Associations and the Internet.

Associations have a new opportunity to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and communication with their memberships. Electronic mail communication on the Internet currently connects about 25 million users, according to the Reston, Virginia-based Internet Society. Internet e-mail is fast and

What is the Internet?

The Internet is an international confederation of some 12,000 electronically linked computer networks -- most of them at universities, government agencies, and corporations. The Internet enables computers of all kinds to share services and communicate directly, as if they were one seamless global computer. In the future, the Internet will be at the core of the National Information Infrastructure, an information superhighway dubbed the Infobahn.

The Internet uses a global network of satellites, fiber-optic cables, telephone lines, and mainframe and desktop computers to exchange information. Just as the postal systems of countries agree to trade letters, these member networks agree to exchange the contemporary equivalent: electronic packets of digital information. For example, an Internet e-mail message from Singapore to Malaysia, countries separated by only a mile of water, might go first to the United States then back to Malaysia. Moreover, the Internet system may not use the same electronic route each time but will automatically adjust to access the fastest route.

Is the Internet easy to use?

Accessing the Internet through a telephone modem is as simple as using an automated teller machine. For example, from your desktop, notebook, or laptop computer, you can meet someone who can answer important questions for you, set up an online conference, plan a meeting, check schedules and reserve airline tickets, prepare reports, or simply leave a message. Internet also lets you tap into forums, information libraries, or bulletin boards that list government and corporate activities, rulings, and legislation; access electronic mail and fax services; and get up-to-the-minute news and stock quotes.

The Internet and e-mail are open to anyone who has a computer with a modem, the appropriate communication software, a telephone line, and an account with an online computer services company linked to the Internet. An association could use e-mail to sign up new members, broadcast current events and newsletter excerpts, and have members sign up for meetings and pay dues by credit card.