This is Internet Outbound, one of the newest features of the
WELLgopher.  There are a number of paths you could have taken to get
here.  You might have typed 'internet' on The WELL, which would've sent
you straight here.  You may have typed 'wellgopher' on The WELL and
stumbled in here while exploring.  Or you might have popped in from any
of the thousands upon thousands of other computers on the Internet.

In any case, welcome.

Internet Outbound lets you explore some of the Internet's greatest hits
without learning the gory details of tools like telnet and ftp.  I
think that once you've sampled the resources here, you'll have a better
idea about why you *should* learn about those tools.  If you're a
WELLbeing, drop by our internet conference (g internet) to learn more.

If you're new to the Internet, you may be surprised to learn that none
of the resources in Internet Outbound reside on The WELL.  Instead, we
use the gopher protocol to create tunnels through the Internet to
resources all over the world.  Because these resources live elsewhere,
how well they work is beyond our control.  "Nothing Available" messages
are usually a sign that the resource -- or the network connection to
that resource -- is overloaded.  Try again later.  If you get stuck
using a menu item marked <TEL>, try typing Control-]; when you get a
"telnet>" prompt, type "quit".

There are four main items in Internet Outbound.  Scott Yanoff's Special
Internet Connections is released to the USENET newsgroup
alt.internet.services twice a month, and contains an amazing variety of
resources ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime.  Internet
Libraries is a central clearinghouse for the hundreds of world-wide
library catalog systems.  Gopher Jewels is a collection of some of the
most interesting resources available through gopher.  And dWELLer's
choice is our own, homegrown (and growing) collection of interesting
Internet resources.

The other items in Internet Outbound are gopherspace search tools.
Veronica is used to search through all known gopher menus around the
world.  The "How to compose veronica queries" document is a good
introduction to veronica.  The Texas Tech search tool helps you find
individual gophers by name; it's useful if you're trying to find a
gopher run by a particular organization.

Enjoy your time in Internet Outbound!


                                        Eric Theise/verve@well.sf.ca.us
.