Gopher clients designed for different computer systems may look and operate somewhat differently, but most have the same basic functions. You will also need appropriate account or login information for that system. Information on how to invoke the gopher client. Most clients automatically connect to a default gopher server as soon as the gopher client is invoked. Resources on the Internet are not always available - systems are down for maintenance or even crash occasionally, so be prepared to try different possibilities.
Gopher is based on a hierarchy of menus.
Each menu item points to an Internet resource which could be another directory, a text file, a searchable index, or a telnet connection. Usually the type of menu item will be indicated by some kind of symbol. When a text file is selected, the document you request is actually transferred to your Gopher client. Once the file is transferred, you do not actually stay connected to the remote host. The file is only kept temporarily unless you further instruct your Gopher to keep it permanently.