rev. 12/12/91
Extended Bulletin Board Services at UNC-CH
OIT Document H-011-0
What is the EBB?
The Extended Bulletin Board (EBB) is an interactive system permitting
users to create their own user-accounts to access networked computer
information resources in a simple to use, menu-driven environment. This
system includes resources on the Internet, a large network consisting of
over 300,000 computers worldwide that offers access to a large community
of shared information and expertise. The EBB is a development project of
the Office of Information Technology and is experimental. Services are
often expanded, modified, or dropped as appropriate, and no service-level
guarantees are made to the users. Current EBB services are described
below.
Usenet Network News
The EBB offers an electronic forum where people with similar interests
can participate in an open-access discussion similar to an e-mail
exchange. These newsgroups span a range of topics, from computers to
social issues, sports to religion, politics to culture. Anyone may read
these newsgroups by selecting the main menu item for newsreading. In
order to post to these newsgroups, however, you will need posting
privileges (see "Privileges," below).
Info
The campus-wide electronic information service, Info, provides quick and
simple access to the official university calendar, undergraduate catalog,
faculty, staff and student directories, grant and funding opportunities,
campus jobs, and much more. Info is accessible through EBB as well as
through dedicated terminals at the Undergraduate Library, Student Union,
the basement of Phillips Hall, the Morehead Planetarium Visitor's Center,
and other locations on campus.
Internet Mail
With Internet mail, you can send and receive electronic mail
worldwide, provided your correspondent has an Internet or Bitnet e-mail
address. Your access to Internet is free, almost instantaneous, and is
available to you once you have EBB privileges (see "Privileges," below).
Other Online Systems
EBB can connect you to holdings catalogs at hundreds of university
libraries across the globe, including Australian, Israeli, and major U.S.
and Canadian institutions. Additionally, EBB can connect you to campus
information services similar to Info . Connections also include the DRA
Library of Congress catalog, the Ham Radio Call Book, the National
Science Foundation (NSF), a geographic server providing detailed
information on cities, towns, countries, etc. The University of Michigan
Weather Server allows access to weather map projections.
SYSOP
The SYSOP is the System Operator, the person for OIT who manages
operational aspects
of the EBB. Each time you logoff EBB, you will be
given a chance to leave comments, complaints, and queries in a message to
the SYSOP.
Connecting to the EBB
There are two ways to connect to the EBB:
First, you may access EBB through Telnet, using ebb.oit.unc.edu as the
connection and logging in as ebb
Second, you may access EBB using a standard dialup procedure. Dial 919962-9911 for 300, 1200, or 2400 bps. Those with 9600 bps modems should
dial 919-962-9931. When you are connected, press the carriage return key
<RET> slowly until you get a # prompt. Once you have the # prompt, follow
these steps:
1.
type the word inet and press RETURN
2.
the screen will display a message similar to Call completed to
11DC,X
and then present you with an onscreen menu
3.
at the bottom of the menu, select the OIT Extended Bulletin Board
from the menu
4.
type ebb at the username prompt
5.
for either mode of access, once you have connected to EBB, follow
the onscreen
instructions to create a new account or to access an
existing account.
Privileges
You will be able to use most of the features of the EBB immediately. You
will not be able to post to newsgroups or to send and receive Internet
mail, however, until you have received privileges to do so. In order to
receive these privileges, you need to fill out and return the privilege
request form, found in the Bulletins section as "bulletin.req". You may
display this document and print it from your screen, or you may obtain it
via anonymous ftp.
EBB realities and human nature make it necessary for OIT to require
the completed privilege request form from you before you have full access
to all EBB services. We assure you that we share this information with no
one, and it is used only to verify your identity for EBB purposes only.
User Help
OIT staffs a mainframe help desk weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Room
30 of the Phillips Hall basement. You may drop by the help desk, send email to
HELP@UNC.BITNET, or call 962-0273.
We'd Like to Hear from You
If you have any comments concerning this document, we would like to hear
from you Please contact Judy Hallman (HALLMAN@UNC.BITNET), 311 Wilson
Library, CB#3460. The telephone number is 962-9107.