Using Your Computer to Research Unreached Peoples
Preface - Introduction to Internet Research
1. E-mail
2. Mailing Lists:
3. World Wide Web:
4. Archie Servers
5. Gopher
6. Veronica
7. Jughead
8. File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
9. Telnet
10. UseNet
11. News Services
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Preface: - Introduction to Internet Research:
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Being a good researcher involves doing thorough job searching for
information under every stone and in every corner. It used to be that
the library was the best place to search for information. If your
particular local library was limited you were out of luck. Today there
are many new and wonderful ways to do research. If you have a
computer with a CD ROM drive you can access a world of encyclopidias,
which also contain multimedia sound, and film.
The Internet today is the best research tool available and is
accessible by anyone with a computer, an modem, (a telephone inside
the computer) and a connection to the Internet. If you do not have a
local Internet provider then we strongly suggest that you subscribe to
America Online, or Compuserve. Both are easy to use and cost about
$9.95 per month. If you live in a remote area your call to these
service providers may be a toll call. In that case you should check
around your community for a local Internet provider. Shop around,
prices can vary from $30 or more per month to as little as $10.00 per
month.
You will need a computer that runs Windows or a Macintosh and
software, called a browser, to use to connect with the online service,
a fast modem (14,000 baud at least, or 28,800 baud is best).
Generally the faster the computer, the faster the modem, and the more
random access memory (RAM - 8 to 16 megabytes recommended), the easier
and more pleasant will be your introduction to "surfing the net."
The Purpose:
The purpose of this article is to help you get started in Internet
Research. There are many books available that will do a far more
expansive job than we can here. We recommend "Internet for Dummies."
The "Dummies" series is not meant to be derrogatory, it is just saying
that it is a book for the non-nurd, or the computer novice. The
Internet and computers in general can be a bit intimidating, and
frustrating if you do not have an easy-to-understand manual to guide
you through.
If you don't have a computer, or are intimidated by using yours on the
Internet we also are preparing a Guide to Researching In the Library.
Our purpose is not to cover all aspects of computing on the Internet,
but to specifically help you find where to go and what to do to get
research information on Unreached People Groups.
Special Thanks to Bethany Prayer Center for making public much of the
original information made available on the first generation of these
pages. These pages offered as a service of Brigada (dkl).
Brigada's WWW resources are coordinated by Bob Mayhew, RCM. ---
WELCOME TO THE INTERNET!!!
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Chapter 1. E-mail
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Electronic Mail - E-Mail is a new way to do your correspondence. It is
virtually free to mail a document, a file, a picture, etc. to anyone
else with an e-mail address anywhere in the world. Using your
Internet service provider you can send a message through your computer
around the world instantaneously. Post a message here to a missionary
in Australia, and if he is at online with his computer he will get the
message in a matter of seconds or minutes depending on the Internet
traffic -- no stamps, no two to six week response time, and no long
distance phone calls.
E-mail with missionaries virtually eliminates the oceans and miles
between us. Emergencies prayer requests can be sent to the home
church instantly. Weekly or monthly newsletter can be sent directly
to the church for publication with the Sunday bulletin.
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Chapter 2. Mailing Lists:
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Mailing Lists are automated distribution of information and
communication from all the people who participate in a conference. A
conference is a sort of communications club in which all the members
send information on specific topics and all messages are echoed out to
all the other participants.
For your missions research and information on Unreached Peoples there
are a few mailing lists that you need to know about and subscribe to
(free) to keep up on the latest development in reaching the unreached.
Introducing "Brigada":
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brigada is an place to meet with others of like interest - in
reaching Unreached People Groups. It is a HUB where missionaries,
pastors, missions researchers, laymen come together to share
information on Unreached Peoples. A "brigada" is a house under one
roof which has many rooms inside. Each room is a forum or topical
conference dedicated to information about a specific area of UPG
interest. It is free for anyone to join who has an e-mail address.
What will Brigada do for you?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Provide weekly new mailing of requests & praises automatically to
all subscribers. It will be automatically updated and added or
subtracted from through the server software called Majordomo.)
2. Allow missionaries and pastors laypersons, direct access to our
Unreached People Profiles through e-mail. This too
is handled by the software program. MajorDomo understands
requests by members, so someone wants the profile on the Basques
in France he writes a message:
To: Hub@@xc
Suject:Brigada
Message: (only these words nothing more)
get brigada-orgs-cma basque
Within minutes the software mails you the file via e-mail.
Fantastic isn't it!
How does one join Brigada?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anyone will be able to subscribe free of charge to the automated
e-mail conference by simply writing an e-mail message to :
To: Hub@@xc
Suject:Brigada
Message: (only these words nothing more)
Subscribe Brigada-orgs-CMA
Then they will receive an e-mail confirmation from Majordomo software.
As moderator I will begin the conference with a welcome message that
is automatically sent to all subscribers explaning the conference and
or any sub conferences and how to subscribe.
Initially I will keep it restricted to missions UPG "Within Our Reach"
for discussion, research, adding profiles, updating UPGs status,
praise reports and prayer requests for UPG. As interest grows we will
add another Conference just for CMANEWS to send out weekly D.A.M
requests, your "Like a Mighty Army" the president' letter, emergency
requests, praise reports, Council info, etc.
