---------------How to Access Electronic Information---------------
What can the Internet do for you?
Some of the features available are:
e-mail (electronic mail)
Perhaps the most popular service of the Internet, e-mail allows you to send mail to any Internet user. The advantages of e-mail are that it is fast and cheap. You require a computer with a modem plus a gateway (such as a freenet or a commercial service bureau) and an e-mail address. You also need the e-mail address of the institution or person you want to communicate with.
LISTSERVS are electronic mailing lists on practically any subject imaginable. Sometimes they are called discussion groups or e-mail conferences. To join a LISTSERV, send a short e-mail message to the LISTSERV address requesting a subscription. You will then be sent news and information regarding that LISTSERV via e-mail. Whether you are interested in chess, computer games, or even "a thought for the day", there is a group waiting for you.
USENET is a global collection of over 2000 news groups that cover a wide range of topics. These are often known as BBSS or Bulletin Board Systems. Subjects range from the serious to the bizarre - "frequent flyers", desktop publishing or even mass transit today.
Searching the Internet
As you use the Internet you will learn how to use some of the following tools to get from your own computer to an outside information source and bring back what you want.
World Wide Web (www)
World Wide Web was developed at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, in Switzerland. It is a graphics interface that helps you find resources on the Internet. Unlike GOPHER, which is text-based, it uses hypertext technology that allows you to select words or images. You are then linked or cross-referenced to related documents, text, files, audio or images. As you make these choices you are browsing the Web. At the same time you can read your e-mail and answer it. A high-speed modem and computer plus an appropriate connection to the Internet (SLIP/PPP or dedicated connection) may cut the waiting time to transfer graphic images over the system to your own computer.