When you send a message to a newsgroup everyone who subscribes to that newsgroup receives a copy. I receive several messages every day. I read them and occasionally reply if I have a question or something to add to the discussion. I sometimes save the messages on my computers hard disk for future reference. You can also do research on everything from Gregorian chants to Miles Davis to heavy metal.
Many universities have files available for anonymous downloading.
This means you don't need a password to get in. These files may consist of text articles, dissertation abstracts, full length thesis' , pictures, sounds, MIDI files, scores and or video images. The number and variety of these resources are growing rapidly. A student can create a musical composition on PC, save it as a standard MIDI file and upload it to a student in another state or country. This student can add a part to the arrangement and transfer it back to the origin al source for further editing.