(Prepared by Chip Ross )
(Edited for District 6420 by
C.K.
Bryant)
Everywhere one turns these days one hears or sees some
reference to the Internet. When we read the newspapers, we read of fortunes
being made trading high tech stocks in Internet-based companies. When we watch
TV, we see and hear ads which tell us to get further information from the
sponsor's web site. When we listen to the news, we are instructed to visit the
network's site to get anything we missed.
What is this "Internet"? Should WE be using
it in Rotary? Why - or why not? What can we use it for?
The Internet is a global system of networked computers
that allows user-to-user communication and transfer of data files from one
machine to any other on the network. The World Wide Web (WWW) is the network of
computer sites connected by the Internet.
The Internet isn't really very new. It has been around
since the mid-nineteen-sixties, under different names. It was originally
developed as the US Defense Department's ARPANET - the Advanced Research
Projects Agency Network - to allow researchers to link computers across the US.
The Net was developed for Military and Industrial use, but has now been hijacked
by society at large.
The key breakthroughs in the development of the Net
were the adoption of standard methods of sending data across the telephone lines
(using "packets" of data), the development of programs called
"browsers" which translated the packets of data into a language users
could read, and compression algorithms which permitted the phone lines to
transmit data quickly.
Concurrent with these developments, there were quantum
leaps in the processing speeds of computers, the miniaturization of their
electronic components, the development of fibre optics, and, above all, the
democratization of computers themselves. With the decreased cost of computers,
and their increased speed and ease of use, the stage was set for the Internet
Revolution.
Most of us use the Net for two purposes: to exchange
electronic mail and to browse WWW sites on the Internet. Let's look at each of
these in turn.
Electronic mail
is another term for messages that are SENT TO YOU by someone else, or
that YOU SEND TO OTHERS. In most cases, these messages are in the form of
letters or notes - just as a handwritten message would be. The mail is composed
in an email program such as Eudora or Outlook Express, and is then sent to an
Internet Service Provider (the company one buys Internet access from). One may
also attach documents, photos or other data files to email messages. The emails
and any attachments are sent from the author's computer to the addressee's ISP
through the Internet, and are retrieved by the addressee when they desire.
A typical email message might be as follows:
From: L McLean <mcleanp@dummy.addr>
To: Chip Ross <chipross@dummy.addr>
Subject: PARKINSON VIDEO
Date: February 11, 2000 3:54 PM
Hi Chip,
Just a quick note to let you know I delivered the
Parkinson's video to the head of the support group here. They were very pleased
to receive it and will view, and add to their lending library.
Linda
Email messages range in length from very short
to very long. Typically they are short and snappy, but there isn't any reason
not to send reports or discussions that are several pages long. One longer one
that arrives each week is Rotary International's NewsBasket, which contains
short articles clubs often use in newsletters.
Email is easy to master, and very efficient to use.
Typically, messages arrive at the addressee's ISP within seconds of being sent.
There are special types of computer programs called
"Listservers" which are used to handle mailings to lists of
recipients. Let's say, for example, that all the Rotary Club Secretaries of
District 6420 wanted to exchange information. They could each have a complete
list of the email addresses of all the other secretaries, or there could be a
master list maintained by one individual who used a listserver program to send
messages to all the addresses on the list. The listserver can be instructed to
allow any member to send in a message, which is then echoed to all the members
on the list, or it could be instructed to send the incoming message to the
moderator of the list, who would decide whether or not the message should be
sent to all. Listservers are a widely used method of communication in large
organizations where there is a high degree of common interest.
Listservers are provided by many different suppliers.
Some are companies that attach advertising material to each email sent, thus
paying their costs and allowing them to offer the email service to users free of
charge. ONElist/eGroups is one of the leading free e-mail group services.
Other listservers are offered by Information Service Providers (ISP's), the
companies from which we buy our Internet access.
Each mail group on a listserver is "owned" by
a "listowner," whose job it is to oversee the operation of the group.
Typically, the listowner approves membership in his group, monitors message
traffic to ensure the proper use of the listserver.
To receive mail from a listserver, one must first be
registered on that listserver.
