This interconnection of data and machines, was the precursor to what has come to be called the World Wide Web . A Gopher server is a program that merely responds to requests from the client program to retreive either a file, or listing of files. Administrators for many large computers operate a Gopher server for you. A Gopher client is a program that you run on your computer, or on your computer account that controls the transfer of information from the Gopher Server. With a Gopher client you can retreive a copy of the information available on a Gopher Server.
Gopher clients exist for all of the supported platforms on campus.
Both the server and the client computers must be connected to the Internet for this procedure to function. You can use Gopher to search for documents and information on remote computers all over the internet. Many journals, papers, essays, and even books are avilable for access with gopher. In addition, many universities and organizations have specific information, such as faculty and class lists, available through gopher. Gopher will not allow you to control remote computers, or to send mail to other users on the Internet.