told if fees are involved, but sometimes registration alone is necessary before you can read the information at that location.

The fastest growing area of the Internet is that of the World Wide Web (WWW). This is the name for the interlinked part of the Internet where you can with one keystroke jump from one topic--and location--to another. You may have already seen this linking method if you've used a multimedia CD-ROM--such as Encarta or Cinemania. As you scroll through the text, you encounter underlined and colored words or phrases; when you click your mouse (or press the Enter/Return key) on that phrase, you jump to a different page relevant to that topic. The multimedia ones also include audio (giving, for example, the pronunciation of a word) or video (a film clip).

Websites (locations on the World Wide Web)use this same linking method. You might start looking at the home page (the first page of a Website) of the National Register of Historic Places at the U.S. Department of the Interior; then you might jump from there to a list of landmarked buildings; next you could see a picture of a specific building--all with just three keystrokes! Later, you might wonder how you got there, but the computer program allows you to go back to each previous screen, where each of the phrases you clicked on (links) will have changed color, so you can almost always retrace your path until you disconnect.

Another way people use the Internet is to send e-mail (electronic mail). This is the method of sending messages via computer--either to one person or to a group of people, once you know the correct Internet address. Computers make it possible to send copies simultaneously to a great many people, allowing for "live chats," where individuals type messages back and forth--and many others can read those messages, either at the time or later.

The most important characteristic of the Internet and more specifically the World Wide Web is openness: Anyone with the equipment and knowhow can have a WWW page, and anyone else can read that page. Consequently, the Internet is accessible, democratic--and disorganized. Computers speed up the access to the information, but you can't predict what you will find. You may follow a promising lead and find notes from a scholarly seminar on your topic--or just as easily find