Some Related Links On The Internet And Some Helpful Hints

Finding out more about e-mail

E-Mail discussion lists

E-mail software and Internet Service Providers (ISP’s)

Mail file formats

How to find people on the Internet

Search for e-mail addresses

There are several World Wide Web sites that do maintain massive databases. These are called White Pages Services. Most appear to have two ways of gathering names:
 

• People submit their own names and e-mail addresses. They are usually offered the option of posting other information about themselves. If this is the case, they are given a password so no one else can tamper with their personal data.

 
• They have automated programs that troll through the Internet collecting e-mail addresses that are publicly posted. Most of the addresses they gather come from people who have posted to newsgroups or subscribed to mailing lists.

Here are some White Pages Directories:
 

• Bigfoot: E-mail directory, white and yellow pages, plus numerous other free services.

 
• The Yahoo! People Finder has a street address and phone number directory as well as e-mail addresses.

 
• Internet Address Finder claims to have more than four million listings.

 
• PeopleSite The Online Search Community  Search multiple engines simultaneously for e-mail addresses and phone numbers. You can also use the reverse-look-up feature to track down names using phone numbers or e-mail addresses.

 
• Switchboard has a database of more than 90 million people and 10 million businesses and offers both e-mail and street addresses.

If you know more information about a person you have even more options.
 

• If you know a person’s Internet Service Provider but not their e-mail address, you may be able to find them, if the ISP permits use of this application (many don’t.) There are several shareware programs available that simplify the process. If you frequently look for people this might be a good application to install. The basic command is something@domain.com

Something is as much of the person’s name as you know. It you enter Susan, it will return everyone named susan who uses that ISP. domain.com should be the domain name of the ISP.
 
• If you are looking for a college student or professor, many colleges and universities put their e-mail directories online. Others have standard addressing conventions that make it easy to deduce an e-mail address. Try doing a World Wide Web search for “nameofcollege e-mail directory” or “nameofcollege cwis”. CWIS stands for Campus-Wide Information System This technique may also for some large, high-tech companies and government offices, such as IBM or NASA.

A comprehensive list of directories and guides to finding people on the Internet can be found at http://www.december.com/. This includes gopher directories and telnet sites to the internic e-mail database (x.500) plus some college resources. If you want people to be able to find you, check out these resources and make sure your name is included.