The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group For the Bookshelf Major Keary majkeary@netscape.com.au

Published by Woodslane Press, The Australian Internet Book, now in its fourth edition, is pitched at the beginner-to-intermediate user level. The authors have assembled a useful compendium of the kind of information needed by most Internet users and potential users. For many it may be the only guide they will need.

Internet Telephone

In this issue of PC Update there are some articles on voice-over-net (VON), and The Australian Internet Book mentions that specifically. A chapter, "Write, talk and work together" describes Internet Relay Chat (IRC), online meetings, video conferencing, fax, and Internet telephone. The discussion is brief, but it raises an interesting point: the availability of audio with IRC has attracted some users away from VON. The Pulver site is not mentioned, but a couple of others sound interesting: http://www.net2phone.com, http://www.bestphonerates.com, and http://home.rochester.rr.com/netphones.

A Business-like Guide

The book is designed so that each item of information is contained to a two-page spread with a heading is in the form of a question, such as Which browser should I use?. In some instances the two-page format gives way to single-page, but the reader never has to turn a page to continue reading. The "question" format works well; each one is a question that new and intermediate users commonly ask. The material is compact, but presented in an easy style, and at the foot of each item is a bulleted list of salient points.

The topics are grouped in three parts: A guide to using the Internet, How to make the Internet work, and The Australian Internet Directory.

The Guide covers general exploration of the Internet and using it for: research; buying and selling; communicating with other people (IRC, email, and so on); entertainment; and putting a business online. The second part provides technical information: browsers and how they work; email; communications tools; running a Web site; and getting connected (how to get an account, set up a modem, and troubleshooting).

The directory is pretty brief, fifty-four pages with URLs listed for twelve categories. Those who want to find sites for topics that aren't listed (genealogy, for example) will find the list of search engines helpful. The first items covered in the main part of the book explain how to go about finding things on the Net, so those who want to go beyond the directories rather short list will have a reasonable foundation on which to build their searches.

Shortcomings

There is no index. The table of contents is comprehensive, but is not a substitute for a good index. For example, the cover mentions XML; it doesn't appear in the list of contents, but an index should have made it easy to find.

I noticed one inconsistency; at page 32 there is a reference to a share price site that "changes every second" and the reader is pointed to page 15 for details. However, there it says the particular site updates every fifteen minutes, not every second. Not mentioned is the site that does provide real-time share prices: http://www.sharelink.com.au, the first Australian Web-based share price and stock market information service.

Is it useful?

In a word, yes. The overall content and its organisation overrides my gripes. The book addresses a wide range of pertinent questions and provides necessary technical information in language that does not patronise the reader, but avoids unnecessary technical jargon. The authors make a number of recommendations that should help users, and they obviously have given a lot of thought to the topics covered.

Business people contemplating a Web presence should find it a particularly useful resource both for what the Internet can do for them, and the practical issues of setting up a Web site.

Well worth a place in libraries. A useful reference for anyone who provides a help-desk service for Internet users.

Reprinted from the May 2000 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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