Finding Your Friend's Internet Address

By Don E. Descy, Ph .D. d e s o ' @ v a x l .mankato.msus.edu

W e usually start our Internet workshops and classes with a

discussion about e-mail. The first question usually asked is " G r e a t . . . now how do I find the Internet address for [whoever] at [wher- ever]?" My usual reply: "Telephone them and ask them for it." That does not seem to be the high tech response that they expect, but it is the easiest way.

There are about 20 million people on the Internet at this time. These people have accounts on (at least) one of several thousand networks that make up the Internet. Because there are so many people and because there are so many networks and because the Internet is always changing, there is no comprehensive Internet user direc- tory. Several smaller online directo- ries of Internet users and other online resources may help find an Internet address.

Online Directories NeO'ind: Probably the best know

data base is Netfind User Lookup. Netfind can be accessed by telneting to one of twenty plus computers around the world. You are asked to supply the person's name, school, organization, or other descriptive information (the help screens are very

helpful). Many times you are then asked to select paths to search from a list of Internet domain paths. (If you are searching for someone at the Uni- versity of Connecticut you have 37 paths to choose from!) Many comput- ers (including mine at MSU) do not allow Netfind searches.

Here are several sites to try. You may have to login as netfind:

bruno.cs.colorado.edu (University of Colorado, Boulder)

ds.internic.net (InterNIC, S. Plainfield, N J)

eis.calstate.edu (Calstate, Fullerton)

monolith.cc.ic.ac.uk (Imperial College, London)

mudhoney.micro, umn.edu (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis) netfind.oc.com (OpenConnect Systems, Dallas)

WHOIS is a directory of over 70,000 people maintained by the Defense Data Network Information Center. Most of the people listed here are involved with Internet research or projects. Telnet to:

nic.ddn.mil

KIS (Knowbot Information Server) is a very easy-to-use server that searches MCI Mail, Whois, X.500, and several other less corn-

mon servers. To try KIS you must telnet to:

regulus.cs.bucknell.edu 185

i nfo.cnr, reston.va, us 185

At the > you just type in the name of the person whom you are trying to find. If another > appears, you are out of luck! Type 'exit' to end your searching.

Other Online Sources Gopher: Our little Gopher friend

may be able to help you locate an address. Once you enter the Gopher, go to other Gopher servers, North America, the state you want to search in, and the university, college, or organization gopher where you feel the person may have an account. Many of these gophers will have a directory (called phone book, direc- tory, students, faculty, etc.) contain- ing staff and student names, addresses, and e-mail addresses. My students seem to have good luck find- ing friends at other schools using this technique. You can Telnet to any of the following gophers:

consultant.micro.umn.edu (Login: gopher) gopher.virginia.edu (Login: gwis)

gopher.ycc.yale.edu (Login: gopher)

Don E. Descy is an associate professor in the Library Media Education Department at Mankato State Universi G in Minnesota, and welcomes your expertise, questions and suggestions for topics to be discussed in future columns. He can be reached at the Internet address listed above or through the AECT National Office in Washington, D.C.

OCTOBER 1994 TECH TRENDS 13

(For more information on Gophers read the March 1994 All Aboard the Internet column titled "That Wonder- ful Gopher!")

Usenet User List: The Massachu- setts Institute of Technology keeps a list of all account holders who have ever posted an article to an Internet newsgroup. To use this service, e- mail the name of the person to:

mail-server@ pit. manager, mit.edu

Leave the subject line blank and send the following message:

send usenet-addresses/(Persons surname)

Example:

send usenet-addresses/descy

You will receive an e-mail mes- sage with the information that you requested if it is available.

Other Resources There are also several books avail-

able at your local bookstore. These

contain thousands of names of people and their Internet addresses.

I have listed six different methods to help you answer that question: "Great . . . now how do I find the Internet address for [whoever] at [wherever]? Whenever I hear about a new method I usually search for my address, the address of a friend in Wisconsin, and the address of a friend in Connecticut. I have never found any of these addresses listed. I know that they have accounts. We e- mail each other regularly. Oh, how did I find their e-mail address origi- nally? I used the telephone . . .

E-mail addresses that you always w a n t e d . . .

Tom Clancy tomclancy@aol.com

Santa Claus santa@north.pole.org

Bill Clinton president(~bwhitehouse.gov

Bill Gates billg(~L microsoft.com

Garrison Keillor gkeillor(a madmax.mpr.org

Rush Limbaugh 70277.2502(fi compuserv.com Ed Sussman (Editor, National Enquirer) 70317.410~ compuserv.com

Toronto Blue Jays bluejays~z chicken.planet.org

New on the Net InterNIC Information Services

announces the availabili ty of Info- Guide, a comprehensive online source of information about the Inter- net and online Internet resources. The InfoGuide is accessible through gopher and the Wor ld -Wide Web. (Accessing the guide through W W W is magnificent.)

Gopher:

is.internic.net (Look in InterNIC Information Services)

W W W :

http://www.internic, net �9

14 TECH TRENDS OCTOBER 1994