ABSTRACT
Many healthcare students around the world are making it their business to learn how to surf the net because they have realised the wealth of health information it contains, and the opportunity it offers them to share ideas with other students and healthcare professionals around the world. The volume of information available via the Internet is huge. Everything that may be of interest to you is scattered around the world on different computers. Collectively these computers make up the Internet. Here is a quick outline of the most popular services on offer that should get you interested:
World Wide Web-which, among other things, contains a wealth of health information Searchable, browsable health and medical databases E-mail for two-way world wide communication Newsgroups: a discussion platform of topical health issues Mailing lists for keeping up to date in your specialist area Internet Relay Chat for distance learning Voice on the Voice on the net (VON) for live communication FTP for looking inside distant computers Archie for copying files from distant computers Gopher as an alternative to the web Telnet to connect your home computer to others on the net Easy publishing on the web Online help to assist you eg with your study and jobsearch
1.1 the world wide web
To view different files on the web, you use web browsing software such as NetScape Navigator or Internet Explorer. Each file (or location) is called a web page.
