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October 1995
The Internet Gathers Momentum
By Bob Rudis
Pick up any computer-publication on the market and you will find an article on the Internet. Current estimates report that the Internet is comprised of nearly 14,000 networks that connect more than 4 million computers and almost 40 million people world-wide. Experts say that figures show the number of users on the Internet is growing by 10% each month! What is driving so many people to get on this "highway"? The main draw of the Internet is something called the World Wide Web (WWW). The "Web" (as it is commonly known as) is a vast global array of hosts (computers) on the Internet that house information. These hosts have "pointers" to each other, and if you were to draw lines to and from these interconnections, the picture would look like a massive spider web. These hosts store all kinds of information: text (typed information), sound, graphics (pictures), film, and even live video feeds! What makes the Web so attractive and popular is that you can not only view information (browse), you can put your own information up for others to see (publish).
Use of the Web as a tool to convey information is the most significant development in publishing since the invention of the printing press. It opens up new ways in which to communicate ideas; ideas that can be instantly viewed by readers across the world. It allows a publisher to combine graphics, sound, animation, and video with text to present information in the most appropriate form that will capture the greatest audience. What may be most significant is that publishers will no longer need to print a million copies of a magazine or duplicate 10 thousand CDs (Compact Discs) and incur the costs of distributing this material. One copy placed on one server (computer) is all that it takes to make your message available to millions of people.
Information on the Web
Documents on the Web are based on something called HTML - HyperText Markup Language. HTML documents are in plain text (also known as ASCII) and can be created with any computer program that generates ASCII text (e.g. Microsoft Word). HTML is what is known as a Document Type Definition (DTD). In fact, HTML is a subset DTD of a more general markup language called SGML - Standard Generalized Markup Language.
Why go into all this? SGML was created to standardize the electronic formatting, storage, and interchange of materials that would eventually go to print (especially books). With an agreed upon standard, computer A with publishing program X can create a document that can be transferred to, read and displayed (printed) by computer B with publishing program Y. There are numerous DTDs within SGML, each having an application in a specific area. The US Military uses various DTDs for materials such as technical manuals; the Association of American Publishers (AAP) designed DTDs for books, articles, and serials (this was the first major application of SGML); even creators of modern desktop publishing programs like QuarkXPress are working to develop subsets of SGML to make transferring documents between computers easier.
Utilizing HTML, publishers, corporations, ministries, churches, and individuals can place information on the Web for others to access. Vast, searchable article archives can be created; up-to-the-minute information on missionaries in other countries can be seen; vital ministry information can be made available at much lower cost than a printed distribution; clips from Amy Grant's latest video can be viewed - the potential is almost limitless.
Christianity on the Net
One problem with so much information being made available is how to find it! This may be especially true in the case of Christian information on the WWW. Unless you see a WWW address for a particular organization in a magazine or are given one by a friend, you may not know it has information available on the Web. As a solution to this problem, Media Management has teamed up with Religion Today, Inc. (a non-profit corporation) to build GOSHEN: Global Online Service Helping Evangelize Nations (for those readers with WWW access, GOSHEN can be found at http://www.goshen.net/).
GOSHEN's goal is two-fold: (1) to build and maintain an index for all Christian material on the WWW - the Internet Christian Resource Directory (ICRD); (2) to freely offer space and help to Christian-organizations and church-related businesses seeking to publish their information on the Web. GOSHEN has already helped over 50 organizations publish materials on the Web and is working to put up over 100 more. Some of the organizations include:
Technologies for Worship Magazine (http://www.tfwm.com)
Concerts of Prayer(http://www.copi.org/COPI/)
Gateway Films/Vision Video (http://www.visvid.com/VisionVideo/)
The ICRD part of GOSHEN is a work that is always under construction, and is a great starting point to find any ministry, organization, newsletter, periodical, Christian college, etc., that may be on the WWW. GOSHEN's main screen is organized into four buttons, one to take you into the ICRD, one to display the latest changes and newest organizations in GOSHEN, one to display a list of Internet-based Christian news sources and periodicals, and one to bring up a mega-list of ministries and organizations that have a presence on the Internet. Zondervan Publishing House has given permission to display, via the WWW, their NIV "Verse of the Day" on GOSHEN's main screen. Within the ICRD itself there are buttons to take you to resources for almost every category, plus there is a way to search through GOSHEN's extensive listings. GOSHEN is continually encouraging organizations to consider making themselves known on the Web and will be working with it's members to provide regular updates to posted information.
Setting Up
So, what do you need to view documents on the WWW or publish information on the WWW? First you need access to the Internet. That means you need a computer system (preferably an IBM PC running Windows or OS/2 or a Macintosh; either system should be 33MHz or greater with 8MB RAM and a 14-inch VGA or better screen), a modem (14,400 bps or higher), a connection to an online service such as America Online or CompuServe, or access to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Though the online services are catching up, going the ISP route will tend to give you faster, more reliable, and cheaper access to the Internet/WWW. Choosing either the ISP route or the online service route will get you an electronic mail address which will let you communicate in letter form with friends across the globe and will also get you (in most cases) a browser with which to navigate the World Wide Web. If your service supports it, try to get a copy of the Netscape Navigator for viewing WWW documents. Netscape has added some features to their browser that make navigating much friendlier. If you want to publish information on the WWW you have a few choices:
(1)if you're a Christian organization or church-related business, contact David Perrotta at Media Management, 540-989-1330 to check out GOSHEN's free offer;
(2)see if your online service or ISP offers WWW service and check into the fees they charge for publishing documents on the Web-make sure you shop around for the best bargain. If you can get access to the Web, check out http://www.isp.net/pocia/domestic/index.html for providers in your area;
(3)if you're fortunate enough to work for an educational institution or business that has a connection to the Internet, check with your MIS or Computer Department to see if you can place information on the Web;
(4)if you have extensive capital resources and quite a bit of information to publish, consider purchasing a WWW Internet server and obtaining a dedicated connection to the Internet - this will give you complete control over what you publish and who can access your information.
The Future Online
What directions will the Web go? Already an updated version of the HTML standard (HTML 3.0) is being readied for distribution and will include many new formatting tags. As the speed of access to the Internet continues to increase and as data storage costs continue to decrease, full-screen video and full-length audio pieces will become popular. As the tools for secured transactions become more available, you may find yourself ordering a pizza via Internet rather than over the phone. For publishers in the current medium, the future of the Web means change in both the way we publish information and what we publish. For Christians, the Web has become the new marketplace. The values, conversation, and information that is presented in that marketplace needs our influence. We must take advantage of the power of this new "printing press" to continue to change our world.
Bob Rudis is the Network/Internet Specialist for Media Management. When not helping his wife keep their two girls from taking over their home computer, you'll find him working on his current project: the creation and maintenance of GOSHEN. Bob has authored a Special Report on the Internet for Religion Today, and has worked in the computer programming/data communications field for over seven years. He can be reached via e-mail at brudis@goshen.net
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