September 8, 1994: Vol26n2: Wider Access Ahead for Fast-Growing Buffalo Free-Net

By STEVE COX
Reporter Staff
Thousands of Western New Yorkers, armed with personal computers and
modems, have discovered that job prospecting, planning an evening out
on the town or chatting with fellow hobbyists are all as close as the
push of a button.
	Buffalo Free-Net is a cost-free, publicly accessible,
community computer information system. It has grown at a fast and
furious pace since its inception several years ago, but the best could
be just around the corner if Free-Net is successful in securing a
large federal grant for expansion.
	Word is expected "any day now" on a grant application
submitted in the spring to the Department of Commerce's National
Telecommunications & Information Administration, according to A. Neil
Yerkey, a UB associate professor in the School of Information and
Library Studies. The grant initiative is to insure that everyone has
access to the developing information highway, which is becoming
increasingly commercialized, explained Yerkey.
	"We like to think of Free-Net as our onramp to the information
superhighway," said Yerkey, one of Free-Net's founders. Buffalo's
Free-Net is one of about 45 such community-based information systems
in the country, most of which are centered around large universities.
It is the only one in New York State, although Albany is expecting to
bring one on line shortly. Housed in a large Sun microcomputer at the
UB Computing Center, the Buffalo Free-Net has has grown enormously in
popularity during the past year. 
	The most important feature of Free-Net is "the wealth of local
information we're providing to organizations and agencies in the
community. We're giving people an introduction and access to the
superhighway," Yerkey said.
	"We have issued more than 25,000 account numbers so far,"
Yerkey says, "and of those, probably 8,000 to 10,000 are active users
of the system." In July alone, according to statistics that Free-Net
tracks automatically, 3,180 users logged onto the system more than
45,000 times. And, the average user stayed online for 41 minutes.
	"This means that there are times of the day when it's getting
quite hard to get through," Yerkey said. The computer is equipped with
only 16 outside phone lines. Added to direct connections available on
campus, and those interfacing with Free-Net through other services
such as Internet, as many as 50 people at a time could be using
Free-Net. 
	A grant from New York State helped get the current equipment
in place, but everything else about Free-Net is strictly volunteer.
Volunteers from campus and the community share the tasks of  keeping
up with the system and constantly updating the information it
contains, as well as searching out new information to place in it.
That is why this grant would be so valuable to Free-Net. Yerkey
projects that paid staff, as well as upgraded equipment, will be
needed in the near future for the network to continue to grow.
	The grant application was submitted by a large consortium of
local institutions including WNED-TV, WBFO-FM, The Buffalo News,
United Way and several school systems in the area. Yerkey says the
broad community support for the Free-Net bodes well for the grant's
success. "If we are successful, for instance," he noted, "United Way
is planning to place public access terminals in its member agencies
for broader community access to the network."
	If you've never traveled the information highway before, even
the novice computer geek will find Free-Net a pleasant journey. After
dialing in through your computer modem, a first-time user need only
enter the password "freeport" to access the system's main menu.
	Keeping a community-based theme throughout, the main menu
lists 16 "buildings" you can go into for information or dialogue. Each
"building" contains a sub-menu listing all the "rooms" available in
it. Most have several types of information sources, an area for the
user to ask questions and receive answers from a Free-Net expert in
the field and discussion groups where users converse live via the
network.
	Your first stop in Free-Net should be the Administration
Building. You need only enter the number 1 and a new Administration
menu appears that shows you which room to go to for setting up your
own account, for asking questions about the software or your hardware,
or for volunteering to become more involved in the operation of
Free-Net.
	Helpful hints along the bottom of the screen show how to get
back to the main menu after you're done. From there, you can head over
to the Arts and Cultural Activities Center for information on what's
happening around town, or to the Business, Industry and Employment
Center for the latest job listings from the  NYS Job Service, or to
the Government Center to check out census data on Erie County, or to
Legal Center to download a copy of recent decisions of the New York
State Court of Appeals (if you're having trouble sleeping, for
instance.)
	If you have some free time, run over to the Hobby and
Recreation Center and join in on a conversation with other area
amateur radio buffs, photographers or trekkies. Each main menu item is
numbered, as are all the submenus, and one need only enter that number
to be instantly transported there.
	"The Internet is a very powerful resource," Yerkey said, "but
if you are not a regular user, it is very difficult to learn how to
use it." That's why some of the more valuable features or discussion
groups of the Internet have also been linked directly into the
Free-Net's menu selections. You need only enter their menu number and
Free-Net will make the Internet connection for you.
	"Under Teleport," says Yerkey "you can be connected directly
with the Internet of Finland.  But you'll find once you get there that
all the menus and instructions are in Finnish."