It is impossible to get away from the Internet these days. Everyone is writing and/or talking about it, although a cynical observer might suggest that the number of people who talk about the Internet does not correlate with those who actually use it. Certainly, many people who attempt to surf the Net retreat in disappointed frustration at the complexity of it, at the huge amount of time it takes to access information and often also at the vast quantity of poor quality information. The anarchic nature of the Internet may be psychologically attractive to some people but not to all, especially those who need to access high quality information quickly. Many problems are inherent in the very structure (or lack of it) of the Internet and cannot be resolved. In fact, many prophets of doom are suggesting that the Internet will collapse, as it were, under its own weight, or at least grind to a halt. Before that happens, however, and for those who want some sensible guidance and advice, I suggest that they read one or other of these books, both of which are intended as a launch pad for the novice and a useful reference for the more experienced Internet user.
As one would expect, the coverage of these titles overlaps considerably, but each has a somewhat different emphasis apart from the obvious one relating to country of origin. The Library Association (LA) title commences with a very brief section on the historical background of the Internet and goes on to give an overview of key facilities available, following this with a section giving advice on how to use these effectively including tips on Netiquette and warnings about the dire things (such as “mail bombing”) that can afflict the unwary user and how to protect against them. The final section of the LA title is an Internet resource guide, which comprises half the book and is a very useful directory of named information servers, software archives, mailing/discussion lists and other types of resource. Each entry provides a brief description of the resource and the necessary information to access it.
The text of the LA book is easy to read and understand, although I often found that when dipping into the text for an answer to a specific query, it was not always very easy to find what I was looking for. The initial contents pages are rather brief and, although these are supplemented by additional contents lists at the beginning of each section, the novice would not necessarily know which of these to consult. Using the index can also be a bit tedious, because there is no indication of where the main definition/explanation is among the several page numbers cited for a particular term or topic. This means that it can take some time to locate the precise information needed.
Internet Connections is a larger book as it goes into a bit more detail on all the topics covered; its explanations, sections on the development of the Internet and the discussion of facilities are, in my opinion, somewhat better done, not just in respect of the amount of information but in terms of clarity. The organization is also better in some respects. Its treatment of the World Wide Web is much more compact, for example, whereas the same information in the LA title is rather scattered. It is considerably easier to locate definitions of terms and concepts in the LITA book via the much more detailed contents pages and index. However, because of its North American slant, some of the information, such as the chapter on Internet service providers, is of no use in the UK as these companies only operate in the USA. The detailed directory of resources is not as extensive in this title as in the LA book (although like its British counterpart it has enhanced this section by the use of illustrations showing the opening screens of each site), but as a supplement to this, one of the appendices gives the names and site addresses of an extensive and international range of library‐oriented lists and electronic serials. No other information about these sites is given, however and, although some names such as the Veterinary Medicine Library Issues are sufficiently self‐explanatory, others, such as NOTIS or multiLIS are not very helpful in indicating the sort of information that might be found on them.
It is a pity that neither title includes a glossary of terms and acronyms, for this is an extremely useful feature in books of this type, which are expressly aimed at the novice. It should also be remembered that, although the directories and lists of addresses of interest to librarians are potentially very valuable, such lists date very rapidly on the Internet as sites appear, disappear or change address with bewildering rapidity. The accuracy of this information will therefore decline fairly quickly. Apart from these criticisms however, it must be said that both of these books are clear and readable and packed with useful information. For librarians in the UK, the Library Association title must be the first choice, if only because it covers resources that are peculiarly British or European but, as neither is expensive, it would be well worth getting both. The explanations are better in the American title and it has a greater breadth of coverage which will help to extend the range of your explorations on the Internet.
