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            Auburn University - University Relations
                         (334) 844-9999
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5/11/95                 Mitch Emmons

AU RESEARCHERS ACCESS FUNDING INFORMATION ON INTERNET

      AUBURN --  The information super highway can now connect Auburn 
University researchers to potential sponsors.
      Through the SPIN network system on the Internet service known as 
Gopher, researchers can search a large electronic data base for current 
funding information as well as retrieve an abridged version of the 
Commerce Business Daily  and the entire Federal Register.
      Gopher is a tool on the Internet -- the giant international 
network of computers -- that allows access to a variety of computer sites 
around the world.  SPIN is an acronym for  Sponsored Programs Information 
Network.
      "Searching SPIN on Gopher is intuitive," says Sandra Carrk, a 
network specialist with InfoEd Inc. of Albany, N.Y., who manages the 
service. "It's not like the SPIN system many faculty are familiar with, 
in that SPIN on Gopher functions consist of simple, user-friendly menu 
searching, free text searching and browsing.
      SPIN on Gopher can be  accessed through the AU Gopher Server.
      Faculty on campus can enter the Gopher Server using a variety of 
software sources, including Gopher, TurboGopher, HGopher and the World 
Wide Web browsers known as Mosaic and Netscape, says Janet Sugg, a user 
service specialist with AU's Division of University Computing.
      "Mosaic and Netscape are actually World Wide Web browsers, but a 
link to the Auburn Gopher is available on the AU Homepage," she says. 
"Those with accounts on the DUC host machines (Mallard and IBM) can dial 
in from home."
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