Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com\!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.ieee From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: SPECIAL REPORT/ELECTRONIC MAIL - To probe further Date: Wed, 4 Nov 92 10:20:19 EST Message-ID: <1044.art.1992Nov4.102019@AmeriCast.com> SPECIAL REPORT/ELECTRONIC MAIL - To probe further Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization, by Lee Sproull and Sara Kiesler (MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., May 1991), analyzes e-mail and includes case studies of several high- technology firms. The paperback is to be out this month. Online Communities: A Case Study of the Office of the Future, by Starr Roxanne Hiltz (Ablex Publishing Corp., Norwood, N.J., 1985), and Computerization and Controversy: Value Conflicts and Social Choices, edited by Charles Dunlop and Rob Kling (Academic Press, San Diego, Calif., 1991), are useful, too. Also worth reviewing are The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide, by John S. Quarterman (Digital Press, Bedford, Mass., 1989), and "Towards an Ethics and Etiquette for Electronic Mail," a report by Norman Z. Shapiro and Robert H. Anderson (Rand Corp., Santa Monica, Calif., July 1985). Then the August 1992 issue of Network Computing features a special report: "E-mail Applications: the New Building Blocks of Business." Whole Earth Review (27 Gate Five Rd., Sausalito, Calif. 94965) published several articles on "Electronic Democracy" in its Summer 1991 issue. And Boardwatch Magazine, Littleton, Colo., is a monthly with information on bulletin boards and on-line services, including classified advertisements of all sorts of bulletin boards accessible by modem; 303-973- 6038. "Inside the PARC: the "information architects,' " IEEE Spectrum, October 1985, pp. 62-75, shows the early use of e-mail inside Xerox Corp.'s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Network security concerns, including some e-mail ruses, were addressed most recently in Spectrum's special report, "Data Security," August 1992, pp. 18-45. How networks helped debunk cold fusion claims of 1989 is portrayed in Too Hot to Handle: The Race for Cold Fusion, by Frank Close (Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1991). Seymour E. Goodman wrote on "Political Activity and International Computer Networks" in the February 1992 Communications of the ACM, p. 174. The Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility will hold their annual meeting on Oct. 17-18. Contact Nikki Draper at 415-322-3778 (cpsr@csli.stanford.edu) for more information. For the proceedings of INET '92, the annual conference of the Internet Society, write to Publications Office, Internet Society, 1895 Preston White Dr., Reston, Va. 22091. Founded in 1983, the Electronic Mail Association (EMA), Arlington, Va., is a nonprofit trade group representing 350 user and vendor companies. A February 1992 publication, "Electronic Mail Market Research Results," studies e-mail users in Fortune 2000 and equivalent corporations in North America. The cost is $45 for nonmembers. Also available to nonmembers are "EMA Update and Focus on Applications," "A User's Guide to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act," "Access to and Use and Disclosure of Electronic Mail on Company Computer Systems: A Tool Kit for Formulating Your Company's Policy," and "The Electronic Mail Advantage: Applications and Benefits." Contact: Electronic Mail Association, 1555 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300, Arlington, Va. 22209-2405; 703-875- 8620; fax, 703-522-0241. A useful reference guide is the 1992 Information Industry Directory, 12th edition, edited by Bradley T. Morgan (Gale Research Inc., Detroit, Mich., 1992). It provides a list of organizations whose information systems and services include capabilities that allow clients to electronically send and receive messages. ***************************************************************** Selected on-line services Many options, too numerous to list entirely, are available to those interested in getting on electronic networks. The IEEE itself is linking all its global sections by using the Internet and other networks. More details will be published later in THE INSTITUTE. Those already linked electronically to the Internet can request a guide by sending a message to "email.guide@ieee.org." There are also a number of services that allow users to connect to various U.S. bulletin board systems with a local telephone call. Intellibusiness, a service offered by Bell Atlantic, is one example; 800-543-8843. Some of the larger network services include: CompuServe: a smorgasbord on-line service, based in Columbus, Ohio, that is renowned for its technical support. Almost every large personal computer maker and software developer is on this net to respond to user questions. Basic costs are US $49.95 for start-up software and $7.95 per month for basic services, plus a $12.80 hourly rate for extended services; 800-848-8199. Delphi: a relaxed national bulletin board system based in Cambridge, Mass. There are several commercial plans. The basic "10/4 plan" costs $10 per month for 4 hours' usage; 800-695-4005. Echo: the "East Coast Hang Out" service that is the New York City-based equivalent of San Francisco's Well national bulletin board system. Cost is $18.95 per month for 30 hours, $12.95 for students and senior citizens; 212-255-3839. GEnie: a service offered by a Rockville, Md., subsidiary of General Electric Information Service that has the broadest business and financial information and allows bond and stock trading. Registration is free; basic costs are $4.95 per month and $18 per hour during prime-time hours (8 a.m.-6 p.m., Mon.- Fri.); all other times, no charge for basic services; value services, $6 per hour; 800-638-9636. Internet: an international net that allows users to share information globally. Those unable to get on Internet through a regional network should contact the NSF Network Service Center, run by Bolt, Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge, Mass., by sending e-mail to nnsc@nnsc.nsf.net. The center also publishes a newsletter and an Internet Resource Guide. It is available electronically for free or for $25 for a hard copy; 617-873-3400. Many other Internet guides are available on networks. For example, SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif., publishes one for beginners, "Internet: Getting Started," available from nisc@nisc.sri.com for $39; 415-859-3695. Knowledge Index: a commercial database service of technical and popular articles associated with the more extensive Dialog but cheaper. Use is restricted to nights and weekends. Two sign- up plans are offered: a $30 plan includes 1 hour of new-user credit, while the $40 plan includes 2 hours of new-user credit; the hourly rate is a flat $24. Call 800-334-2564 for information on either Knowledge Index or Dialog. Minitel: a very popular government-subsidized service in France that is being offered in the United States by Minitel Services Co., New York City. Costs for accessing the French service vary from $0.15 to $1.83 a minute; 212-399-0080. Peacenet and Econet: services that link activists in the United States with those in other countries. They charge a $15 registration fee, plus $10 a month (including one hour of use) and $10 per hour peak time (7 a.m.-6 p.m., Mon.-Sun.); off- peak, $5 per hour; 415-442-0220; fax, 415-546-1794. Prodigy: a venture of Sears, Roebuck & Co. and IBM Corp., based in White Plains, N.Y., that is the easiest U.S.-based service to use and has attracted more than 1 million subscribers. It carries many advertisements and has limited e-mail capability, but it plans to join other commercial networks and link to the Internet. There is no hourly fee. Costs are $50 for start-up software and $13 per month; 800-284-5933. The Well: the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, based in Sausalito, Calif., that costs $15 per month plus $2 per hour; 415-332-4335; modem, 415-332-6106 Copyright 1992, IEEE Spectrum. For more information, send-email to American Cybercasting Corporation (usa@AmeriCast.COM)