Browsing the WWW
involves running a computer program called a "browser," such as
Netscape Navigator or Internet
Explorer, to read information stored on other computers. The browser acts as a
window to the other machine. By using the browser, one can read textual or
graphic information, and interact with the other computer to ask questions or
give commands. One might, for example, command the remote computer to search for
information on a given topic, or to initiate a file download. In most programs,
one selects from a menu of choices that are offered.
Here's an example of a web page from which one selects
options by "clicking" on one of the underlined links.
Now that we've seen the two main tools of the Internet,
let's talk about how Rotary Clubs are currently using the Net.
There are quite a few clubs which now have web pages,
the majority looked after by individual club members. The commonalties of these
sites appear to be:
1. Statements of the Object of Rotary and the Four Way Test
2. The documentation of Club, Community, Vocational and International
projects
3. The listing of Club
details: meeting time, location, directions, and contact for helping visiting
Rotarians and guests
4. Contact lists with email
addresses for the Board of Directors, Officers, project leaders, and committee
members interested in making themselves accessible to other Rotarians not only
in the club but also the district, zone, and the entire Rotary world.
5. Schedules of events;
speaker assignments, board meetings, club events, district events, international
events.
6. Links to other Rotary
sites: district site, RI, project sites such as schools, Interact sites,
Rotoract sites, Fellowship sites, etc.
7. Information on Rotary and
how one might become a Rotarian.
8. Details of Club fund
raisers.
In
addition to numerous Club websites there are also:
Rotary
International where a great deal of
information about Rotary, the Rotary Foundation, RI programs, etc. can be found.
District sites such as District 6420 give information specific to
the District. Club names, meeting times and places, DG newsletters and schedules
are typical of the District sites.
Special Interest Group sites - such as The
Canadian Centres for Teaching Peace
Fellowship sites such as Rotarians
of Amateur Radio
General Sites such as that of Rotarians on the Internet
Some of the better Internet resources for
Rotarians are those of Rotarians on the Internet.
Among the many sites developed by members of ROTI are:
Rachid Karoo's http://www.edoma.com/roti/
Bill Wilborn's Project Central http://www.projectcentral.org/
Sharon Ingram's http://www.roti.org/sisters.htm
Doug Vincent's http://www.mars.ark.com/~rotary/institut.htm
John Coender's http://www.bmts.com/~rotary6330/roti/index.htm
Chip Ross' ROTI Breadbasket http://www.roti.org/news/
Don Higgins' http://www.roti.org/rotalink.htm
Check out some of the Web sites developed by Rotarians
... you'll be glad you did!!
Information flow is essential to the operation of any
organization. In recognition of this fact, has
asked that each District Governor appoint an Internet Communications Officer to
help facilitate communications within Rotary.
At the
District Level
A District Web Page might be built to address all Areas
of Service.
Listservers might be set up for each of the Areas of
Service, as well as for Secretaries and Presidents.
A cadre of "web savvy" volunteers might be
formed to help clubs and committees with their Web problems.
At the Club
Level
Districts might request each of their clubs to name a Club
Internet Communications Coordinator (CICC).
The duties of the CICC would be to ensure that the club
web page (if the club has one) is current and reflects the requirements of the
club, to receive communications on behalf of the club and distribute them to the
appropriate people (if those people aren't online themselves), and generally to
assist club members to be net-savvy.
The CICC should also ensure that the President,
Secretary, Treasurer and Directors of each Avenue of Service are members of, and
familiar with, the appropriate listservers so they can discuss matters of mutual
interest.
Further, the CICC should be familiar with the
Internet-based resources available through Rotary and the Fellowships, and
should encourage club officers to use these resources, as well as to augment
them where possible.
As the CICC position is new this year, the position
requirements have yet to be defined - indeed it is expected that the duties of
the position will change rapidly as Internet communications evolve. The initial
list of duties of the CICC might include:
1) Ensuring that the club officers are subscribed to
the appropriate District mail lists.
2) Acting as a link between the Club and the wider
Rotary community by joining Internet-based Rotary groups such as the Rotarians
on the Internet.
3) Learn about the online Rotary-related resources on
the Net, such as those of Rotary International, or the sites of other Rotary
clubs.
4) Encourage the club to develop its own web site, and
to guide and assist such development and subsequently ensuring that it is kept
up to date.
5) Assist club officers and members in their
Internet-based communications.
The
Club Internet Communications Coordinator will be an integral part of the Club
leadership.
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