Now including commercial organizations, the Internet is the largest computer network in the world. A logical device may span several physical devices. A distributed conferencing service composed of a huge collection of discussion groups, both moderated and unmoderated. News is now distributed to most Internet sites, including Penn. The news system allows each user to access articles from a single server at his or her site, thus avoiding the cost of storing redundant copies of articles.
Users can post articles for distribution at their local site, within their region, or worldwide.
News groups exist for literally thousands of topics. Penn Automated Registration Information System. This voice- response system allows students to register for or drop courses and receive grades by telephone. Penn's campus-wide online information service, based on MIT's TechInfo software. Providers of Information from many campus organizations contribute and maintain information about their topic areas.