A ROAD INCREASINGLY TRAVELED INTRODUCING ICLnet: AN ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD SERVICE FOR CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION A DESTINATION ON THE INTERNET INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY ° MARTIN W. BUSH ° Co-Editor Faculty Dialogue ° RICHARD CAVNES NEESE ° Managing Editor Faculty Dialogue Cyberspace1-The Virtual Reality Frontier "To Boldly Go Where No Society Has Gone Before . . ." On a September weekend in 1993, some 250 parents gathered in an instructional auditorium on the Seattle campus of one of the member schools of the Christian College Coalition to participate in the orientation process for first-year and transfer students. After general presentations, three officers of the school fielded an hour of questions from the assembly. One raised hand brought this mother's inquiry: "Is the campus connected to a computer network and will my son have access to the Internet?" In the course of his response, the vice president for student life observed: "A few years ago the most prevalent question posed by parents at orientation sessions was, 'What are the hours of the library and will my son or daughter have access to its resources and those of neighboring schools?' For the last three years, the most frequent question has become, 'What are the hours of the computer lab and will my son or daughter have access to the new world of electronic network communication?'"2 A decade ago cyberspace was primarily the domain of a technologically elite band of researchers, academics, and scientists-some of whom were popularly characterized as computer nerds, geeks, and hackers. Today there are abundant opportunities for a diverse and eclectic universe of users who have a computer, a modem, and a telephone line to explore this exciting medium. On college campuses a variety of students with varying degrees of computer literacy are eagerly queuing up at campus computer labs for a chance to sign on the Internet. Many have discovered that person-to-person electronic mail-"E-mail" in computer jargon-provides nearly instant and reliable communication with collegians and mentors at campuses across the country, international friends cultivated in high school service club exchange programs or college semesters abroad, and new 1 keyboard pals from some fifty countries who regularly participate in discussions on "the net." Growing numbers of faculty and administrators are venturing onto the Internet highway attracted by the more than 5,000 discussion groups, 2,500 electronic newsletters, university library catalogues, and research and business databases distributed over 10,000 channels frequented by as many as twenty million (twelve million of whom reside in the United States) mostly friendly international information givers and seekers-and the audience is expanding at the rate of a million new users a month.3 Waiting in the wings, as bandwidth (or carrying capacity) of the data lines increases, is transmission and exchange of live audio and video images. On campuses that provide a connection, faculty have been willing to use the Internet. Most, however, have not clamored for Internet services-perhaps because they do not understand its advantages as a medium of research and communication. There is anecdotal evidence which suggests, however, that interest in the Internet is accelerating-particularly when information and training are made available. In the summer of 1992, Richard J. Smith, associate professor of library science and assistant director of libraries for technical services at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, offered a workshop on Internet navigation. Mr. Smith expected 50 people to sign up. Instead, 856 participants from two dozen countries completed the three-week course.4 As understanding of Internet services and potential applications for the higher education community grows, so too do the incentives for faculty and administrators to invest in the training that enhances their proficiency in utilizing the network resources for scholarship, curriculum development, continuing education, and communication with colleagues. Mentors, Mavens and Mavericks on the Internet: Fostering Community Among Scholars and Learners The Internet provides a means for moving vast amounts of information-reports, pictures, graphs (although currently most exchanges are based on text)-almost instantaneously anywhere in the world. The nature of collaboration has assumed a new meaning since users separated by an ocean or two can still work together as if they were in adjoining offices. The pace of academic communication has also quickened: papers and articles that normally would undergo weeks of peer scrutiny and then languish for months before appearing in journals receive a hearing in days (sometimes even hours) and elicit more informal, immediate interchange than would be afforded through traditional scholarly print media. Current faculty users often comment on one of the powerful currents that sweeps through the Internet: the "democratization of scholarship." Faculty, scholars and 