How to Use the Library if You Don't Use Windows or Mac

The basic idea is not very difficult. If you already know something about
file and directory structures, you should be able to figure this out
yourself. I'll run you through my experience with 3 different programs.

My system runs MS DOS 6.22 with ARACHNE 1.7, which is a graphical shareware
browser from Arachne Labs in Czcheckoslovakia. There are Linux versions
available (maybe Windows, too).

If you have any graphics browser capable of reading plain text (ASCII text)
and html, you should be able to use the CD. Run your browser, switch drives
to the letter that corresponds to your CD drive and look at the files in the
top directory. If you are not familiar with your browser's features, look for
something that will display your hard drive's file structure. Usually, this
will be something called "My Computer", "All Files", "File Manager", etc.
Look for the root directory, indicated in DOS with \\, or in Unix with //.
Click on this and you should see all available drives displayed. Click on the
letter for your CD drive and you will see the CD directory. Click on the
index.htm file and you're in.

For Those Without a Graphics browser

It is possible to read the files on the CD using a file viewer. There are
many shareware and freeware programs available for download on the Internet.
I have used VIEWER for many years, on a machine that didn't have enough
memory for graphics browsers. I used it to view files downloaded via my ASCII
based communications program (BananaCom), which could not view some kinds of
MS WORD files on the Internet. Sometimes, if I try to browse the library
after I have already been viewing other files on my hard drive, the program
hangs up or otherwise becomes confused. Exiting the program seems to clear
its memory, and then it runs properly. This happens with small programs.

You will not be able to use the hyperlinks with this type of program. You
will, however, be able to read the files, copy text for citation, bookmark
references in copied files, save html files as plain text, and print files.
There are graphics viewers available that will view the .gif and .jpg files,
but won't activate the hyperlinks. Do not open any files if you are unsure
what the extension means. Files with .txt or .html are text files. Those with
.gif or .jpg are graphics. Aything else may be executable; so don't open them
unless you know what you are doing.

Since VIEWER does not list other drives in its directory window, changing
drives is a matter of finding the menu option that gives you your choice of
drives. This option and its function key are listed at the bottom of the
directory window. When you switch to the CD drive, you will be in the root
directory (the top). The directories are not marked as directories because no
one was expecting you to need that information. The directories are in all
capital letters. Cursor down to ARCHIVE or to REFERENCE, hit enter, and you
will be in the writers archive or in the reference archive. In the archive,
cursor down to the name of the writer whose work you're searching amd hit
ENTER. Then, you may need to look for more directories or files. Some of the
file names are pretty cryptic; so, you may need to open the index.html file
in order to figure out which file contains the information you want. For
instance, in the Trotsky index, there is a long list of years. If you already
know what year he wrote the book or article you're looking for, choose that
year. Otherwise, you'll need to look in the index.

If you are looking up a term - for instance, "instruments of labour", cursor
down to GLOSSARY and hit enter. The letters of the alphabet are directory
names. Cursor down to "I" and hit enter. Now you look for the next letter in
the word, in this case "n", and open that file. You may use your browser's
search feature, but shouldn't have to because these are small files.

If You Have a Word Processor or Editor

This method is not recommended, but if it's all you have be very, very
carefull not to alter any of the html code. You can search through the file
structure, find the text you're looking for, and then copy it to your hard
drive. At this stage, it's a good idea to save the copied text as plain text,
because this will eliminate all the code, saving a huge amount of hard drive
space, and making the files much easier to read. There are programs that will
convert small files to plain text. Look in freeware archives for programs
called "html stripper", or "html to text".

If You Don't Have a CD Drive

You may have access to a faster machine, but have a low-resource machine for
your own use. If someone has installed the Library on the hard drive of the
faster machine, or will allow you to do this, you may transfer files to your
own machine. If you can take the hard drive out of your machine and
temporarily install it in the other (taking all the  usual virus
precautions), or if you can link to the other machine via modem or network,
you should be able to transfer the Library quickly. If you have to use
floppies, using something like DOS's XCOPY command, it will take about an
hour for a 386sx 12 Hz processor to copy all the files onto your hard drive.
Don't try any of this without permission unless you are very certain you know
how to get around the security precautions.

Once installed on the hard drive, you can browse the directory and file
structure; but, the hyperlinks won't work. Fixing this would be very tedious
and time consuming, but can be done; and there are programs available that
will help you. It's a simple matter of changing all the CD drive pointers
(usually E:) to match the letter of the drive on which you have installed the
Library. You could do this with the Search and Find feature in a word
processor, being very carefull not to change any "E" that should be left (for
instance, in documentation). I don't think it's worth the effort; so, don't
ask me for advice. 

If you must use a word processor on a hard drive installation, make a second
copy of the library in case you inadvertently alter the files.

Further Resources For Users of Older Computers:

1. The Survivor's Mailing List and Archive

http://www.softcon.com/archives/SURVPC.html

2. Rich Green's ``Freeware for Dos, Not Windows'' at

http://geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/1401/softlib1.htm

Contains perhaps 600 odd freeware dos programs, that do all of the
customary computer functions (e.g., spreadsheet, word processing,
data-base, etc.). His site is a bit lean on the internet, but does
contain quite a few internet applications, including some of the
tiny linux ports that coexist with dos and/or include internet
programs.

I would guess that 95% of the programs on his site run fine on 386s or
earlier. Howard Schwartz

3. Revobild

Heimo Claasen is dedicated to intelligent use of the internet. His website is
an invaluable resource for those with older computers.

www.init.be/hammer


Joan Cameron