Many web sites provide hyperlinks to programs such as Real Player, which allows active viewing of video recordings. The internet is replete with web sites for institutions and organizations involved in wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife conservation, wildlife medicine and disease, and wildlife protection. The Wildlife Rehabilitation and Information Directory is an important first web site to visit for novice wildlife web-surfers. The Directory contains an extensive catalog of information on basic rehabilitation techniques, a directory to locate wildlife rehabilitators, links to wildlife agencies and wildlife rehabilitation organizations, and an on-line connection to ordering books and supplies. Individual wildlife centers commonly create a home page to promote their mission.
Some web sites have chat rooms, which allow real-time communication electronically.
All members of the chat room may view the ongoing dialogue, similar to a party-line on the telephone, and similarly lacking privacy or confidentiality. In this regard, the use of chat rooms may be limited to quick and easy retrieval of anecdotal information, or to gather opinions on specific and time-sensitive issues. Retrieval of the latest scientific information and bibliographic references on wildlife subjects is possible through search engines such as Yahoo, Dogpile, and Alta Vista. On-line data bases are a third, often overlooked internet resource category. Participants submit data to a selected database as part of a cooperative effort to compile germane biological and biomedical data on a range of animal species.