THE INTERNET & WORLD WIDE WEB: The Rough Guide.

#### THE INTERNET & WORLD WIDE WEB: The Rough Guide.

By Angus J. Kennedy. Rough Guides. 224 pp. $8

According to the futurists, we are on the verge of living in an electronic, paperless Information Age. But the paradox of this age is that most of us learn about the new on-line world by reading books—a medium the "digerati" would have us believe is all but obsolete.

Among the dozens of volumes available, there are books about etiquette (Rules of the Net: Online Operating Instructions for Human Beings, by Thomas Mandel and Gerard Van der Leun), books about where to go in cyberspace (Netchick: A Smart-Girl Guide to the Wired World, by Carla Sinclair), books offering the vicarious experience of cyberspace for people still making up their minds (Networld!: What People Are Really Doing on the Internet and What It Means to You, by David H. Rothman), and books about falling in love on-line (Throbbing Modems: How to Find Romance and Adventure on Your Personal Computer, by Joshua Bagby).

Now the Rough Guide series of travel books has come up with The Internet & World Wide Web. It’s hip-pocket- (or purse-) sized, which seems a conceit; this is armchair traveling, not real adventuring. That quibble aside, Kennedy’s guide is a useful introduction to the arcana of getting connected to the various components that make up the Internet.

For starters, the author discusses the difference between on-line services such as CompuServe and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). He outlines the basics of making an initial connection and lists the software that would-be Net surfers will need (though anyone who has ever tried to install Internet software will testify that it can be pointlessly frustrating). Helpfully, Kennedy lists 15 questions to ask a prospective ISP. For example, he advises inquiring when the ISP is busiest, whether it charges a flat fee, and (this is important) whether it will supply the connection software and walk the customer through the installation.

Elsewhere, Kennedy explains Internet services such as e-mail, newsgroups (electronic bulletin boards to which people post messages), list-serves (electronic mailing lists), file transfers, and the World Wide Web (what most people think of when they think of the Internet). He also lists selected newsgroups and World Wide Web sites, as well as a glossary of terms and an introduction to "Net Language." And finally, a list of ISPs in the United States, Great Britain, Europe, Asia, and Australia is offered.

Just as it is paradoxical to learn about the Internet from a book, so it is absurd to spend learn at the keyboard, not by turning pages. too much time reading about Net surfing. That said, this Rough Guide has the virtues The knowledge needed to log on is not that of concision and thoroughness. complex, and once you’ve logged on, you —David Nicholson