To users:

Glad you could make it!  The files you'll find here include:

readme.txt  --  The file you're reading now
	
p_e_g.doc  --  The Microsoft Word 6.0 version of "A Plain English 
Guide to the Internet at TVA".  This is the ideal edition, because 
there is a lot of formatting and a couple of graphic images that are 
lost in the .txt version.  The file looks for a Hewlett Packard 
Laserjet 4 printer and may require some reformatting for other 
printers.

p_e_g.txt -- The ASCII text version of the guide

p_e_g.rtf -- Rich Text format version

p_e_g.w51 -- Wordperfect 5.1 version

p_e_g.w2x -- Microsoft Word for Windows 2.x version

About the guide...

"A Plain English Guide to the Internet at TVA" is an effort to
bridge the communication gap between network administrators and 
users.  Unfortunately, users all too often become frustrated 
with the process of what amounts to learning a new language.  
Much of what is communicated to them sounds like techno-gibberish, 
and resources usually don't exist to individually tutor each 
potential user.

When an experienced user says:

	"Watch, Ed, while I FTP to ftp.fedworld.gov, switch to binary, 
	and download nafta.zip",

a beginning user hears:

	"Watch, Ed, while I blah blah blah blah blah blah nafta dot blah".

It's not pretty.

Simple, general Internet guides which are targeted at beginning users 
do exist, but they cost about twenty bucks apiece and are not specific 
enough about the types of systems users are on. Every organization's 
computer system is different, and no one guide can hope to encompass 
them all.

This guide relies on simple English and analogy to communicate the basic 
workings of the Internet as it relates to TVA -- systems which TVA uses, 
Internet resources of interest to TVA, and key TVA contacts.  With this 
guide in hand, a beginning user should be able to "plug and play" with 
the Internet.  Little or no contact with system administrators should be 
necessary.  And while this guide may not address your particular system, 
you can use this guide as a model for writing your own guide.

About TVA...

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a power generating company which was 
founded in 1933 by an act of Congress to "improve the navigability and 
to provide for the flood control of the Tennessee River, to provide for 
reforestation and the proper use of marginal lands in the Tennessee 
Valley, to provide for the agricultural and industrial development of 
said valley, to provide for the national defense by the creation of or 
the operation of Government properties in and near Muscle Shoals in 
the State of Alabama, and for other purposes..." (TVA Act, May 18, 1933). 

TVA currently sells over $5 billion of electricity annually to its 160 
power distributors, including urban utility boards and rural electric 
cooperatives.  TVA is heavily involved in education, conservation, 
economic development, and other activities which enhance life in 
the Tennessee Valley.

About the author...

Ed Ditto came to TVA from MBA school (University of Tennessee) in 
1993.  He has additional experience in corporate and public radio 
broadcasting.  He is a member of the Powerhouse, an organization 
contained within TVA's New Products and Services division, located 
in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  

Contact information:

Internet: tva!001130000100306.wang@mhs.attmail.com
	  or
	  aa3396@freenet.lorain.oberlin.edu

Phone:  (615) 751-2223

Address:	Ed Ditto  
		MR2A
	   	1101 Market St.
	   	Chattanooga, TN  37402

Hope you find this to be useful!

Ed
