Subject: SIXTH FREE PINT "Diagnosing Web Problems" & "Medical Resources" Free Pint Helping you find quality information on the Web ISSN 1460-7239 22 January 1998 #6 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Welcome to Free Pint Number Six! We have another great issue for you packed with loads of practical information on using the Web. Free Pint now has over 3000 subscribers, with around 50 new subscribers every single day! The theme for this issue is medical resources. However, don't worry if you are not interested in that subject as there's plenty of other useful information. The Tips & Techniques article explains how to diagnose some of the common error messages you receive whilst using the Web, and we then have a great Feature Article telling you how and where to find the best Medical resources. This is followed by the letters section, with feedback from subscribers, advertisers and other supporters (including details of some prestigious awards we've recently received). Please feel free to pass Free Pint on to any of your colleagues, students, friends or family. The newsletter can only remain free with support from advertisers, and so please do get in touch with them and tell them where you saw their advert. Why not also send me a letter and let me know if you find Free Pint useful or if there is anything else you would like to see covered. Read on and enjoy! William Hann Editor w.hann@freepint.co.uk PS: If you do not already receive Free Pint automatically, then register to receive your free fortnightly copy at: http://www.freepint.co.uk/ You may find it easier to read and use if you print it out first. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = IN THIS ISSUE TIPS AND TECHNIQUES "Diagnosing Web Problems" by William Hann FEATURE ARTICLE "The Best Medical Information on the Web" by Sue Welsh, OMNI Project Manager LETTERS > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = TRAINING COURSES FOR THE INFORMATION PROFESSION TFPL, the premier training organisation in business information, presents the following courses: The Effective Web Page 3 February Internet for Market Research 12 February Intranet: Anarchy to Sanity 17 February Internet Tools for the Advanced Searcher 24 February For further details please contact sarah.sheldon@tfpl.com, visit our website at http://www.tfpl.com/ or telephone 0171 251 5522 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =[tf61] TIPS AND TECHNIQUES "Diagnosing Web Problems" by William Hann What a week we've witnessed on the Web! The Free Pint Web site has been overloaded with visitors, and so we are currently moving it to a brand new upgraded Web server. Also, InterlinkUK (advertisers in the last issue) are having to move to a new server due to sheer number of banners they are displaying across their network. These problems, along with various others on the Web this week, have meant that you are highly likely to have seen a number of error messages whilst accessing our site and others. Therefore, since we have a great Feature Article this issue on Medical resources, I thought I would write a brief guide on how to diagnose error messages experienced whilst using the Web. The Common Web Cold - "4" Errors -------------------------------- I know hardly anything about medicine. However I do know that when you get a cold it is inconvenient and very irritating. Colds happen on the Web too (and I'm not talking about viruses) - there are various error messages you will receive regularly which interrupt your daily dose of Web usage. Web colds can be quite simple to cure if you understand their symptoms (or error messages). The most common Web error message is "404 - Not Found". This means that the document you are trying to view cannot be located. Make sure that you've typed in the correct address (URL) and that you have entered lower and upper case letters correctly. An example of the importance of this can be seen when trying to access the excellent "Internet Resources Newsletter" at Herriot Watt University. The URL has a mixture of upper and lower case letters and is easy to type incorrectly: http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/irn.html If you still get the 404 error message and are sure you have typed the URL correctly, then try shortening it in stages until you actually see a valid page. For instance, if you got a 404 message whilst trying to access the example page: http://www.example.com/issues/number1.htm Then you could try removing "number1.htm". If you get the same message again then try without "issues/". You should at least be able to get access to a main page and contact the Web site administrator from there. If these measures don't work then you will have to accept that it is highly likely the document doesn't exist any more, and look elsewhere. Any error message which begins with a number 4 (such as 400, 401, etc.) is classed by the Internet as a "Client error". This means that the Web server (the machine at the other end) is denying responsibility for spreading the Web cold you are experiencing. You can often work around this problem as described above, but if you get a "403 - Forbidden" message then you simply don't have permission to access the document. The Web Flu - "5" Errors ------------------------ Things get much more serious when the error message begins with a number 5. This is full-blown Web flu, and is classed as a "Server error". This was happening on the Free Pint Web site where large numbers of people were requesting documents at the same time. The Web server started to strain under its workload, and this resulted in lots of error messages like "Server Error 500: could not fork new process". When you get full-blown Web flu then there is usually not a lot you can do except stay in bed (well, metaphorically). You could try to contact the system administrator and enquire as to what is causing the problem. Another type of Web flu occurs when your browser tells you that it is "unable to locate the server ... [because] the server does not have a DNS entry". DNS stands for Domain Name Server and is basically a table. This table