Universal Dataflow and Telecommunications

Archive - Historical Material

Spring 1995
Issue #27

IFLANET Moves Forward

As part of their patron sponsorship agreement with IFLA, SilverPlatter Information Inc. (U.S.A) has agreed to provide IFLA with the facilities needed to operate an IFLA discussion group on a listserv and an electronic document server. The UDT Core Programme is working with staff at SilverPlatter Information Inc. (U.S.A. division) to establish these services.

There are currently over 350 subscribers to the IFLA-L listserv, and preliminary documents containing general information on the IFLA and on the Internet have been compiled and have been available via File Transfer Protocol (ftp.silverplatter.com) since early November 1994. An index of the IFLA documents has been posted to IFLA-L with instructions for accessing the documents.

In creating a document server to serve the IFLA community, it was recognized that the Internet connections available to some members may support only access to electronic mail. To make the documents as accessible as possible, they are also available via Silverplatter's Automated Messaging System (SAMS). SAMS is a cc:mail-based system that allows users to access documents via e-mail. (Instructions on how to access these materials are given below.)

IFLANET Web Server

Investigating World Wide Web technologies for possible service in the IFLA community is the focus for 1995. The fastest-growing application on the Internet, WWW or "the Web", is changing the way in which information is made possible on the Internet.

The IFLANET Web Server was made available in February 1995 to provide IFLA members and other interested parties with an evolving range of electronic information and services through the Internet and hypertext technologies. Some of the electronic services being developed are described below.

Internet and Library Software Archive: A selection of freeware and shareware software for accessing the Internet and for use in libraries

Electronic Documents Collection: A collection of Internet guides, information policy statements, virtual library papers and other documents of note

The IFLANET Web Server is constantly evolving, and users are encouraged to send comments and suggestions to the IFLANET Coordinator (IFLANET@ifla.org). As well, the IFLA-L, the IFLA document store and the IFLANET Web Server are being incorporated into ongoing IFLA activities. IFLA professional groups are encouraged to use IFLA-L and IFLANET to communicate with IFLA colleagues and provide information about their activities to IFLA members.

For more information on IFLANET and related developments, please contact:

IFLANET Coordinator
UDT Core Programme
ifla@silverplatter.com
Fax: (819) 994-6835

Using IFLANET

To subscribe to the IFLA-L listserv, send the following e-mail message:

TO: LISTSERV@SILVERPLATTER.COM
SUBJECT: Leave this line blank
subscribe IFLA-L Your First Name Your Last Name

Send contributions to the list to:

IFLA-L@SILVERPLATTER.COM

Problems or questions regarding the IFLA-L can be sent to:

LISTOWNER@SILVERPLATTER.COM

To access the IFLANET Web Server, point your WWW browser to:

http://www.ifla.org/index.htm

There are two options for accessing Documents on the IFLANET Document Server: Anonymous FTP and e-mail.

Anonymous FTP Access: Documents can be downloaded to your workstation using anonymous FTP (ftp.silverplatter.com). An index of available files is posted periodically to IFLA-L and can be downloaded from the FTP site. Retrieve files using the following steps:

FTP: FTP.SILVERPLATTER.COM
Login: ANONYMOUS
PASSWORD: Your EMAIL Address

cd ifla
cd into any subdirectory
ascii (puts the transfer mode into ascii mode)

get xyz (transfers file xyz to your machine)

E-mail Access: To obtain a list of the IFLA documents available on SAMS, send a message to autoinfo@silverplatter.com with the command $IFLA in the subject line (leave the message area blank). A list of the documents and instructions on how to retrieve them via e-mail will be sent to you.

The Right to Communicate - at What Price?

ITU and UNESCO are the organizations primarily responsible for communications within the United Nations system. The study was initiated in an effort to bring together UNESCO representatives interested in telecommunications to discuss user requirements and identify obstacles to applying telecommunications-based technologies to these sectors. The study also discusses the availability of telecommunications services and the effects that tariffs can have on telecommunications use.

From the viewpoint of the telecommunications sector, the UNESCO community represents a difficult and somewhat fragmented market. Community members are often financed by limited public funds and may lack the commercial flexibility of other telecommunications users such as members of the banking sector. One of the objectives of the study was to review the use of telecommunications technologies by different user groups such as researchers, educators, libraries, journalists, and radio and television organizations, with particular attention directed to the situation in developing countries. IFLA, in conjunction with the UDT Core Programme, provided input to the study in the fall of 1992.

