MAP20: BOOKMARKS AND BOOKLISTS
"He that travels much knows much."
-- Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia
Once you find a neat Gopher site or menu, how are you ever going to
remember how to get back to it? Easy! Leave a bookmark.
Bookmarks are "flags" that allow you to mark a neat Gopher menu or file so
that you can return to that menu or file whenever you want. All of your
bookmarks are kept in a "booklist" that acts just like your own personal
Gopher menu!
Each Gopher client has its own particular Bookmark commands, but all Gopher
clients work on the same basic principle: you leave a bookmark at a site
that interests you, and you can access that bookmark through a booklist
that acts just like a regular Gopher menu.
BOOKMARKS AND BOOKLISTS IN THE UNIX GOPHER CLIENT
If you are using a UNIX Gopher client, there are four basic UNIX bookmark
commands that you need to remember:
a Adds the item that the --> is pointing at to your
booklist.
A Adds the entire current directory (or menu) that you
are in to your booklist.
v Views your booklist.
d Deletes a bookmark from your booklist.
In MAP18, I showed you the fictional "gopher.squirrel.com" Gopher server.
Let's go back to that pretend Gopher server and look at how we can start
using bookmarks to make our lives a little easier.
SQUIRREL.COM Gopher Server
1. Information about the Squirrel Gopher Server.
2. What's new in the Squirrel Gopher as of May 29, 1996.
3. Squirrel Resources, Services and Information/
4. Administrative Resources, Services and Information/
5. Network Resources, Services and Information/
6. Squirrel Directory
7. Potpourri, Miscellaneous Topics/
8. Local Squirrel LISTSERV Archives/
--> 9. Other Gopher and Information Servers/
If I type an upper case "A", I will add this entire menu to my booklist
(under the entry "Root gopher server: gopher.squirrel.com"). If I type a
lower case "a", I will add whatever the --> is pointing at to my booklist.
Since I like being difficult, I'm going to do both. I type an upper case
"A", and the following appears on my screen:
Name for this bookmark? SQUIRREL.COM Gopher Server
I can cancel this, rename this bookmark, or accept this name. I'm going to
accept the name. Once I do this, the bookmark is added to my booklist.
I also want to add the "Other Gopher and Information Servers" menu to my
booklist, so I move the --> cursor down to that line and type a lower case
"a". I go through the "name" prompt again, and the entry is then added to
my booklist.
Okay ... I've just added two bookmarks to my booklist. What does *THAT*
mean? Well, if I type the letter "v", the following menu appears on my
screen:
Bookmarks
1. SQUIRREL.COM Gopher Server/
--> 2. Other Gopher and Information Servers/
COOL! I've just created my own Gopher menu! Best of all, *I* get to decide
what information and sites are going to be on this Gopher menu!
Since these two bookmarks look a little lonely, I think I should add an
entry for the InterNIC to my booklist too. My booklist acts just like any
other Gopher menu, so I move the cursor down to the "Other Gopher and
Information Servers" line, press the ENTER or RETURN key (or the right
arrow key), and the following menu appears on my screen:
Other Gopher and Information Servers
1. All the Gopher Servers in the World/
2. Search All the Gopher Servers in the World
3. Search titles in Gopherspace using veronica/
4. Africa/
5. Asia/
6. Europe/
7. International Organizations/
8. Middle East/
--> 9. North America/
10. Pacific/
11. Russia/
... %< snip snip snip %< ...
We've seen this before!
I move the cursor down to "North America", press the ENTER or RETURN key,
and the following menu appears on my screen:
North America
1. Canada/
2. Costa Rica/
3. Cuba/
4. Mexico/
5. Nicaragua/
6. Puerto Rico/
--> 7. USA/
I move the cursor to "USA", press the ENTER or RETURN key, and the
following appears on my screen:
USA
--> 1. All/
2. General/
3. alabama/
4. alaska/
... %< snip snip snip %< ...
I select the "All" menu, and after a little while the following menu
appears on my screen:
All
1. The Online World resources handbook (de Presno)/
2. 1848 Information & Resources/
3. 187resist: Immigrant Rights in California/
... %< snip snip snip %< ...
674. InterLink Hawaii Gopher/
--> 675. InterNIC: Internet Network Information Center/
676. InterNetwork Services - A MN Access Provider/
... %< snip snip snip %< ...
Now I have a choice. I can either move the cursor down to the "InterNIC"
menu entry (#675) and type a lower case "a" to add the InterNIC to my
booklist, or I can actually access the InterNIC (by pressing the ENTER or
RETURN key) and type an upper case "A". Either way will give me the same
result.
I'm lazy. I type a lower case "a".
Let's see what my booklist looks like now. I type the letter "v" and the
following menu appears on my screen:
Bookmarks
--> 1. SQUIRREL.COM Gopher Server/
2. Other Gopher and Information Servers/
3. InterNIC: Internet Network Information Center/
Now, if I ever need to get to the InterNIC, all I will have to do is access
my booklist!
BOOKMARKS AND BOOKLISTS IN THE RICE CMS GOPHER (VM)
Despite what UNIX fans may tell you, not everyone in the world has a UNIX
account. Many new Internet users, especially new users at some U.S.
colleges and universities, have accounts on IBM VM mainframes. As a matter
of fact, *MY* first Internet account was on a VM mainframe.
Most VM programs rely heavily on function keys. On the top of your
keyboard you probably have about a dozen function keys (or "F" keys)
labeled "F1" through "F12." On VM mainframe keyboards, these function keys
are called "PF" keys.
Why is this important? Well, there are two reasons:
1. If you see me mention "PF" keys (like "PF9"), just realize
that the PF keys are (or at least should be) the same as the
function keys at the top of your keyboard.
2. Since VM mainframes rely so heavily on function keys -- IBM VM
mainframe keyboards have *24* function keys -- most VM
programs, including Gopher, put a "function key menu" at the
bottom of your screen. You'll see what I am talking about in
the following example.
The VM Gopher menu is set up a little differently than the UNIX Gopher menu
(note the function key menu at the bottom of each VM Gopher screen):
Rice CMS Gopher 2.4.0 SQUIRREL.COM
1/9
(root menu)
Information about the Squirrel Gopher Server
What's new in the Squirrel Gopher as of May 29, 1995