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Newsgroup Links

Let us add a section to your homepage that will give us links to some newsgroups. Then you can launch the newsreader and load a newsgroup simply by clicking on a link. First, open the homepage file index.html in your homepage directory. Copy the following HTML code with your mouse and paste it into a convenient location in your homepage file: 

<hr>
<h2>Newsgroup Links</h2>
<ht>

<ul>

<li>
<a href=
"news:news.answers">news.answers</a> 
(General, FAQ's)

<li>
<a href=
"news:comp.sys.mac.graphics">
comp.sys.mac.graphics</a> 
         (Mac graphics)

<li>
<a href=
"news:comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html">
comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html</a> 
(HTML authoring)

<li>
<a href=
"news:comp.infosystems.www.browsers.mac">
comp.infosystems.www.browsers.mac</a> 
(WWW Browsers for Macs)

<li>
<a href="news:rec.arts.books.childrens">
rec.arts.books.childrens</a> (Children's 
literature discussion group)


</ul>
<hr>

Save the changes, point the browser to your homepage, and reload. This should give you something like the following:


Newsgroup Links

Try clicking on the links. This should bring up the newsbrowser window with the corresponding newsgroup selected. Now, customize this entry in your homepage: remove items from the list that do not interest you and add links to newsgroups that do. In all cases, the form of a newsgroup link is very simple: 

<a href="news:groupname">Text</a>MoreText

where groupname is the name of the newsgroup (e.g., news.answers), Text is the highlighted text that will mark the link, and MoreText is any additional text that you wish to add that will appear un-highlighted.

You may find the following links useful in choosing newsgroups for your list:

  • Newsgroups for K-12
  • Master List of Newsgroup Hierarchies
  • Usenet Info Center
As we have noted earlier, the information available in many newsgroups can be one of the most important WWW resources for K-12 education, if you choose the groups wisely. Practice Internet Safety, but resist the bureaucratic solution common among some administrators to simply block newsgroup access for K-12 classrooms because of objectionable material in a small subset of such groups. In newsgroups, as in life, one must learn to separate the good from the bad, and you will reject a lot of useful information if you neglect the potential of newsgroups for your classroom.

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