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WHAT CAN A GOPHER DO FOR ME? |
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Tuesday, 23 December 2008 |
Jay Hall, Everton Publishers
(
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)
30 July 1993
1) What is a gopher?
The idea of accessing various types of internet resources through a single interface appears to have been born at the
University of Minnesota. Although it is often referred to as a way to "tunnel through the internet," the name apparently was
inspired by the UMinn team name, the Golden Gophers.
Perhaps the best way to think about using a gopher is that it is like a menu-driven telnet session. It allows you to move
from one system to the next, often without knowing exact which system you are on at any given time. So you don't need to
worry about the domain name or IP address of the site you want to access.
On the other hand, gopher sites are not ftp sites. Just because a school or company has a gopher, that doesn't mean that it
will have files for you to download or databases to search. While gophers allow you access to ftp sites or to white pages
directories, these are not gopher services, they are provided by other servers that you connect with via gopher menus.
2) If a gopher isn't an ftp site, how can it help me?
"The big advantage of Gopher isn't so much that you don't have to look up the address or name of the resources, or that you
don't have to use several commands to get what you want. The real cleverness is that it lets you browse through the
Internet's resources, regardless of their type, like you might browse through your local library with books, filmstrips, and phonograph records on the same subject grouped together." - Ed Krol, _The Whole Internet Catalog & User's Guide_.
If you follow the same analogy, the main menu you see on a gopher is like walking into a library and looking at the stacks
of books. If you have no background in using a library, you won't know what you want. So, you might just go over to a shelf and start looking at the books until you find something that interests you. It's the same with the menus you see when using
a gopher. Choose the items that interest you, and see what you get. Eventually you'll acquire a feel for where to look for the information you want. For example, if you are looking for an ftp site, look for menu items that contain "ftp". Or you may find ftp access hidden on submenus under such headings as "Internet Resources", "Off-Campus Connections", "External
Databases", etc.
If you want to wander through gopherspace, most menus will
contain an entry for "Other Gophers". This will often lead to a
series of geographic or alphabetic menus of gophers around the
world. While these gophers are interconnected, each one will
have a little different selection of resources, or little
different approach to Internet resources. Seeing how several
work can be a real education, and give you a better
understanding of how gophers work.
For genealogists, the lure of programs and data files is great,
so ftp access is important. Two of the better-known general
purpose ftp access gopher sites are the University of Minnesota
(consultant.micro.umn.edu) and the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign (gopher.uiuc.edu). You can telnet to either
site and log in as "gopher" (without the quotes), or use
another gopher to connect to either site. Once you are
connected to one of these sites, you can follow the menus to
lists of specific ftp sites (such as vm1.nodak.edu), or you can
connect directly to a specific site by typing in the domain
name or the IP address (vm1.nodak.edu = 134.129.111.1).
When you're connected, you can navigate the directories of the
ftp site by a series of menus, down to the file level. ASCII
(text) files can usually be retrieved directly through the
gopher, while binary files may have to be downloaded to your
host machine. If you are using a public access gopher, such as
a college or university gopher, that you haved logged onto via
modem, you will have to request that a copy of a binary file be
sent to your e-mail box via ftp mail (see below).
Although most gophers do not host ftp archives, many have
information files that can be helpful to you. For example, a
university gopher will usually have menu items that lead to
text files containing library hours, general descriptions of
special holdings, calendars of events, and phone numbers for
such useful people as reference librarians or admissions
registrars.
Another popular item that is gopher-accessible is the library
card catalog. Consortia of colleges have pooled their library
catalogs so that you can search the index to their holdings
without having to visit each campus individually. Among the
best known catalog databases available via gopher are Melvyl
(for California), ERIC (for New York), and LC Marvel (for the
Library of Congress).
Of course, you will only have access to the card catalogs, not
the text of the individual books.
Usenet newsgroups, including soc.roots, are also available via
gopher.
3) How can I connect to a gopher on the list?
If it's a college (and a lot of them are), you may be able to
get an account with the computer center for either on-campus
use or dial-up access. Some schools even have public access
nodes that will allow you to dial in to their card catalog or
gopher server without an account, although this access may be
severely limited.
In some areas, freenets are available. These are community
sponsored public access internet sites, providing internet mail
boxes and public discussion and information areas. Some of
these also provide limited access to card catalogs, or to
gopher servers. It is also possible to telnet into most
freenets via gopher, although once you have done so, you will
have to establish an account to use most of its resources.
4) What is ftp mail? How can I get a binary file if my e-mail
provider only allows 7-bit (ASCII) mail?
For those without the ability to transfer files from an
anonymous ftp site directly to their computers, there are two
servers that can be used to request copies of files by mail.
For Bitnet subscribers there is
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, and
for other internet users there is
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For a
more complete explanation of how to use either server, send a
message to the address with "help" (no quotes) in the body of
the message.
Many mail systems do not allow full 8-bit ASCII file transfers,
because one of the bits is used to control the system. So, to
transfer a binary file (like those with .zip, .Z, .tar, or .hqx
in their name), you will first have to transform the file into
a 7-bit form. The venerable means of doing this for the
internet is called uuencoding. Programs are available for most
platforms (UNIX, DOS, Mac, Amiga, etc.) to both uuencode a file
(to send it), and uudecose a file (to receive it). There should
be a public domain or shareware program available to do this
for your machine. Acquire a copy of the uuencode and uudecode
programs for your machine and test them both before you attempt
to acquire programs via ftpmail! If you don't know where to
look, ask.
