The following article by Charles Knuffke has been published twice - once in the spring 1996 Bay Area Rapid Folders Newletter, and slightly revised version in the Winter 1996-1997 edition of OrigamiUSA's The Paper.

More than anything else, the internet rekindled my interest in origami.

In high school, I was addicted to origami. I remember sitting through classes folding paper, working my way though the folds in James Sakoda's Modern Origami. However, for the past 10 years I hadn't folded anything more complicated than the swan.

Last year, after being convinced that the internet was going to be the "next big thing", I signed up with a local internet provider and went on line using my home Macintosh. It must have been the right time, because in the space of about a week I was not only connected, but also hooked. One of the first things I came across once connected was information on joining various mailing lists, and the topic I saw that was most interesting was Origami. After completeing a few simple commands, I was a member of the Origami Mailing list and getting E-Mail messages from origami afficianados from all over the world.
The information that was being sent over the mailing list was so inspirational, I decided to start paperfolding all over again. Pieces of info I gleamed from the mailing list over the last year include:
•What the Wetfolding technique was •How to fold a square into thirds •Where to contact local Origami Groups •When John Montroll's next book will be available •And a continous progression of Top Ten Lists of Models and Books

Internet Mailing Lists

Anyone can join a mailing list - all you need is access to internet E-Mail (this includes such systems as AOL, Compuserv, eWorld). In fact, if you can mail messages from home, school or work to people on the net, you can join. A mailing list is really nothing more than a piece of software (generically called a Listserv) residing on a computer with an internet connection. Any E-Mail sent to the listserv from a member of the list will get forwarded to every member on the mailing list. When anyone on the list responds to the message, that response is sent to the mailing list, and is redistributed to everyone on the list. As a result, and simple question like "Who makes the best hippo model, and where can I find it" can generate a dozen responses as people repond, and then others respond to the responses, ad infinitum...

It is inportant to remember that there are two E-Mail addresses for each Mailing list. The first one is used to send commands to the listserv software; for instance if you want to join the mailing list, to get help on how to use the listserv, or to quit the mailing list. To join the Origami Mailing list, send an E-Mail to the internet address:  listserv@mit.edu
If possible leave the subject blank and omit any signiatures, but in the body of the message put:

subscribe origami <Your Name>

In the above message "Your Name" should be your normal name, not your E-Mail address. For instance my message would say:

subscribe origami Charles Knuffke

The Listserv will figure out your E-Mail address automatically from the header info that is included with every internet message. Once you've sign up, you should get an automatic message back within about 30 minutes telling you how to use the Mailing List. Specifically, any message you want to send out to the entire mailing list should be sent to: origami@mit.edu

It important to remember the distinction between the two E-Mail addresses - the first one is solely for commands, and the second on is the "redistribution" address. It's a common mistake for most new users to mix up the two addresses.

Once you've signed into the mailing list, you should expect to receive about 10-25 messages a day from the Listserv, with the sender of the message identified in the "From" Field. Famous folders who are on the list include Robert Lang (RJLang@aol.com ). It is suggested that before you jump right in and start responding to messages, spend a couple of days just reading the messages to get a feel for the tone and content of the list. The Origami list's members are scattered all over the world, and the list is informative and lighthearted, with a constant stream of wit. Also, remember that if you are reading a message and you select the "reply" command from your software, you are sending a reply back to the Listserv software. More than one person, when seeing a message posted from an origami friend and choosing the "reply" command, has ended up sending their personal message to everyone on the list! 

The Origami Archive

The Origami Archive is a repository of files relating to paperfolding maintained in the Netherlands by Maarten van Gelder. The index includes about 30 downloadable postscript files for Origami models, an archive of all the E-Mail sent through the Origami Mailing list since it started, and an E-Mail accessible index/database of creations from close to 100 Origami books. The Archive can be accessed by either using a Web Browser - like Netscape - or a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Program. Many features can also be accessed by E-Mail.

When using either a browser or an FTP program, you enter a site's specific Uniform Resource Locator (URL). The URL is basically a internet address identifying which internet computer you want to access and which directory and file on the computer you want to go to. The URL also identifies what type of program you want to use when going into the directory. For instance, if you wanted to use a FTP program to get to the Origami Archive, you would use the URL: ftp://ftp.rug.nl/origami/
If you want to use a Web Browser, like Netscape, to get into the Archive, you would use the URL: ftp://ftp.rug.nl/origami/.menu.html
The ".menu.html" suffix on the above URL identifies a file to your browser to make moving between areas of the archive easier. One really nice feature about using Netscape and other Web browsers is that they include an FTP program as part of the program, so transfering the programs is very easy.

Once you've signed into the archive, the directory structure should become apparent. The archives subdirectorys are set up as follows...
 archives/ An archive of all the Origami Mailing List messages articles/ Articles on Origami faqs/ Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Archive, the Mailing List, and Origami gif-models/ Images (in GIF format) of Origami Models gsdos/ Ghost Script Files, which allow you to print postscript files to non-postscript printers with MS-DOS lists/ Neat lists of information for people involved with Origami. models/ Diagrams (in Postscript format) of Origami Models oo_magazine/ Copies of Tom Stamm's Online Origami Magazine and the Common Ground viewer required to read them oriindex/ Files relating to the Origami Index (Oriindex). See below. photos/ Images (in JPEG format) of Origami Models programs/ Interesting Origami Software and other helpful programs

The archive's most incredible feature is that it includes a database of all Origami models that have appeared in about 100 Origami texts. This database was originally created by V'Ann Cornelius. The files for this database are all located in the "OriIndex/" directory mentioned about, but you don't have to know anything about the database to use it - You can query the database through E-Mail messages and have it send the answers back!
(ed. It also possible now to query the database directly through this web site)

Here's an example: Say you're interested in finding as many diagrams as possible of bats. The Origami index can provide you with all the major bat models published. All you have to do is send an E-Mail to: origami@ftp.rug.nl and in the body of the letter (leaving the subject blank) include the statement:

oriindex bat

The index will search through the database, and it will send you back an E-Mail message that includes every model that has the word "bat" in it. Here is just a partial response to my "bat" inquiry...

Models

Bat

Creator: Robert Harbin
Book: Secrets of Origami page 100 By: Harbin Robert
Begin w/ a ET folding into landmarking base
Level: I 20 steps Folds: sq,petal
Keywords: animal mammal rodent

(Other Models and Books Deleted)

Books

Secrets of Origami Author: Harbin Robert
Publisher: Hamlyn
Date: 1974 Language: ENG
ISBN: 0600381099 Binding: HB 79 pages
128 models Level: M-C Theme: general

The Oriindex actually turned up 29 Bat references located in 16 books. As can be seen above, the model and book listings include a sizeable amount of information. There is one caveat when using the OriIndex though; the text search rountines are non-specific. This means the "Bat" query may also return models of Bathtubs, battleaxes, and Fumiaki Kawabata creations!

For more complete info on how to use the Origami Archive via E-Mail, including info on how to search the Mailing List archive by keywords, just send a message to: origami@ftp.rug.nl
With the following in the body of the text (leaving the subject blank):

help

I hope this article has been informative. If anyone has any questions that they want to send me, my internet mailing address is knuffke@sirius.com . I'm more than happy to try and answer any questions about the internet, although I make no promises about their accuracy! In any case, I hope to see the members of BARF on the Origami mailing list in the near future.