Since the availability of access varies from area to area, check with your friends and associates to see how they got onto the Internet. If you do not know anyone using the Internet, check with your local software store or newspaper. The Office of Computer Information Sciences at your local university may also be helpful. Once you have purchased the hardware and software, established an account with an Internet provider and turned on your computer, all you have to do is dial up the service and log on. If you know exactly where you want to go, you can go there directly by typing in the address.
Search engines are large databases of Web sites which are catalogued in a user-friendly menu system.
If you have a pretty good idea of where you want to go, you can directly search for a topic or combine keywords like in a Medline search. Sites of Interest to Gastroenterologists As a gastroenterologist, you will find a tremendous amount of helpful information on the Web. A few of the sites that you may find of interest, including the new AGA site, are listed in Table 2. One of my favorites is the Web site for the National Institutes of Health, which has information on grants, clinical practice guidelines and much more. Try the U.S. Census Web site.