Title : NSF 94-10 Stis Users Guide Type : General Publication NSF Org: IRM / DAS Date : January 1, 1994 File : nsf9410 STIS User's Guide Science and Technology Information System National Science Foundation NSF 94-10 Replaces NSF 91-19 January 1, 1994 Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 Access Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3 Document Conventions . . . . . . . . . 3 1.4 Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.0 Retrieving Documents Via E-mail . . . . . 5 2.1 Retrieving the Index . . . . . . . . . 5 2.2 Advanced Commands. . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.3 Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3.0 Anonymous FTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.1 Using FTP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.2 Retrieving the Index . . . . . . . . . 8 3.3 ASCII vs Binary Files. . . . . . . . . 8 3.4 Sample Session . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.5 Searching for Documents. . . . . . . . 9 3.6 Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4.0 Distributed Internet Applications . . . . 11 4.1 Obtaining Client Software. . . . . . . 11 4.2 Connecting to the STIS Gopher Server . 11 4.3 Connecting to the STIS WAIS Server . . 12 5.0 Direct E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5.1 Getting on a Mailing List. . . . . . . 13 5.2 Advanced Commands. . . . . . . . . . . 14 5.3 Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 6.0 Accessing the On-Line System. . . . . . . 15 6.1 Connecting to On-Line STIS Via the Internet 16 6.2 Connecting to On-Line STIS With a Modem 17 6.3 Choosing Your Terminal Type. . . . . . 18 6.4 Entering Your STIS ID. . . . . . . . . 18 6.5 Registering to Use STIS. . . . . . . . 19 6.6 The STIS Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . 20 6.7 Logging Off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 7.0 TOPIC Tutorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 7.1 Beginning Your Search for Documents. . 21 7.2 Viewing the Types of Documents on STIS 22 7.3 Using Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . 23 7.4 Using Filters. . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 7.5 Using a Word Search. . . . . . . . . . 26 7.6 Using Boolean Plus . . . . . . . . . . 27 7.7 Downloading Documents. . . . . . . . . 28 7.8 Exiting from TOPIC . . . . . . . . . . 31 8.0 TOPIC Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 8.1 More on Boolean Plus . . . . . . . . . 32 8.2 Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 8.3 Downloading a Group of Documents . . . 34 1.0 Introduction STIS is an electronic information dissemination system that provides access to National Science Foundation publications and awards abstracts. It includes several electronic distribution methods, including an on-line system that provides full-text search and retrieval capability. STIS is a network resource, providing full service to the Internet com- munity. It is also available on a dial-up basis to anyone with a terminal emulator, a modem and a telephone. The service is available 24 hours a day, except for maintenance periods. There is no charge for connect time and no need to register for a password. STIS is available for use by... the public, individual researchers in science and technology, sponsored research offices, library services, science policy analysts. Publications include... the NSF Bulletin, the Guide to Programs, program announcements, press releases, statistical reports from SRS (NSF's Division of Science Resour- ces Studies), the NSF telephone book, reports of the National Science Board, NSF job vacancy announcements, descriptions of research projects funded by NSFþwith abstracts. New documents are added weekly. Some are removed or replaced as they become out of date; others remain permanently. 1.1 Access Methods The STIS system is designed to provide access to as large a community as possible. There are many ways to access the documents: E-mail. If you can send electronic mail to Internet addresses you can request that a STIS document be mailed to your e-mail address. An index is available that lists all the documents. E-mail users of STIS cannot do full-text search and retrieval. Anonymous FTP. If you are on the Internet you can use the file transfer protocol to quickly and easily transfer any STIS document to your local computer. An index is available, also via FTP, to help locate documents. FTP users cannot do full- text search and retrieval. Distributed ApplicationsþGopher and WAIS. If you are on the Internet, and your organization supports either of these distributed applications, you'll find them to be a very easy method of accessing STIS documents. Direct E-mail. This method, in which new documents are automatically mailed to you, is appropriate for time-sensitive documents that you want to receive regularly. You can sign up to receive either the full text of all new documents, or a weekly summary which includes instructions for obtaining the docu- ments. The On-Line System. The on-line system provides a full-text search and retrieval system. Its menu-driven interface allows documents to be easily located and read. Once you locate a document, you can download it using the KERMIT protocol or have it mailed to your e-mail address. The on-line system is available on the Internet (via Telnet) and also over normal telephone lines using a modem (you pay for the long distance call). This access method is the only one available for users who cannot access the Internet. 1.2 Getting Help You can get help by: Sending us mail (electronic or paper) Using the on-line system's "message to sysop" feature Leaving a voicemail message Here are our addresses: Internet E-mail:stis-request@nsf.gov Phone (voicemail):(703) 306-0214 TDD: (703) 306-0090 Postal Mail: STIS Division of Information Systems, Room 455 National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Va. 22203 1.3 Document Conventions In this document different fonts are used to differentiate between commands that you type and messages you see on your screen. The following is a key to these fonts: Commands You Type: command Computer Generated Messages: message Highlighted Menu Items: menu item If you are reading an ASCII version of this Guide, you will not be able to see the font changes. When the manual describes a command for you to type, variable data is shown with a description surrounded by angle brackets ("<>"). Do not type the angle brackets. Just enter the appropriate data. If the information is not in angle brackets, you should enter it exactly as it appears in this manual. 