Introduction


            The growth of NSFNET in the last few years has  brought  the
            benefits   of  networking  to  researchers  at  hundreds  of
            academic, government and industrial  sites.   Network  users
            have  improved  access  to  research  tools,  and  there are
            greater possibilities for collaboration among members of the
            research  community.  But in order to take maximum advantage
            of more widespread and improved connectivity, users have  to
            be aware of the resources that are available to them.

            Our goal in publishing the _I_n_t_e_r_n_e_t  _R_e_s_o_u_r_c_e  _G_u_i_d_e  is  to
            provide  a  service  which,  by increasing the visibility of
            resources accessible via  NSFNET  and  other  parts  of  the
            Internet,  will  expose  users to those facilities that will
            help them do their work better.  We  are  depending  on  the
            population  of  resource  providers  to  furnish us with the
            information for the guide.   We  expect  and  hope  that  as
            copies  of  the guide are distributed throughout the commun-
            ity,  representatives   of   organizations   that   maintain
            resources  we haven't yet mentioned will submit descriptions
            for inclusion in the guide.

















            April 16, 1990              NNSC                Introduction














                         How to Use and Maintain This Guide


            The _I_n_t_e_r_n_e_t _R_e_s_o_u_r_c_e _G_u_i_d_e is intended to  inform  Internet
            users about the services available to them on the network.

            Similar resources are grouped together  in  sections.   Each
            resource  has  a separate entry that describes the resource,
            identifies who can use the resource, explains how  to  reach
            the  local  network via the Internet, and lists contacts for
            more information.  For example, Section 1 lists special com-
            puting  resources  on  the  Internet,  such as supercomputer
            centers and centers for parallel computing.  Thus, research-
            ers  interested  in using a supercomputer can browse through
            the entries in Section 1 in search of a supercomputer center
            that can accommodate their needs.

            Users interested in locating a particular service can  check
            the tables of contents at the start of each section.  In the
            future, the NNSC expects to provide  an  index  that  allows
            users to locate services based on keywords.


                               Maintaining the Guide


            The resource guide is designed to be kept  in  a  loose-leaf
            notebook,  to  make  it  easy  to add or replace sections of
            text.

            The guide is distributed electronically by the NNSC.  If you
            wish  to  receive the guide, send a note to <resource-guide-
            request@nnsc.nsf.net>.  Each section  (new  or  updated)  is
            sent  in an individual message, which contains both a plain-
            text and a Postscript copy of a resource description.   (The
            text in both versions is the same; the Postscript version is
            generally easier to read when printed).  Users can then  add
            the  new  section,  or replace the existing section with the
            new copy.

            If you prefer not to receive the guide via electronic  mail,
            you  may  ftp  the chapters that are currently available via



            April 16, 1990              NNSC             Using the Guide








            anonymous ftp  from  nnsc.nsf.net  (in  directory  _r_e_s_o_u_r_c_e-
            _g_u_i_d_e).   We are maintaining a separate mailing list of peo-
            ple who wish to know only when a chapter  becomes  available
            for ftp.  If you wish to be on this list, please send a mes-
            sage to <resource-guide-request@nnsc.nsf.net>.














































            April 16, 1990              NNSC             Using the Guide