IIGS™ Newsletter - July 1998
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IIGS™ Newsletter - July 1998
Since there have been many new members, signing on to IIGS™ (International Internet Genealogical Society) hoping to find ancestors through contact with other people, using IRC (pronounced IRK, however it's not irksome) might be helpful. What is IRC, you ask? Well, let me enlighten you!
IRC is Internet Relay Chat. It is a system of talking to people in real time. You type to other people on a screen. Everyone on the channel can see all the stuff people type back and forth.
mIRC is an IRC browser just like Netscape or Explorer, only it is for "chatting."
IRC.ROOTSWEB.COM is the name of the server where the IIGS™ chats. The port number is part of the server info.
The name of a channel on the IIGS™ server where a few of us, who are researching the BElgium, NEtherlands and LUXembourg areas meet, is #benelux. We share information every chat session. There are many channels like #benelux covering different areas of research, a general channel for just chatting about genealogy in general and a help channel for people having difficulties or for those who want to know more about IRC & mIRC. From time to time there are specialty channels for specific subjects. If you see a need for a channel and would like to host it, contact me and we'll discuss it. It's easy.
How to begin using IRC?
In order to get to chat you first need to have an IRC browser. You can obtain a good one from http://www.mirc.com/ (it's shareware). Be sure you download the browser that is compatible with your system, PC or MAC, and install it according to instructions for your system.After installing it and when you first access it, you will come up with a window showing IRC servers. You will need to add the server, irc.rootsweb.com on port 6667. Then click on "CONNECT TO SERVER." A new window will open and you'll have to wait about a minute for the connection to take hold.
After you get the welcome message informing you that you are connected, type "/list" (without the quotes) and hit enter. You will be presented with a new window showing all the open channels on that server. If there are no channels listed, it means that there isn't anyone currently on any channel. Try again later or type "/join #genealogy" (without the quotes) and wait to see if anyone will come and join you.
What you have done is create the channel #genealogy and you are the first person in it. If there are channels showing, double click on the channel that interests you and you'll join all the others chatting on that channel. You'll make new friends, and possibly find some old ones. At any rate, you'll find the people there friendly and helpful.
The channel you can find me at is the #benelux channel. We meet every Saturday at 2000 GMT (that's 8:00 p.m., Greenwich Mean Time). I'm known as JohnD - that's a nickname. You create your own nickname if you don't want to use your real name (but you can't be totally anonymous).
For a schedule of all the different IIGS™ IRC meetings, check out:
http://www.iigs.org/cgi/ircthemes/ircthemes
You can also convert GMT to your local time there. You'll be suprised at the variety of chats available to you.Feel free to ask me more questions. You can e-mail me at:
johndek@maxinet.com Hope to "see" you on line.