Keeping Up-to-date

The Internet is a rapidly changing environment with new sites appearing at a phenomenal rate. Trying to keep up with new sites can be a challenge. At the same time you must be sure to monitor yourself for information overload. Developing methods for handling information is a vital online skill.

The first line method of keeping an eye on what is happening is through mailing lists and newsgroups. Because mailing list messages come to your personal email box you should be very particular as to which ones you join. Critically evaluate mailing lists every so often to determine whether the messages are providing you with the information you want. At the same time, you should be developing the ability to scan messages quickly and deleting ones that aren't of interest to you. Remember, you do not need to read every message you receive.

With newsgroups you can be a little less cautious, dropping in and out of various newsgroups as your time permits. A good newsgroup to monitor for announcements of new sites and resources is the comp.internet.net-happenings. Net-happenings is a moderated newsgroup, which means that the general public can not post messages to it. Instead, all posts are sent to Gleason Sackmann who reviews them for appropriateness before posting them to the group. The purpose for net-happenings is specifically listing new resources and events related to the Internet.

Another good source of information about new sites is online and print magazines. To locate online magazines that deal with topics that interest you look at the http://www.coalliance.org/ejournal/ page.

Some useful Internet related print magazines appears below:
Internet World
Net Guide
Online Educator
Classroom Connect
Net Teach News