1.4 Acknowledgments STIS was developed as a joint effort by NSF's Division of Information Systems and the Information/Analysis and Japan Sections of the International Programs Division. Many other NSF offices participated as advisors: the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, the Division of Grants and Contracts, and the Publishing Services Branch of the Division of Administrative Services. Contractors were key contributors to the project. The concept and requirements were done by Phoenix Systems, Inc., in Arlington, Virginia. American Management Systems, Inc., in Arlington, Virginia, performed the original implementation and software and operations design. TOPIC is a trademark of Verity, Inc. The cover (not all editions) uses a photograph courtesy of Publishers Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, New York, from the book The Shell by Hugh and Marguerite Stix and R. Tucker Abbott, with photographs by H. Landshoff. 2.0 Retrieving Documents Via E-mail All documents on STIS can be retrieved simply by sending a properly formatted electronic mail message. You can order an index of the files available, to help in finding documents. This service is known as "Stisserv". To retrieve STIS files using E-mail, send a message to one of the following addresses: stisserv@nsf.gov(Internet) Please note these addresses carefully. Do not send requests to stis-request@nsf.gov or other addresses read by humans. Also, requests for printed publications should be sent to pubs@nsf.gov (Internet) and include the document name, number, and your postal address. The Subject: field of your message is ignored by STIS. The text of your message should contain requests in the following format: get In the above description, represents the name of a particular STIS file. You can include more than one file name on the line; just separate them with spaces. 2.1 Retrieving the Index The first file you will want to retrieve is the index. To get the index, send the following message: get index The index file contains general information and entries for the files. The entries look like this example: Title: NSF Bulletin September 1992 File : bul9209 (ASCII, 39429 bytes) Also : bul9209.ps (ASCII, PostScript file, 9099 bytes) The file names, to be used with the get request, are shown on the "File" and "Also" lines, along with other information about the file. 2.2 Advanced Commands In addition to the get command shown above, there are other commands that can be used with this service. For example, you can request that large files be broken into fragments that are mailed sep- arately. You can also request that a file be sent to an address other than your own. For more detailed information on advanced commands, send the following request to Stisserv: help 2.3 Notes 1. Award abstracts are not included in the index, but are available if you know the award number. Simply prefix the award num- ber with an "a" in the get request, as in the following example: get a9142300 Accessing award abstracts is best accomplished using either Gopher, WAIS, or the on-line system. 3.0 Anonymous FTP All documents on STIS are available via anonymous FTP. An index is available listing all the available files. Typically, you will transfer the index to your local computer, scan and search the index to find the documents you are interested in and then use FTP to transfer the documents to your computer. 3.1 Using FTP The following ftp commands are examples, and assume a com- mand-line interface. See the system documentation at your site or consult your computer services center for more information about ftp, since not all systems use the same commands. If you have a win- dowing interface to FTP, your program will work very differently from these examples. Start the ftp program from your home system prompt. The Internet name of the STIS machine is stis.nsf.gov. For example, if your home system prompt is "%", your com- mand line would look like this: %ftp stis.nsf.gov The ftp program displays a message and prompts you for a login name. Use the name "anonymous". For example: Name (machine:jsmith): anonymous The ftp command displays another message and prompts you for a password. Enter your E-mail address (this is a little tough, since echo is turned off!). Ftp displays another message and issues its command prompt: ftp> Use the get command to transfer a file. ftp> get For example, if the name of the STIS file you want is "bul9209", you would type: ftp> get bul9209 The get command starts the file transfer. When the transfer is complete, ftp will issue some statistics about the transfer. Use the quit command to leave ftp. ftp> quit The ftp program displays a message and returns you to your home system prompt. 3.2 Retrieving the Index The first file you should retrieve is the index. The name of the file is index, so the following command is used to retrieve it: ftp> get index The file has some general information at the beginning, and then a series of records that look like this example: Title: NSF Bulletin September 1992 File : bul9209 (ASCII, 39325 bytes) Also : bul9209.ps (ASCII, PostScript file, 133898 bytes) The line that begins "File:" shows the file name for the ASCII version of the document. The lines that begin with "Also:" show any other files that contain the same document in different formats. 3.3 ASCII vs Binary Files Most of the files on STIS are ASCII format, so you do not have to do anything special when you retrieve them. However, if the index shows a file as "Binary", you must instruct ftp to do a binary transfer. On many systems the following command is used to force binary trans- fers on all subsequent get commands: ftp> binary The ascii command instructs ftp to use ASCII transfers for subsequent get commands. 