Various information sources

Pointers to information resources on the Web. Things like you might find in a reference library. There's an interesting article on ACM electronic publishing plans that has many good points about electronic publishing in general.

Other personal pages: overall outline of my pointer pages, my own home page (which I actually don't use much), and a page about me.


General sources of documentation

Lots of generally useful info is available in the USENET FAQs organized as the USENET hierarchy or by name. Another source of FAQs which has somewhat better topic sorting. And a further one that has high promise, but I haven't checked out yet, is at The Internet FAQ Consortium. And a search interface to look for the right one...

Documentation available on the Web

Documentation for various systems, products, etc.

Documentation on the Internet protocols

There are lots of ways to access RFCs. One day I'll research this list and produce commentary and comparisons, for now just a list...

A reference I sometimes use for people who say, "But I only have E-Mail" is Accessing The Internet By E-Mail.

There are also sites that collect other useful documentation on the parts of the Internet Suite that I'm interested in. So far I only have pointers for DNS info at the DNS resources directory.

Specs for the components of the Web

A web page publishing company has written a very good Comprehensive Guide to Publishing on the Web which I recommend to anyone starting out (and even some more experienced types). Given a URL, Web Site Garage returns a quick analysis, of style and usage as well as the HTML.

OneWorld has a collection point for Web developers which looks pretty good. The HTML and HTML+ Specifications at CERN. A more tutorial form of HTML documentation by Peter Flynn, and the W3C page of conversion tools to convert HTML to PostScript, LaTeX and other formats. The URL Specifications and a good Introduction. The HTTP Protocol Specification. Documentation on NCSA's httpd server. Style Guide for Online Hypertext [CERN]. The WWW FAQ.

Other Documentation

Reference lists and documents

Locations of various reference lists.

Publications on the net

Real publishing operations that appear on the Web.

There are a lot of interesting full-narrative stories on the net. StoryWeb has a good index with ratings...

The best overall source for information on books is The Internet Book Information Center (IBIC) from which many of the pointers I used to keep here can be reached. These pointers have been removed in favor of going through IBIC. The On-line Books Page catalogs books that can be read in online editions, and can be searched. BookWire aspires to be the most comprehensive guide to the book-related resources of the Internet, and does seem to be pretty good. The UNCAT database has a listing of UNCATaloged titles not generally available in a bookstore or library. Someone else has collected pointers to information on publishers, especially those with on-line catalogs. And Adam Gaffin has collected a list of Media that accept electronic submissions. And Project Gutenberg has lots of text on-line. (but the pointer got stale).

You can get current news from The Nando Times (All the news that's bits we print), from The News & Observer in North Carolina (US). The Palo Alto Weekly newspaper is on-line for Silicon Valley news.

You don't have to write to Pueblo, Colorado for free advice anymore. The Consumer Information Center now offers hundreds of brochures for your immediate use.

This is a small list of some publications which I found useful or interesting. It especially includes ones I don't think are covered in the above lists, but also a few I want quicker access to. Also check out The Internet Public Library for useful lookups


Other personal pages