Through LocalNet, which can be found at http://www.lnis.com, and ValleyNet, which is at http://www.valley.net, Dartmouth students and local residents can now use the Web to access a plethora of information about organizations and businesses in Hanover and the Upper Valley.
Information like restaurant menus, concert schedules and online magazines can easily be accessed through links from ValleyNet and LocalNet.
LocalNet
Mitch Jacobs '94 said he came up with the idea of LocalNet to form a network to connect businesses to customers through the online service of the World Wide Web and to display links to other Internet services. Jacobs founded and owns the Hanover Green Card, a debit card for area businesses.
The response from the community, said Matt Swett, who works for LocalNet, was "incredible."
According to the "All About LocalNet" page, LocalNet "is striving to increase the commerce of local businesses while connecting the community with important information resources."
The company is working to establish Web sites for the businesses that are currently listed under the main menu of LocalNet but do not yet have links to their own Web pages.
"We hope to provide more interactive service between businesses and their customers," Swett said.
A test run of this type of interaction will soon be on the Web page for Wheelock Travel, which is currently testing their online information request service.
"What will be there is a service where one can fill out a request form online so that packages could be prepared that could later be picked up," Swett said.
Many business owners said they believe being connected to the Internet has had a positive effect on business.
"The LocalNet service has been great," said Whit Spaulding '91, who owns Wheelock Books.
Spaulding said Wheelock Books will have an online textbook listing for each course as the orders come in from professors.
"Book orders come in from now till three days before classes start. It all depends on the professor. Even over break, professors will be ordering," Spaulding said. "Although some books may not be listed, we may still have them when the term starts."
Many students' favorite order-out and eat-in restaurants list their full menus on their Web pages through LocalNet. Everything But Anchovies has an online menu "so that customers can look at the menu while ordering," said Charlie Dowd, manager of EBA's.
EBA's started their online service on Sept. 15. Dowd said he wanted to be able to serve EBA's customers better by making the menu available online.
Now customers can do more than look at the menu online -- they can actually place orders over the Web.
When the order is received by the computer at EBA's, it is printed out and an automatic return receipt is sent to the customer, Dowd said.
"If the customer does not receive a receipt, it means that the order did not go through," he said.
Dowd said he is not entirely happy with LocalNet's services, and EBA's is considering switching to a new server that would be more dependable.
It "is a non-profit organization that is not staffed 24 hours a day," Dowd said. "Orders cannot be received when the system is down, and customers don't like that."
Students had various opinions about the benefits of online ordering.
Karen Hung '99 said she thinks it is a great idea.
"We use the computer for everything already, so why not use it to order pizza?" she said.
Cindy Jwo '99 said, "There is no advantage or disadvantage to it ... You could just pick up the phone and call. You feel better if you talk to someone."
Erich Shigley '99 said he agreed. "I think it's neat, but it would be easier to use the phone," he said.
Eddie Ou, spokesman for Mrs. Ou's, said having a Web site will help the restaurant reach out to more customers. The Web site for Mrs. Ou's was recently established and its success can not be measured as of yet, Ou said.
He said eventually the restaurant will consider supporting an online-ordering service.
Other restaurants currently with menus online include Foodee's, Lou's Restaurant, and C&A Pizza.
Many other local businesses also have space on LocalNet. The Nugget Theater has current movie listing, Videostop has a list of its new releases and We're Makin' Waves hairstyler has a list of its prices.
Other services linked to LocalNet include stock quote information, online magazines, educational web sites, various web sites for kids, government services and recreational information.
ValleyNet
David Goudy, spokesman for the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vt., said the College helped to initiate ValleyNet last year to establish a "community network."
ValleyNet offers households, businesses and organizations dial-up connection to the Internet. According to the "What is ValleyNet" Web page, "ValleyNet serves individuals, businesses, local governments, and educational, cultural, and social institutions."
ValleyNet was created when the Montshire Museum offered to provide the support and organization for the network. The College provided some of the funding and the computer equipment for the project.
"The operation would not have been possible without the help from the technical support staff of Computing Services in Kiewit [Computation Center] who volunteered much of their time to the project," said John Hawkins, the College's director of community computing services.
ValleyNet now maintains the Web server on their own with some technical support from Computing Services.
Many more Upper Valley residents subscribed to ValleyNet than was expected for the first year, Goudy said.
In the future, ValleyNet may place Hanover's Howe Library card catalog online.
