Brief: Touch the World Through Internet

Abstract

Summary Internet is the world's largest computer network. Access to Internet allows users to communicate with colleagues around the world, to access vast software archives, to visit university and public libraries, to search on-line databases, to participate in lively discussions on thousands of topics, to receive electronic journals, and much more. This paper describes Internet and discusses its current and future uses, ways to obtain access, and some of the resources available. What Is Internet? Initial network activities began as a U.S. Dept. of Defense research project in the early 1970's. The ARPAnet project linked major defense installations with a computer network that was redundant enough to withstand missile attack. In the late 1980's, the U.S. National Science Foundation built a network, NFSNET; that was based on the original ARPAnet and that contained five regional supercomputing centers linked by high-speed communications. Through NFSNET, universities across the U.S. used these supercomputer centers to conduct research (mostly military). NFSNET did not preclude nonmilitary use of the network, which opened the resource to many individuals and institutions. By 1987, the volume of information traveling on the network overloaded the system. The network bandwidth was upgraded in 1987. During the late 1980's, hundreds of private and commercial networks worldwide were linked to the network, primarily for communication in the research arena. This network of networks became known as Internet. Because of the ease of access to and value of the resources available on the network, more and more individuals began using Internet. As interest increased, more resources were added, which, in turn, fueled further interest. This domino effect led to the explosive growth of lnternet today. Internet is the foundation of the "information superhighway" that has become the focus of media and U.S. government attention over the past few years.