CHECK IT OUT

Oh what a tangled Web the world’s computer users have woven! If you’re

lost in the labyrinth, find considerable guidance for accessing the

online information you seek at Newport Beach Public libraries.

For an introduction to all the vital lanes of the information

superhighway, check out “Harley Hahn Teaches the Internet.” From e-mail

basics to working with search engines, ensuring security, downloading

programs, browsing newsgroups, creating a Web page and chatting online,

this clearly written guide demystifies many aspects of the Net.

If you’re all about business, learn how to increase profits and

productivity through computer networking and Internet access with help

from “Getting Your Business Wired.” Written with nontechnical managers in

mind, this new resource for entrepreneurs simplifies the mysteries of

local and wide area networks and reveals how to use the Internet for many

business solutions.

Electronic commerce has radically altered the buying and selling

landscape. Examine whether your company is ready for virtual selling and

how to proceed with “E-Shock,” featuring online marketing strategies for

retailers and manufacturers.

Once you’re ready to post an Internet presence, check out “The Official

Adobe Electronic Publishing Guide” to review fundamental issues essential

to ensuring quality electronic publications.

For the younger generation, from preschoolers to teens and their

families, 4,000 of the Web’s most educational, interactive and

entertaining sites are listed in “Internet Kids & Family Yellow Pages.”

Updated for 1999, this phone book-like volume has an easy-to-follow,

alphabetical index of kid-appropriate sites devoted to topics ranging

from amphibians to yoga.

You can read about where the Internet is going and about “cybertrends”

that may boost your business in “Net Future,” a prophetic road map to a

new world of commerce and consumerism. Learn how to live calmly a midst

bits, bytes and computer crashes with “Zen Computer,” featuring a

soothing, spiritual approach to dealing with your machine.

Get the inside scoop about the digital dreamers who are making virtual

reality a reality with “The Visionary Position,” a well-written account

about the ongoing development and potential commercialization of

virtual-reality products.

Finally, the only way to really get comfortable online is to get online.

If you don’t yet have Web access at home, log on at Internet terminals at

any Newport Beach Public Library. In addition to book marked sites that

add order to the ever-evolving stream of data, you’ll find reference

librarians at all sites who can help you make sense, and possibly

dollars, in the vast expanses of the digital universe.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams, in collaboration with

Tim Hetherton.