Red Hat 9 - AOL & Modem drivers

I have had Red Hat 9 on my hard drive ever since I took my Linux class at college. I love the operating system and everything it can do but I have not used it in some time becuase I can not connect to the internet. Searching through the forums on this page looking for anything related to "Modems AND Linux" I found a few interesting threads but nothing that really helped me. Using the Belarc Advisor I got the full name of my current modem and did a google search. I found a site with a link to the driver I needed. My question is I currently use AOL to connect to the internet. (not by choice I'd love to get broadband) Even if I take the time to install the drivers will Red Hat work with AOL? I figured you had to use the AOL GUI to connect.
Is it worth the time to install the drivers? (I say time becuase I have alot of problems with tar balls) Will it even work if I get everything set up properly? Any advice would be great. Thanks

P.S. I asked my girlfriend to get me a book for Valentine's Day (I know, how romantic) I was thinking on getting a windows related security book...I'm alot more skilled with the Windows platform then Linux. So I figure a good linux book would do me good. Any suggestions? Thanks again!