2 students who exchange ideas and opinions by subscribing to topical discussion groups on electronic bulletin boards may find themselves conversing with Nobel Laureates and accomplished authors. Faculty at small church-related colleges or Bible schools in the hinterlands can cultivate worldwide colleagueships and engage in collaborations and projects with teachers and colleagues and students around the world. The discussion groups of ICLnet offer the potential to serve as forums and links between Christian scholars, teachers, and students in public and church-related schools and a cadre of national and world-class thinkers and leaders whose professions and convictions address issues of faith and practice. A discussion of Christian faith and the public order, for example, might bring comments from participants like Martin Marty, Os Guinness, William Bennett, Carl F. H. Henry, Charles Colson, John Stott, and Bill Moyers. In fact, discussion group participants on the Internet and ICLnet are offered the possibility of addressing "a world of ideas" and idea-makers-à la Bill Moyers' provocative PBS series of one-on-one interviews with some of the most outstanding minds of our time: poets and physicists, historians and novelists, doctors and philosophers. Bulletin board discussion groups also offer the possibility of developing strong webs that cultivate mentoring and support relationships between great thinkers and practitioners of the Christian faith and pastors, students, teachers, mission personnel and lay persons in every corner of the country and every nook of the world touched by ground or satellite-based communications. For a younger generation that has grown up with computer games and computers, discussion groups provide a new and exciting dimension for exploring ideas and cultivating relationships. For an older generation, steeped in the traditions of the classroom and face-to-face counseling relationships, the discussion groups offer the challenge of nurturing and sustaining the dynamics of these interpersonal relationships while widening the audience through the medium of electronic communication. Origins of the Internet In the cold war days of the mid-1960s, Paul Baran, a researcher at the Rand Corporation proposed a solution to the Pentagon's quandary about how to send command-and-control messages to military forces in the event of a nuclear attack that destroyed conventional telephone communications. Journalist Philip Elmer-DeWitt describes the idea: Baran's system was the antithesis of the orderly, efficient phone network; it was more like an electronic post office designed by a madman. In Baran's scheme, each message was cut into tiny strips and stuffed into electronic envelopes, called packets, each marked with the address of 3 the sender and the intended receiver. The packets were then released like so much confetti into the web of interconnected computers, where they were tossed back and forth over high-speed wires in the general direction of their destination and reassembled when they finally got there. If any packets were missing or mangled (and it was assumed that some would be), it was no big deal; they were simply re-sent.5 In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Baran's packet-switching network was adopted by universities and government research laboratories and eventually became the substructure of the Internet-the mother of all computer networks: a serendipitous, censor-free, globe-encircling electronic freeway that no one owns or any single organization controls. In the mid-1980s the National Science Foundation invested public funds in the construction of the high-speed, long-distance data lines that form the Internet's U.S. electronic backbone. The major operational costs of the network have been shared cooperatively by its major users: universities, national labs, high-tech corporations and foreign governments. Two years ago NSF opened the door for commercial use of the Internet and in September 1993, the Clinton White House announced a plan to use the Internet as the cornerstone for a lofty notion called the National Information Infrastructure. Now telephone and cable-TV companies are scrambling to build-and Bell Atlantic, Time Warner, TCI Liberty, QVC, Paramount, et al. are hustling to market-the superhighway household offramps to deliver many of the services-interactivity, two-way communications, multimedia information on demand-that the Internet already provides for free.6 Suddenly, the Internet is the place to be: a quarter million new users a week are logging on to browse through library catalogs, check out satellite weather photos, download free computer software programs, send and receive E-mail, and join discussion groups populated by a broad spectrum of professionals, dilettantes and dabblers discoursing on any and every conceivable topic. Navigating the Internet For new users, first impressions of the Internet are often akin to navigating on a titanic and perplexing ocean where raft-bound explorers dip keyboard paddles into a bewildering sea of informational flotsam as they drift