3.4 Sample Session An ftp session might look like the following: % ftp stis.nsf.gov Connected to Master.STIS.NSF.GOV. 220 master FTP server (SunOS 4.0) ready. Name (stis.nsf.gov:jsmith):anonymous 331 Guest login ok, send ident as password Password: smith@berkeley.edu ftp> get bul9209 200 PORT command successful. 150 ASCII data connection for bul9209 (128.150.195.43,2867) 226 ASCII Transfer complete. local: bul9209 remote: bul9209 9553 bytes received in 0.1 seconds (92.14 Kbytes/s) ftp> quit 221 Goodbye. 3.5 Searching for Documents If the index is inadequate to find a particular document, you can log on to the on-line system and use the text search and retrieval software (described later in this manual) to locate documents of interest. Once you have found a document, you can get the anonymous FTP file name by selecting the "download" option. The first screen of the download function will display the file name for anonymous FTP. If your workstation has the capability, you can open another window and use anonymous FTP to retrieve the file. If you cannot run simultaneous sessions, then you must make a note of the file name, exit STIS and invoke anonymous FTP. 3.6 Notes 1. The awards abstracts are available via anonymous FTP. Instruc- tions for access can be found in the "index" file. 2. If your site does not use the DNS (Domain Name Service), or if it's not working, write to "stis-request@nsf.gov" and request the current IP address (numeric) for the STIS system. 3. Many seasoned FTP users are surprised to see that STIS has hundreds of files in the root anonymous FTP directory. Actual- ly, all the files are symbolic links to the real files which are arranged in a hierarchical tree structure. We do this to simplify retrieval for novice FTP users who find it difficult to traverse the tree structure. 4.0 Distributed Internet Applications STIS documents are available through two Internet applications: Gopher: Provides a hierarchical, "browsable", view of the docu- ments. It also provides WAIS-based indexing to allow full-text search and retrieval. WAIS: Provides full text search and retrieval capabilities. For both these applications, STIS runs the server software. You, or your institution, must install, configure, and learn to use the client software. However, that effort will be richly repaid, because you can use these applications for many, and perhaps all, of your information resource needs. Instead of learning a different application to access each information resource, you can use a single application to access many. Gopher and WAIS clients are available for a wide variety of computers and workstations. 4.1 Obtaining Client Software Contact your local computer support organization for instructions for obtaining client software. If they are unfamiliar with the software, have them, as a last resort, write to "stis-request@nsf.gov" for some hints on where to start. 4.2 Connecting to the STIS Gopher Server The STIS server is on host stis.nsf.gov. The port number is currently 70, and will be whatever the "normal" or default port is for a Gopher server (it changed at least once in the past). In many cases, you will find that your local Gopher administrator has included the STIS server in your list of "other Gophers", to make it easier for you to connect to STIS. Look for it under "NSF" or "National Science Foun- dation". 4.3 Connecting to the STIS WAIS Server There are two databases available on host stis.nsf.gov: nsf-pubs Contains general publications. nsf-awardsContains the award abstracts. Contact your local computer support organization for information on accessing these databases. If necessary, write to us at "stis- request@nsf.gov". 5.0 Direct E-mail The Direct E-mail capability allows you to receive notification (via e-mail) when new documents are added to STIS. If you are interested in many STIS documents, or in some of the periodic ones, such as the NSF Bulletin, this may be a lot more efficient than periodic- ally using one of the other access methods to see if the document you are looking for is "on STIS". This feature is implemented with two mailing lists. The first, STSSUM-L, is for those of you who want to receive a weekly summary of the new documents on STIS. The summary includes the title, the NSF organization that issued the publication, and instructions for downloading the document. The second list, STSFUL-L, is for people who want to receive the full text of every document added to STIS. This is usually ap- propriate for a campus server, or perhaps an official in the sponsored research office. You will need a lot of disk space, and a mail system that can handle frequent large messages. 5.1 Getting on a Mailing List Both lists are maintained by an automated system called "List- proc for Unix". You get on one of the lists ("subscribe") or get off ("unsubscribe") by sending commands to a special mail address. The address is stislists@nsf.gov Put your request in the text of the message. The following syntax is used to join a mailing list: subscribe For , enter either STSSUM-L or STSFUL-L. For , enter your real name (not your e-mail address). The Listserv system will extract your e-mail address from the header of your message. You will receive a "welcome" message that includes infor- mation on unsubscribing. 5.2 Advanced Commands There are other commands available that allow you to specify your e-mail address, get a list of the mailing lists (and their sub- scribers), and other features. For complete instructions, send the com- mand "help" to the stislists@nsf.gov address. 5.3 Notes 1. If you do not receive a response from stislists (within, say, 24 hours), write to "stis-request@nsf.gov" (Internet) describing the problem. A human being will read your message and get back to you. Most likely, the address in the header of your message is not a valid Internet address. Other problems occur if your mail system adds a header to the text of your message, and we can't locate the commands. 