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The following document is designed to help you navigate through New Mexico Technet's online services. This scenario is designed to show the general usefulness of various databases and how, in broad strokes, to use them. You should consult the specific documentation for details.
Let's say you work for a detective agency. Your boss, Ray Chandler, wants you to find out everything you can about a certain person he's investigating, who we'll call John Q. Public, born on January 1, 1966.
The first think you want to do is launch your favorite Web browser. It's probably Netscape, but it could also be Internet Explorer. You should get the main Technet page (if not, see Getting started to set up the right home page.) From there, you'll see links to Technet's various services. Click on the buttons until you get to Legalnet.
Speaking of links, you probably know that clicking on a link normally takes you to another page. In this tutorial, any link connects to either a definition in the glossary or a documentation section. But links cans also make your Web browser launch a separate program. The program we're interested in here is a Telnet client. This client hooks up your computer to other computers, which act as servers, which dish up data to your computer from anywhere in the world. If you want more detail on what Telnet's all about, look it up in the glossary.
The first thing you might want to is find out if he's been involved in any criminal activities, ranging from a traffic ticket to the more serious stuff. You'll want to access the Bernalillio County Metropolitan Court to run a background check. Your Telnet client will talk to the courthouse server to let you see exactly what the clerk in the courthouse sees on their screen, but you can only look, you can't change anything. The documentation file for BCMC, as the locals call it, uses these stylistic conventions to be clearer about what it means. The BCMC is a premium service, which means there is an extra charge for accessing it.
The first time you use a service, you need to enter your Password and Name so Technet knows who the heck you are. This should be your regular user name and password. The good news is, after you enter it once, you shouldn't have to enter it again unless you close your Web browser for some reason.
Once you get there, you may discover that there is more than one John Q. Public. This is where the birthdate comes in handy: you can make sure you have the right person with the birthdate.
It turns out John Q. Public is a bit heavy on the gas pedal—he keeps getting pulled over for speeding. You wonder what kind of car he has. So first, you close the Telnet client, and then go back the Legalnet page and click on MVD, for Motor Vehicle Division, which is also a premium database.
Another Telnet client is launched. You look up John Q. Public using his name and birthdate and you discover that he owns a Jaguar. Pretty sweet ride.
Finally, you connect to the Second District Court page and you discover using a Search by Party Details that John Q. Public has a little civil action going on too—he's suing a paint shop for damages to his Jaguar. Some of the case types are unfamilar, so you print out the documentation on which keys to use. In fact, you can print out or download any of the documentation files.
And all this in a fraction of the time it would've taken an old-fashioned gumshoe. Being the sharp type that you are, you've made a bookmark to the Documentation Table of Contents for the next time around. You also slapped in a bookmark for the Frequently Asked Questions) file, or FAQ as those acronym-loving techies insist on calling it, in case you have a question it might answer for you later on.
The last thing you do is pull up your Netscape E-Mail client and fire off an e-mail to your boss, summarizing the results of your investigation.
Go to the Documentation Table of Contents
Document URL -- http://www.technet.nm.net/menu/doc/nmt-tut.htm
Last modified on February 15, 1999
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