Links to sites that will help you in locating and
using
Free Web Resources
FREE
WEB SPACE
Free web space providers allow you to develop a website and
publish it at no cost. Many of
these providers fund their operations by ads that appear on each web site. Be sure that the ads which are posted
will be acceptable to you and those who use your site or select a provider
which does not post such ads. Some
free web space providers also include site builders or cgi scripts, which
essentially provide the user with a “boiler plate” for a site. The boiler plate site can then be
modified to address the specific needs of the user.
Included here, for the most part, are web sites that review specific providers rather than the providers themselves. There are too many individual providers to permit individual listings of all of them.
FreeWebspace.net - The largest
guide to free webhosting.
This website contains a searchable index of 450 free website hosts. It has separate indices for
individuals, non-profit organizations, and businesses. Reviews are provided for some of the
hosts.
Free Web Space Finder
Free Web Space Finder includes information on 399 free web space
providers. It also includes free
webmaster tools. It allows you to
select and compare up to six providers simultaneously.
Free-Web-Page-Space
- The Best Free Web Page guide on the Net!
In addition to providing information on free web space providers, this site
provides a “Newbie Guide” to help beginners.
100 Free
Web Space Providers
This site provides links to and brief descriptions of 100 free web space
providers.
Tripod
Tripod is mentioned specifically here, since it offers 50 megs of free web
space per email address. It also
offers the Trellix Web Site Builder.
If you use Tripod, you must first sign up. After you have done this, if you wish to quickly and easily
create a course web site, you should select the Tripod Site Builder as the
means to build your site. On the
menu, under “Create a New Web Site”, select “More Templates for New Web
Sites”. Under “Get the Word
Out: Organization Sites”, select
“About My Class” to obtain a Boiler Plate site for a course. The Tripod site is menu driven and
relatively easy to use. The author
has created several sites on Tripod.
Free
Websitehost ISP with ASP, DSL, ADSL, Dedicated Hosting for your Free Web Site,
Catalog Directory, Commerce, Merchant Account and Domain Transfer
If you purchase a Domain name from this provider, free web space “forever”
is promised.
FREE EMAIL
Almost everyone uses or has used email. However, if you want to email students, they may not have accounts and may not be willing to pay for email services. For this reason, free email providers perform an important service.
Hotmail
This is one of the oldest and most popular free email sites. Many of your students may use this
one. Your hotmail account (and
email) can be accessed from any physical location from which you can make an
internet connection. The author
has used hotmail from locations outside the country as well as from a cruise
ship to access email.
Free Email Providers Guide
This site includes links to over 1400 free email providers in 85
countries. They also provide a
“Select Sites” list of sites they consider the best of the best.
ZDNet
Onebox
This provider offers users with voice mail, email, and fax capability in one
inbox, and allows the user to access the mailbox by computer or by phone.
Sign in - Yahoo! Mail
Yahoo advertises that it offers plenty of free email storage. This provider also offers international
email in 23 countries. There is
also email in both Spanish and Chinese.
Top Free Email Services
Directory
This is a directory of free email providers, with 1000 separate providers
listed and briefly described.
Blue Mountain Ecards
If you have ever received an email card, it is likely that it came from Blue
Mountain. Although this resource
is not strictly speaking an email provider, ecards are sent via email. Thus this resource is placed in this
category. You might send ecards to
students and colleagues.
FREE LISTSERVS
A listserv is an “electronic mailing list”. Members subscribe to it, and everyone
on the list received messages sent to the list. There are two major types: (1) a discussion list, where members can both send and
receive messages; and (2) an announcement list, where only the list owner can
post messages. Also, in most
cases, the list owner can choose whether replies to a given message go to the
entire list or only to the author of the message.
A listserv is a wonderful method of quickly communicating with
your students. If students do not
have email, they may want to sign up with one of the free email providers
listed above.
Free listservs, like free web space providers and free email providers, often place ads on listserv email.
Website
of LSoft, the Company that Developed Listserv Software
LSoft is the company that developed Listserv Software. The link above will take you to their
main site, where you will find general information about listservs.
There is also a listserv users guide at this site at the following
link: L-Soft LISTSERV General
User's Guide
CataList, the
official catalog of LISTSERV lists
There are many, many listservs in existence. If you are looking for a specific one, you may want to
consult CataList, a site that enumerates many of these lists.
Lists specifically related to social work may be found at
SWAN: Social Work Listservs - Social Work
Access Network (SWAN)
Yahoo! Groups
This site offers the user the opportunity to develop listservs. This provider does not place ads at the
top of each email posted (as some free listserv providers do), thus making it
easier to use. List managers can
add members to their lists directly, which can make list management easier. As the manager of a number of lists,
this web developer can testify that getting members subscribed to and removed
from the list can be the most difficult aspect of list management. Controlling this process directly can
ease the burden of the list manager of a small list substantially, especially
if list members have limited computer experience. (NOTE: You will
not be able to access this link unless you open a Yahoo mail account before you
click on this link. You may also
find that you have to type in the URL, which is: http://yahoo.groups.com)
E-Mail
Discussion Groups
This web site provides some general information about discussion lists, and
also assists the user in locating a specific list.
Email
Discussion Groups/Lists and Resources
This is another site describing listservs and their operations. In addition, a list of mailing list
commands is provided. The site
also assists the user in locating specific lists.
Search
Engine for Listservs
This site offers a search engine that will help users to search for
information about listservs.
FREE CHAT
Chat differs from email in that users enter a “Chat Room” simultaneously and interact with each other by sending and receiving messages in “real time” (live). Messages are sent as they are typed and received immediately thereafter.
Free Chat Room
Providers - Let your users talk to each other on your website!
This site provides a list of Free Chat Rooms Providers, staff ratings of
each provider, and reviews for each provider. Speed of loading is also rated for each provider.
AT&T WorldNet®:
Community Port
This is a site offering free Chat.
There are Chat Rooms for disabilities, family, gay, lesbian,
spirituality/religion, women’s issues, and even workaholics. The site includes a help section that
explains a great deal about the Chat services provided.
Yahoo
Messenger
Yahoo offers an option to chat with colleagues, friends, or your students. You can set up your own network of
contacts, and be notified when any of them are online. When two or more members of your
network are online, you can chat.
The Chat Rooms which Yahoo administers are found at: Yahoo! Chat. At this location, there are groups on “Computer and the Internet”, “Cultures and Community”, “Government and Politics”, and other topics.
FREE ANIMATIONS
Animated graphics are a wonderful resource to enhance a web page or email message. Several of them are present on this page, and all of these animations were obtained from the web without cost. The following is a list of some providers of animations.
Animatedgif.net
This site includes over a thousand animated graphics, available without
cost. The animations are
categorized, making them easier to search. Most of the graphics on this page come from this site.
Animation Factory
This web site contains over 8000 free animations. In addition, you can subscribe to their “Animation of the
Day” service, and have an animation emailed to you each weekday. Animation Factory also has a facility
to place an animation on an electronic postcard so that you can send it to a
colleague or student.
Media
Builder
Media Builder offers free animations and a postcard maker. There were difficulties encountered in
accessing some of these graphics during the test visit made to this site. Some animations were accessible and
others were not.
Please email the
Subcommittee Chair, using the link below, if you have information on additional
resources that should be added to this page. Please include your email address, a link, a brief
description of the resource, and an assessment of its potential utility for
social work educators. This
information will be published on the page if your resource is chosen for inclusion
on this page.
Also, if you would like to
send a brief review of any of these resources, please email your review to the
Chair. Include your email address
with the review, as both will be included if your review is selected for
publication here.
Carol J. Williams, Subcommittee
Chair
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