2. If your mailing address is no longer valid, and the mail to you cannot be delivered, we have no way to contact you. Therefore, we periodically purge bad addresses from the lists, without any attempt to notify the addressees. Even if there are no new documents, at least one message per week is mailed to each list. So, if you find that you are no longer receiving messages, it's possible that your address no longer works from our end. For assistance, send a message to "stis-request@nsf.gov" (Internet) for human assistance, or simply re-subscribe to the list. 6.0 Accessing the On-Line System This section describes the methods of accessing and logging on to the on-line STIS system. This method is called "on-line" because you log on to the STIS computer and run software that resides on STIS. The on-line system has some advantages over the other access methods. Some of these advantages are as follows: When you use the on-line system, you have access to sophisti- cated text retrieval software (TOPIC) to perform arbitrarily complex text retrieval. For example, you could ask the system to retrieve abstracts for all awards made to the Chemistry De- partment of a particular university on a particular subject in a particular year. If you are not on the Internet, and don't have e-mail, it may be your only choice. All you need is a computer, a terminal emulator, a modem, and a phone line. On the negative side, to use the on-line system effectively you must learn how to use TOPIC. While many people find TOPIC to be very easy to use and the commands intuitive, it is, nonetheless, an additional program to learn. The Tutorial in this manual will step you through the most common commands. Another disadvantage of the on-line system is that it uses a full- screen, menu-based user interface. While this makes it much easier to learn, and use, than traditional command-line-based text retrieval soft- ware, it can be excruciatingly slow if you are used to PC-speed screen updates. For this reason, if you are connecting to the on-line system via modem, you should have a 2400 baud (or faster) modem. If you are connecting to STIS via the Internet, this is less of a problem. One hurdle that you will face in using the on-line system is the use of the arrow and cursor position keys. You may find that the software that you use on your local system to emulate a VT100 terminal does not let you use these keys in an intuitive way. STIS gives you several choices on this, but it may take a few tries to learn the right combination of terminal type and keystrokes for the cursor movement functions. This section describes how to log on and shows you the STIS main menu. After you log on, please go through the section TOPIC Tutorial to get familiar with the TOPIC software. 6.1 Connecting to On-Line STIS Via the Internet To access the on-line system via the Internet you need a PC or a terminal that is either: directly connected to the Internet, or logged on to a local computer system that is connected to the Internet. If you are unfamiliar with access to the Internet, ask your computer services center for assistance. If your organization is not on the Internet, but would like to be, contact the SRI International Network Information Systems Center (NISC) at 415-859-6387. Regardless of whether you dial-in or use Telnet, your PC or terminal must be able to emulate a VT100 terminal. Also, you cannot use Telnet from an IBM mainframe to connect to STIS. At the prompt on your home system, type the following: your-prompt> telnet stis.nsf.gov You will be prompted for a Unix login name. This is not the same as your STIS ID, which you will enter later. Always use public (in lower case) for the Unix login name, as shown below: SunOS UNIX (master) login: public Skip to the instructions in the section Choosing Your Terminal Type. If you have problems connecting: 1. If you get a message such as "host unknown", write to "stis- request@nsf.gov" and ask for the current IP address (numeric) of STIS. 2. If your screens aren't formatted correctly, and there are extran- eous pairs of numbers scattered around, you have a terminal emulation problem. Check that your emulation is for a VT100, and that you aren't Telnetting from an IBM mainframe. 6.2 Connecting to On-Line STIS With a Modem If you do not have access to the Internet, you can still use the on-line system by using a modem and dialing in. You need a personal computer with a modem and telecommunications software that can emulate a VT100 terminal. You will have to pay long distance charges if you are outside the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. On-line STIS supports baud rates of 1200, 2400 and 9600. If you are using 9600 baud, your modem must be a V.32 type. Set your communications software as follows: Data Bits:7 Parity: Even Stop Bits:1 Contact your local computer service support center for advice on choosing an emulator and a modem and configuring your system. The on-line system phone number is: (703)306-0212 Direct your software to dial this number. If you are using a Hayes-compatible modem, you will see the word "CONNECT"... (and the baud rate at which you were connected). Press Enter once or twice until this information appears: Welcome to NSF Communications Serverc stis Connecting...session# -- connected to stis Sun OS UNIX (master) login: public Enter "public" at the Unix login prompt, as shown above. This is not the same as your STIS ID, which you will enter later. Always use public (in lower case) for the Unix login name. If you have problems connecting: 1. Try the other STIS number: (703)306-0213. 2. Try a different modem, if possible, or a different speed. Some 2400 baud modems have difficulty connecting to our Telebit modems. 3. Try setting parity to "none", "zero", or "space". 6.3 Choosing Your Terminal Type Regardless of whether you used the Internet or a modem to access STIS, the following screen is displayed: STIS supports the following terminal types: vt100 vt100nkp vt100nes sunkbd3 sunkbd4 Enter your terminal type or ? for help [blank=vt100] The first three terminal types are for VT100 emulators. The first time you use STIS, enter "?" and read the descriptions of these terminal types. They all display the screens the same way, but they differ in the keys that you use for cursor movement. The STIS system does not remember the terminal type you used previously, so you must remember it and enter it each time you log in to STIS. After you enter the terminal type, STIS will print some hints on which keys to use for various STIS functions. Please read these care- fully. Problems with cursor movement are the most common difficulty people have using the on-line STIS system. If you have a Sun workstation, you may try either of the two "sunkbdn" terminal types. They have worked in the past for some Sun's, but newer Sun's don't seem to be compatible with them. We have left them there for older workstations, but we do not plan to update them. Public domain VT100 emulators are available for Sun workstations from popular anonymous FTP sites. 