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Chapter 3 - The World Wide Web (WWW)
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1. WWW - The World Wide Web - Within the Internet connection of
computers and telephone lines there is a superhighway that is easy to
understand and use. It is called the World Wide Web. The Web is a
series of some millions of private and public Web Pages that have a
standard format and a program code (called a HTML) that all computer
Web Browsers -- programs you run to access the Internet -- can easily
understand. It creates beautiful page displays of information known
as Web Pages. These pages usually contain information on the business
or organization that placed them there, plus links to other pages.
All you need to do is point and click your mouse at the link and the
computer does the rest jumping to that new Web site or Web Page.
This Web browsing and searching system, allows you to explore the
seemingly endless worldwide "web" of information, all of which is
interconnected by these links. This system links and jumps from page
to page is called hypertext. It does more than just let you browse;
it allows you to search for key words in certain documents.
To access the Web you need to have an online service provider (an
Internet connection via America online, Compuserve, etc) a Web Browser
installed on your computer to be able to display the hypertext
documents. Both Compuserve and America Online now have quite good Web
browsers, and there are many more on the market.
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How do you search for information on the Web?
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With 6 million web pages and multiplying every day you need a way to
know what is out there. There are a number of Web Indexes, Databases,
and These programs automatically search all the threads of Web Sites
every day adding new sites and updating changing ones. You can go to
these search engines and type in a topic, or follow an index, to
whatever you might be looking for. In moments the retriever searches
where it encountered such a topic and displays a list of those sites.
All you do is choose by pointing with the mouse, clicking it, and away
you go chasing down the information.
All this electronic wizzardry is done through addresses known as URL
Uniform Resource Locator. A URL for Web Pages usually starts with
something like this:
URL http://www.xc.org/brigada/pgcra/
That URL contains a complete description of the location of the item
you want to retrieve. The computer does the rest. Many browzers allow
you to save the Web Pages you visit which saves their "links" or
URL addresses to other Pages so you don't have to remember these
complicated lines.
Here are some useful search engines...a good place to start any of
your research on Unreached People Groups.
Search Engines:
Lycos - URL: http://www.lycos.com
Yahoo - URL: http://www.yahoo.com
WebCrawler - URL: http://www.webcrawler.com
AltaVista - URL: http://www.altavista.digital.com
Open TextWeb Index - URL: http://www.opentext.com
General Research Information:
Window-to-Russia - URL: http://www.kiae.su/www/
Jerusalem Mosaic - URL: http://shum.cc.huji.ac.il/jeru/jerusalem.html
Aboriginal Studies Archive - URL:
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASEDA/ASEDA.html
Chinese News Digest Server - URL: http://www.cnd.org/
Amnesty International - URL: http://cyberzine.org/html/Amnesty/aihomepage.html
Buddhist Studies - URL: http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-Buddhism.html
Demography and Population Studies -
URL:http://coombs.anu.edu.au/ResFacilities/emographyPage.html
URL:http://www.psc.lsa.umich.edu/
SOCIAL SCIENCE GATEWAY - URL: http//sosig/esrc.bris.ac.uk/
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY - URL: http://opr.princeton.edu, Choose popindex
US CENSUS BUREAU - URL: http://www.census.gov
World Cultures:
AFRICA -
URL: http:/www-penninfo.upenn.edu:1962/penninfo-srv.upenn.edu/9000
URL: http://www.african.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Home_page/Black_
African_Resources.html
URL: http://www.african.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Home_Page/WWW_Links.html
ASIAN STUDIES - URL: http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-AsianStudies.html
CHINA - URL: http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/Society_and_culture/Cultures/Chinese
EGYPT - URL: http://www.memphis.edu/egypt/egypt.html
INDIA - URL: http://strauss.ce.cmu.edu:2000/mayur/internet.html
SOUTHEAST ASIAN ARCHIVE - URL: http://www.lib.uci.edu/sea/seahome.html
YAHOO - Society and Culture - URL: http://www.yahoo.com, Choose
society_and_Culture|Religion|Christianity
YAHOO - Society and Culture - Organisations - URL: http://yahoo.com, Choose
Society_and_Culture|Religion|Christianity|Organizations
BRIGADA - URL: http://www.xc.org/brigada/brigada.html
BRIGADA PEOPLE GROUP CONSULTANT - URL: http://www.xc.org/pgc.html
(If in your travels through the Internet world you come across good
research locations, please let us know. Write Bethany Prayer Center
at <102132.52@Compuserve.com> (they contributed much of the initial
info. in this material) and Brigada at .)
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Chapter 4 - ARCHIE SERVERS
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ARCHIE - (a derivitive of Archive). Archie is an online file finding
tool developed at the McGill University School of Computer Science.
The system maintains a database of all the names of files stored at
known public archive sites. It is usually best to use an Archie
client program on your own computer. However, if you do not have one
you can Telnet to one listed below and login using a userid of archie.
