an organisation that provides access to the Internet. Also known as Internet Service Provider (ISP)

The identification of a physical or virtual distinct entity in a network. On the Internet, this network address is called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). For instance: http://www.gsh.org. [It is important to type these accurately.]

A publicly available Internet file site. Users must sign on as anonymous and enter their email address to connect to an anonymous ftp site.

An open source Web server package, mostly used on Linux and Solaris platforms.

A self-contained mini-executable program, such as one written in the Java programming language. It connects with or is designed to work with a larger ‘partner’ program.

Software used to provide an interface between systems to enable Web services.

A program that locates files that are freely available on anonymous ftp sites across the Internet. To use Archie, telnet to one of these sites and login as archie. Type help to obtain full instructions.

American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A standard for digital representation of letters, numbers, and control codes; understood by most computers.

Active Server Pages – a scripting language created by Microsoft for dynamically created web pages and database functions. Web pages created with ASP usually have an .asp suffix.

A binary file (such as a document, spreadsheet, or graphic) which is delivered as part of an email message. [NB – some mailing systems will not accept attachments.]