From san@nalusda.govFri Jul 14 23:18:59 1995 Date: Fri, 14 Jul 1995 12:18:56 -0400 (EDT) From: "Andy Clark, SAN Coordinator" To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: SAN Electronic Resources GETTING STARTED ELECTRONICALLY WITH SAN The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) is a cooperative effort of university, government, business and non-profit organizations dedicated to the exchange of scientific and practical information on sustainable agricultural systems. It is a network in the broadest sense of the word, supporting the exchange of information with a variety of users. The networking takes many forms: print, meetings, as well as electronic networks. This document explains how to use the Internet portion of SAN. SAN is encouraging the distribution of information via the existing network of computer networks commonly called "the Internet". Originally developed in the United States to rapidly share research results, the Internet currently connects over 10,000,000 computers throughout the world with "gateways" that exchange messages. Because it is a decentralized system of existing networks, instructions for using the Internet vary from site to site. The intention of this overview is to help you access agricultural information once you get connected to and familiar with your system. GATEWAYS VS. FULL INTERNET SERVICE If you are at a university or government facility, your computer may be fully connected to the Internet. Alternatively, you may have an account on a system with a "gateway" to the Internet, such as FTS2000, CompuSrve, America On-Line, or many others. A full Internet connection includes four functions: electronic mail, FTP, gopher and Telnet. Your local system operator should be able to give you as much detail as you request. Once you are familiar with your system, join the SAN discussion group and explore the SAN databases or calendar. SAN Databases: SARE/ACE Research Reports, summaries of the projects funded by the USDA/CSRS Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program and the EPA/USDA Agriculture in Concert with the Environment program; The Sustainable Agriculture Directory of Expertise, a detailed listing of individuals and organizations willing to share their expertise in sustainable agriculture; The Showcase of Sustainable Agriculture Information & Educational Materials, an annotated bibliography of educational and informational materials, emphasizing information readily useful to farmers; Managing Cover Crops Profitably , a guide for farmers looking for alternatives to chemical fertility and weed control. To search them interactively, through gopher, point to: gopher.ces.ncsu.edu. At the opening menu select the menu item, NATIONAL CES INFORMATION, to access SAN publications. Discussion Group: SAN has an email group "sanet-mg" with over 700 individuals interested in, and knowledgeable about, sustainable agriculture. Members of the group share sources of information and help answer each others' questions. To join "sanet-mg" send the following line: subscribe sanet-mg in the body of an email address to: almanac@ces.ncsu.edu After you have subscribed, anything that anyone sends to sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu will automatically be sent to you and everyone else on the list. Notice that the address that handles subscribe/ unsubscribe requests is different from the address that handles mail to the group. When you send mail to sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu you will probably get a few "bounced-back" messages; don't be concerned , your posting was delivered to all valid and active addresses on the list. MORE INTERNET RESOURCES In addition to these specialized information sources, the Internet has quite a few other databases and mail lists on agriculture and other topics relevant to sustainable agriculture. Deborah Shaffer's publication, "Exploring Internet: An Introduction to Networking..." provides more detailed explanations of Almanac, Listserve, GOPHER and WAIS. She also lists dozens of Internet locations where different topics of interest are addressed. "Exploring Internet" is available by sending the email message: send internet exploring-internet to the address: almanac@esusda.gov From Utah State University, SAN hypertext databases are available for downloading from their gopher site, extsparc.agsci.usu.edu. Once you acquire them, their information can be browsed, printed, cut or pasted from your computer. Among these databases is the 1990 Farm Bill. (See SAN Overview for details) An excellent general guide to the Internet (more than agriculture) is Brendan Kehoe's "Zen and the Art of the Internet." The first edition is available via FTP from many sites, including ftp.cs.widener.edu. (If you are not familiar with how to use FTP, ask your computer support personnel). FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information or help accessing SAN, contact: Andy Clark, SAN Coordinator c/o AFSIC, Room 304 National Agricultural Library 10301 Baltimore Boulevard Beltsville, MD 20705-2351 Internet: san@nalusda.gov Telephone: 301/504-6425 FAX: 301/504-6409