BKLBLACK.RVW  941111
 
"The Little Black Book", Rose, 1992, 0-13-683210-5
%A   Marshall T. Rose
%C   113 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ   07632
%D   1992
%G   0-13-683210-5
%I   Prentice Hall
%O   (515) 284-6751 FAX (515) 284-2607 phyllis@prenhall.com
%P   382
%S   Series in Innovative Technology
%T   "The Little Black Book"
 
[soap...]  A "little black book" is, of course, a reference to a phone book, or
list:  some means of looking up contact information for a specific individual,
or a select group.  New users on the Internet always want to know how to find
other people, and Internet guides always have to answer the question the same
way:  there is *no* directory of Internet users.  They then go on to explain
the partial and limited tools for attempting to access Internet contact
information:  finger, whois, X.500, knowbot and the like.  Often the White
Pages of Performance Systems International (PSI) rates a mention.  I have to
search for rather a lot of names, since I try to send a draft of each review to
the author and/or publisher--if I can find an address.  My searches have found
the greatest success with the Usenet-addresses database at MIT, and a similar
system on Vancouver's local MindLink.  Indeed, I become quite suspicious of the
author of a technical work if I *can't* find an address there (particularly for
Internet guides).  None of these systems, however, is complete, and even an
exhaustive (and exhausting) compilation of the results of all of them often
fails.  [...soap]
 
All of which is to say that, almost exclusive of the content, Rose's book *is*
important simply because of the topic.  This is an enormous task that has been
left, at best, partially done.  Rose uses the PSI model of directory services
and the work of PSI in implementing the White Pages system to guide the
discussion.  He notes the theory and primary work in the field, as well as the
enormous technical, social and political problems to be faced in designing and
building a useful internetworked directory.
 
[soap...]  As a high-volume user of directory services, I found the book to be
lacking in one specific area.  The technical problems, and current technical
solutions, involved with directory services have very little to do with the
user's task in trying to find contact information.  In the first place, the
best technical solution is to have directory services administered at the
machine level, with access to the user information already stored there.  This
leads to a machine, network and organizational structure to the directory, and
to access.  I find this to be a failing in the PSI White Pages, which work most
effectively when you can associate the search with an organization.  In the
current, chaotic, Internet environment, this is not always pertinent.  In
searching for authors, I very often have no idea what country they may be from,
let alone what employer or access provider.
 
A second factor lies with the databases discussed, which seem to implicitly
assume that certain fields can be key.  While most Internet users probably have
only a single email address, most of the active people that I know have
several.  I also have at least seven telephone numbers that I might want
associated with my contact information (and I *don't* have either a cellular
phone or pager).  Like genealogical research, the problem is much more complex
than at first glance.  [...soap]
 
For those who would make a name for themselves on the net, directory services
would be an excellent, though difficult, choice.  This is the place to start.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994   BKLBLACK.RVW  941111

(The [soap...] ... [...soap] denotation is stolen from Rose.  It is a feature
of his "Books" for indicating opinions.

======================
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Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0