BKINTUNL.RVW 940520 Sams Publishing 11711 N. College Ave., Suite 140 Carmel, IN 46032-5634 317-573-2500 317-581-3535 800-428-5331 800-428-3804 or 201 West 103rd St. Indianapolis, IN 46290 317-581-3718 fax: 317-581-4669 hayden@hayden.com haydenbks@aol.com 76350.3014@compuserve.com "The Internet Unleashed", various, 1994, 0-672-30466-X, U$44.95/C$58.95 At over 1400 pages in total, this book weighs in as the most massive Internet tome received to date. It is "net-like" in another way: it seems to have been produced the way the Internet is run, by consensual anarchy. No one is taking responsibility here; there isn't even an editor listed. Individual items in the book are excellent. Overall, there is a tremendous resource of Internet information. Unfortunately, there are also inconsistencies in the quality, style, audience, and technical level of the material. One chapter may contain an in-depth analysis of certain RFCs and specifications, while the next is a "gee-whiz-isn't-this-neat" puff piece. There are sixty-two chapters, and a detailed table of contents which takes up thirty-two pages, alone. The five chapters of parts one and two are the usual conceptual and historical introduction. Part three is a guide to access and connection, and generally pretty useful. Part four covers communication, including mail, mailing lists, Usenet news and real time chat systems. Some of the chapters give great detailed documentation on, for example, various UNIX mail readers, but related chapters give little coverage of the use of mail for information gathering and dissemination. Part five should probably have been two parts, as it deals with both access tools for obtaining information, and resource tools for finding information. True, there is a reason for linking related access and resource tools, but that is not how the chapters are organized in any case. Parts six to nine look at specific uses for business, libraries, education, and community purposes. A good idea, but mostly weak material. Part ten looks at issues and controversies; by no means exhaustive, and inconsistent in quality. Part ten lists diversions. The appendices contain some solid information; the PDIAL list, handy Internet tools, UNIX basics; and some miscellaneous stuff. The volume of paper does not correspond to an equal volume of material. There is much duplication of content. Chapter two covers the growth of the Internet and acceptable use policies--topics which spawn two later chapters (thirty-five and thirty-seven) with almost identical information. Chapter fourteen, on internetwork addressing, has a very helpful and practical section on finding email addresses. This is also the topic of chapter twenty, which has a broader range of directory tools, but is far less helpful, and misses a number of the most useful. There are also a number of holes in the coverage. The chapter on the use of mailing and distribution lists concentrates almost exclusively on the BITNET LISTSERV system, with only token mention of the others. These and other gaps should have been filled, rather than wasting forty pages giving sample gopher screens, or the two chapters which are little more than advertising for commercial systems. There is some good information and a few great pieces. The tips on how to set up a mailing list or gopher could be very useful, and the list of Internet related tools is first rate. However, there are also holes, errors and dross. I would recommend this as a resource, but not necessarily as a sole source. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKINTUNL.RVW 940520 ====================== DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" (Oct. '94) Springer-Verlag