Jain Study Center NC Raleigh 1997 11 YJA Regional Convention

Author(s): Jain Study Center NC Raleigh
Publisher: USA Jain Study Center NC Raleigh

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Connections between computers are made using net software like Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer called browsers. These browsers can make electronic links from your computer to any computer on the Web. After making the link the browser then brings the information, pictures, sound or video on the monitor screen of your computer. By clicking on the links that are displayed on the screen, you can access or browse ("surf") these vast sources of information.
How does the browser know which computer to connect to and how to look for information? . Just as phones have unique phone numbers, each information source has a unique computer address called the Uniform Resource Locator or URL. For example, http://www.jainism.org is the URL for Jain Data Base of the Jain Study Center of North Carolina. Either by entering computer addresses or by clicking on the links, you get connected to the information source. The links allow connections to be made without having to know or typing in these specific URLS
Internet is more like the physical side of this electronic network such as the computers and cables, and the Web is the network of information stored in the computers. The incredible thing is that this amazing amount of information has been made available easily, immediately, and for the most part at no cost or charge to the user, although with commercialization of the web this is changing too.
How to get on the WEB
Two things are needed. First a computer (or access to a computer) and secondly, connection to the Internet. In colleges and many public libraries there is no charge to users for this access. The other alternative is to use Internet service providers (ISPs) such as America OnLine, AT&T, Prodigy, Netcom On-Line and many others in the United States. Currently for about $10 per month one can get 10 hours of Internet access time and for about $20-30 unlimited monthly access. Other countries also have their own such ISPs. Most ISPs provide you with a local dial-in number, so the toll charges do not come in the picture for the most part.
No special knowledge of computers is required to explore the Web. Following a brief hands-on practical introduction of a browser (Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer), anyone can begin to explore the information made available on the Web. One useful thing to do when you come across an interesting or useful site is to use the Bookmark feature of the browser.
The browser then stores the location of this information site and you can conveniently go to it in the future by clicking on that site in the Bookmark list of your browser. The information retrieved can then be printed, or saved in your own computer or floppy disk.