rudderless on a boundless flood. Or, to change the metaphor, neophyte electronic commuters like Chicago Tribune syndicated columnist, Mike Royko, complain that the Internet is like a mapless superhighway with arcane UNIX road signs (the Internet's basic computer command language) where would-be travelers encounter rocky electronic obstacles and roadblocks that convey the equivalent experience of having "just gone over an enormous pothole and 4 lost all four hubcaps."7 The Internet is not perfected-it is a work in progress, infinitely renewable and adaptable, growing and changing every day. Even the procedures that routinely work just fine occasionally don't. However, the communication software is becoming increasingly more friendly and adaptable to the users' preferred computer equipment-PC, Macintosh, or UNIX-based multiuser system-and the computer's operating system: DOS, Windows, Apple's System 7, UNIX, etc. Helpful introductions to the Internet are to be found in numerous recent publications that grace the shelves of mall bookstores (see the Suggested Reading list at the end of this article). In addition, many services on the Internet offer customized on-line help menus and instructions to facilitate viewing and retrieving information. In harmony with this trend, the ICLnet bulletin board has been designed to offer a friendly and inviting forum where seekers of truth can gather to discuss issues of faith and stewardship in the light of Christ's call, the Church's mission, and the ministry of Christian Higher Education. Reflections on the Relationship of ICLnet to the work of the Institute for Christian Leadership Since its inception in 1979, the Institute for Christian Leadership has been working to strengthen Christian higher education through several activities: A. Faculty Workshops and Writing Conferences for Church-Related Colleges & Universities Faculty workshops have functioned over the past decade to assist participants in thinking and writing about the problems and prospective solutions to issues confronting church-related higher education on the eve of the third millennium of the Christian faith. Topics of investigation at these gatherings have included: "The Intellectual Substance of the Educated Christian," "The Fingerprint of God: Horizons of Faith and Science," and "Faithful and Creative Teaching: The Case Method Approach." B. Faculty Dialogue-The Journal of the Institute of Christian Leadership The proceedings of and responses to faculty workshops and writing conferences have provided articles and comments for ICL's journal, Faculty Dialogue. Established in 1984, the journal has been a pacesetter in providing a forum for inter-institutional discussion of issues related to Christian higher education. Published three times a 5 year, the journal draws contributions from national and international Christian leaders and teachers and administrators in North American colleges, seminaries, and Bible schools. This dynamic interchange generates lively and stimulating ideas for the nearly 280 institutions and 11,500 faculty and administrators who receive the journal. C. Writing Awards Another outgrowth of the Writing Conferences has been the endowment of two writing awards named in honor of individuals whose professional careers and personal lives have provided examples and challenges for spiritual development, intellectual growth, and a commitment to work for positive change in church and society. Winning submissions are published in an award's edition of Faculty Dialogue. 1) The Ted Ward Writing Award Established in 1991 and funded by Mrs. Evelyn Egtvedt, the first writing award focuses on the general theme of "The Christian Mission in Higher Education," and was named in honor of Faculty Dialogue's co-editor, Dr. Ted Ward-gifted teacher, professor of higher education at Michigan State University, G. W. Aldeen Professor of International Studies and Mission at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and esteemed advocate for Third World nations. 2) The Howard Vollum Writing Award The second writing award, established in 1993 and funded by Mr. James B. Castles, addresses the general topic of "Horizons of Science and the Christian Faith," and was named in honor of Mr. Howard Vollum. In 1937, Mr. Vollum began an association with Jack Murdock that culminated in the founding of Tektronix, Inc., a pioneer manufacturer of oscilloscopes and computer-related electronic equipment that grew to become one of the largest employers in the State of Oregon. D. ICLnet ICLnet is an heir and extension of the Institute's mission-expressed in its 6 workshops, writing conferences, writing awards, and Faculty Dialogue-to clarify and affirm common Christian faith commitments, to stimulate dialogue on issues of vital import for the mission and task of Christian higher education and its allies, and to foster cooperative ventures that multiply and enrich the witness and services of the Christian community to society at large. ICLnet is an instrument that enables a "quantum leap" in facilitating these endeavors by creating a virtual "global village" where