Concluding that "telecommunications can be a major factor in enabling these key sectors [i.e., the different user groups] to develop and meet their needs effectively", the report proposes 16 general policy recommendations that can help to shape telecommunications in support of UNESCO communities.

This document was reviewed during the World Development Telecommunications conference in Buenos Aires in March 1994 and was published as the second volume of the final report of the conference late in 1994. As part of the follow-up to the study an African Regional Symposium on Telematics for Development is being held on April 3-7, 1995 in Addis Abada. It is jointly organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the ITU and UNESCO, in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (Canada). The symposium is intended as a forum to promote cooperative action for the development of telematics facilities in Africa.

The GILS Initiative in the U.S.: Status and Description

by Fay Turner, National Library of Canada

The Government Information Locator Service (GILS) is a decentralized network of government systems known as "locators". A locator provides descriptive, location and access information to public information throughout the U.S. federal government. This GILS initiative supports U.S. government policies requiring government departments and agencies to make information available to the public and to develop government information systems that can be used in an open systems environment.

A GILS locator will tell the user

• what information on a specific topic is available,
  
• where the information is located,
  
• how the user can access the information.
  

The content of the locator is not the information itself, but a description of it. Each individual department and agency is responsible for developing and implementing locators to their own information resources.

GILS specifies the use of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Z39.50 Information Retrieval Standard for searching and retrieving information from decentralized GILS locator systems. Z39.50 is a computer-to-computer protocol based on the client/server model of computing. It defines a set of rules and procedures for information retrieval activities between client systems and server systems that run on different hardware and software. The use of Z39.50 allows a department to select any computer environment for its locator server system and remain accessible to any GILS client system. Regardless of the system platforms and architectures employed, any GILS client system will be able to communicate with any GILS locator system. The communication link selected for GILS is the Internet.

Fundamental to GILS is the GILS profile. The profile is a document which specifies a subset of the options within the Z39.50 standard and other requirements pertinent to GILS that must be implemented. The profile guides implementors and increases the likelihood that GILS systems developed by various vendors and implementors will be able to interwork.

The GILS profile specifies the protocol services, attributes, error messages and record syntaxes within the Z39.50 standard that satisfy the GILS functional requirements. As well, it defines additional attributes (search terms) that GILS will support. The profile also specifies the GILS Locator Record, its data elements and organization for display.

An implementor of a GILS locator system or a GILS client system must implement this specialization of Z39.50 to claim conformance to GILS.

Status

The final report of the GILS project was published in September 1994. The GILS initiative is receiving wide recognition and support within the U.S. federal government. In July 1994, a Proposed Federal Information Processing Standard for GILS was issued. Also issued was an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular to implement GILS. On December 7, 1994 the U.S. government announced a Government Information Locator Service to help the public locate and access information within the federal government.

Despite this wide recognition, there are not yet any true Z39.50 GILS locator systems or GILS user systems. As the GILS final report indicates, much effort is still needed to inform government departments about GILS and to provide the support required to develop implementations.

The report discusses a number of other steps needed to fulfill the promise of GILS, including the development of a GILS interoperability testbed to ensure that implementations do interwork, stimulating a market for GILS products and services, and establishing guidelines for the creation of GILS records. More important, however, is the need to make GILS a part of a major government-wide initiative within the National Information Infrastructure (NII).

Second International Conference, Crimea 95

Invitation and General Information Second International Conference, Crimea 95 Libraries and Associations in the Transient World: New Technologies and New Forms of Cooperation Eupatory, Republic of Crimea, Ukraine June 10-18, 1995

CRIMEA 95:

• an ideal forum for meetings with librarians from all FSU republics,
• an opportunity to enhance old and to establish new contacts,
• a chance to promote your products and services on the vast Russian and FSU markets,
• the right place for efficient work and a nice rest at a seaside Crimean resort.

Background

The First International Conference was held in Eupatory, Republic of Crimea, on May 23-27, 1994. It was attended by 230 participants from 15 countries.