Begin your search by typing prog
Archie Servers:
USA: archie.ans.net
Canada: archie.uqam.ca
England: archie.doc.ic.ac.uk
Australia: archie.au
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Chapter 5:
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GOPHER - Gopher is an application that organizes access to the
Internet resources using a uniform interface that's simple to
understand and easy to use. It was developed by the University of
Minnesota and provides smooth passage to other computers, allowing you
to browse and search documents and links you to resources and
databases, so you don't need to know exactly where something is stored
before you look for it. It is primarily designed as a document
retrieval system, however you can find many types of information on
Gopher Chapter from simple text to sound and video files.
Like Archie, it is best to use a Gopher client on your own computer,
but if you do not have one, you can access a public one from the list
below.
Gopher Servers:
Australia: info.anu.edu.au
England: gopher.brad.ac.uk
USA (California): infopath.ucsd.edu
USA (Washinton): wsuaix.csc.wsu.edu
USA (Minnesota): consultant.micro.umn.edu
--- For an example of how a gopher server can contribute to research, see the
following server on Anthropology and Culture:
USA (Rice): riceinfo:rice.edu
--- For an example of how a regular news service can be broadcast via gopher,
look on:
Chinese News Digest Server: cnd.org
--- For an example of how a book can be published:
CIA WORLD FACTBOOK, Choose elctronic books: wiretap.spies.com
ARMY AREA HANDBOOKS - Gopher: umslvma.umsl.edu, Choose The Library|Governemt
Information|Army Area handbooks
--- For an example of how a book can affect a local culture:
THAILAND - Gopher: emailhost.ait.ac.th, Choose Asian Institute of Technology
campus Info, Information for Faculty and Staff, Living in Thailand.
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Chapter 6: -- VERONICA -
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Veronica (Very Easy Rodent Orientated Netwide
Index to Computerized Archives) is a gopherized service that keeps an
index of the titles of all articles in gopher space. Like Archie, it
only searches for words in directory or document titles, and you can
access it through most Gopher clients and servers. If your server
doesn't have Veronica you can always fall back on the one at the
University of Minnesota. It's available at: Gopher.micro.umn.edu ---
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Chapter 7: -- JUGHEAD
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JUGHEAD - (Jonzy's Universal Gopher Heirachy Excavation And Display)
is another search engine similar to Veronica except that it runs as a
server on the Gopher site and provides a pre-built table of directory
information that can be searched. Think of Vernonica as a general
search tool and Jughead as the tool of choice for deep burrowing into
the local system. ---
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Chapter 8: -- FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP)
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FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP)
Internet Sites
The following section outlines some basic sites for finding
information on a range of topics. Appropriate addresses are given for
each.
Sites for software:
Washington University at St Louis - Anon FTP, address: wuarchive.wustl.edu
University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana - Anon FTP, address: ftp.cso.uiuc.edu
University of Minnesota Gopher Archive - Anon FTP, boombox.micro.umn.edu
Libraries:
Accessable Library Catalogues and Databases - Anon FTP
address:ariel.unm.edu, Path /library/internet.library
(This is a large document with detailed instructions on how to access
the computerized systems of many universities around the world.)
Government and Political Information Sites:
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS - Anon FTP address: marvel.loc.gov
UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK - Gopher address: jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca
ASKERIC - Anon FTPaddress: ericir.syr.edu
EXPLORATORIUM - Gopher address: gopher.exploratorium.edu
ELECTRONIC NEWSSTAND - Gopher address: gopher.enews.com
CIA WORLD FACTBOOK - Anon FTP address: ucselx.sdsu.edu,
path:/pub/doc/etext/world.txt.Z
Anon FTP: coombs.anu.edu.au,
Path/coombspapers/otherarchives/electronic-buddhist-archives/*
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Chapter 9: -- Telnet
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The Carl System - a computerized network of library systems -
Telnet:pac.carl.org
Eureka - an easy to use search service - Telnet:eureka-info.stanford.edu
University of Maryland Information Database - Telnet:info.umd.edu,
Login: info
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Chapter 10 -- Usenet
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UseNet is a popular part of the Internet's many services, and refers
to a mechanism that supports discussion groups (called newsgroups).
But do not be deceived, much of the discussions on these so called
newsgroups are not news at all but idle chatter from uniformed minds.
Be careful how and you select as a discussion group. Often they can be
vulgar and uniformed drivel. With tens of thousands of newsgroups
available, a naming system is necessary to allow you to find the
groups that interest you. When you first get involved with UseNet, it
can be overwhelming, and for that reason there is a newsgroup
dedicated to helping fist timers called newbies. It is important not
to leap into UseNet and start posting articles without knowing what
the rules of ettiquette are. You don't want to incur the wrath of
thousands of other users.
My opinion...UseNet is a waste of time if you are really out for valid
information and data for research.
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Chapter 11 -- News Services -
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News services are usually associated with such online services as
Compuserve and America Online. What is a news service? Today more
and more newspapers and magazines are filing their publications in
text files online. For a fee you can have a program monitor those
newspapers for topics of interest to you. The server then takes those
articles and mails them to you via your e-mail address. It is
convenient way not to have to read entire newspapers to get the news
you want. Check with your service provider for the availability of
this feature.
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