contains a list of computer names (such as "www.freepint.co.uk"), and their respective computer numbers (such as "194.222.130.16"). Computer names (or domain names) are easy for humans to remember, whilst computer numbers (or Internet Protocol (IP) numbers) are needed by Internet-connected computers to talk to each other. Therefore, the DNS is a way for the computer to look up the IP address when you enter a domain name. If it can't find an entry in the table then it will give the above message, so check that you have entered the domain name correctly. It may also be that the server is unavailable at this time, and so try again a bit later. Another alternative is that the network may be down somewhere between your computer and the Web server, and this commonly happens if you access the Internet over a modem: Modem Medicine -------------- Internet access via a modem (rather than a permanent connection) means you have to look out for some other potential symptoms as well. Using an external modem (rather than one which actually fits inside your computer) means you can keep an eye on the lights on the front of the device. When you are connected to the Internet you should see a number of lights (some of which should be flashing). An external modem also allows you to easily reset it by unplugging it from the mains. If you get an error message numbered 503 or 504 then this often means that the modem has disconnected due to inactivity. If it does this regularly whilst you are viewing sites then you may want to try and increase the "inactivity time-out" in the Internet access software. Web Doctor Not On Call ---------------------- If you use the Web regularly then you will spot that some of the above errors occur frequently. I'm afraid there is no doctor who you can call on when you get this kind of Web cold. Finally, if you want to know what the "weather" is like on the Internet (i.e. if there are problems, bottle-necks, etc.) then have a look at some of the weather sites. A good list can be found on Yahoo! by searching for "internet weather". Stay well. William Hann Links ----- Free Pint on the Web - http://www.freepint.co.uk/ InterlinkUK - http://www.interlinkuk.com/ Yahoo! - http://www.yahoo.com/ (.co.uk for UK & Ireland version) > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - William Hann is a qualified information scientist, and runs the information consultancy "Willco". The company provides Internet consultancy, training, and Web site services. Full details can be found at http://www.willco.co.uk/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = SUE HILL RECRUITMENT HAS CLIENTS WHO WANT YOU! for SALES: 1.Electronic Info Svs 2.Niche Info Product 3.Info Advtsg INFO: 1.Info Svs Mgr-City 2.Bus Analyst-Oxford TEMPS: 1.Records Mgr-City 2.Filer-City 3.Database-City 4.Tech Lib Setup-East Mids and more - NOW Ring/write/fax/email SUE HILL RECRUITMENT Tel/Fax +44 171 732 6718 71 Montpelier Rd London SE15 2HD email: SueHillRecruit@compuserve.com > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =[sh62] Free Pint advertising has a proven track record See the advertisers page at http://www.freepint.co.uk/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = RBA Information Services For publications and training on how to use the Internet more effectively, contact us at RBA. Topics that we regularly cover in our workshops and seminars include Internet search tools, using the Internet for business information, beginners guide to the Net, choosing the right software, how to avoid and get rid of junk mail. Tel: 0118 947 2256, E-mail: enquiries@rba.co.uk http://www.rba.co.uk/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =[rb63] FEATURE ARTICLE "The Best Medical Information on the Web" by Sue Welsh, OMNI Project Manager "Where is the proof?" you hear the medical profession screaming. Well as your mother used to say, "The proof is in the eating of the pudding." You can read thousands of testimonials and listen to medical scientists argue for and against the benefits of shark cartilage, but until you try it yourself you will never reap the benefits of this incredible white powder. Except from Shark Cartilage Products: Wake up your Body's Powerful Immune System with Shark Cartilage (http://www.steeples.demon.co.uk/secrets.htm) Information quality is important for everyone who uses the Internet, but never is it a more crucial and immediate issue than when searching for medical information. The Web especially has empowered patients by allowing them to access a library of information about their condition and treatments but this has lead some professionals to complain that the amount of time they have to spend countering bogus health claims during consultations has increased intolerably. On the professional side, useful sites proliferate but how many busy medics really have the opportunity to use them? How can good information be located and recognised? which sites can be trusted? and what are the "must-have" sites for medical professionals? I will attempt to answer all these questions in this short article. Searching Firstly, the key medical sites described in this article are the tip of the iceberg. In order to locate precisely the information you need it is necessary to become adept at searching the Internet, and luckily, there are plenty of dedicated sites to help you. Many of them are available on the launchpad on the OMNI server http://omni.ac.uk/other-search/), so I will not list them all here, but highlight the sites I use constantly. These are: - OMNI (http://omni.ac.uk/) especially good for UK orientated material - Medical Matrix (http://www.medmatrix.org/index.asp) lots of US professionally orientated sites - Health on the Net (http://www.hon.ch/) home of the Health on the Net Code of Conduct - see below This is not to say that medical search services can replace big search engines such as AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, etc. - each type of tool has its strengths and weaknesses according to the type of search being carried out. Comparisons of the big search engines are frequently published