Over 100 papers were presented at four sections and annual meetings of two Associations. Fifteen companies displayed their products at the exhibition of library and information services.

Conference discussions will be held at the sections, round tables and workshops.

Sections

• Interlibrary cooperation: charged and non-charged approaches, book exchange, social and cultural aspects
  
• Acquisition and preservation of library collections
• Automation technologies and systems in libraries
• Online and CD-ROM technologies in libraries
• Interlending and document delivery service
• Bibliographic control, MARC formats and library standards
• Business information and information management

Round Tables

• IFLA activities and experience
  
• Regional libraries: problems and new ideas
  
• Dissemination and utilization of medical, pharmaceutical and environmental protection information
  
• Subscription problems and agencies' experience in eastern Europe
  
• Problems of parliamentary and governmental libraries (included upon receipt of applications)
  
• Problems of children's and juvenile libraries (included upon receipt of applications)
  

Association Conferences

• Annual Conference of the International Association of Research, Scientific and Technical Libraries
  
• Annual Conference of the International Association of CDS/ISIS Users
  

Workshops

• CDS/ISIS/M: development and applications
  
• LIBNET: first Russian computer library network
  
• Union catalogue of sci-tech literature and the national bibliography system
  

Note: These lists of sections, round tables, workshops and satellite events are subject to change.

CONFERENCE LANGUAGES: will be English and Russian.

There will be an exhibition during the conference to present information products, services, automated systems, software packages, CD-ROM products, books and journals.

Delegate's registration fee: $250.00 before March 1, $300.00 after March 1.
Accompanying persons: $150.00 before March 1, $200.00 after March 1.

Registration fee covers:

• participation in the Conference
  
• collection of abstracts and information materials
  
• social and cultural events (sightseeing tours, concert, cocktail party, cruise along the Crimean seacoast, and other events)
  

Arrival dates are June 10 and 11.

A one-day tour to the southern coast of Crimea is scheduled for June 11. The tour will include visits to the Vorontsovskii Palace, Yalta, and the Massandra Winery.

The full program of the conference and cultural events will be sent later.

Formal applications for Russian and Ukrainian visas will be sent to participants upon the receipt of completed registration forms.

For further information, please contact the Organizing Committee at:

You will be welcome!

Organizers:

Russian National Public Library for Science and Technology
Ministry of Culture of Russia
Ministry of Culture of Ukraine
Ministry of Culture of Crimea
Ministry of Science and Technological Policy of Russia
Russian State M.I. Rudomino Library for Foreign Literature
International Association of Research, Scientific and Technical Libraries
International Association of CDS/ISIS Users
Volna Joint-Stock Co., Eupatory

An Introduction to the World Wide Web

1. What is the World Wide Web?

   The World Wide Web, known as WWW, W3 or simply the Web, is one of several Internet resource discovery tools developed to help people publish, organize and provide access to information on the Internet. The Web was first developed in 1989 at CERN, a particle physics laboratory in Switzerland, and has since become the most powerful, and popular, resource discovery tool on the Internet. In a nutshell, the Web is a hypertext, multimedia, distributed information system that provides links to hypertext documents, as well as to many other Internet tools and databases. This article provides an introduction to the World Wide Web, describing its central features, how it works, and why it is important for libraries.

2. What are the Web's central features?

   There are several features unique to the Web that make it the most advanced information system to appear on the Internet to date. These features are described below.

   The Web is a hypertext system. In contrast to the hierarchical menu system used by the Internet Gopher, the Web is a hypertext system, in which users move from one document to related documents through embedded links, such a word or a phrase that, when selected, calls up another document on that topic. Instead of moving from menu to menu, as in a gopher, users of the Web can jump directly from document to document by clicking on hypertext links.

   The Web is a multimedia system. Before graphical Web browsers (e.g., Mosaic and Netscape, discussed below), most of the information available on the Internet was in the form of ASCII text — simple text devoid of any elements common to the printed page, such as large titles, italics, pictures, and other graphical content. With the advent of graphical browsers, however, the Web has become a multimedia system, combining many different types of media into one document. Specifically, Web documents can contain:

   • normal text
     
   • features such as large fonts, boldface, italics, indents
     
   • images, such as pictures, graphics, logos, illustrations
     
   • audio content, such as sound, music, commentary, voice messages
     
   • video content, such as movie clips, animation, or computer-generated simulations.
     

   The Web is a distributed system. Normally, the documents in a hypertext system reside in one place, such as on a hard drive or a CD-ROM. Documents on the Web, by contrast, can be located not only on a local machine, but also on any machine on the network — whether next door, across a city, or around the world. From the perspective of the user, one set of related documents may appear to reside in one location, but, in reality, the successive pages they read may have been requested from anywhere in the world. In this way, the Web is a distributed hypertext system because the Web documents are distributed throughout the network.

   The Web incorporates other Internet tools. The Web can provide links to other types of Internet tools, such as WAIS, Gopher, FTP, and TELNET. A Web page on a particular topic, for example, can point to other relevant information resources on the network, regardless of whether that information is available on a gopher, through TELNET, or at an FTP site. In this way, the Web and its browsers can offer seamless access to information through many different Internet tools.

   The Web provides an interface to other database systems. A particularly powerful feature of Web browsers is that they can act as interfaces to database systems connected to the Internet (e.g., WAIS, Z39.50 and library databases). Three essentials are needed for this interface: a Web browser to collect information through the forms processing feature, a method of creating interactive boxes on a Web page into which users can type information or select among alternatives; a database system (e.g., a library catalogue); and a Control Gateway Interface (CGI) that sits between the Web browser and the database. It takes the information gathered from the Web browser and passes it to the database. Once the request is processed, the CGI passes the results back to the Web browser in a format that the browser can display.

3. How does the Web actually work?

   The most important concepts required to understand the underlying mechanisms of the Web are: client-server architecture, the Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), and Universal Resource Locators (URLs).

   a) A Client-Server Architecture

   Like most Internet tools, the Web adheres to the client-server model in which two separate software programs—really, two complementary halves of one system—work together to perform some specific task. The software on the user's computer is the client, while the software on the remote computer being searched is the server. In the case of the Web, the task is to explore hypertext documents and examine information resources. The Web client asks for and displays electronic documents, and the Web server stores and sends electronic documents to the client.

   There are several Web client interfaces, or browsers, available for surfing the Internet, the most notable of which is the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) Mosaic. The words "Mosaic" and "World Wide Web" have become almost interchangeable to most people, because it was really the development of Mosaic, the first graphical Web browser, that made the Web what it is today. In reality, however, Mosaic and the Web are two different though related things: the Web is the underlying system of Web servers spread throughout the Internet, and Mosaic is one Web client. A listing of popular Windows-based Web clients includes:

   • Mosaic. At one time first and foremost among Web clients, the Mosaic graphical interface was developed in 1993 by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois. Before Mosaic, all interfaces to the Web were simple text-based, line-by-line interfaces. They were hypertext, but not graphical or multimedia. When a Windows version of Mosaic became available to Internet users for free, suddenly the Web became the hottest information system on the Network because it was the most powerful.

   • Cello and WinWeb. Two other Windows-based client interfaces are WinWeb and Cello. They are very similar to Mosaic, with some slight differences in functionality.

   • NetScape. The latest Web browser to appear is NetScape. It was actually developed by the people who created Mosaic at NCSA and left that organization to start their own company to produce a rival version. NetScape has more or less the same functionality as Mosaic and the other browsers, but with some important differences:

   • it handles images much faster than Mosaic. In Mosaic, loading images is a very slow process.

   • it uses an enhanced form of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML, see below). At this time, HTML is limited in the formatting and layout it can support. Developers of NetScape decided to enhance HTML to allow greater control over the look of documents. This move has created some controversy, because the developers have deviated from the HTML standard and begun to create a proprietary standard that only NetScape browsers can fully exploit.