discourse, reflection, and relationships are nurtured and cooperative ventures are cultivated. The succeeding paragraphs offer an introductory "tour" of ICLnet and a "taste" of the succulent feast that awaits resource/community-hungry banqueters. Introducing ICLnet: "An Electronic Bulletin Board & Information System for Christian Higher Education" ICLnet is a computer bulletin board service for the Christian Higher Education community provided by the Institute for Christian Leadership, the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust (Vancouver, WA), and SCN Research. Users are invited to access ICLnet by direct-dial modem or via the Internet. (Direct Dial users must set their modem parameters to E, 7, 1). Direct-dial callers can reach ICLnet at 503/598-7884. Internet users can connect by telneting to iclnet93.iclnet.org Internet Protocol (IP) Address: 198.3.121.10 For those who wish to correspond, the E-Mail addresses of the authors of this article are: martin@iclnet93.iclnet.org Martin Bush neese@iclnet93.iclnet.org Ric Neese Callers are greeted with a computer screen that confirms that the destination reached is the ICLnet Bulletin Board Service. Questions follow which prompt users to: 1. Access the BBS as a "guest" and browse through the various menus and submenus that outline ICLnet services, or 2. Access the BBS as a "registered" user. Those who choose to register will be asked a few questions to facilitate the process and 7 invited to select a login name and password. Please carefully follow the on-screen instructions to complete registration. A. E-mail and Internet research services are only available to registered users. B. Registration is free. C. Each "visit" to the ICLnet BBS has a one-hour time limit. D. Users may make as many visits as they desire (redial and log in again after each one-hour time limit is reached). Those who proceed-either as guests or registered users-will encounter a few additional screens of instructions and acknowledgments before arriving at the main menu which, in its current state, offers the following options: Quick Check Items 1. Do you have E-Mail waiting? (Reading/sending done in ICLnet Services) 2. Who is on the system right now? 3. What's new on ICLnet? 4. Upcoming events (of national interest) Jump Menus for Discussions & Services 5. Main Group Meeting Areas [Special Interest Groups-(SIGS)] 6. ICLnet & Internet Service Areas 7. General Discussion/Free Speech Areas (Current Issues) 8. Faculty Dialogue journal-on-line E-Text Help & On-Line Guides 9. Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet8 Users can select a number on the menu line and press the enter/return key to see the answer to the question or to reveal a submenu with additional selectable options. Other commands for navigating through the submenus (by entering a letter, phrase or symbol on the command line) are identified under a broken horizontal line: ------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------- m=Return to Main Menu, p=previous menu, "go help"=extended help h=help, ?=available commands, x=Exit ICLnet (Logoff) To illustrate the depth and breadth of topics and options 8 concealed in the submenus, readers are invited to trek along the trail that would emerge if a user picked item #5 (Main Group Meeting Areas) from the main menu. The following submenu appears: Special Interest Groups-"go sigs" 1. About Special Interest Groups 2. Christian Colleges and Universities 3. Bible Schools and Colleges 4. Seminaries 5. Christian College Coalition (CCC) 6. Christian Leadership Ministries (CLM) 7. Christian Medical & Dental Society (CMDS) 8. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) 9. North American Professors of Christian Education (NAPCE) 10. Oregon Independent Colleges Association (OICA) 11. Western Evangelical Seminary (WES) 12. Academic Officer's Discussion Groups (Private) 13. President's Discussion Groups (Private) Proceeding deeper into the outline, selecting item #2 (Christian Colleges and Universities) from the listing above reveals this submenu: The Christian Colleges & Universities-"go ccu" Menus 1. Academic Area Discussion Sub-boards 2. Job Bank Services 3. For Sale, Trade, or Free Discussion Areas 4. General Discussion 5. Pedagogy Issues 6. Institutional Philosophy and Mission Issues 7. Library Service Issues Facing Colleges/Universities 8. Fund-Raising Issues 9. Career Development Issues 10. Residential Life Issues 11. Social Issues and Institutional Responsibility 12. Questions and Answers (Moderated) Services & Utilities 13. About this sub-board discussion area 14. Directory Services Choosing item #1 (Academic Area Discussion Sub-Boards) from the outline above reveals the following submenu options: The Christian Colleges and Universities 9 Academic Area Jump Menus 1. About this sub-board 2. School of Business 3. School of Liberal Arts 4. School of Sciences 5. School of Fine Arts 6. School of Philosophy 7. School of Political Science 8. School of Religion 9. School of Computer Science 10. School of Social Sciences 11. School of Foreign Languages 12. School of Communications & Media 13. School of Health Sciences 14. School of Engineering 15. School of Continuing Education 16. School of Teacher Education 17. School of International Relations/Politics 18. Questions & Answers (moderated) Selecting item #17 (School of International Relationships & Political Science) from the preceding list would present the following submenu options: School of International Relationships & Political Science SIG-"go irp" 1. About this Sub-Board Discussion area 2. General Discussion 3. New Curriculum Issues 4. Current World Affairs (General) 5. Somalia 6. Bosnia 7. Haiti 8. Russia (Former Soviet Provinces) 9. South Africa 10. Peace and Justice Issues 11. War Issues 12. Ethics 13. Great Ideas 14. Social Issues and Institutional Responsibility 15. Questions and Answers (moderated) 16. Directory Services We have followed a single item through the menu/submenu system to reach the heart of the interactive portion of the bulletin board. Selecting from items #2-15 at this level presents the following options: ------------------------------------------------------ c = Contribute a new message n = Read next unread message s = Read next unread message with same subject h = Help, list of additional commands 10 q = Quit At this point the user has the opportunity to contribute, to browse, to reflect and discuss the subject at hand with colleagues and readers across the country and around the world. Finally, item #16 (Directory Services) at this level, presents a "sign-up sheet" where users can peruse the names of correspondents currently enrolled in this particular Special Interest Group (SIG) and elect to enter (or drop) their subscription as correspondents: SIG (Special Interest Groups) Directory Services 1. Directory of SIG Members 2. Add your name to the SIG Directory 3. Remove your name from the SIG Directory Many menus have "jump commands" that allow the user to proceed directly to an area of interest without having to methodically enter a series of submenu selections to reach the desired topic (usually surrounded by double brackets <> on the menu screens). For example, typing "go ccc" at the command line of the main menu (or any submenu) allows the user to "jump" directly to the Christian College Coalition submenu; entering "go business" at the command line in any submenu transports the user to the School of Business SIG; "go dialogue" to the submenu for current and back issues of ICL's journal-Faculty Dialogue; "go internet" to the Internet Services Main Menu; and so on and so forth. The illustration above reveals a thin vertical "slice" of the rich selection of topics and options available on ICLnet. Users will also find a Job Board (shortcut: type "go jobs" at any menu command line within the BBS) for posting positions wanted or viewing positions available at church-related schools and parachurch organizations around the country and a Public Forum (shortcut: type "go public") for discussing current issues of the day. Other "goodies" are also scattered throughout the BBS menu system. It is the hope of the authors that this brief introductory tour will whet the appetites of readers and potential ICLnet users for a fuller exploration of the bulletin board's treasures and will encourage participation-with colleagues and truth-seekers across the nation and around the world-in discussion groups engaging the critical issues of Christ and culture for our day and the third millennium. Introducing Internet Services (and other ICLnet BBS services) Available on ICLnet The ICLnet Bulletin Board offers a number of convenient services that facilitate communication and research via electronic mail, international newsgroups, file transfers, 11 and the powerful search tools of the Internet. For registered users, selecting item #6 from the BBS Main Menu (ICLnet & Internet Service Areas) produces the following submenu of services: BBS Services Menu <> 1. Internet Services (Access Designated Resources) 2. Read Usenet NewsGroups (International Discussion Groups) ICLnet Services & Administration 3. Campus Post Office (Send/Receive E-Mail) 4. Communications Center (Talk, Transfer Files, etc.) 5. For Sale/Trade/or Give Away 6. User Services (set user preferences/change password) 7. Administrative Building 8. Help Desk Choosing item #1 from the BBS Service Menu (Internet Services) produces the following list of Internet services: Internet Services Main Menu <> 1. General Helps/Suggestions & Etiquette for Use of this Menu Direct Connections to: 2. Ask ERIC - National Teacher Education Resources GOPHER (Great Teacher Education Information Source!) 3. GOPHER (University of Minnesota Gopher Site) 4. GOPHER (PSG/RAINnet Portland Oregon Gopher) 5. ISAAC - Education BBS (University of Washington) login: "register" (On-line registration - great resource for teachers only) 6. Library of Congress (LOC) Card Catalog Jump Menus for More Direct Connections 7. Science Resource Information Connection Sites 8. Humanities Resource Information Connection Sites 9. Education & Distance Learning Connection Sites 10. Library (ies) Resource Information Connection Sites 11. Federal Information Resources (Grants, programs, etc.) Selecting an item from the list above reveals additional submenu choices that will connect the user with the identified resources. The ICLnet Bulletin Board is designed to bring users together-with one another and with information resources-as painlessly as possible via 12 easy-to-use menus that execute the selected tasks while masking the rumblings and grumblings of the UNIX command structure and Internet protocols that are working in the background to make these global communication links possible. For readers who desire to explore the inner workings of the Internet-a task that exceeds the limits of this article-the authors suggest several valuable guides in the Selected Reading section at the conclusion of this paper. There you will find detailed and illustrated descriptions and examples of telnet-the network application that lets users log in to one computer from another; ftp-a network service that transfers any sort of file between any pair of computers on the Internet; archie-an index of what is available for anonymous ftp transfers at well over a thousand Internet sites; E-Mail-perhaps the most economical long-distance communication form available today; gopher-an "easy-to-use ftp without walls" that allows users to retrieve files without knowing where they are stored on the Internet system and without memorizing domain and login names (designed to bring users information from all over the Internet as seamlessly as possible); WorldWideWeb-a client/server application similar to gopher but unique because it catalogs resources by subject; WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers)-an information retrieval system based on keyword searches; Net News-"the biggest bulletin board in the world" (available via the ICLnet BBS); Project Gutenberg-"the next publishing revolution"; and a host of other marvels. One final menu item of interest. Choosing item #8 (Help Desk) from the BBS Services Menu reveals these valuable options: The ICLnet HELP DESK 1. About the Help Desk 2. Help with the ICLnet Menu System 3. Help with Editors 4. Help with Mail 5. Help with Bulletin Boards 6. Help with Voting 7. Help with Multi-User Chat 8. Help with Searching 9. Help with Directory Services 10. Help with File Transfer 11. How to change to your SIGop ID 12. Bug Reports. Selecting these menu items will reveal everything a users need to know about ICLnet to effectively employ the system for personal and professional enrichment-or at least everything the ICLnet technical staff knows about the system and its intended function. 13 A Word About Moderators and Their Function An electronic community, like any other, needs leadership-people with vision and the drive (or the task) to work toward it. In networked communities, these people are officially identified in many ways: SysAdmin (System Administrator), SysOp (System Operator), Moderator, etc. Each has a specific function (the first two more technical), but each finds opportunities where decisions must be made for the good of the community. The System Administrator (Martin Bush) has asked faculty members from several different institutions to accept the role of moderator for a specific area. For example, Dr. Johnnie Driesnner, vice president for academic affairs at Concordia College in Portland, is the moderator for the Science discussion areas. It is his task to direct the development of resources in that area, through acquisition and posting of appropriate files, making recommendations for further fine-tuning of that subboard, and assuring discussion group participants that their forums will stay on task. Occasionally a discussion will stray from the topic, and the moderator (gently) will either suggest a return to the topic at hand, or that another discussion group be started to deal with what is obviously an issue of interest. Various moderators will participate in the discussions themselves according to their own interests, either watching from above, or steering discussion to deal with particularly relevant matters. Moderator styles are as different as the people themselves, so expectations can be a bit chancy. A list of moderators who have "officially" accepted their positions is posted on the board itself. We would encourage any user who is interested in becoming a moderator to send e-mail to martin@iclnet93.iclnet.org. Simply state your name, current position, interest area, and any upfront ideas you might have, and we will be delighted to consider that request. We are eager to open new discussion/interest areas to the ICLnet community. Parting Thoughts As construction of the information superhighway proceeds, concerns are being voiced that some who lack the means to tap these resources may be left behind. Those with access to data can cultivate the contacts, jobs, and power that lead, presumably, to a better life. Eli Noam, director of Columbia Business School's Institute for Tele-Information recently addressed several of these concerns when he delivered the Eleventh Annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture. Imagine