English dept. utilizes 'Gopher'

Bennett Hall is the newest haven for data-craving students at the University. With the introduction and enhancement of the English department's Gopher, a repository of humanities-related information and departmental news, students from all areas of University, not just majors, are mere keystrokes away from a number of resources. "We're one of the top two or three [humanities] departments on line in the country," said Jack Lynch, Assistant to the Undergraduate Chair for Computing and Advising. "Our real task isn't just making information available, but making it available in the best most useable way." The gopher system has a calendar and announcement board, information about the requirements for both majoring and minoring in English, as well as a directory for the department's faculty and staff. In addition, it has information about the King's College exchange program for English majors and classes available through the Freshman English Program. The English department is also utilizing list servers as part of its new computerized system. Many professors have a list server for their classes, thereby putting every student on an electronic mailing list. "People who are sometimes hesitant in class can put together some very insightful arguments," Lynch said. "The list servers can let class discussions and questions extend beyond the usual 45 minute session." The list servers can pass on needed information about class cancellations, extensions of deadlines. List servers can also provide answers to questions by enabling all members of a class who have e-mail to confer with each other and the professor, Lynch said. In order to gain access to the English gopher, students using mail.sas need to type an exclamation point while running the mail program elm. When the shell prompt appears type "gopher gopher.english.upenn.edu" to connect to the system. "We have a team of people working to help support English gopher users," said Lynch. "Putting text on a computer is very easy, the key is thinking how to make it easy for the user to access it." Complete literary texts are also available on the English gopher system. By 'pointing' to these other sites, users are able to directly connect to systems that have needed information already on line. "We have visions of doing away with the bulkpack," Lynch said. "In the future, students will be able to access the text on the computer and print it out at home if they want."