Something for Everyone
Usenet newsgroups are the internet equivalent of a community bulletin board. There are now more than 50,000 active newsgroups, sorted by specific topic. Newsgroups are titled using a hierarchy. Most titles begin with one of the following categories:

alt. - discussions on almost any topic you can imagine
biz. - business subjects and advertisements
comp. - computers and computing, software, hardware
misc. - miscellaneous assortment of groups and topics
news. - information about newsgroups themselves
rec. - recreational topics
sci. - scientific and technical topics
soc. - social issues and political discussions
talk. - opinion on almost anything

It's easy to determine the focus of most newsgroups by reading the title. For example rec.photo.equipment.35mm is pretty obvious. If the word binaries appears in a newsgroup title, it means distribution of free image or sound files is the purpose of that newsgroup. More often than not, binaries can mean pornography, not landscapes.

Getting Started
You'll need a newsreader and a news server. If you are reading this in Netscape or Internet Explorer, you already have a newsreader. It's part of your web browser. Or you can download Free Agent, a free news and email reader from Forte Inc. Either way, you'll have to configure the newsreader by adding an internet address for a news server and your return email address. (Check under options or preferences in your browser.)

Public News Servers
Some larger ISPs provide a news server for their users, otherwise you'll have to point your newsreader at a public access news server. (You may have to do this anyway if your designated news server doesn't carry all the newsgroups you are interested in.)

News servers rarely carry all newsgroups. Some public servers may allow you to read newsgroups but not post to them. Here are some frequently updated lists:
(1) Public news servers, total newsgroups available from each
(2) Public news servers, includes configuring information
(3) Yahoo's Public Access Usenet Sites
(4) Almost 1000 public news servers
(5) Public news servers and more

When a public news server requires you to logon or requests user name and password authentication, this means the server has been closed to public access. You'll need to find another server.

The first time you connect to a news server, you'll need to download the entire list of newsgroups available from that server. This can take several minutes. Then you go through the list, and subscribe to the newsgroups you are interested in.

Spam-Proof Your Email Address
Posting to a newsgroup virtually guarantees your email address will be captured by slimeballs who troll the internet extracting fresh email addresses to sell or send garbage to. You can protect against spam by inserting "NOSPAM" or another phrase into your return address, such as photopro@NOSPAM.acecam.com Don't forget to add a footnote or signature file to all your postings advising "To contact me, please remove "NOSPAM." from my email address."

Consider the Source
Internet newsgroups are a great place to share experiences and a great resource for information, ideas, opinions, and misinformation. Always consider the source. Evaluate everything you read.

Most participants are sincerely trying to be helpful when responding to questions asked by others. It is best to get concurring opinions from several contributors before reaching a conclusion. This is especially true for prospective buyers seeking recommendations for cameras, photo equipment, or digital imaging hardware. Someone with a glowing report about a particular product can be a genuinely satisfied buyer. The flip side? A writer full of product praise may be a manufacturer's rep trying to increase sales.

Someone who slams a particular brand or product may have had a terrible experience. On the other hand, perhaps they work for the competition. Get several opinions before making a decision.

Guidelines for Participation
Observing rules of good behavior on the internet is called Netiquette.

Here are some Netiquette guidelines:
Check to see if a newsgroup maintains an FAQ. You may find the FAQ in news.answers or repeated on a regular schedule in the actual newsgroup. Read the FAQ before asking any questions.
Gain a sense of community about the newsgroup first. Read recent postings before posting anything of your own. In a moderated group, someone will read your posts before they appear and decide if they contribute to the ongoing discussion or belong in the waste basket.
Don't unnecessarily cross post the same message to multiple newsgroups. Avoid "me too" posts where you simply agree with someone else's opinion. Unnecessary posting increases the noise and wastes other peoples' time.
Don't violate copyright. Don't post anything you don't own and didn't create, i.e. the words and pictures of someone else.
Don't get involved in flame wars. In a flame war, a difference of opinion becomes an ongoing battle of egos with insults being hurled back and forth about the intelligence, competence and parentage of the other writer. In the same vein, don't correct the spelling errors of others. It's rude and will start a flame war.
Remember some people simply must have the last word in every conversation. Let them. Everyone else recognizes them for the self important jerks they are.

Virginia Shea's online book Netiquette should be required reading for all internet newcomers. At the minimum, read her core rules.

General Newsgroup Resources
To learn more about newsgroups, ACE recommends the following resources: Liszt's Usenet Newsgroups Directory has recent postings and information from 30,000 newsgroups and is very well organized. Deja News bills itself as "the discussion network" and offers a web based gateway for online forums and usenet newsgroups.