This is a fun exercise for students to learn telnet by logging on to remote servers and surveying books at various libraries. I divided the class into two teams of 8 students.

The "Red" team visited the Ivy League College Libraries: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University.

The "Blue" team visited 8 Online Libraries: Library of Congress, NY Public Library, MIT, Stanford, Foothill College, Mountain View Library, Palo Alto City, Library, and Santa Clara County Library.

I've hyperlinked to local libraries in the Bay Area for this telnet exercise. You may substitute these with libraries in your area. Check the following resources for for library online passwords.

Hytelnet: United States Library Catalogs (1091)
USA Library Catalogs By State (arranged alphabetically)
USA Library Catalogs By Type (Academic, K12, Law, Medical, Public)
Hytelnet: Academic, Research, & General Libraries (668)
Hytelnet: Community College Libraries (55)
Hytelnet: Public Libraries (164)
Libweb: Libraries on the Web (Berkeley Digital Library)
Public Libraries with WWW Services (560)
Directory of US Public Library Websites (arranged by State)
The 100 Largest Libraries in the United States (Ranking of academic & public libraries)

Each student was given a "Books Survey" sheet to look up the number of titles on Internet, Art, Music, and Poetry at one of the libraries. Students could work individually or in groups. The team captain collects the results from the members. The first team that completes the survey wins.

I've provided the Online Passwords and telnet links so students could click directly to the libraries. I told them that they are investigative reporters for U.S. News & World Report's annual college issue. The students (8 to 12 years old) who participated in the Foothill College Summer Program on Internet Activities enjoyed this telnet exercise. Please give me feedback on how this exercise worked out in your classroom. I would appreciate any suggestions for teaching Telnet effectively.

Telnet Ivy League Libraries

Telnet Libraries

Books in Ivy League Libraries Survey

Books in Libraries Survey