The internet began in the late 1960's as a plan to link computers at scientific laboratories across the country so that researchers could share computer resources. This plan was funded by the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and initially was known as ARPANET. Over time, many research institutions and universities connected to this network. Eventually, the National Science Foundation took over ARPANET and ultimately it became what we now know as the Internet. The Past few years has seen an amazing amount of growth in this global network. It more than doubles in size every 6 months.

          The Internet often is confused with one of its more popular components, the WORLD WIDE WEB or "the Web." The Internet is much more than the Web. It also consists of electronic mail (e-mail), file transfer(FTP), Usenet News, and remote login capabilities. E-mail allows people to send messages to one another over the Internet. FTP allows people to transfer files from one machine to another. This is often the preferred method of retrieving shareware ofr freeware programs over the Internet. Usenet is a large collection of electronic discussion groups called newsgroups. There are newsgroups dedicated to every topic imaginable.

          The World Wide Web is made up of documents called pages, which contain pictures and text. The pages are accessed throguh programs called browsers. The best known Web browsers are Netscape, Mosaic, Lynx, and Internent Explorer. Web pages usually include links to other pages. These links are often set apart from the regular text by using boldface, underlining, or color. When you click on a link, you call up the page referred to by that link. This technology for connecting documents is called hypertext.

          To access an initial Web page, you must specify and address called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). You can do this by typing in a URL (or Locator) text box found toward the top of your browser or by typing in the dialog box that appears when selecting the Open command from the File menu or clicking the Open button in the toolbar.