The SERIALST logs from Nov. 1990 to the present have recently been
mounted on the University of Vermont's (UVM) gopher.

To get to SERIALST's archives via the UVM gopher:

         1.  Point your gopher client to:  gopher.uvm.edu 70
         2.  Select #6 from them main menu:  UVM Listserver archives
         3.  Select #3 from the archives:  SERIALST
         4.  Specify your search (see search options below)
         5.  Follow help and escape option commands, as listed
             at the bottom of the screen, for more information,
             help, to exit, etc.

If you don't have access to a gopher client at your local site, you
may access the UVM gopher via one of the telnet-accessible anonymous
gopher clients, such as the "mother gopher" at U. Minnesota (telnet
to: consultant.micro.umn.edu ; login as: gopher), the gopher at
UIUC  (telnet to: gopher.uiuc.edu ; login as: gopher), et al.

You may search SERIALST from the gopher using an enhanced WAIS search
engine that includes the following features:

     Boolean "and" and "not" operators
          e.g.: pergamon not elsevier  - retrieves messages with pergamon,
                                         but not elsevier in them
                pergamon and elsevier  - retrieves messages with both pergamon
                                         and elsevier in them

     Simple keyword searching ("or" is implied):
          e.g.:  pergamon elsevier  - retrieves messages where either
                                       pergamon or elsevier is present

     Literal string matching:
          e.g.:  'informal serials instruction'   or
                 "informal serials instruction"
          use of either double or single quotes around a phrase or
          set of characters will retrieve all instances of that phase.

     Search truncation:
          e.g.:  hum*
          use of the asterisk at the end of your search string will
          retrieve words starting with the character string "hum"
          such as human, humor, hummingbird, etc.

Note 1:  A quirk, the gopher search engine will not properly index words
that occur more than 32,000 times.  Beware of starting a search with
the word "serial"!

Note 2:  The Listserv indexes in gopher are updated every 2-3 days.
They are not updated dynamically (i.e., the message you post today,
may not be indexed for a day or three).

Note 3:  It is also still possible to search SERIALST using LISTSERV's
LDBASE, and also to be a bit more specific and exacting in your search
requests -- if you are familiar with this program.  LDBASE will also
search SERIALST's logs as far back as Oct. 1990, which is when the list
was started, as well as automatically indexing messages dynamically, as
they are posted  (for more information on LDBASE searching, send a message
to:  LISTSERV@UVMVM.UVM.EDU   that reads:  INFO DATABASE).  Though, for
some, gopher searching may be more transparent and user-friendly.

Special thanks to the UVM office of Computing and Information
Technology -- specifically to Allan Bazinet, for setting up the logs on
the gopher, and to John Ryder, who told me it was possible.

The gopherized SERIALST logs are still very much in the experimental
stages.  If you have questions, comments, or general feedback about this
service, feel free to drop a line.

Most of all, enjoy!

    Birdie MacLennan
    SERIALST Listowner/Moderator    bmaclenn@uvmvm.bitnet
    University of Vermont           bmaclenn@uvmvm.uvm.edu