To request a file via ftpmail, you need to know: 1) The domain
name (e.g., vm1.nodak.edu) or the IP address (e.g.,
134.129.111.1) of the ftp archive site. 2) The full directory
path where the file is located (e.g., /pub/genealogy/programs).
3) The exact name of the file(s) you want (e.g.,
PAF_Utils.sit.hqx). Note that you need to observe upper and
lower case naming conventions! Most of the time, MyFile.ZIP and
myfile.zip are considered by the operating system as two
different files.
For those who have to do it now, here's a [commented] skeleton
you can use for an ftpmail request. Send to either the ftpmail
or bitftp address above, no subject needed. Do not type the
information in brackets ([ and ]), and use your own address and
file request, not the ones used here!
reply
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[this is your "return address" for the file, in case it
cannot read your address from the header on your ftp
request message]
connect vm1.nodak.edu
[the name of the ftp site you want to connect to, can
also be the IP address, e.g., connect 134.129.111.1]
binary
[you want to get a binary file (unneeded if you want an
ASCII/text file)]
uuencode
[uuencode the binary file for transmission (unneeded if
you want an ASCII/text file)]
chdir /pub/genealogy/utils
[change to the proper directory from the root directory]
get maxhedrm.zip
[send this file]
quit
[this should be the last command, to tell the ftp server
that you are done. If this isn't here, the ftp server
may attempt to process your signature as a command,
possibly leading to unpredictable results.]
5) Why can't I ftp a file from the gopher?
The gophers operate in a "secure mode", meaning you generally
won't be allowed to view a binary file (and capture it),
because the control codes may cause problems as they travel the
internet from the ftp site to you. Viewing (and capturing) text
files is usually OK.
6) Other Reading:
_The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog_, by Ed Krol.
O'Reilly & Associates, Sebastapol, CA, 1992. ~$25
Note: This is the best all-around book I've seen on the
internet. Well worth the cost, and a constant reference
companion.
_The Internet Companion: A Beginner's Guide to Global
Networking_, by Tracy LaQuey, with Jeanne C. Ryder. Addison-
Wesley, New York, etc., 1993. ~$11
_Gopher FAQ_, posted periodically to the Usenet newsgroups
comp.infosystems.gopher, news.answers, and comp.answers.
veronica-faq, available in the /veronica directory at
veronica.scs.unr.edu.
- Jay Hall, Everton Publishers
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>> From freenet.hsc.colorado.edu!ac331 Tue Aug 3 09:47:09 1993
>> From:
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(JAY HALL)
>> Subject: Gopher List
Note: the purpose of this list is to give you an idea of where
gophers are available. It is not intended as a complete list,
nor does it contain all of the information necessary to telnet
to a site (such as the FQDN or the IP number). The original
list at Washington & Lee does contain such information.
So what good is this list? If you are associated with the
Australian National University (for example), you should be
able to contact a member of the computer center staff for
information on how to access one of the gophers operated by
various departments at ANU. Once you gain access to one of
these gophers, you should be able to follow the menus to gain
access to most of the other gophers on this list.
For more information on gophers, see GENEALOG GOPHERS.
***************************************************
Gopher Sites Listing
***************************************************
1 # Source: Washington & Lee University (July 1993)
2 # a list of World-Wide Gopher Sites (sorted by domain structure)
3 # sites beginning with '|' did not connect on most recent test
4 # sites beginning with '}' appear not to work
5 # sites beginning with '~' should be ignored (duplicate or private or error)
6 # sites with a "#X" code do not want automatic tree-walks done
7 ## name tab host tab port tab local_codes
8 #--------------------------------------------------------
9 Univ of California, Santa Barbara, Instructional Resources
10 Experimental MacSE20
11 Experimental MacIIci Gopher Server -- Not Always UP
12 Sample DOS Gopher Server
13 AZ - ASU West Library Gopher Server (Arizona State Univ.)
14 TU Berlin, Rechenzentrum ZRZ
15 Russell Library Gopher
16 ~Univ of Tennessee, Memphis, Department of Pharmacology
17 ~Gettysburg College, Latest Mac Network Software (ftp)
18 Queen Mary & Westfield College (London UK)
19 Queen Mary & Westfield College (London)
20 Macintosh Server Example
21 SUNY, Health Science Center, Macintosh
22 The Commonplace Book (temporary)
23 Il file server Macintosh
24 Botanics Garden Gopher
25 Saint Joseph College
26 AKH-Wien, Kardiologie
27 AKH-Wein, LISTSERV (test)
28 Graz University of Technology, HYPER-G server
29 Graz Uni (Austria)
30 Univ of Klagenfurt
31 Johannes Kepler Univ at Linz, Data and Knowledge Engineering
32 Johannes Kepler Univ at Linz
33 Johannes Kepler Univ at Linz, Oesterreichische Hochschuelerschaft
34 Johannes Kepler Univ at Linz, Research Institute for Symbolic Computing
35 Johannes Kepler Univ at Linz, Software Engineering
36 Univ of Vienna, Dept. of Med. Cybernetics and Artif.Intelligence
37 Univ of Vienna, Austria. (FTP archive)
38 ~Univ of Vienna, IFS
39 Vienna Univ of Economics
40 Univ. Economics: VW5, Vienna (Austria)
41 Early Music Archives
42 Vienna Univ of Economics, IIR
43 Slave (nestroy.wu-wien.ac.at)
44 Vienna Univ of Economics, Rektorat
45 Vienna Univ of Economics, Wirtschaftsgeographie, Prof. Fischer
46 WU-Wien, Study Abroad Center
47 BMWF (Ministry for Science and Research)
48 AARNET Archie Server
49 Univ of Adelaide ITD
50 Univ of Adelaide, Labour Studies (when available)
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