The Internet contains treasure troves of information. Using a gopher is one way to dig them up.
Gophering represents one of the earnest sides of the Internet. To go gophering means to search for text-based information available at certain computers called gopher sites hooked to the Internet.
Most gopher sites are at universities, government agencies or large corporations.
If you are looking to do some serious research on the Internet, gophering is the way to go.
Technically, gophering is a way of looking at the files of remote computers via the Internet without having to first log into that computer via the Telnet function.
Gophering happens to be one of the easiest functions on the Internet for novices to handle. Many of the commercial software packages sold for navigating the Internet, such as Internet in a Box and Internet Chameleon, have built-in gopher software.
If you are accessing the Internet on a text-only basis, all you need to do is type in a gopher address at your access-provider's command prompt. The Internet Yellow Pages (New Rider's Publishing, $29.99) contains thousands of gopher addresses.
To get you started in the world of gophering, here are a handful of useful - or interesting - gopher sites.
-- Library of Congress. The nickname for this gopher server is MARVEL, which stands for "machine-assisted realization of the virtual electronic library."
-- The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link gopher. The WELL, based in Sausalito, Calif., was started in 1985 and has grown to be one of the coolest online places on the Internet. The WELL has earned a sort of counterculture reputation and has led the way in setting a tone for the growth of the Internet.
Joe Kilsheimer writes about online service for The Orlando Sentinel. You can send him e-mail via America Online (OSOjoekils), Prodigy (dycw98a), CompuServe (75404,2076) or via direct-access (jkils(at)osentinel.com). Or he can be reached by calling 1-407-420-5483.