A description of USENET
USENET was first developed in 1979 as a way for people at different universities to discuss unix. Its topics soon expanded to include non-computer topics. There are currently thousands of topics, arranged in hierarchical groups, and UCSC subscribes to the standard set of groups, as well as to groups with local, regional, and other nations' focus. Anyone with an internet connection and any of a variety newsreading applications may read the messages of USENET. The names of newsgroups reflect a hierarchy of topic organization. For example,
comp.sys.mac.datebases is about databases that run on macintosh computers
comp.virus is about computer viruses on any type of computer
rec.scuba is about recreational scuba diving in general
rec.scuba.equipment concentrates on scuba equipment
USENET is sometimes called "Internet news," "Network News," or simply "news groups."
WEb browsers usually include a feature for reading usenet. There are also applications which are dedicated newsreaders. FreeAgent is a popular newsreader application for Windows. Newswatcher is the recommended newsreader for the Macintos. "tin" is the recommended newsreader for unix, but there are many others.

There are many web-based usenet sites. A popular one, which contains postings back to 1995 is "Google Groups."
Getting help learning about USENET
NetTrail: UCSC's on-line computer literacy course, NetTrail, includes an excellent introduction to reading and posting to USENET.
Newsgroups for new users: USENET includes a few newsgroups specifically for new users.
news.announce.newusers descriptions of USENET, its history, and ettiquette.
news.answers contains postings of the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) of many newsgroups.
On-line documentation: The documentation that is included with your newsreader is indespensible in teaching you how to use the applications's features for reading mail. FreeAgent and NewsWatcher both have excellent help.
General information about using newsreaders
You have to have a connection to the internet active before you can read newsgroups.
You must be connected to UCSC's network to gain access to the news.ucsc.edu server. Other Internet Service Providers may or may not provide access to a USENET server.There are many news servers on the internet which carry specialized newsgroups that UCSC does not subscribe to.
All newsreaders include a command to "show all newsgroups" which will return a list of all the groups that the server subscribes to.
From this list of all newgroups, you can choose (usually termed "subscribe to" ) those groups you'd like to read in the future.
Once you've chosen the groups that interest you, you won't need to display the full newsgroup list.
USENET messages are called "posts." Newsreaders usually separate the functions of choosing groups, reading posts, and posting new messages. You'll need to learn how to do each step with whatever software you're using.
Many newsreaders include "filters" which provide the ability to delete posts from people or on topics you determine.Filters can make reading USENET much more productive. Sometimes filters are called "killfiles."
Local USENET services (the ucsc.* hierarchy)
UCSC's news server is named news.ucsc.edu. If you think that there is a problem with it, email your report to usenet@news.ucsc.edu.
A few of the local newsgroups are:
ucsc.general (any topic relating to UCSC)
ucsc.comp.os.linux (discussions of the linux computer operation system )
ucsc.athena (discussions or questions about the CATS/Athena system)
ucsc.market.books (used for selling textbooks)
ucsc.college.* news groups have been set up for discussions at each college.
Class newsgroups are listed in the ucsc.class.* hierarchy; for example: "ucsc.class.cmps003" and "ucsc.class.writing1"
A word about expectations
The ideal of a worldwide forum in which to discuss ideas and share resources in a respecful and orderly manner is not achived with USENET. USENET is a public resource unmanaged by any authority but its own users, and some people violate all rules of decorum in expressing themselves or promoting their products. Many newsgroups are frivolous and silly. Some newsgroups are moderated, which means that posts are filtered for appropriateness before posting. Those newsgroups are generally more useful. The "alt.*" hierarchy, is by definition the "alternative" to structure and moderation.