5. Off Campus Services/ 6. Research/ 7. Search Gopherspace Using Veronica Utility/ 8. Temple_CD-ROMs/ 9. Temple_Phone_Directory . She could accomplish her task two ways. First, she could check the "Research" directory, under which she would find a list of documents describing various opportunities and perhaps more directories. Or, she could enlist the aid of Veronica. "As archie is to ftp archives, veronica is to Gopherspace," says the Gopher FAQ. This would let Jane search all of Gopherspace for her specified keywords, like "Biophysics" and "North Carolina." Veronica does all of the data crunching, and Jane can just peruse the documents thatresult from the search. Gopher also simplifies access to electronic books. My room is messy, and I couldn't find my thesaurus, but I desperately needed to know words related to "penultimate." No problem. A quick 2-minutetrip through Gopherspace sated my desire. Starting at Temple's Main Menu, I chose <5>, Off Campus Services, and got this menu: .1. FTP Searches/2. Information About Gopher/ 3. Libraries/4. News/5. Other Gopher and Information Servers/ 6. Phone books at other institutions/7. Rlin Service (requires account) . Choosing <3>, Libraries gave me: .1. Electronic Books/2. Electronic Journal collection from CICnet/ 3. Information from the U.S. Federal Government/ 4. Library Catalogs via Telnet/ 5. Library of Congress Records/ 6. Newspapers, Magazines, and Newsletters / 7. Reference Works/ . I picked <1>, Electronic Books and saw: . 1. By Author/2. By Call Letter/ 3. By Title/ 4. Search Electronic Books.I was curious, so I got a list of the available electronic books by title: . 1. Search Electronic Books 2. 1990 USA Census Information/3. Aesop's Fables/4. Agrippa/ 5. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/ 6. CIA World Factbook 1991/ 7. Complete Works of Shakespeare/8. Far From the Madding Crowd/9. Federalist Papers, The/ 10. Gift of the Magi, The/11. Herland/12. Historical Documents/ 13. Hunting of the Snark, The/14. King James Bible/15. Moby Dick/16. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass/17. O Pioneers!/ 18. Oedipus Trilogy, The/ 19. Paradise Lost/20. Peter Pan/ 21. Roget's Thesaurus/ 22. Scarlet Letter, The/ 23. Sleepy Hollow/24. Song of Hiawatha/25. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde/ 26. Through the Looking Glass/ 27. Time Machine, The/ 28. United We Stand/ 29. War of the Worlds, The/ 30. Zen and the Art of the Internet/ . But enough fun. I had work to do. I chose <1>, Search Electronic Books, and a dialog box popped up, prompting me for my search term. I typed in "penultimate," and after about five seconds, I was rewarded with all the information I could ever want about "penultimate" and it's etymological buddies:. #67. End. -- N. end, close, termination; desinence, conclusion, finis, finale, period, term, terminus, endpoint, last, omega; extreme, extremity; gable end, butt end, fag-end; tip, nib, point; tail &c. (rear) 235; verge &c. (edge) 231; tag, peroration; bonne bouche; bottom dollar, tail end, rear guard. consummation, denouement; finish &c. (completion) 729; fate; doom, doomsday; crack of doom, day of Judgment, dies irae, fall of the curtain; goal, destination; limit, determination; expiration, expiry, extinction,extermination; death &c. 360; end of all things; finality; eschatology. break up, commencement de la fin, last stage, turning point; coup de grace, deathblow; knock-out, -blow; sockdolager* [U.S.]. V. end, close, finish, terminate, conclude, be all over; expire; die &c. 360; come-, draw- to a -close &c. n.; have run its course; run out, pass away. bring to an -end &c. n.; put an end to, make an end of; determine; get through; achieve &c. (complete) 729; stop &c. (make to cease) 142; shut up shop; hang up one's fiddle. Adj. ending &c. v.; final, terminal, definitive; crowning &c. (completing) 729; last, ultimate; hindermost; rear &c. 235; caudal;vergent. conterminate, conterminous, conterminable. ended &c. v.; at an end; settled, decided, over, played out, set at rest; conclusive. penultimate; last but one, last but two, &c. unbegun,uncommenced; fresh. Adv. finally &c. adj.; in fine; at the last; once for all. Phr. "as high as Heaven and as deep as hell" [Beaumont & Fletcher];deficit omne quod nascitur [Quintilian]; en toute chose il faut considererla fin; finem respice; ultimus Romanorum. . This is just one teeny slice of all that Gopher makes easily available. There are other books from Project Gutenberg, libraries of universities worldwide, directories of net.users, and even some games. If you search for information on the net, Gopher should definitely be in your toolbox. . -----------------For more information:. You can contact the Gopher development team at: gopher@boombox.micro.umn.edu You can subscribe to the Gopher News mailting list at: gopher-news-request@boombox.micro.umn.edu You can read the UseNet group: comp.infosystems.gopher You can get the most recent releases of the gopher software via anonymous ftp from boombox.micro.umn.edu in the /pub/gopher directory. You can try Gopher out at these sites: Non-tn3270 Public Logins: . Hostname IP# Login Area ------------------------- --------------- ------ ------------- consultant.micro.umn.edu 134.84.132.4 gopher North America gopher.uiuc.edu 128.174.33.160 gopher North America panda.uiowa.edu 128.255.40.201 panda North America gopher.sunet.se 192.36.125.2 gopher Europe info.anu.edu.au 150.203.84.20 info Australia gopher.chalmers.se 129.16.221.40 gopher Sweden tolten.puc.cl 146.155.1.16 gopher South America ecnet.ec 157.100.45.2 gopher Ecuador. tn3270 Public Logins:. Hostname IP# Login Area ------------------------- --------------- ------ ------------- pubinfo.ais.umn.edu 128.101.109.1 -none- North America