The Internet, the World Wide Web, Library Web Browsers, and Library Web Servers

Abstract

This article first examines the difference between two very familiar and sometimes synonymous terms, the Internet and the Web. The article then explains the relationship between the Web's protocol HTTP and other high-level Internet protocols, such as Telnet and FTP, as well as provides a brief history of Web development. Next, the article analyzes the mechanism in which a Web browser (client) "talks" to a Web server on the Internet. Finally, the article studies the market growth for Web browsers and Web servers between 1993 and 1999. Two statistical sources were used in the Web market analysis: a survey conducted by the University of Delaware Libraries for the 122 members of the Association of Research Libraries, and the data for the entire Web industry from different Web survey agencies.