Internet Tutorials | John Faughnan | Robert Elson

Introductory Internet: Reading and Refs

These references supplement the tutorial material, and can help with further Internet exploration. You can order any of these texts through Amazon Books (http://www.amazon.com). Prices where listed are Amazon Books discount prices. (Note, however, that Amazon's shipping charges may offset their discounts.) Our more references are provided at Advanced Web Refs and yet more advanced references at Internet Medical Record Refs. Sadly, it's getting harder to find Macintosh oriented books.

Contents


Medically Oriented

These are a few papers that discuss the Internet from a physician's perspective.

Frisse ME, Kelly EA, Metcalfe ES. An Internet Primer: Resources and Responsibilities. Academic Medicine 1994; 69:20-4.

Steiner BD, Reid A, Smucker DR. Developments on the Internet: A practical guide for primary care clinicians. Fam Med 1996 Feb;28(2):128-33.

Finding What You Need on the Internet -- Richard Rathe
Richard Rathe's May 1997 FPM article includes many clinical URLs of interest to Family Physicians. The full text of the article and the many solid links are found at this URL on the Family Practice Management web site.
http://www.aafp.org/fpm/970500fm/internet.html

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Software, Internet, Web, and Getting Connected

Books on Web Browsers

In addition to one or more of these standard texts, you'll probably want to pick up a book on your browser of choice. In general, this software comes with very inadequate documentation. Check that the book covers the version you are using! (Almost all books assume Windows 95, but the Macintosh versions of these applications are pretty similar)

How to Use Netscape Communicator 4.0 by Ziff-Davis Press Development Group. Published by Ziff Davis Pr. June 1997 ISBN: 1562764675. $24.99

Internet Explorer 5 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide
by Steve Schwartz, Steven A. Schwartz 308 pages 1 edition (February 1, 1999) Peachpit Pr; ISBN: 0201354446

Tips on Getting the Most From Your Browser (and Eudora)

Web browsers are typically not well documented. These CNET articles told me things about NS and IE I'd never suspected, despite months of use.  < http://home.cnet.com/category/0-3761.html >  

Other Internet Books

The Internet for Dummies (4th Edition) by John R. Levine, Carol Baroudi, Margaret Levine Young. IDG Books Worldwide. March 1997 ISBN: 0764501062 $15.99
Probably the most popular and approachable current book on getting started on the Internet.

How the Internet Works, Special Edition by Preston Gralla et al. Que. 1998  ISBN: 0789717263 $23.99.
If you liked the Time-Life science books as a kid, you'll love this one. For people who need to know how things work before they can use them. Very well done.

Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh by Adam C. Engst. 4th Edition. Hayden Books. : July 1, 1996 ISBN: 1568302940
Probably the best Macintosh Internet book, thought it's getting quite dated. I don't know of a better replacement.

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HTML and Advanced Materials

See: Advanced Web Refs.

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History and Philosophy

A Brief History of the Internet
The official history, from the Internet Society, by many of the net's creators.
http://www.isoc.org/internet-history

Hobbe's Timeline
History of the Internet in outline form, with graphs showing current servers and growth. Hosted by the Internet Society.
http://info.isoc.org/guest/zakon/Internet/History/HIT.html

Technology Review- TBL interview (Tim Berners-Lee)
Tim Berners-Lee created the web. This superb interview answers a lot of questions people have about the web, and describes the yet unrealized potential for supporting collaborative work.
http://www.techreview.com/articles/july96/bernerslee.html

Web Origins and Beyond
History of the web and of HyperText in general.
http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~lzeltser/WWW/

Douglas Englebart's, Augmenting Human Intellect, 1962.
Between Bush and the Web was the vision of Englebart.

Vannevar Bush. As We May Think. Atlantic Magazine, 1945.
The essay from which, by way of many others, came many of the ideas we live with now. Bush was science advisor to Roosevelt and Truman, and he was awed by the knowledge explosion of his day. He envisioned a device of connected knowledge that would extend the human mind.
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/flashbks/computer/bushf.htm

See also: Internet Privacy Advocates

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Science-Fiction

These books have had a remarkable influence on the development of the Internet and the World Wide Web. People who built the Internet and the Web tended to read this stuff.

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Last Revised: 01 Feb 2002. Author: John G. Faughnan M.D. and Robert Elson M.D. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this and related pages are strictly those of the page authors. Anyone may link to or print out any of these pages.