elsewhere, and particularly recommended is SearchEngineWatch (http://searchenginewatch.com/) which maintains a frequently updated collection of material comparing and contrasting all the major search engines. Quality The three medical search services mentioned above all have one thing in common, a well-documented approach to evaluation of the resources they present. Evaluation doesn't offer a guarantee of accuracy and reliability, but it does cut out the mass of useless sites obscuring the picture and bring the gems to the surface. OMNI is compiled by librarians using a set of evaluation criteria, which each site included must satisfy. For example, the following questions about the authority of the resource must be satisfied: "has an individual or institution taken clear and unambiguous responsibility for the resource? is it possible to ascertain the status, qualifications or reputation of the author? is the publisher a reputable, recognised organisation? " Medical Matrix includes resources that have been reviewed by an editorial board of medical professionals. This process is analogous to the peer review of medical information published in professional journals; each site is approved before entering the database. Health on the Net promotes good practice with its "code of conduct" for web sites, which lays out 8 principles for publishers. For example Principle One states: "Any medical/health advice provided and hosted on this site will only be given by medically/health trained and qualified professionals unless a clear statement is made that a piece of advice offered is from a non-medically/health qualified individual/organisation." Of course health consumers need to be particularly careful when using the Web. The British Healthcare Internet Association has recently published a document aimed at enabling safer surfing, with rules of thumb for health consumers looking for information (http://www.bhia.org/public/news/currentdocs/temp_accesshinfo.htm) The Best Sites With so much information available, picking a selection is a real challenge. Here are my choices for the web sites everyone in medicine should know: PubMed Free access to MEDLINE, the largest bibliographic database of the medical journal literature, provided by the National Library of Medicine (of the USA) who own it. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/ The Virtual Hospital A huge collection of lecture notes, tutorials and other teaching materials, made available by the University of Iowa. http://www.vh.org/ The Department of Health The UK government information server is a key resource for official information and the Department of Health Home page a especially useful http://www.open.gov.uk/doh/dhhome.htm Cochrane Collaboration The web site of the Canadian Cochrane Centre, and a mecca for those seeking out the evidence. http://hiru.mcmaster.ca/cochrane/default.htm World Health Organisation Sometimes difficult to navigate, as it many documents reside on other web servers, but somewhere here are details of all WHO's programmes and publications. http://www.who.org/ AIDS resources A good example of what can be done are these major resource for clinicians and researchers working with AIDS and HIV. There are others, but HIV Insite, based at the University of California, and the Johns Hopkins AIDS Service, at Johns Hopkins are particularly impressive. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have issued an AIDS daily summary, containing news about the AIDS epidemic from the journal literature and news sources, for some time, and there is now an archive for this excellent service. http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/ http://www.hopkins-aids.edu/ http://198.77.70.131/cdcnac/cgi/databases/news/adsdb.htm British Medical Journal, The Lancet, and other key medical journals UK doctors can now read excerpts from the BMJ online, and receive email alerts of each week's table of contents. The Lancet also has an online service, as do the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature and many other key journals. A core collection, in fact, from the desktop. http://www.bmj.com/bmj http://www.thelancet.com/ http://www.nejm.org/ http://www.nature.com/ Conclusion I have reached the end of my space and have not even mentioned all the hospitals, university departments, charities and professional societies who have a web presence, never mind the wealth of teaching and learning materials, mailing lists and news services that are also relevant. Bewildering quantities of material, but don't forget to exploit the various search services recommended. For the medical community at least, there are many things to see and also many ways of getting there. Sue Welsh > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sue Welsh is Project Manager of OMNI, a JISC funded project based at the University of Nottingham. More details can be found at http://omni.ac.uk/ Sue can be contacted by email to sw@omni.ac.uk > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Would you like to see a certain topic covered? Drop us a line to letters@freepint.co.uk > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Always Apple-UK Mac Web Site Always Apple is the largest and most popular Internet Mac Site available for UK Apple Macintosh Users. The site provides free classified adverts, Online Conferencing, Downloads and uptodate information. We have a regular column about the Apple Industry which updates each week and plenty more. The site can be found at http://www.alwaysapple.co.uk > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =[il64] LETTERS We are getting a tremendous response to Free Pint. We have had complimentary letters from advertisers and readers, and have even been awarded two prestigious "site of the day" awards from "Dr. Webster's Web Site of the Day" and the "Cool Central" site. Therefore we have printed a number of letters this issue to show you some of the great support we are getting. There is also a question about using the Web site, and some feedback on "Dogpile". If you would like to send a letter, then please write to letters@freepint.co.uk. Please note that we will not publish your letter if you do not want us to. Any that we do publish may be edited for content or length and we cannot guarantee a reply. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dear Free Pint Launching a new business means advertising budgets are limited. I put an ad in Free Pint because I liked the size of the readership AND the international reader base. Two serious enquiries and a number of other contact on the very day it appeared was the result. Enquiries are still coming in and I am impressed. Regards Sue Hill MECI Sue Hill Recruitment & Services Ltd. Tel/Fax +44 171 732 6718 Email: SueHillRecruit@compuserve.com > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dear Free Pint, I enjoy your newsletter and am looking forward to the Medical Resources issue. May I invite your readers to view our site: Guide to Internet Resources for Cancer http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nchwww/guides/clinks1.htm This is a non-profit site providing an index of 2,500 cancer related web sites sorted by disease, country, speciality, and other topics. The site includes resources that will be of interest to health professionals and researchers, as well as those for patients, relatives, and friends. As far as I know it is the largest index site for cancer information. With best wishes, Simon Cotterill Reseach Associate, University of Newcastle Email: S.J.Cotterill@ncl.ac.uk Children's Cancer Web http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nchwww/guides/guide2.htm > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hi Free Pint I am the webmaster for the awards site "Dr. Webster's Web Site of the Day" at http://www.drwebster.com. Free Pint has been awarded today's "prescription", and the review follows: o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o Today's prescription is a great resource for keeping on top of the rapidly developing world of the Net. Free Pint is a free E-mail newsletter that is bursting with tips, techniques and well-written feature articles that comes out every fortnight. I've subscribed to many newsletters and, with many of them, the first thing I want to know how to do is to unsubscribe. With Free Pint, I find myself counting the days until the next issue of this very well-done publication comes out. It's obvious that a lot of work goes into each issue. Free Pint features compelling and informative topics like "Fakes and Frauds on the Net," the "Top Five Web Resources of 1997" and "Getting Even Better Results from Search Engines." You can't find a lot of this information anywhere else, folks. Check it out. o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o My second site is The Free Site at http://www.thefreesite.com where I have Free Pint listed under "Notable E-mail Newsletters" in my Free E-mail section. Needless to say, I like Free Pint! Sincerely, Marc McDonald Dr. Webster's Web Site of the Day http://www.drwebster.com The Free Site http://www.thefreesite.com "Your one-stop resource for finding the vast number of freebies that are scattered across the Internet. Tons of free goodies for Web surfers and Webmasters." > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - One reader described the following problems when using the Free Pint Web site: >When I leave your home page I cannot use the back button. >When I leave your site the page remains active in my browser. William Hann replies: On the Free Pint site we have made all external links (i.e. those which point outside of the site) appear in a new window on top of the current one. Therefore, if you click on an external link then a new browser window will open containing that resource. If you then close that window (rather than using the back button) then you will be returned to the Free Pint site. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hi, I receive Free Pint regularly and just read the very good article on meta-searchers [issue 4]. I agree entirely. One point: I keep hearing people dump -as it were- on the name "Dogpile." I suspect they entertain scatological allusions. When I was a child we all use to play a game called "Dogpile" where one child would scream "Dogpile on X (fill in a name)!" and everyone would run and jump on top of poor X. In the case of meta-searchers, "X" is your query. :-) [Name withheld] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Promotional gifts supplied by Riverside Promotions Tel: 01784 454785 Fax: 01784 466157 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =[rp21] As mentioned earlier, we are in the process of moving our Web site to a different Web server. Therefore, if you have problems accessing the site then please do try again at a later time. We hope you have enjoyed this issue and found it useful. If so then please tell other people about us so that Free Pint can remain first-rate and free. Kind regards, William Hann, Editor w.hann@freepint.co.uk (c) Willco 1997 http://www.freepint.co.uk/ ISSN: 1460-7239 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Free Pint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a free email newsletter for anyone who uses the Internet to get information for their work in any business or organisation. The newsletter is written by professionals who share how they find quality and reliable information on the Internet. More details about subscribing, contributing or advertising can be found on the Web at http://www.freepint.co.uk/ Please note: The newsletter is published by the information consultancy Willco (http://www.willco.co.uk/), and the publishers will NEVER make the subscriber list available to any other company or organisation. The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the sole responsibility of the contributors. Whilst all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. This publication may be freely copied and/or distributed in its entirety. However, individual sections MAY NOT be copied and/or distributed without the prior written agreement of the publishers. All rights reserved. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =