Internet Literacy Skills Task List

Task 1: Every class member must subscribe to the class list. To subscribe,

send an email message to: macjordomo@dwardmac.pitzer.edu and in the body of the message type:
Subscribe anarchy-internet-l
Be sure to turn off or erase any signiture file in your email application and note that the "l" in the name of the list is a lower case "L", NOT the number 1. To avoid errors, simply copy and paste the address and instructions into your message.

Also, every class member should subscribe to at least one LISTSERV list. Follow this link to a list of discussion groups. Remember, information about LISTSERV can be found in the email section of Internet Literacy Skills

Task 2: Every class member should send their first completed task to

dward@pitzer.edu as an email attachment. The first task is to make additions to any of the bibliographies in the archive. To find new material, telnet into any of the major library sites (Hytelnet's library list is huge) such as the Library of Congress (Either paste "telnet://locis.loc.gov" (without the quotation marks) into your browser's "Go To" bar, or, better yet, directly telenet with telnet software to locis.loc.gov) or the University of California at Berkeley (melvyl.ucop.edu), and search their catalog. If you already know HTML, "View Document Source" in the appropriate bibliographic section of Anarchy Archives, make the additions attach the file with your revisions and in the body of the email message be sure to indicate what citation you have added. If you do not know HTML, paste citations to add to the bibliographies into a MSWord, Word Perfect, or ClarisWorks document. Save the bibliographic additions in Rich Text Format (RTF), and attach the document to an email. If you are using Pine, make sure you have the file you want to attach on the server. All that is necessary to complete this task is to find one additional citation (more, of course, are welcome), but be sure the citation is not included in ANY of the Archive bibliographies.

Task 3: Every class member should markup their first text or

graphic that can be added to the archives. Send the item to me as an email attachment, properly compacted as discussed in class. Scanning instruction will be provided. If the item is an addition to an existing part of the archive, be sure to look at the html formating in that section of the archive and make sure your item conforms. This task is simply to get your feet wet in html. It is not to be considered a contribution and should take much less time than a contribution. In short, it is a dry run to make sure you have the basics down.

Task 4: Make sure you have installed software to handle any type

of extension you might encounter on the internet. The Utilities section of internet literacy skills has the software to cover just about everything.

Task 5: Before the advent of the World Wide Web, the internet was

for all intents and purposes text-based only. This text area still exists and is known as Gopher Space. There are still a few useful items to be found, but except for this exercise, you will probably not spend any time in Gopher Space in the future. Nevertheless, it is part of the internet, and something you should at least know about if for no other reason than to increase your appreciation of the WWW. For this task, search gopher space for any anarchist texts (or anything else that might be of interest). Poke around for a few minutes so you know how it works and when you are done, send me a message that you have "been there and done that."

Task 6: Use the class "chat room" to 1) engage in a "real time"

chat with classmates about anarchism or the internet; and 2) Use a "forum" in the class chat room to co-ordinate your "scholarly work" with others in the class who will be working in the same general area. There are several different fora corresponding to the major subjects of the course.

Task 7: Search FTP files for material on 19th century and early 20th

century anarchism and/or set up ftp files for uploading (we will work on this in the computer lab session). For example, you might place an anarchist text composed of several separate html files into a separate folder that can be uploaded from the Anarchy Archives ftp server.

Task 8: The first time Anarchy and the Internet was offered, this task opened a new section in the Anarchy Archives:

"Bright, But Lesser Stars". That section is now a large part of the archive. For this task there are several options. One option is to choose any anarchist from the 19th and early 20th century who is not in the "Cynosure" section. If that person is not already in the Bright but Lesser Lights section, set up an html page following the same template as for each anarchist in the Archives (i.e., biography, collected works, bibliography, commentary, and graphics). Use various search engines to build links to material on your chosen anarchist. Once you find material, "lay claim" to that anarchist by posting your choice of a "lesser star" on the "Works in Progess" page. Post the new files in your class directory and send me the url. If you add material over the semester, be sure to send "updated" files to the Archives. Another option is to develop one of the "Lesser Stars" that has already been started. If you choose this path, then you must be sure that there is material available that you will be able to add. I also have a few files that were begun but not adequately developed in past semesters that you might want to work on. Come by my office to talk about possible choices, or have a look at these suggestions. The third option is to select a country from the worldwide movements section of the archive and devlop the material for that section of the archive. You can also pick a country that is not already listed in the movements section, but be sure you have enough material to make it worth working on. This task is completed when you have the basic outlines of a new site, or you have worked two hours developing an existing site.

Task 9: Continue work on your "Bright But Lesser Stars" task. A minimum of two hours should be spent, but I encourage you to "take ownership" of the site and put in as much energy as you can. For example, Reggie Rodriquez is still working on the Magon site more than a year and a half after taking the course.

Task 10: Use a validation site to check the html pages you have created

this semester. Create a transparent graphic related to anarchism, and create a background for a web page.

Task 11: Locate at least one graphic from 19th century

and early 20th century anarchist journals. Scan the graphic material and create jpgs or gifs for each (try to keep the size down). Also make "thumbnails" of each. Create an html page and place the thumbnails in a table such that each cell is a thumbnail that is linked to the full size graphic. Be sure to include the citation information. Make sure you post which material you will be scanning in Works in Progress and that no one else is working on the same material. Alternatively, work on the graphics for any of the archive sections by making sure all graphics are laced, anti-aliased, and presented initially as thumbnails. Again, be sure you "claim" you graphic section in Works in Progress.