a tele-society as I've described it, yet with some people not able to connect into it. They will be physically there, but socially or 14 economically not. They'll be like aborigines living in territorial reservations in the larger society.9 Jean-Claude Guédon, a professor of cultural studies at the University of Montreal, echoes Noam's uneasiness when he warns of the possibility of "a two-tier humanity: those on the Net and those who are not."10 Noam notes another potentially troubling aspect of the emerging tele-society. As "personal broadcasting"-individuals communicating directly to hundreds of "tele-bystanders" via voice, text or video-becomes more common, "tele-cults, or electronic communes" composed of highly segmented audiences may create "narrow and specialized electronic neighborhoods" that weaken the bonds of community. Giving people the power to associate with anyone they choose anywhere on the globe may adversely affect the social intercourse of local geographical communities if techno-elite cliques elect to huddle only with those who share their worldview. At present, we are the beginning of the evolution, and there is time to think. We should be ready to deal with some of the inevitable negative impacts, too, in a way that the planners of the automobile highway system never did when it come to the cities. If we do that, we can have the best of both worlds.11 Noam offered two specific suggestions to alleviate the prospects of excluding individuals or groups from the information superhighway: 1) Creation of a nonprofit corporation for public network applications, similar to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, that would provide seed money and expertise to small, unsophisticated but socially important nonprofit organizations-including local congregations, schools and social service agencies-to modernize their operations; 2) Creation of a financing scheme, outside the control of information providers, that will ensure universal access to information systems.12 Philanthropist Walter Annenberg's recent gift of $500 million-distributed over the next five years-to spur educational reform in the nation's public schools addresses some of Noam's concerns about the fragmentation of American society by seeking to disseminate information about successful and promising new school models to a broad audience of public educators. About $5 million of the gift will be invested by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University to build alliances among colleges and universities for development of an electronic library that will give all elementary and secondary schools access to literary, artistic, historic and cultural texts-an effort to "bridge the gap" between rich and poor schools.13 Undoubtedly, the electronic information superhighway will play an important role in connecting visionary educators 15 across the country as they seek to fashion an educational culture that prepares students for the 21st century and build a community that contends with the complex social, emotional and educational needs of today's children. The Institute for Christian Leadership is privileged, with the inauguration of ICLnet, to participate in the building of a portion of the information superhighway for Christian higher education and to offer access for conversation, consultation, idea-generation, and cooperative ventures to a broad audience of colleges, universities, seminaries, parachurch organizations, libraries, professional guilds, concerned citizens, churchgoers and truth seekers. The ICL staff invites new users to take a "test drive" on the ICLnet Bulletin Board Service, to sign on and participate, to comment, and to elicit the support and synergism of national and international colleagues and friends in examining the role of faith and the character of "habits of the heart" that will be needed to address the common concerns of the global village in the 21st century. Notes & References 1Cyberspace refers to the environment created by a web of electronic networks that transcends geopolitical and social boundaries-a "place" where diverse and eclectic citizens of the world "meet" to form a variety of global villages organized around personal and professional interests. Many of these Internet voyagers live in more than one virtual community at a time. As Vinton Cerf comments: The extraordinary freedom of expression and accessibility of information on the Internet suggests that it may well represent a whole new revolution in human communications. In a way, the Internet has made every author a publisher, and given new meaning to the phrase "desktop publishing." And it has required that consumers of information or their proxies (e.g., "knowbots") become truly selective and thoughtful voyagers, ceaselessly sorting through and evaluating the information available to them as they sail the electronic oceans and cast their nets wide (no pun intended). Vinton G. Cerf in the Forward to Paul Gilster, The Internet Navigator: The Essential Guide to Network Exploration for the Individual Dial-up User (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1993), p. xix. 2A recent national survey of Directors of Admissions 16 Counselors revealed that until 1991, parents' most asked question during campus visits focused on the library-accessibility, resources, relationships with neighboring libraries, etc. After 1991, the question most on the minds of parents concerned student accessibility to computers, computer labs, and ties to electronic resources like the Internet. 