ILAR Journal Online, Volume 38(4) 1997: Understanding and Using the Internet and the World Wide Web

Online Issues

<< All Back-issues

<< This Issue's Table of Contents

ILAR Journal V38(4) 1997
Understanding and Using the Internet and the World Wide Web

Introduction
Richard C. Van Sluyters

Almost every day we learn of some amazing new development in the explosive growth of electronic communication, which has been a defining feture of our society over the last 20 years. Politicians stress the importance of access to the "information superhighway" in schools, marketing professionals use terms like "cyberspace" to advertise state-of-the-art products, and leading scientists stress the importance of generous public support for the development of new technologies for communication and an infrastructure to support their widespread use. The revolution in the speed and facility with which we can obtain information and communicate with each other explains why the Internet and World Wide Web (Web) have become so popular. More than 70 million of us now use the Internet to send and receive electronic mail messages, and more than 50 million of us use other Internet services. Never in our history have such powerful tools for communication been accessible to so many people. Regardless of where we are in the world, simply by pushing a few buttons, tapping a few keys, and clicking a cursor controller, we have come to expect instantaneous access to almost any source of information.

This issue of ILAR Journal comprises a series of articles designed to highlight Internet and World Wide Web resources of interest to people involved in the care and study of laboratory animals. The combined goals are to introduce new users to this important way of communicating with colleagues and initiate them and others on how to access new sources of information. The issue also seeks to provide more experienced users with useful tips to further exploit these powerful resources.

The first article by R.C. Van Sluyters introduces new users to the Internet and World Wide Web, describes the steps in connecting personal computers to the Internet and accessing some of its basic facilities, and discusses how to use the World Wide Web to browse resources available at ILAR's Web site. The next article by K. Boschert provides an overview of the popular (more than 125,000 visits by veterinarians, biomedical researchers, farmers, and students in 1977 alone!) NetVet Veterinary Resources and Electronic Zoo Web sites that were recently licensed by the American Veterinary Medical Association. This article traces the origins of these highly functional resources and provides numerous examples of how readers can use them to find various kinds of information. A third article by L. Jacobsen and others reviews the vast array of Internet resources that provide information about the care and use of nonhuman primates, such as Primate Info Net, which is managed by the Wisconsin Regional Primate Center and supported by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health. In the final article, P. Tillman describes ways in which Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees can take advantage of the power of the Internet and World Wide Web to increase their efficiency, enhance communication and training, and provide more effective review of protocols.

The articles in this issue of ILAR Journal clearly illustrate the impact of the Internet and World Wide Web on animal resources and research. My fellow editors and I hope that these discussions also provide readers with useful new information that contributes to the knowledge base on the study, care, welfare, and oversight of animals in research.