Where to begin?

You want to take an on-line course, or you would like to learn how to send and receive e-mail, but you are not at all familiar with the Internet. You may feel daunted even by the thought of beginning something that seems so vast and complicated. But if the world of information and communication technologies is so complicated, how is it that your next door neighbor’s grandmother is on the Net daily, chatting with her grandchildren? How did your niece, all of seven years old, learn to log onto a web site and download her favorite song onto a CD? If people of all ages and educational levels can use the Net, then so can you—all it takes is the willingness to learn and some guidance.

This section is set up to help you learn about using the Internet. If you really are “brand new” to it, go to the section called If You’re New to the Net. After that, go onto the section titled Using the Internet. The section after that shows you how to do Internet searches and offers some key tips that will help you get right to the information you need. Finally, if any words you come across seem unfamiliar or a little too “techie,” go to the Glossary of Terms. The alphabetically-ordered list of computer and Internet terms will help you get up on the lingo!