6.4 Entering Your STIS ID You will see the following display: X X XXX XX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXX XXXXXX XX XXX XX XXX XXX XXX XXX XX XXX XX XXX XXX XXXXXX XXX XXX XX XXX XXXXX XXX XXX X XXXXXX XX XXX XXX X XX XXXXX XX XXX XXX XX XXXX XX XX XXX XXXXX XXXX X XXXXXX X Science and Technology Information System If this is your first login, enter an ID that you will use each time you use STIS, otherwise, enter the ID you created before. User ID . . . . . . . . . . (Example: jsmith) (Note: This does not change the name you enter at the "login:" prompt) If this is your first time on STIS, you should create a personal ID and enter it on this screen. We recommend first initial and last name up to eight characters, but you can use any ID. Please make a note of your STIS ID and enter this ID every time you log in to STIS. The first time (and only the first time) you enter your personal ID, you will proceed directly to the User Registration Screen to enter data which will be used to compile STIS usage statistics. This data is voluntary and is for NSF statistical purposes only. Note: If you mistype your STIS ID, you will be asked to register again because STIS sees you as a different user. If STIS does not ask you to register, it means you have picked an ID that someone else is using. The next time you log on to STIS, choose a different ID. 6.5 Registering to Use STIS If this is your first STIS session, you will be asked to provide some information about yourself at the User Registration Screen. Type the information. Use the TAB, Arrow keys, or Enter to move among fields. Press Escape to save and exit. The Registration screen looks like this: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Full name (last, first)..... ³ ³ Institution name............ ³ ³ Department.................. ³ ³ City........................ ³ ³ State Abbreviation.......... ³ ³ Zip Code.................... ³ ³ ³ ³ Optional, for statistics only: Choices ³ ³ ³ ³ Type of workstation......... MSDOS, MAC, UNIX, OS/2³ ³ Type of connection.......... dialup, telnet, nsf ³ ³ Baud rate................... 1200, 2400, 9600 ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ After entering the requested data and exiting, you will be at the STIS Main Menu and may choose one of the STIS Main Menu options. If you made a mistake, you can use the main menu option "Edit User Registration" to correct it. 6.6 The STIS Main Menu The STIS Main Menu has the following options: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 1 Search/Browse Documents (TOPIC) ³ ³ 2 Edit User Registration ³ ³ 3 View Help Menu ³ ³ 4 Download STIS Manual ³ ³ 5 Download Index to Files for FTP ³ ³ 6 Send a message to STIS Operator ³ ³ 7 Exit STIS (log out) ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Use your arrow keys to highlight the menu options or press the number corresponding to the menu option and press Enter. This is a good time to find out if your arrow keys work. If they do not, log out, and use the hints provided at login to select a different terminal type. 6.7 Logging Off At any point during your use of STIS you may return to the STIS Main Menu by pressing Escape (maybe more than once). When you return to the STIS Main Menu, choose "Exit STIS" to log off STIS. 7.0 TOPIC Tutorial This tutorial will familiarize you with the major features of the TOPIC software. If you must exit the Tutorial before its conclusion, press Escape until you reach the STIS Main Menu, and select "Exit STIS" to log out. When you log on to STIS you see the following STIS menu: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ 1 Search/Browse Documents (TOPIC) ³ ³ 2 Edit User Registration ³ ³ 3 View Help Menu ³ ³ 4 Download STIS Manual ³ ³ 5 Download Index to Files for FTP ³ ³ 6 Send a message to STIS Operator ³ ³ 7 Exit STIS (log out) ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ To enter the TOPIC system, leave the highlight on item #1, and press Enter. 7.1 Beginning Your Search for Documents When you enter TOPIC, it displays an opening screen, and then the following menu bar across the top of the screen: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help ³ Search Topics Filters Documents Exit ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³ 30-Second User's Guide ³ ³ Legal Notices ³ ³ ** New Users Please Read This ** ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ You can ignore the items shown on the Help menu for now. This tutorial will start on the right of the menu bar, and work back toward the left. So press your right arrow key four times. You should see this: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help Search Topics Filters ³ Documents ³ Exit ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÙ ³ Browse ³ ³ Document Ticker ³ ³ Queue Manager ³ ³ Personal Queue ³ ³ Partitions ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ These are the options available under the Documents menu. At the bottom of the screen you will see a brief explanation of the highlighted item ("Browse"). If you press the down arrow the highlight bar will move and the explanation at the bottom of the screen will change. If you press "?", TOPIC will display additional information for the highlighted command. Try this now. Press Escape to return to the Documents menu. Of the menu choices displayed, only two, "Browse" and "Partitions," are useful to STIS users. 7.2 Viewing the Types of Documents on STIS Counting award abstracts, there are over 40,000 documents on STIS. The purpose of the TOPIC software is to make it easy to find information within this large amount of data. This tutorial steps you through the various methods of "homing in" on the information you want. 1. Highlight "Browse" and press Enter to select it from the Menu Bar. This will retrieve a list of all the documents (except the award ab- stracts) in the STIS database into the Document Browser screen. