The Threaded Internet Newsreader seems a less valuable tool now than it did a year or two ago, partly because many newsgroups consist mostly of junk messages. The potential as a medium of communication is still present, but I think fewer people are making active academic use of USENET now. Still, the basics are of some interest:

W&L now has access to nearly 19,000 newsgroups --so many that it's daunting to think of finding and using any. The key to finding useful groups is the search facility:

  1. Once you have opened tin, hit the y key to 'yank' the whole list of usenet groups (more than 18,000);

  2. Then hit the / key to awaken the search facility and type a word you hope to find and hit ENTER. You'll be taken to the first occurrence of the word; repeat the / and ENTER to go to the next, and so on.