   • Lynx. Lynx is a text-based, full-screen interface to the Web. Arrow keys, tabs, and the cursor are used to move around and select items instead of a mouse. Lynx interface is not multimedia, so pictures, icons, maps, and other graphical elements cannot be viewed.

   b) Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

   To communicate through the network, clients and servers need a common language, and the common language within the Web is Hypertext Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. It is a fairly simple protocol, like the gopher protocol, in which a document and its elements (e.g., text and images) are transferred through separate, brief network connections. Once all the needed parts of a document arrive, the connection is broken and there is no more interaction with the server until the next request is made.

   c) Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

   Documents on the Web are coded in a markup language called Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML. HTML is derived from Standardized Markup Language (SGML), a standard for adding tags that identify elements in a document such as headings, subheadings, chapters, paragraphs, and appendices. Like SGML, HTML is also used to describe the structure of a document. A number of HTML codes embedded in the document text explicitly describe the text, providing information to the Web client about how to interpret it. For example, if text has a heading code surrounding it, as in <h1> This is a title </h1>, then the Web client computer knows that it should display this text by itself on one line in a large boldface font. Other types of information that the HTML code provides to the Web client include:

   • whether text is in boldface or italics
     
   • the presence of line breaks and paragraph breaks
     
   • where to insert a picture or graphic
     
   • whether a certain word or phrase is a link to other documents in the Web, as well as where, and to what, the link goes.

   In sum, HTML describes explicitly the parts of the hypertext multimedia document, and the Web client computer uses this information to construct the document on the user's screen.

   d) Hypertext Links - Uniform Resource Locators

   What about the links themselves? Links are based on a standard called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). URLs contain all the information needed for the client to find and retrieve a HTML document. An example of a URL is:

   http://www.zodiac.ca/htdocs/home.html

   The URL has four parts:

   1) the protocol used to connect to the remote server. In this example, the protocol is http, the protocol used to connect to Web servers. The protocol could also be gopher, FTP, or TELNET, indicating that the link is to one of these Internet tools.

   2) the Internet address of the server where the document resides. In this case, the address is www.zodiac.ca.

   3) the directory on the server where the document is located, called the document path. In this case, the path is /htdocs.

   4) the filename of the document itself. In the example, it is home.html, where the html extension indicates that the document is marked up with HTML.

4. How to do you find information on the Web?

   The Web is quickly becoming a vast information space that needs search tools to find information efficiently. Just as Veronica grew out of the need to search an ever-growing system of gophers, search tools have also been developed to search the Web. The most common Web search tools are known as World Wide Web "robots", "wanderers", and "spiders". These systems move through the network, automatically searching various elements of HTML documents (e.g., titles), looking for key words, and building indexes. The search tools can be used by employing a Web browser. Through the form feature, users enter search terms, limit the number of hits, and provide other information that the robot uses in its search. Once activated, the robot searches its indexes or, in some cases, HTML pages the network—and then builds an HTML page with links to relevant pages. Some examples of Web robots include the World Wide Web Worm, the WebCrawler Index, Lycos, the Jumpstation Robot, and Aspider.

   One problem with the robot search tools is that they are intensive users of system resources—both network bandwidth and server CPU cycles—because they constantly rove the network, connecting to Web servers, building indexes and doing searches. One search tool that attempts to be more "network friendly" is Harvest. Harvest uses a different approach that reduces the strain on the network. It efficiently gathers indexing information, and distributes it in pockets throughout the Internet. For more detailed information about Harvest, see http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/harvest/.

5. Importance of the Web

   The World Wide Web is important for libraries because it provides an extremely powerful method of organizing, and providing access to, information. It can provide one interface to a large variety of network information resources and systems. With the Web and its browsers libraries can:

   • electronically publish anything that they now publish on paper;
     
   • provide access to in-house hypertext documents or to hypertext documents available on the Internet;
     
   • create electronic orientation services with floor maps and descriptions of services;
     
   • provide access to Internet tools such TELNET, gopher, FTP, and WAIS through a single interface;
     
   • create interfaces to in-house databases or bibliographies;
     
   • collect information from patrons through the forms feature.

   With all its power, the Web is the most serious step yet towards creating electronic libraries. It provides a mechanism to present a wide variety of information resources to library users — and all Internet users — in an simple, efficient and effective manner.

The Internet: A Selected Glossary of North American Organizations

The vast network of networks known as the Internet is not controlled by any one organization or governing body. There are a number of North America organizations working on the policy and administrative structures needed to support the Internet. Following is a brief list and descriptions of the major North American organizations contributing to the development of a networked information infrastructure.

Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry and Education (CANARIE)

CANARIE is a consortium of Canadian government, industry and research community agencies founded to develop an advanced, high-speed, high-capacity, research network for Canada. Its mission is "to support the development of the communications infrastructure for a knowledge-based Canada and thereby contribute to Canadian competitiveness in all sectors of the economy, to prosperity, to job creation and to quality of life". The consortia is charged with upgrading the bandwidth capacity of the national network (CA*net) and promoting research and development of networked applications.

Coalition for Networked Information (CNI)

The Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 to promote the creation of and access to information resources in networked environments to enrich scholarship and to enhance intellectual productivity. The organization membership reflects a cross-section of interests, including universities, government agencies, libraries, network services providers and book publishers. CNI is investigating issues concerning intellectual property, bibliographic standards, network information retrieval and discovery, equity of access to information, and educational applications of networking technology.

Coalition for Public Information (CPI)

Initiated in early 1994 by the Ontario Library Association, CPI acts as a public watchdog and lobby group on issues pertaining to government and industry activities on the Information Highway.

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) http://www.cpsr.org/

CPSR is a U.S.-based, public-interest alliance of information technology professionals and others.
The organization's mission is to provide the public and policymakers with realistic assessments of the power, promise, and problems of information technology. CPSR members work to direct public attention to critical choices concerning the applications of information technology and how those choices affect society.

Information Highway Advisory Council (IHAC)

In 1994, the Government of Canada created the Information Highway Advisory Council to provide advice and guidance to the Government on how to accelerate the development and implementation of Canada's information highway in ways consistent with the Government's policy objectives and operating principles. The policy objectives are:

• to create jobs through innovation and investment in Canada,
  
• to reinforce Canadian sovereignty and cultural identity,
  
• to ensure universal access at a reasonable cost.

The operating principles for Canada's strategy for the information highway are:

• an interconnected and interoperable network of networks,
  
• collaborative public- and private-sector development,
  
• competition in facilities, products and services,
  
• privacy protection and network security.

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

An active public-interest organization in the United States that acts to protect privacy, access to information, and civil liberties in the realm of computer-mediated communications. It was started by Mitch Kapor, of Lotus 1-2-3 fame, and John Perry Barlow, lyricist for the Grateful Dead.

Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF)

The Clinton Administration has elaborated a vision of a National Information Infrastructure (NII) that emphasizes social and economic concerns, such as ensuring universal access, improving education, and boosting economic competitiveness through the use of computing, network and other information technologies. The Information Infrastructure Task Force is the policy body created to articulate and implement the NII. Development of a high-speed, high-capacity National Research and Education Network (NREN) is part of this initiative.

Nine specific principles and goals guide the actions taken by the IITF:

• promoting private sector investment
  
• extending the “universal service” concept to ensure that information resources are available to all at affordable prices
  
• promoting technological innovation and new applications
  
• promoting seamless, interactive, user-driven operation
  
• ensuring information security and network reliability
  
• improving management of the radio frequency spectrum
  
• protecting intellectual property rights
  
• coordinating with other levels of government and with other nations
  
• providing access to government information and improving government procurement

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is one of the organizations that oversees Internet protocol engineering, development, and standardization. The IETF is an international committee of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers who are concerned with the evolution of Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It is open to any interested individual.

Internet Society (ISOC)

The Internet Society is an international, non-profit professional organization formed in 1992 to encourage the continued global cooperation and coordination for the Internet and its technologies and applications. ISOC comprises individual and organizational members, including government agencies, companies, and foundations.

InterNIC

The InterNIC is a collaborative project of three organizations that work together to offer the Internet community a full scope of network information services. These services include providing information about accessing and using the Internet, assistance in locating resources on the network, and registering network components for Internet connectivity. The overall goal of the InterNIC is to make networking and networked information more easily accessible to researchers, educators and the general public.

National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)

Located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, NCSA is an interdisciplinary research centre working to develop high-performance computing applications. The Mosaic client software and the World Wide Web (WWW) server software are two of their best-known applications.

National Science Foundation (NSF)

A U.S. government agency whose purpose is to promote the advancement of science, NSF funds science researchers, scientific projects, and the development of enhanced network functionality to improve the quality of scientific research. The NSFNET was formerly the primary backbone network of the Internet. However, NSF is moving away from its support function and focussing on the development of high-speed networking test-beds.