Global Resources in a Graphic Environment

As you begin your travels within this electronic community, there are several things you must know. The virtual community matured primarily by communication through Email when the Internet was first developed. This was because of the technology of the time. Since then technology has advanced to permit not only the text of an Email message, but also the transmission of electronic files that can include more than text; pictures, sound, and even video. This has change the virtual community even more. Now the primary activity on the Internet is not communication through Email, but browsing the World Wide Web for pictures, sounds and all kinds of information. To understand that, we must understand the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web.

When we talk about the Internet, we are actually talking about the world-wide network of computers connected through the hardware of thousands of smaller regional networks scattered throughout the world. The Internet carries the transmission of many types of files over these connections. While Email is still responsible for much of the Internet traffic, the transmission of data files that contain vast amounts of information is responsible for far much more. These data files are known as "hypermedia documents" and are transmitted across the Internet to your computer where the information is displayed graphically in a very user friendly way. These hypermedia documents are also connected, much like the Internet, by what we call "hypertext links." These linked files are known as the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web then refers to the body of information that resides on the Internet. "Web Pages" or "Web Sites" are located on various "servers" around the world and are linked together creating a web-like environment of connections. Imagine a spider's web - all inter-connected by strings. By traveling along the strings, the spider can get to any location on the web.

The World Wide Web exists virtually (electronically) and is so huge that it requires some standard way of viewing and navigating it. An "Internet Browser" is an application that resides on your computer and can read the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files that come to your computer via the Internet. There are several Internet Browsers but HTML is the standard language most use. These Internet Browser applications have similar functions and will generally work the same way no matter what type of computer is used.

The World Wide Web can be thought of as a vast universal database of knowledge on millions of computers around the world. In essence, it is information that can be accessed by everyone around the world and linked easily to other pieces of information. As a result, it is possible to quickly find information - once you know how to use the Internet applications designed to access Internet information.

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