Internet Gateway: Using niss.ac.uk

(Last updated on July 20)

Kenji Kitao and S. Kathleen Kitao

This is a huge and useful database located in the UK. You can even use it from Japan. However, it is VERY slow. Also you have access to only part of the information if you use telnet and log in from Japan. There are three particularly useful resources that we have discovered so far. You access the NISS Information Gateway by typing "telnet niss" (or "telnet niss.ac.uk" if you are outside of the UK), and then choosing "I" (NISS information gateway).

1. Library Search

You can search for books and periodicals in all UK libraries, using author, title, or subject. (There are several possible sites, but the following two seem to be the most useful and complete.)

Highlight "reference and bibliographic" (second screen) (use the down arrow to move down) and press return
Highlight "Library OPACs, archives and manuscripts, publishers" (2nd line) and press return.

From this point, you have several choices. If you are interested in searching the catalogues of universities, in Britain, highlight"UK Higher Education and Research " and press return. You can choose the university that you are interested in, and then follow the instructions on the screen. If you don't have any particular library to search, get Lancaster University and search for "Kitao."

If you would like to check libraries throughout the world, choose "Hytelnet at the University of Cambridge." Choose "Library catalogues" from the menu, and then choose the region you are interested in. Follow the instructions on the screen for the library that you choose.

2. Alta Vista

This is a World Wide Web search engine. It is useful if you do not have a WWW browser like Netscape, or if your browser does not handle graphics well.

Highlight "reference and bibliographic" on the second screen and press return. Highlight "Directory Services" and press return. Highlight "WWW Search Engines" and press return. Highlight Alta Vista and press return. Highlight "Advanced Search" and press return. Move down to the horozontal lines, using the down arrow, and enter the name or keyword you want to search for. Use the down arrow to "submit advanced query" and press return. You will get a list of WWW sites, which you can access by highlighting them and pressing return.

3. Newspapers and Magazines

You can read newspapers and magazines using niss.

Highlight "news and current affairs" on the second screen and press return. Depending on your interests, you can choose "daily newspapers and news sources," "general interest, current affairs and politics," "education, science and technology," "business and financial news," or "collections of online newspapers."

http://www.niss.ac.uk/
NISS Information Gateway
**The above services are available on the web now.
k.kitao@lancaster.ac.uk