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F. ADVANCED ONLINE RESOURCES
Searching for and getting relevant information on the Internet cannot be successful without an in-depth knowledge of search engines. Once you know which search engine to use, you are guaranteed a successful result.
Here are the search engines I recommend for a delightful search:
(1) ASK: this search engine receives literal questions from you e.g. where can I find resources on HIV? It is as easy as that and you only need to wait to see things happen. Go to www.ask.com
(2) LYCOS: this site searches by keyword. Go to www.lycos.com
(3) HOTBOT: this is one of the top search engines with direct hit package. go to www.hotbot.com
(4) EXCITE: this is an excellent tool for finding the most useful sites. Go to www.excite.com
(5) GOOGLE: this is a particularly user friendly search engine. Just type your search topic on the search locator and press the enter button on the keyboard. Google searches the web using a complicated mathematical analysis and gives you the top ten ranking sites concerning your topic. Go to www.google.com
Your Internet experience can no longer remain the same with these resources at your disposal.

G. TELNET
Apart from the e-mail, other systems are available on the Internet for accessing the vast information on the Internet. One of such is the telnet. It is a tool that allows you to connect to a remote computer using special software known as telnet client e.g. NCSA.
You can access several sites on biomedical topics via telnet. URLs of telnet of interest to biomedical workers are:
(1) Telnet://biotechnet.com
(2) Telnet://bubl.bath.ac.uk
(3) Telnet://text.nlm.nih.gov
(4) Telnet://medlars.nlm.nih.gov
(5) Telnet://fdabbs.fda.gov
One interesting thing about telnet is that it enables you to access bulletin boards to post messages.



H. FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP)
Files could be transferred from one computer to another on the Internet via this method. Both text messages and images are transferable allowing for the transmission of such messages. One could have links with several discussion groups through this system. Examples of such include:
(1) Ftpmail@src.doc.ic.ac.uk
(2) Ftpmail@ieunet.ie
(3) Ftpmail@ftp.luth.se
(4) Ftpmail@sunet.se
(5) Ftpmaill@ftp.shsu.edu
(6) Ftp://mailbase.ac.uk/pub/lis-iis/files/e-access-inet

I. DISCUSSION GROUPS

These could be Netlinks, Usenet or Newsgroups. Netlinks is a network of Internet users, which shares common interests. They share opinion and discuss on subjects of interest to them.
Usenet is the largest, single, conglomeration of newsgroups on the Internet.
Newsgroups are different groups of Internet users, which exchange information between one another. Examples of discussion groups of interest to biomedical workers are:
(1) Sci.med.aids
(2) Sci.med.diseases.cancer
(3) Sci.med.immunologysci.med.informatics
(4) Sci.med.laboratory
(5) Sci.med.pathology
(6) Sci.med.telemedicine
(7) Bionet.cellbiol
(8) Bionet.microbiology
(9) Bionet.immunology
(10) Bionet.software



J. MUDS AND MOOS
MULTIPLE Dungeons are online multi-users games that provide virtual environment of almost every conceivable type. In a mud, you supply the computer with demands that move your imaginary self through an imaginary environment. The great advantage of MUD over conventional computer games is that many players can interact with each other in the same imaginary environment often also adding to that environment.
Moos (MUDS object oriented) are derivatives of MUD that can be used not just for playing games but also for electronic conferencing. MOOS of interest to biomedical workers include the bioMOOS, the neurosurgery MOO, the diversity university MOO and the college town MOO.
In a MOO, academics from around the world can meet online without physically leaving their offices.
This great tool is accessible via telnet and hypertext transfer protocol. Go to these sites for a perusal:
(1) telnet://bioinformatics.weinzmann.ac.il.8888
(2) http:bioinformatics.weinmann.ac.il/biomoo
(3) telnet://samba.oit.unc.edu.7777
(4) moo://sunsite.unc.edu/neuro.neuromoo.html
(5) telnet://moo.du.org.8888

K. FAQS
Frequently Asked Questions can be your saving grace when you are fixed on any subject. The resources available on these pages are specifically tailored to meet the needs of online users.
Here are FAQs on newsgroups, FTP and the Internet:
(1) ftp://ftp.lib.ox.an.uk/faqs
(2) http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/faq/by-group.index.html
(3) http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/faq/by-category.index.html


L. MAILING LIST
There are several unpublished resources not found in the world wide web. These kind of resources could be obtained through membership of mailing lists where practical issues are discussed.
Electronic mailing lists of relevance to medicine and biomedical sciences covers special areas like dermatology, family medicine, anesthesiology, diarrhoeal diseases and disorders, obstetrics and gynaecology, cardiology etc. some of them are listed below:


SUBJECT LIST NAME SUBSCRIPTION ADDRESS
Academic dermatology ACADERM-L listproc@ucdavis.edu
Leukaemia, lymphoma,
Myeloma HEM-ONC listserv@sjuvm.stjohns.edu
Cancer-l CANCER-L listserv@wunvm.wvnet.edu
Obstetrics and gynaecology OB-GYN-L listserv@bcm.tmc.edu
Medical laboratory MEDLAB-L listserv@listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu
To subscribe to any of these lists, send an e-mail with the message (subscribe e.g. subscribe MEDLAB-L BENARD SOLOMON. That command will make you an automatic member of the list. However, you might be required to confirm your entrance to the list and to introduce yourself to other members immediately.