The World Wide Web is an international computer network that contains information on virtually any subject. The computers are linked physically through the Internet, a system of fiber optic cables, routers, and computer servers collectively referred to as the "information superhighway." The World Wide Web was established in 1989 as a system to enable researchers in high energy particle physics to exchange research findings very rapidly. Because the software is readily available, user-friendly, and can be used on personal computers as well as mini- and mainframe computers, the Web has experienced explosive growth, and now encompasses much more than communication of research data.
The Web links over 100,000 computers throughout the world, but that figure is obsolete as soon as it is printed because new servers are being added constantly. The network is grouped by functional and geographic domains. The largest domain at present is the educational domain in the USA (address suffix .edu; for example the electronic address of the author is dan-lineberger@tamu.edu), but the government (.gov) and commercial (.com) domains are growing rapidly. International addesses can be identified by the country suffix (.fr, France; .no, Norway; .uk, Great Brittain; .de, Germany (Deutschland)).
The software used to access the World Wide Web is evolving at a rapid rate. The most popular program is Netscape Navigator, a graphical user interface that supports transferral and display of high quality images, text, sound, and even movies. The files are cross-platform-compatible, so that they appear approximately the same on computers with Windows, Unix, and Macintosh operating systems. Collectively the applications are referred to as "Internet browsers."
Information is transferred on pages written in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). This is the code that allows for distribution and hypertext linking of web pages. What is hypertext?
The Web already has irrevocably changed the way we exchange information. Text files containing bibliographic information are exchanged throughout the world, images from the Louvre collection are viewed in Cleveland, and horticultural factsheets from Texas or Ohio are read and distributed in France. Electronic journals make access to late breaking research information immediate, companies buy and sell products (including floral arrangements) directly from the computer, and you can hear the sounds of indigenous wildlife in the archives of the Australian Botanic Garden. The University of Delaware Botanic Garden has a wonderful tour of its many display gardens, with high quality color images of the featured plants complete with human voice-pronounced scientific names.
Student computer laboratories at most universities have easy access to the World Wide Web. Just boot up your web browser, and begin your adventure on the information superhighway. Here are a few mileposts to begin your journey.
Aggie Horticulture (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu)
The information server of the Texas Horticulture Program; contains course syllabi, faculty vitae and photos, Master Gardener information, links to botanic gardens and arboreta all over the world, images of numerous new ornamental plants, and a special section of plant tissue culture.
Horticulture in Virtual Perspective (http://www.hcs.ohio-state.edu/hcs/hcs.html)
The information server of the Horticulture Department at Ohio State University; contains course information, color images of a whole dictionary of plants, lecture notes, faculty biodata, and links to may places of interest to horticulturists.
The Virtual Garden (http://www.pathfinder.com/vg/)
Server operated by Time Warner, Inc.; includes Southern Living Magazine, Sunset Western Garden series, and an excellent plant selector called the Complete Garden Encyclopedia.
Whitehouse HomePage (http://www.whitehouse.gov/)
The Whitehouse HomePage contains links to all Cabinet level departments, government publications, President Clinton's speeches, and most of the recent press releases about governmental affairs.
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