Chapter 7 of Writing Online provides an overview of Usenet groups and web forums. The Crosslinks below link to search sites that were featured in the chapter, links to key documents and FAQs about Usenet and web forums, and research ideas and activities.

• CyberFiber NewsGroups offers Usenet newsgroup searching. Unlike Remarq or Deja, the interface is relatively uncluttered and straightforward. Try here first.
• Deja.com is a web portal with a Usenet discussion group search engine. You can search Usenet- or Deja-sponsored communities. The best things about the site is its useful power search form. 
• Remarq offers searches of Usenet and its own sponsored communities. 

• ForumOne is a search engine for looking up web-based discussions. It's not exhaustive, but it is useful. Remember that you can also find good web-based discussions by visiting web sites. For example, news sites will offer a variety of forums centered around the news of the day.
• Free Forums on Free Center reviews and rates sites and services that provide you with the technology for having a web-based forum on your web site. You can look at each site listed here and search the forums they offer.

 

• Conferencing Software for the Web by David R. Woolley offers a compendium of resources for web software that supports "text-based, asynchronous group discussions."
• Newbie-U's Usenet Course offers a step-by-step tutorial on learning how to explore and write in Usenet newsgroups. The also offer excellent help on other Internet and WWW tools.
• The Internet FAQ Consortium archives and catalogs Usenet FAQs. You can search by subject, Usenet group name, and FAQ author. 
• news.newusers.questions is page maintained by Dennis D. Calhoun. The page links to key documents and advice from the Usenet newsgroup news.newusers.questions. 
• Free Advice on Usenet News by Tim McLellan offers a good overview of Usenet, how it works, and how you can make it work for you.

 

• Tapping the Living Database—A Practical Activity for Writing Classes by Michael Day offers an outline on how students can use email discussion lists and Usenet groups in their research process.
• Research Tip: Join an active Usenet group or web-based discussion group that focuses on some issue you are exploring. Join the group early in your exploring so that you get to know the group's tenor and range of issues. At some point, briefly summarize an article or argument you've encountered in your research and ask the members of your group for comments or thoughts. Their replies will help you test your own ideas and let you see how others view the issue.
• Research Project Idea: Examine a particular newsgroup or web forum to see how participants shape their arguments and respond in discussions. Look for and analyze some of the following traits:
 
1. How often do members quote back messages to one another and respond to different parts of a larger message?
2. What kind of evidence is used in the responses?
3. What percentage of the messages use ad hominen attacks or strawman arguments?
4. Which messages seem most reasonable and why?
5. What kinds of arguments and messages do you find persuasive?