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help Search Topics Filters Documents Exit ³ ³ÚÄÄÄþDocument Browser þÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿³ ³³Presented: 319 of 319 Processed: 319 of 319³³ ³³ þÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄþ ³³ ³³1 DPM Committees Recent NSF Advisory Committ ³³ ³³2 DPM Committees Listing of NSF Advisory Com ³³ ³³3 DPM Issuance Important Notice No. 113 ³³ ³³4 DPM Issuance Index to Current Important N³³ ³³5 DPM Organization Statement of Organization - ³³ ³³6 DPM Organization Statement of Organization - ³³ ³³7 DPM Organization Statement of Organization - ³³ ³³8 DPM Organization Statement of Organization ³³ ³ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´³ ³³NSF Org : DPM ³³ ³³Type : Committees ³³ ³³Date : September 11, 1991 ³³ ³³Filename : /home/ftp/NSF/committees/cmmtgs Size:2903³³ ³ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 2. You will see something similar to the above screen (the titles and number of documents will be different). This is the first screen-full of a list of all the documents on STIS. If you are looking for a particular document, this is not very useful, but there are interesting things to note here. A similar screen is shown whenever you have selected a set of documents. 3. Press the down arrow several times or type the number of a docu- ment. Try PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End. Notice that, as the high- light bar scrolls down, the NSF Org, Type, Date, and File name (in the window at the bottom of the screen) change to reflect the docu- ment highlighted. This information at the bottom of the screen is important, because these are the items you use to "Filter" documents. 4. Press Enter to display the document menu box. The two useful entries here are "Display" and "Download". ("Print/Write" prints or writes on the STIS system, not very useful for remote users!). The letters in parentheses are "accelerator keys". They show which key would have selected that menu item from the previous menu or screen. Select "Display" by pressing Enter. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Display (d) ³ ³ Print/Write (p) ³ ³ Delete ³ ³ Download ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ You are now browsing the selected document. Use the arrow keys or the PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End keys to move around in the docu- ment. 5. Press Escape to return to the Document Browser. Take some time to investigate the types of documents housed within STIS, using the arrow and page keys. The types of documents you see may influence the nature of the searches you will want to try. Press Escape to return to the "Documents" menu. 7.3 Using Partitions ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help Search Topics Filters ³ Documents ³ Exit ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÙ ³ Browse ³ ³ Document Ticker ³ ³ Queue Manager ³ ³ Personal Queue ³ ³ Partitions ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Documents on STIS are organized into "partitions". Normally you do not need to be concerned about partitions, but they are important if you are interested in the awards abstracts. In the last section when you looked at the browser, there were no award abstracts. The reason is that when you log on to STIS the partitions containing the abstracts are disabled ("turned off"). If you want to view (and search) the abstracts, you must enable the appropriate partitions. 1. Use the down arrows to move the highlight to "Partitions", and press Enter. You will see something similar to this: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help Search Topics Filters ³ Documents ³ Exit ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÙ ÚÄÄþPartition ManagerþÄÄ¿ wse ³ ³ *pub 716 ³ ument Ticker ³ ³ *nsf 0 ³ ue Manager ³ ³ awards89 0 ³ sonal Queue ³ ³ awards90 0 ³ titions ³ ³ awards91 0 ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³ awards92 0 ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ The asterisk ("*") next to some partitions indicates which partitions are enabled. To enable the award partitions, move the highlight down and press "*" for each award partition. When you are done, press Enter. This enables the awards partitions, and all subsequent browsing, filtering and searching will include the award abstracts. If you are not interested in award abstracts, you can safely forget about partitions. Also, ignore the zeros in the "number of documents" column. 7.4 Using Filters ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help Search Topics ³ Filters ³ Documents Exit ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³ Set ³ ³ Clear ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Filters are a way of restricting your view of the text database. You can restrict your view to documents from a particular organization at NSF, a particular type of document, or a date range. Use the arrow keys to get to the Filters menu shown above. 1. Press Enter and you will see this screen: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help Search Topics Filters Documents Exit ³ ³ÚÄÄÄþSet FiltersþÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿³ ³³ ³³ ³³ Category Operator Selection ³³ ³³ ³³ ³³ Title: Includes ³³ ³³ ³³ ³³ NSF Org: Includes ³³ ³³ ³³ ³³ Type: Includes ³³ ³³ ³³ ³³ Date: From: To: ³³ ³³ ³³ ³³ ³³ ³³ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³³ ³³ ³ Execute Clear ³ ³³ ³³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³³ ³ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ³ ³ Includes, Excludes ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 2. Press the down arrow twice to come to the "Type" field. Notice that the field says "Includes". This causes the filter to include only documents of the type you specify. 3. Press the right arrow key once and type "Program Guideline". This tells the filter to include only documents of this type in any search you initiate. 4. Arrow down once to the "Date" field. Enter "7/1/90" in the "From" field. Arrow right once and enter "1/1/91" in the "To" field. This will enable the filter to include documents only from the specified period. 5. Arrow right once to "Execute" and press Enter to execute the filter. You will see all Program Guidelines on STIS which were issued in the specified date range. 