The tables below present information about suppliers of Internet access, i.e., providers of the computing and telecommunications equipment and services needed to permit individuals or institutions to gain access to the Internet. Since this report was funded by an LSCA grant administered by the California State Library, it focuses on the information needs of California libraries and information agencies. (Please see the disclaimer on page 126.) The pool of potential suppliers was culled from:
Two tables are presented. The first provides information about suppliers of straight-forward (asynchronous) dialup service; this is the sort of service that librarians have long used to query, e.g., DIALOG and BRS. The second table presents information about other, more elaborate, faster, and complicated methods of connection, including leased lines and routed circuits. The criteria for inclusion were:
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Similarly, dedicated line service providers in AZ, NV, and OR were considered for inclusion. The tables do not pretend to completeness. The dialup table, for instance, only cites suppliers' simplest, least- expensive, low-use offering. Suppliers may or may not have offerings better suited to institutions, multiple users or passwords, and heavy use. Note that the rates cited are not only for the least expensive service options but also for the least expensive billing options, typically a prepaid deposit account or an automatically billed credit card with no invoice. N.B. The information comes primarily from suppliers' sales literature and brochures (propagated both on paper and online) and was in many cases supplemented by telephone and email conversations with suppliers. Suppliers have had the opportunity to review, correct, and amend the information presented (although not all have chosen to do so), but it has not been independently verified. CLASS has not attempted to determine the dependability, reliability, or financial stability of any of the suppliers listed and cannot take any responsibility for any errors or omissions.
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This study is produced by CLASS, the Cooperative Library Agency for Systems and Services. CLASS was established in 1976 as a Joint Exercise of Powers Agency by the California State Library, the University of California, the California Community Colleges, the California State University, the City of Los Angeles, and the County of Santa Clara. CLASS is a membership-based self-supporting public agency formed for the purpose of library cooperation. CLASS acts as a service broker to its worldwide membership of libraries and information agencies, both public and private.
These documents on Internet Access Providers for California
Libraries are part of a larger project: Internet: Planning
and Training for California Libraries, a project supported
in whole or in part by the U.S. Department of Education under
the provisions of the Library Services and Construction Act
(LSCA), administered in California by the State Librarian.
Please note, however, that the opinions expressed herein do
not necessarily reflect the positions or policy of the U.S.
Dept. of Education or the California State Library, and no
official endorsement by either should be inferred. CLASS cannot
take responsibility for any errors or omissions.
[1] To receive the newest edition, send email to: info-deli-server@netcom.com. In the Subject Field, put SEND PDIAL. To receive it regularly, put SUBSCRIBE PDIAL in the subject field. This list is regularly posted to, inter alia, alt.internet.access.wanted and alt.bbs.lists. It can be anonymously FTP'd from, e.g., vfl.paramax.com (128.126.220.104) as /pub/pubnet/pdial.
[2] This list has been superseded by the "lnterNIC Directory of Directories-Network Provider" list. The document can be FTP'd from ds.internic.net. Get dirofdirs/provider/Ointro.provider first, as it provides a table of contents to the many individual parts.
The list can be FTP'd from nnsc.nsf.net as nsfnet/referral- list.
[3] This can be FTP'd from ftp.nisc.sri.com as: netinfo/internet-access-providers-us.txt.
[4] The nixpub list, a compilation of free and for-fee public Unix machines, most of which are connected to the Internet and variously provide mail, ftp, and telnet services. The list is posted regularly to alt.bbs.lists, e.g., and can be FTP'd from: ashley.cs.widener.edu as /pub/ nixpub/long.