3Three recent articles in popular publications explore the impact of the electronic frontier on "ordinary" people: Barbara Kantrowitz et al., "Live Wires," Newsweek 122 (September 6, 1993), pp. 42-8; Philip Elmer-DeWitt, "First Nation in Cyberspace," Time 142 (December 6, 1993), pp. 62-4; William F. Allman et al., "Pioneering the Electronic Frontier," U.S. News & World Report 115 (December 6, 1993), pp. 57-63. 4David L. Wilson, "Huge Computer Network Quickens Pace of Academic Exchange and Collaboration," The Chronicle of Higher Education 39 (September 30, 1993), p. A17. 5Philip Elmer-DeWitt, "First Nation in Cyberspace," Time 142 (December 6, 1993), pp. 62-4. 6For a discussion of issues concerning the protection and dissemination of information via the Internet-and the costs of making it available, see David L. Wilson, "Electronic Riches Are Free on the Internet, but Some Worry About the Consequences," The Chronicle of Higher Education 47 (July 28, 1993), p. A18. 7Mike Royko, "Map Missing for New Super Highway," The Oregonian 24 October 1993, p. C3. 8The Institute for Christian Leadership expresses its appreciation to The Electronic Frontier Foundation-and particularly, Shari Steel, EFF's Director of Legal Services-for permission to include the Foundation's Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet on ICLnet's help menu as a reference and resource for users. ICL is preparing an ICLnet User's Manual that is scheduled for publication in early 1994. In the meantime, users are invited to take "self-guided" tours of the resources available on the ICLnet Bulletin Board. 9"Churches and the New Information Technology," in the News section of The Christian Century 110 (December 8, 1993), pp. 1233-4. 10William F. Allman et al., "Pioneering the Electronic Frontier," U.S. News & World Report 115 (December 6, 1993), p. 63. 11"Churches and the New Information Technology," p. 1234. 12Ibid., p. 1234. 13Dale Mezzacappa and Ta Noah V. Sterling (Knight-Ridder News Service), "Annenberg Betting He Knows Way to Educational Reform in the U.S.,"The Oregonian 18 December 1993, pp. 1, 15. Suggested Reading 17 Falk, Bennett. The Internet Roadmap. San Francisco: Sybex, Inc., 1994. A snappy 250-page lay person's handbook for "the information utility of the 1990s." Covers the basics for beginners and offers tips and suggestions for experienced users who want to get the most out of the Internet. Very helpful. Derfler, Frank J. Jr. and Les Freed. Illustrations by Michael Troller. How Networks Work. Emeryville, CA: Ziff-Davis Press, 1993. An excellent book for those whose first question is: "Can you draw a picture for me of how this 'thing'-computers, telephones, modems and fax machines; packet-switching networks; on-line information services; e-mail-works?" Lots of first-rate color illustrations "that graphically unravel the PC network to detail . . . how each component does it magic-and how all the pieces fit together." More comprehensive works introducing the Internet include: Gilster, Paul. The Internet Navigator: The Essential Guide to Network Exploration for the Individual Dial-up Use. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1993. A 450-plus page volume written especially for the "stand-alone" and "dial- up" user. Guides new users through the tangled highways and byways of the Internet with help on locating "service providers"; sending and receiving electronic mail; using telnet to access databases and bulletin boards; downloading files with ftp; conducting efficient topic searches with WAIS, World Wide Web, archie, veronica, and related tools; taking advantage of special services provided on Bitnet. Krol, Ed. The Whole Internet: User's Guide & Catalog. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 1992. A complete users guide (360-plus pages) to the Internet that covers the basics-electronic mail, newsgroups, Internet utilities like telnet, ftp-and expands to help users find resources with Internet search tools like archie, gopher, WAIS, and the World-wide Web. 18 Includes a catalog of over 300 resources available on the Internet addressing topics ranging from Aeronautics to Zymurgy. Braun, Eric. The Internet Directory. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1994. A 640-plus page "telephone directory" of current international resources available via the Internet. This "snapshot"-changing and growing every day-includes listings for: 1500+ Internet and Bitnet mailing lists, 2700+ Usenet Newsgroups, 1000+ Anonymous ftp archives and archie servers, 300+ gopher servers, Wide Area Information servers, World Wide Web, E-text archives and resources, Project Gutenberg, 250+ electronic journals. 19