6. Press Escape until you get back to the main menu bar. Clear your filter by highlighting "Clear" and pressing Enter. 7. Set up another filter for document type "STIS". These documents contain information on using the STIS system effectively. For example, one document contains a list of document types that you can use for filters. When you are done browsing these documents, clear your filter. 7.5 Using a Word Search A word search is one of the easiest ways to find either a specific NSF publication or to locate all the documents that have a particular word in them. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help ³ Search ³ Topics Filters Documents Exit ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³ Topic ³ ³ Word ³ ³ Boolean Plus ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 1. Press the left arrow three times to highlight "Search". Press the down arrow once. This will highlight "Word" search, as shown above. Press Enter to select. You will see something like this: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help Search Topics Filters Documents Exit ³ ³ÚÄÄÄþWord SearchþÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿³ ³³ ³³ ³³ Úþ Search for þÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄÄþ Word List þÄÄÄ¿ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³ '0' ³ ³³ ³³ ³ ' ³ ³ '0.0' ³ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³ '0.0001' ³ ³³ ³³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³ '0.001' ³ ³³ ³³ ³ '0.002' ³ ³³ ³³ ³ '0.003' ³ ³³ ³³ ³ '0.006' ³ ³³ ³³ ³ '0.01' ³ ³³ ³³ ³ '0.02' ³ ³³ ³³ ³ '0.03' ³ ³³ ³³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³³ ³ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ³ ³ Search for documents containing specified word ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 2. The box on the right contains all the "words" in all the documents on STIS (including disabled partitions). You can use your cursor move- ment keys to move through this box, or you can type the word you are looking for. The single quotes specify that TOPIC will match any word that begins with the word you enter. If you want an exact word match, enter the double quote symbol ("). 2. Type in the word "biology". Press Enter to select. This will retrieve a list of documents in the Results Browser that contain references to the word "biology". You may scroll through the list with your arrow keys. 3. Arrow down to any one of the documents. Press "d" to display this document. Notice the highlighted occurrences of the key word "biology". If you do not see any highlights, press ">". This key moves you to the next search item, which defaults to the search word. You can bring up the search menu by pressing "/". Try this if you feel adven- turesome. 4. Press Escape to return to the Results Browser. Escape again to reach Word search. Escape once more to return to the menu bar. If you know the publication number of an NSF document, you can use word search to find it. Just enter the number without any spaces or punctuation. For example, to find "NSF 94-10" (The STIS User's Guide), perform a word search on "NSF9410". Try this. Note: Some people are surprised when they do a word search and get the message "No Documents Found." They ask how can this be, since the word would not be in the list if it were not in a document. The answer is that the list reflects all documents, including ones in disabled partitions, or ones excluded by filters. 7.6 Using Boolean Plus ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help ³ Search ³ Topics Filters Documents Exit ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³ Topic ³ ³ Word ³ ³ Boolean Plus ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ The Boolean Plus option allows you to combine word searches by using Boolean operators such as "and", "or" and "not". It can also be used to easily search for phrases. 1. Highlight "Boolean Plus" and press Enter. You will see this screen: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help Search Topics Filters Documents Exit ³ ³ÚÄÄÄþBoolean SearchÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿³ ³³ ³³ ³³ ÚÄÄþ Search for þÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³³ ³³ ³ ³ ³³ ³³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³³ ³³ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³³ ³³ ³ Retrieve Save Clear Cancel ³ ³³ ³³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³³ ³ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ³ ³ Press Tab for commands Line 1 of 1 ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 2. Type (including the quotation marks): "science education" and ("funding" or "appropriation") Phrase Boolean Word Operator Words and phrases are typed with quotation marks. Boolean opera- tors are not typed with quotation marks. 3. Tab to "Retrieve" at the bottom of your screen and press Enter to display the documents in the Results Browser. This list contains documents that each contain the phrase "science education" and either the word "funding" or "appropriation". 4. Stay in the Results Browser for the next lesson. 7.7 Downloading Documents For this lesson, find a document that is relatively brief (under 10,000 bytes in size). 1. Select the document by moving the highlight to it. (The size is in the bottom right corner while the document is highlighted.) Press Enter to bring up the menu box: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Display (d) ³ ³ Print/Write (p) ³ ³ Delete ³ ³ Download ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 2. Arrow down to "Download" and press Enter to select Download. If the document you selected is available in more than one form (all documents are available in ASCII, but some are available in Post- Script as well), you will see a box describing the various files. Move the highlight to the file you want to download and press Enter. 3. If the document you selected is available in different formats (for example, PostScript as well as ASCII) you will be asked to select a format. Then you will see a screen something like this one: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ STSDOWN Download Information ³ ³ ³ ³ The file selected for download is: ³ ³ ³ ³ orgstia 6 K bytes ASCII Text ³ ³ ³ ³ A typical download time for this file at 2400 baud is ³ ³ 1 minute. ³ ³ ³ ³ If you will be using anonymous FTP, the pathname for ³ ³ this file is: ³ ³ ³ ³ orgstia (ASCII) (FTP to "stis.nsf.gov") ³ ³ ³ ³ Press Enter to continue, or ESC to exit. ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Enter ?=Help ESC=Exit ³ ³ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 4. If you have access to anonymous FTP, jot down the pathname shown, and use it to retrieve the file (see the section on anonymous FTP in this manual). 5. Press Enter to continue. You will see this screen: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ STSTRANS File Transfer Method ³ ³ ³ ³ Use arrow keys or numbers to make a selection, and then ³ ³ Enter. ³ ³ ³ ³ ................................ ³ ³ . 1 KERMIT Download Protocol . ³ ³ . 2 Receive via E-mail . ³ ³ . 3 ASCII Download . ³ ³ . 4 Print on Local System . ³ ³ . 5 How to FTP Across Internet. ³ ³ . 6 NSF Download (Reflection) . ³ ³ ................................ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ ³ Enter ?=Help ESC=Exit ³ ³ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ 2. Use the arrow keys to select the download method that you prefer and press Enter. Follow the instructions displayed to download the document. Notes: If you have a network address, "Receive via E-mail" is probably the easiest and fastest method. But test this on STIS with a small docu- ment before you use this method extensively. The problem is that the Internet architecture makes it difficult for the STIS system to validate your address. Since the actual mailing of the document is done in the background, there is no way to notify you if the mail fails to get through. Consult the documentation for your terminal emulator (or your local gurus) for information on how to start a KERMIT or ASCII Down- load. "Print on Local System" works only for VT100 emulators that sup- port this feature. Depending on the speed of your printer, this option may take a long time. STIS does not currently support XMODEM due to incompatibility between the protocol and Internet terminal servers. 7.8 Exiting from TOPIC Congratulations! You have completed the Tutorial. You should have learned enough to get around TOPIC and use STIS effectively. The section TOPIC Reference contains additional information about TOPIC commands. To leave TOPIC, press Escape until you get to the main menu bar: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Help Search Topics Filters Documents ³ Exit ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ Exit ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Press Enter to leave TOPIC. You will return to the STIS main menu. Select "Exit STIS" and Press Enter to log off the STIS system. 8.0 TOPIC Reference This section contains additional detailed information on TOPIC and STIS, not covered in the Tutorial. 8.1 More on Boolean Plus This section describes additional operators you can use in construct- ing boolean searches. The Boolean logical operators show the relationship between specific words in a document. These are listed and explained below: And Retrieves documents that contain all the items connected by the And operator. For example, the expression: "a" and "b" instructs TOPIC to locate all documents that contain both a and b. The ampersand (&) may be used in place of this operator. Or Retrieves documents that contain any items connected by the Or operator. For example, the expression: "a" or "b" instructs TOPIC to locate all documents that contain either a or b. The pipe symbol (|) may be used in place of this opera- tor. Not Is used with the And and Or operators. It specifies items that must be missing from the document if the document is to be retrieved. ( ) Parentheses indicate the rule for applying parts of a complex query. For example: "a" and ("b" or "c") ("a" and "b") or "c" The Nearness Operators The nearness operators specify the relative proximity of specific words within a document; that is, whether the specified words are in the same phrase, paragraph, or sentence. Phrase Retrieves documents that contain items connected with the Phrase operator, when the items occur adjacent to each other in the same order that they appear in the Boolean expression. Example: phrase ("united" "states") Note that TOPIC will allow a phrase search such as "united states" also. ParagraphRetrieves documents that contain items connected with the Paragraph operator when the items are in the same paragraph. Example: paragraph ("international science" "par- ticipation") Sentence Retrieves documents that contain items connected with the Sentence operator, when the items are in the same sentence. Example: sentence ("engineering" "research" "train- ing") 8.2 Topics Topics are a sophisticated retrieval method, supported by the TOPIC software, but not available on STIS. The reasons they are not available are: We have not been able to allocate the resources required to build them. The architecture of STIS, in which everybody logs on as a single user, "public", prevents users from creating and saving their own topics. 8.3 Downloading a Group of Documents After you perform a search, you may retrieve a set of documents. Rather than downloading them one at a time, it may be more efficient to download them as a group. This is especially true for award abstracts which are fairly short, but numerous. If you choose this function, STIS will con- catenate all the documents selected into a single file, and then download that file. Accessing Group Download Start at the "Results Browser Screen". Press the slash key ("/"). Press the right arrow key twice. You will see this menu: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Print/Write Delete ³ Services ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ Merge (m) ³ ³ Download All ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Highlight "Download All" and press Enter. STIS will show the number of files selected and the total number of bytes. The download choices are the same as available for downloading a single document. If you choose "Anonymous FTP", the concatenated set of files is placed in the anonymous FTP directory where you can retrieve it using FTP. NSF 94-10 1/1/94